Travel costs to France

[M j M]

Just now, Adelaide Tiger said:

By all means leave it as it is and let a club like Leeds pay £100k for a charter flight at 6 days notice.  And if Catalans win then let them pay tens of thousands next week and the week after if they reach the GF.  The game must be flush with money it we are willing to blow so much on Charter flights.

And you are right that we do not know if Catalans will even reach the Play Offs.

BUT, here is some crazy thinking.  How about having a contingency plan in place should Catalans reach the Play Offs and drastically reduce the cost of flights thereby keeping more money  in the game!

At the start of the season in anticipation for the PLAY OFFS you just need to book 5 flights of 25 tickets on a scheduled service totalling 125 seats.  Not thousands!  The reason why you only need to book 5 flights on a scheduled flight is that you pre-determine the date and time when Catalans would play their play off game(s) whether they are home and away.  Simple.

UK Airport - Surely to God if you say to all teams at the start of the season ‘We have got tickets already booked at a low cost if you are drawn away at Catalans in the play offs and you will fly from Leeds Airport as that is central for all teams’.  I am sure that the most distant clubs like Saints or Hull/Hull KR would prefer a 90 minute drive to Leeds Airport than having to spend tens of thousands on a Charter flight.  Or I might be wrong.

Sometimes I just shake my head at the total absence of pre-planning in our game.

I still think, in particular for a play off game, Leeds for one would rather spend the money on a bespoke solution rather than messing around with scheduled flights at times not of their choosing. Other clubs may be different.

We also know that we simply can't fix stadium allocations for one club that far in advance given what we know about the issues some of our other clubs have getting into the grounds they use. If there's two tv slots on a weekend, one is taken by a pre-arranged Catalans one and the other doesn't work for Wigan or (don't laugh) Hull FC then that leads to more issues.

[Adelaide Tiger]

46 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

Might be better (and cheaper) for the RFL/SLE to take a weekend lease for the entire season on an aircraft that can then be used to ferry teams to France and vice-versa. Time the kicks-offs right and one aircraft can service all 4 required sectors.

I saw your post just after I had replied to MJM above.

A good idea. You should put it to the RFL/SL as they might not have even thought about it.  And don’t forget to add in a finders fee!

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

9 minutes ago, Adelaide Tiger said:

By all means leave it as it is and let a club like Leeds pay £100k for a charter flight at 6 days notice.  And if Catalans win then let them pay tens of thousands next week and the week after if they reach the GF.  The game must be flush with money it we are willing to blow so much on Charter flights.

And you are right that we do not know if Catalans will even reach the Play Offs.

BUT, here is some crazy thinking.  How about having a contingency plan in place should Catalans reach the Play Offs and drastically reduce the cost of flights thereby keeping more money  in the game!

At the start of the season in anticipation for the PLAY OFFS you just need to book 5 flights of 25 tickets on a scheduled service totalling 125 seats.  Not thousands!  The reason why you only need to book 5 flights on a scheduled flight is that you pre-determine the date and time when Catalans would play their play off game(s) whether they are home and away.  Simple.

UK Airport - Surely to God if you say to all teams at the start of the season ‘We have got tickets already booked at a low cost if you are drawn away at Catalans in the play offs and you will fly from Leeds Airport as that is central for all teams’.  I am sure that the most distant clubs like Saints or Hull/Hull KR would prefer a 90 minute drive to Leeds Airport than having to spend tens of thousands on a Charter flight.  Or I might be wrong.

Sometimes I just shake my head at the total absence of pre-planning in our game.

 

 

So which names would the seats be booked in?

[Adelaide Tiger]

5 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

So which names would the seats be booked in?

A N Other!

If it is impossible for the RFL/SL to come to some agreement with a scheduled airline operator to organise this then fair enough.

[Adelaide Tiger]

17 minutes ago, M j M said:

I still think, in particular for a play off game, Leeds for one would rather spend the money on a bespoke solution rather than messing around with scheduled flights at times not of their choosing. Other clubs may be different.

We also know that we simply can't fix stadium allocations for one club that far in advance given what we know about the issues some of our other clubs have getting into the grounds they use. If there's two tv slots on a weekend, one is taken by a pre-arranged Catalans one and the other doesn't work for Wigan or (don't laugh) Hull FC then that leads to more issues.

Errr, sorry I did laugh when you mentioned Hull

You are right about other possible obstacles but as I said in a previous post I was just throwing out a suggestion.

[Chrispmartha]

1 hour ago, Gav Wilson said:

What exactly is the issue here?

Leeds are charging £800 for a unique hospitality event. Folk will either pay it or they won't.

So what?

Totally at a loss as to what people’s issue is with this?

Leeds have got a lot of corporate clients they’d be daft not to offer this kind of thing.

 

[David Shepherd]

2 hours ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

So which names would the seats be booked in?

Every airline (apart from Ryanair) will allow block bookings where the names of the passengers only have to be given days or even hours before the flight.

[Blind side johnny]

Shouldn't the French clubs simply be required to play any play-off matches in England?

Problem solved.

[Harry Stottle]

3 hours ago, V02 said:

Do you think clubs should give away their corporate hospitality and boxes for home games too?

Why post silly questions, of course not did I Intimate anything of the sort?

