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LA to London - tips for Emma Thompson

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AnkleBoots

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https://metro.co.uk/2019/04/19/emma-thompson-flew-5400-miles-join-climate-change-protest-9262552/ said:
Actress Emma Thompson has sparked fury after she flew 5,400 miles to join the climate change protests disrupting central London.
...
A flight from Los Angeles International Airport to London Heathrow generates around 1.67 tonnes of CO2.
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How might Emma Thompson have otherwise travelled from LA to London, using a maximum of surface transport and minimising her carbon footprint?
 
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yorkie

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Obviously one option would be to not make such a journey in the first place, but it would be possible to cross the US by train (or coach) and the Atlantic can be done by boat
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/news/french-freighter-company-passenger-fares-new-york/
The route is increasingly popular with young travellers and students who want a no-frills way of getting from New York to the UK.

The sailings are certainly not the fastest way to skip the Atlantic - they take 10 days. But for those with time to spare, they do offer value....
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Starmill

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Sailing is pretty unrealistic for modern times. I personally would love to sail by QM2 but I don't think that's going to be within my price range for some time!

More seriously, it is just about possible to cross the United States by rail, but this is barely more realistic than sailing given it still takes several days. Theoretically it could cut down on your carbon emissions by flying instead from an East Coast Airport, but I doubt this is worth it. From there the only way forward really is to ensure all flights are in economy class and on an airline which operates as efficiently as possible, this is likely to be Norwegian in this case although there are other contenders.

The above assumes that a Brit needs to visit LA and vice versa. Clearly it's not really realistic to prevent people from making such journeys. Instead the most important thing is to minimise on any flights.
 
Cowley

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Starmill said:
Sailing is pretty unrealistic for modern times. I personally would love to sail by QM2 but I don't think that's going to be within my price range for some time!

More seriously, it is just about possible to cross the United States by rail, but this is barely more realistic than sailing given it still takes several days. Theoretically it could cut down on your carbon emissions by flying instead from an East Coast Airport, but I doubt this is worth it. From there the only way forward really is to ensure all flights are in economy class and on an airline which operates as efficiently as possible, this is likely to be Norwegian in this case although there are other contenders.

The above assumes that a Brit needs to visit LA and vice versa. Clearly it's not really realistic to prevent people from making such journeys. Instead the most important thing is to minimise on any flights.
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I’ll admit that I’m still learning about this stuff, but why do you suggest using a Scandinavian airline as being more ‘Green’ Strarmill?
Is it because of the way the country is run, or are there other reasons?
Genuine question because I’d like to do my bit, but I don’t always understand the complexities...
 
Starmill

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For no other reasons really than that they operate a fleet of very modern (and thus fuel efficient) aircraft, and that they carry almost the most number of passengers they possibly can by eleminating the premium seating. The greater capacity and high load factor divides the same emissions from that model and size of aircraft out by more passenger kilometers, thus using less energy and generating less atmospheric carbon per passenger kilometer.

Other such operators are available. It's just that Norwegian happen to have made a name for themselves in doing this. The happy side effect is that you would be likely to find a lower fare. On any airline, simply having a policy of choosing economy class is a start!
 
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Aictos

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She could have used the Floo network and not have any CO2 emissions at all! ;)
 
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Starmill said:
For no other reasons really than that they operate a fleet of very modern (and thus fuel efficient) aircraft, and that they carry almost the most number of passengers they possibly can by eleminating the premium seating.
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Norwegian has a premium cabin.

They offer complimentary drinks, which means anything opened but unfinished gets tossed on arrival, like all airlines (except for the expensive spirits). Their meals use disposable cutlery and trays, but not sure if that is more or less "green" than having to wash glasses and china and metal cutlery.

Cowley said:
I’ll admit that I’m still learning about this stuff, but why do you suggest using a Scandinavian airline as being more ‘Green’ Strarmill?
Is it because of the way the country is run, or are there other reasons?
Click to expand...

