(25 Jul 2014, 5:45 pm)Dan wrote I believe you're knocked back with CAT tickets on all airshow buses (including Stagecoach). Don't get why though, given that Network One tickets are accepted on the 510.

Just been looking at the Airshow Timetable

Fare Information

Get Around, Buzzfare, Sunderland Day and Weekly Tickets will be accepted within the relevant Zones on Special Services A1/A2 and A3, Network One, Concessionary and Nexus POP Card Child Fares are Invalid.

Think i'll be going via Concord on the 56 then, Reckon it is all about making a bit of Profit to be Honest.

For Example GNE are Advertising the following on the Timetable.

A1 Express - £1.80 Single
A2 Express - £4.50 Return
A3 Express - £5.70 Return

(25 Jul 2014, 5:58 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote Just been looking at the Airshow Timetable

Fare Information

Get Around, Buzzfare, Sunderland Day and Weekly Tickets will be accepted within the relevant Zones on Special Services A1/A2 and A3, Network One, Concessionary and Nexus POP Card Child Fares are Invalid.

Think i'll be going via Concord on the 56 then, Reckon it is all about making a bit of Profit to be Honest.

For Example GNE are Advertising the following on the Timetable.

A1 Express - £1.80 Single
A2 Express - £4.50 Return
A3 Express - £5.70 Return

Furthermore in Comparison to Last Year, A Return on the A3 is 20p More, while the Family Ticket is 50p More, Last Year it was £11.50, this year it is £12, Also on Last Years Timetable which I have dug out of my Collection, there is nothing mentioned in regards to Network One and POP Cards etc either, so i'll assume they may of been Valid Last Year.

(25 Jul 2014, 5:58 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote Just been looking at the Airshow Timetable

Fare Information

Get Around, Buzzfare, Sunderland Day and Weekly Tickets will be accepted within the relevant Zones on Special Services A1/A2 and A3, Network One, Concessionary and Nexus POP Card Child Fares are Invalid.

Think i'll be going via Concord on the 56 then, Reckon it is all about making a bit of Profit to be Honest.

For Example GNE are Advertising the following on the Timetable.

A1 Express - £1.80 Single
A2 Express - £4.50 Return
A3 Express - £5.70 Return

It used to be the case that GNE multi trip tickets would also not be accepted, but Peter Huntley changed the policy circa 2009, in response to customer demand. Good move IMO. I'd love them to go one step further, and offer a special air show ticket similar to what they've done for some events lately, but over the 3 day period.

(25 Jul 2014, 6:08 pm)aureolin wrote It used to be the case that GNE multi trip tickets would also not be accepted, but Peter Huntley changed the policy circa 2009, in response to customer demand. Good move IMO. I'd love them to go one step further, and offer a special air show ticket similar to what they've done for some events lately, but over the 3 day period.

They seem to be really pushing special event M-Tickets lately (offering very good discounts), and I can't quite work out why they've not jumped at the opportunity to do it for this one...

(25 Jul 2014, 6:10 pm)Dan wrote They seem to be really pushing special event M-Tickets lately (offering very good discounts), and I can't quite work out why they've not jumped at the opportunity to do it for this one...

Indeed they are, should take a look at the Airshow Timetable

Family Ticket and Sunderland Day Saver are mentioned 3 Times, along with a similar Advert for The Key.

(25 Jul 2014, 6:21 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote Indeed they are, should take a look at the Airshow Timetable

Family Ticket and Sunderland Day Saver are mentioned 3 Times, along with a similar Advert for The Key.

What I was referring to is the the 'One Direction' day saver for example. £6 as oppose to a maximum of £7.70 you'd have to pay instead. Although if you were only going one direction, surely you'd only need a single?!

(25 Jul 2014, 6:27 pm)aureolin wrote What I was referring to is the the 'One Direction' day saver for example. £6 as oppose to a maximum of £7.70 you'd have to pay instead. Although if you were only going one direction, surely you'd only need a single?!

Horrr.. not this again!

Cringed when Liam put a similar status on Facebook, and cringing again now!

(25 Jul 2014, 6:27 pm)aureolin wrote What I was referring to is the the 'One Direction' day saver for example. £6 as oppose to a maximum of £7.70 you'd have to pay instead. Although if you were only going one direction, surely you'd only need a single?!

Oh god! - not GNE as well!

(25 Jul 2014, 6:10 pm)Dan wrote They seem to be really pushing special event M-Tickets lately (offering very good discounts), and I can't quite work out why they've not jumped at the opportunity to do it for this one...

I was thinking about it earlier, and they could have done something like a 3-day ticket for £13.00. Only valid to and from Sunderland, and on the air show buses. Big saving as oppose to 3 day tickets (depending on what zones you need), and there's the added potential of attracting potential car users and visitors to the region.

(25 Jul 2014, 6:29 pm)Dan wrote Horrr.. not this again!

Cringed when Liam put a similar status on Facebook, and cringing again now!

Couldn't resist. I didn't see the status so I have an excuse!

(25 Jul 2014, 6:30 pm)aureolin wrote I was thinking about it earlier, and they could have done something like a 3-day ticket for £13.00. Only valid to and from Sunderland, and on the air show buses. Big saving as oppose to 3 day tickets (depending on what zones you need), and there's the added potential of attracting potential car users and visitors to the region.

Not everyone would be going to the airshow 3 days running, somebody might a
Only be going for 1 day.

(25 Jul 2014, 7:00 pm)cbma06 wrote Not everyone would be going to the airshow 3 days running, somebody might a
Only be going for 1 day.