[Chrispmartha]

5 minutes ago, Blind side johnny said:

Shouldn't the French clubs simply be required to play any play-off matches in England?

Problem solved.

What problem?

who’s said there’s a problem?

[Gav Wilson]

14 minutes ago, Blind side johnny said:

Shouldn't the French clubs simply be required to play any play-off matches in England?

Problem solved.

There isn't a problem. And also, absolutely not.

[Gerrumonside ref]

1 hour ago, Blind side johnny said:

Shouldn't the French clubs simply be required to play any play-off matches in England?

Problem solved.

Hardly much incentive for them to be in the competition do you not think?

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, Blind side johnny said:

Shouldn't the French clubs simply be required to play any play-off matches in England?

Problem solved.

They should be kicked out of the league, any away trip not spent at least 50% of the time on the M62 isn’t rugby league. 

[whatmichaelsays]

47 minutes ago, Eddie said:

They should be kicked out of the league, any away trip not spent at least 50% of the time on the M62 isn’t rugby league. 

Only 50% on the M62? Sounds far does that. 

Best keep all games within the boundary of a Greater Manchester Area bus pass.  

[GUBRATS]

My comments on this ( apart from the I hope ' humourus ' ones ) were nothing more than questioning how the response might have differed if Salford had finished in the position to travel to France and had publicised the amount it cost , IMO there might well have been some negative replies which we haven't seen with it being Leeds , all IMO of course , if some can misconstrue that into having a go at Salford or even Catalans , then that's their problem 

As regards the ' offer ' , I couldn't care less 

It does seem I have acquired a ' stalker ' , should make for some fun going forward 

[Chrispmartha]

6 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

My comments on this ( apart from the I hope ' humourus ' ones ) were nothing more than questioning how the response might have differed if Salford had finished in the position to travel to France and had publicised the amount it cost , IMO there might well have been some negative replies which we haven't seen with it being Leeds , all IMO of course , if some can misconstrue that into having a go at Salford or even Catalans , then that's their problem 

As regards the ' offer ' , I couldn't care less 

It does seem I have acquired a ' stalker ' , should make for some fun going forward 

There has been negative replies 

[Gordon Street]

5 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

My comments on this ( apart from the I hope ' humourus ' ones ) were nothing more than questioning how the response might have differed if Salford had finished in the position to travel to France and had publicised the amount it cost , IMO there might well have been some negative replies which we haven't seen with it being Leeds , all IMO of course , if some can misconstrue that into having a go at Salford or even Catalans , then that's their problem 

As regards the ' offer ' , I couldn't care less 

It does seem I have acquired a ' stalker ' , should make for some fun going forward 

why would there be negative replies? Leeds have shown enterprise and acumen in making this offer. if Salford or any other club had done something similar why would anybody be critical of them? You haven't acquired a stalker; people are entitled to respond to your comments. 

[Harry Stottle]

4 hours ago, whatmichaelsays said:

Only 50% on the M62? Sounds far does that. 

Best keep all games within the boundary of a Greater Manchester Area bus pass.  

Something for you to look forward to Micheal, concessionary bus passes are nation wide, not just the issuing area.

[Gordon Street]

20 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Something for you to look forward to Micheal, concessionary bus passes are nation wide, not just the issuing area.

there are several types of bus passes that apply to the Greater Manchester area alone. I can supply a list if you wish. 

[JohnM]

15 hours ago, Eddie said:

They should be kicked out of the league, any away trip not spent at least 50% of the time on the M62 isn’t rugby league. 

That's daft. Have you seen the traffic on the M62? Sure, Wigan players are so fast they could safely weave in and out of the third lane traffic but their noisy neighbours would have to make do with the hard shoulder.

[Harry Stottle]

10 hours ago, Gordon Street said:

there are several types of bus passes that apply to the Greater Manchester area alone. I can supply a list if you wish. 

That does not surprise me at all, Anorak.

[Gordon Street]

54 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

That does not surprise me at all, Anorak.

your ignorance doesn't surprise me. 

[Dave T]

Am I right in saying that SL playoffs are central (SLE) events? I thought the income from these games was pooled. If so, surely we manage this through pooling costs and income for the whole playoff series?

Because this shouldn't even be a public discussion in playoff week, and we certainly shouldn't have the farcical situation where it is openly discussed that Salford threw a game so that they wouldn't have to pay to go to France.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

19 hours ago, David Shepherd said:

Every airline (apart from Ryanair) will allow block bookings where the names of the passengers only have to be given days or even hours before the flight.

Are they happy if you regularly cancel the block booking at short notice?

[David Shepherd]

35 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Are they happy if you regularly cancel the block booking at short notice?

Depends on your relationship with the airline.  But if we're talking regular guaranteed bookings for the normal season games, no issue at all because the block can be purchased well in advance.  Just supply the squad and staff names at the time the squad is announced.

Play off games are a little more challenging, because the requirements aren't known until a week before. You'd probably need to make the block booking on a cancellable fare with a "legacy" carrier like BA or Air France. The base fare will be more expensive, but still cheaper than a private charter.

I'd still guess that a weekend lease on a small jet for the season would be the most cost effective solution. All the RFL need is a good corporate travel agent. 

Edited September 8, 2022 by David Shepherd