Nothing to do with being Scandinavian. The other main Scandinavian airline, SAS, has just done something very non-"green", by not conceding to its pilots' demands which caused them to strike, leading to cancellation of many flights and therefore unnecessary occupation of thousands of hotel rooms followed rerouting on convoluted routes involving multiple flights to replace a single cancelled one.


Choosing economy over premium classes may help reduce the carbon emissions attributable to yourself, but only if the flight is full. So, you should really buy a subscription to Expertflyer and only choose flights that are likely to have a 90% load. I have flown in economy many times where I had 4 seats to myself and there were many more empty seats (and I knew that was likely to be the case, or else I may have chosen to fly in a premium class) while the business cabin was full, so technically had less carbon emissions per passenger for that flight.
 
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I believe Norwegian is currently suffering cancellations due to grounding of its 737 MAX fleet.

Is there any ferry connection from Alaska to Siberia that would allow train or coach up the West Coast then Trans-Siberian and train across Europe?
 
Gareth

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Climate Change protests are for plebs. Planes are for the likes of Emma Thompson.
 
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AM9

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paddington said:
... Their meals use disposable cutlery and trays, but not sure if that is more or less "green" than having to wash glasses and china and metal cutlery. ...
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The FAA forbids any carrier to issue metal cutlery on any commercial flights to orfrom the US, (following the 11/9 attacks in 2001).
 
Starmill

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I didn't say Norwegian were 'green' or 'environmentally friendly', I only said that they were likely to be efficient. A low cost airline is likely to operate flights with fewer vacant seats. Flying Ryanair can thus be quite a good choice if you have your carbon emissions in mind.

As with everything, it depends how you look at it. You might say that flying economy is still inefficient on an aircraft which flies with many vacant seat, but you have still demanded an efficient service. By purchasing a business class ticket you're effectively swapping efficiency for comfort. To some people the economy interior of some aircraft might be difficult to tolerate for such a length of time. You could also argue that this is really a matter of government policy. Should premium tickets not be taxed at a higher rate? Should airlines not have to pay duty in aircraft fuel in the UK? Is Air Passenger Duty set at an appropriate level?

It is obviously sensible to choose a more efficient airline, but in way it is not really for you to worry about how they manage demand. Ryanair's aircraft might be full but well loaded with people who would otherwise have taken a train or driven at lower atmospheric carbon and energy usage.

The biggest problem is taking a flight where a direct land route is available. I am more concerned about people flying from London to Edinburgh than London to Los Angeles.
 
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AM9 said:
The FAA forbids any carrier to issue metal cutlery on any commercial flights to orfrom the US, (following the 11/9 attacks in 2001).
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Guess I better tell all the carriers I fly on that they're breaking the law. This hasn't been the case for as long as I've been flying transatlantic regularly, which is since 2008.
 
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parkender102

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Starmill said:
Sailing is pretty unrealistic for modern times. I personally would love to sail by QM2 but I don't think that's going to be within my price range for some time!

More seriously, it is just about possible to cross the United States by rail, but this is barely more realistic than sailing given it still takes several days. Theoretically it could cut down on your carbon emissions by flying instead from an East Coast Airport, but I doubt this is worth it. From there the only way forward really is to ensure all flights are in economy class and on an airline which operates as efficiently as possible, this is likely to be Norwegian in this case although there are other contenders.

The above assumes that a Brit needs to visit LA and vice versa. Clearly it's not really realistic to prevent people from making such journeys. Instead the most important thing is to minimise on any flights.
Click to expand...

A recent 'repositioning cruise' including accommodation and food from Genoa to the Caribbean could be had for £300 one way. When I checked the website there were similar deals available for US to Europe, Alaska to Miami, Alaska to Japan and Japan / South East Asia to Australia. Average 7 day journeys - I'm pretty sure Emma Thompson could spare 7 days from her busy schedule to save the planet.................

However this planet will be a desert wasteland in a few thousand years time so I wouldn't worry about the planet - death of a planet is inevitable through drought, overpopulation, disease etc - I'm sure a few rich celebrities aren't going to save us.
 
