Brit flies to London via Spain to avoid extortionate UK train fare

Joe Furness enjoying his time at a Balearic beach… far nicer than a 2nd class train carriage from Newcastle to London.

Environmentalists might not like it, but savvy travellers are finding increasingly ingenious ways to avoid eye-watering UK rail fares – and more often than not the cheaper travel option involves a brief flight to Spain…

The latest example of a cash-smart Brit circumnavigating the British rail network comes from 21-year-old student Joe Furness, who was able to save £40 getting from Newcastle to London by flying via Menorca rather than stumping up the £78.50 train fare between the two cities.

Having balked at the high train price, Furness found a flight from Newcastle to Menorca for £15.99, and then, a day later, a £10.99 flight from Menorca to London. Sure, he had the luxury of a day to spare, which not everybody does, but the student’s tale is a reminder to travellers to shop around because there are always bargains to be had.

During his layover in the Balearics, Furness hired a car for just £7.50 to travel across the small, beautiful island over the course of his 12-hour layover.

“I’m always looking at flight websites and when I saw the price of the train I thought ‘why not?’ I flew to Menorca with Thomas Cook, I found a beach, hired a car, had a cocktail and flew to London to meet up with my friends,” Furness told Metro.co.uk.

Furness added that his friends thought he was joking when he told them that he would be arriving from Spain, and they only believed him when they picked him up from Gatwick airport.

While this particular tale appears to be one of extremely serendipitous circumstances, the fact of the matter is that flights to most parts of Spain from most parts of the UK are often incredibly cheap, which has aided many thousands of Brits’ home purchases over the past few years.

Given the ability to easily and cheaply get to Spain from all four corners of the UK, the idea of owning a dream home in the sun is made one step, passport check and quick security frisk closer to reality.