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AM9 said:
The FAA forbids any carrier to issue metal cutlery on any commercial flights to orfrom the US, (following the 11/9 attacks in 2001).
Click to expand...

That's not true.
 
citycat

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AM9 said:
The FAA forbids any carrier to issue metal cutlery on any commercial flights to orfrom the US, (following the 11/9 attacks in 2001).
Click to expand...

I sent a link to this post to my wife who is a flight attendant for United airlines, and is currently laying over in her hotel in Houston, TX after working a flight from Amsterdam. She confirms they use metal cutlery on board.

Actually, it’s metal in Business class and plastic in Economy.

And two Federal Air Marshalls to make sure you don’t mess about with your cutlery !
 
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Get the Pacific HSL to reach Anchorage, quick hop to far eastern Russia, use the Trans-Russia HSL to reach Moscow and thereafter, an easy hop home.

Not possible of course. So fly anyway. And tell Daily Mail readers that there's a world of difference between using a plane to and from the USA and using a plane to reach nearby places such as Manchester, Paris and Brussels.

;)
 
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Why is there an assumption that going by ship is better for the environment than flying, even if by 30 year old Jumbo?
 
Cowley

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Mag_seven said:
If its a sailing ship then yes. ;)
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I quite fancy going to New York by ship.
Is it possible to do, or would you need to go on a cruise or something similar?
I wouldn’t want to stow away on a container ship or ‘work my passage’. o_O
 
Cowley

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Mag_seven said:
I'm sure there are some container ships that have limited "passenger" accommodation?
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You’re not really selling it to me M7.
I was picturing a nice comfortable trip for Mrs C and I, me wearing a hat at rakish angle, and us sitting at the captains table taking champagne in opulent surroundings whilst the ship dodged its way around a few jolly old icebergs...
 
Peter Mugridge

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Cowley said:
I quite fancy going to New York by ship.
Is it possible to do, or would you need to go on a cruise or something similar?
I wouldn’t want to stow away on a container ship or ‘work my passage’. o_O
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The Queen Mary 2 makes regular crossings between Southampton and New York.
 
Dougal2345

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I've got to admit that, despite being very anti-flying myself, I don't have much of a problem with the 'special case' of entertainers/entertainment flying around the world.

I mean, there's an American singer I usually go along to see whenever she's on tour in the UK, and if she stopped this due to CO2 worries, probably more people would end up jetting across to the states to see her, far outweighing the small impact of her and her band flying around.

Similarly something like the Formula 1 'circus' shifting from country to country every fortnight seems enormously environmentally damaging - but on the other hand, if they just ran all the races in, say, Monza each year, the tens of thousands of people who would travel there from all over the world would probably have a much greater impact.
 
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parkender102

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Most of the European Cruise Lines seem to send their ships to US / Caribbean towards the back end of the year. My daughter works on a cruise ship and after a couple of weeks in the Med they sailed across the Atlantic for the Caribbean summer in November last year. When I checked the company Website I was surprised that you could sail from Genoa to Barbados for around £300 one way taking 7 Days and including a day in one of the Canary Islands. Considering that is a room and all the food you care to eat and entertainment for a week it's a bargain. I do agree that Ships are probably not that environmentally friendly. I went over to the Caribbean earlier this year to visit the daughter and stayed on the island of Dominica (not Dominican Republic). At the Eco Lodge I stayed at one of the German volunteers was banging on about how environmentally unfriendly Cruise Ships were. I found out from one of the other volunteers the next day that the same guy works on and off for the German Cruise Line Aida as a translator on tours for their German customers!
 
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philabos

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I just crossed on a cruise ship New York to Southampton. There are actually quite a few ships on the route in April and October when seasonal transiting between Europe and the Caribbean. The fares are also quite reasonable with food, entertainment and even alcohol included. Cheaper than a stay at Holiday Inn. Just don't expect to be sunning yourself!
As for environmentally unfriendly, there are just not many of them in a global sense. On the other hand just take a look at Flight Radar 24 any night and you could just about walk across the Atlantic on top of aircraft.
 
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