It's like everything else though isn't it. One product will not suit everyone. It's good to have an option there for those that choose to though.

(25 Jul 2014, 7:06 pm)aureolin wrote It's like everything else though isn't it. One product will not suit everyone. It's good to have an option there for those that choose to though.

Doing it day ticket etc... Will mean more money for GNE. As their doing the airshow buses from their own wallet and that's why their don't accept foreign passes and tickets.

(25 Jul 2014, 7:12 pm)cbma06 wrote Doing it day ticket etc... Will mean more money for GNE. As their doing the airshow buses from their own wallet and that's why their don't accept foreign passes and tickets.

But surely you could argue it's the same story for the SoL concerts? Why did they bother giving customers discounts then?

(25 Jul 2014, 7:15 pm)Dan wrote But surely you could argue it's the same story for the SoL concerts? Why did they bother giving customers discounts then?

You have to ask GNE that question, maybe theirs more SOL concerts rather than once a year airshow.

(25 Jul 2014, 7:25 pm)cbma06 wrote You have to ask GNE that question, maybe theirs more SOL concerts rather than once a year airshow.

There is possibly more concerts, and this would be a greater opportunity for GNE to line their own pockets with more cash, by not giving customers the option to travel to the events with cheaper M-Tickets. I must note that no competition was at these concerts...

Like I say, does seem odd that no M-Ticket option has been made available for the airshow - and a great shame too. There is competition from Stagecoach, making it even more unusual.

(25 Jul 2014, 7:29 pm)Dan wrote There is possibly more concerts, and this would be a greater opportunity for GNE to line their own pockets with more cash, by not giving customers the option to travel to the events with cheaper M-Tickets. I must note that no competition was at these concerts...

Like I say, does seem odd that no M-Ticket option has been made available for the airshow - and a great shame too. There is competition from Stagecoach, making it even more unusual.

There's a full suite of M-Ticket options with the existing tickets that are available - such as £3.50 Sunderland Day Tickets & £12 Family Day Tickets. Plus, there's much more a commercial risk to the Airshow - you could have a night like tonight where its all called off and presumably the A1 carried little, or it could chuck it down all weekend and you could carry nowt, but still have to run the miles, pay drivers etc. Whereas 55,000 One Direction fans are going to turn out come rail, hail or shine !

(25 Jul 2014, 12:57 pm)eezypeazy wrote The road works at the top of Park Road in Chester are causing widespread congestion - a much more likely explanation!

Chester-le-Street has been pretty much like a car park for most of the week with the roadworks on Park Road causing people to divert all over the place to avoid the queues - a big 20/20 crowd for Durham tonight made it all 10 times worse - luckily I was out on me bike at the time !!!

UnID Olympian on airshow shuttle A1 from Seaburn tonight.

(25 Jul 2014, 10:56 pm)Drifter60 wrote UnID Olympian on airshow shuttle A1 from Seaburn tonight.

3824 i photographed that it is now on flickr along with 4968 now gold 3858 on A1 Airshow shuttles 5203 on X7 and winner of the day even though this won't happen again 3871 on X3 as on Sunday by bye to X3 plus a few loans to Deptford

(25 Jul 2014, 9:38 pm)busman101 wrote There's a full suite of M-Ticket options with the existing tickets that are available - such as £3.50 Sunderland Day Tickets & £12 Family Day Tickets. Plus, there's much more a commercial risk to the Airshow - you could have a night like tonight where its all called off and presumably the A1 carried little, or it could chuck it down all weekend and you could carry nowt, but still have to run the miles, pay drivers etc. Whereas 55,000 One Direction fans are going to turn out come rail, hail or shine !

Wouldn't that make a special event day or multi day ticket a good idea though? Then if the skies open on sat or sun, folk have already bought their tickets, so the service is receiving money it otherwise wouldn't have?

Bit like advance train fares for a day out. You're taking a risk trying to save money, but you've got it regardless of the weather.

(25 Jul 2014, 11:09 pm)Racer_Experience wrote 3824 i photographed that it is now on flickr along with 4968 now gold 3858 on A1 Airshow shuttles 5203 on X7 and winner of the day even though this won't happen again 3871 on X3 as on Sunday by bye to X3 plus a few loans to Deptford

I've already pointed it out to you on Flickr, but I shall do so on here so that everyone can benefit from the information...

The Dennis Trident vehicles which are on loan to Deptford (and Washington) from Percy Main are not, so far as I know, for the airshow - they're to cover for the loss of Volvo B7/B9s which have gone to Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games. You'll note that Deptford sent five vehicles (6008/20/28/99 and 6100) to Glasgow and received five vehicles from Percy Main (3858/59/70/71/74), which further reiterates the fact it's not specifically for the airshow, and is more so due to Glasgow. Given the fact that all of Deptford's scholars interwork with normal service work, if you were to send the Volvo B7s to Glasgow without replacement, Deptford would in fact be short of vehicles. This is probably why Washington only received one vehicle too, given that most of their scholars will be standalone.
These vehicles will of course be found on the runs Deptford operate of the airshow shuttles, given that they'd only have two Vykings otherwise (one seems to be unwell at the moment, as service 9 hasn't had a full Vyking allocation for a while now).

Furthermore, Deptford does not operate every single airshow shuttle. With the exception of the above, if a Stanley bus is working service A1 - it's not on loan - it's still based at Stanley, and has come over to provide transport for the event and will be returning to Stanley that evening.

Just to do an Olympic Sprint up the Street to catch 50, and started to pull away, so stopped and continued walking, only for the Driver Stop, he then said as I boared "Your Late", to which I replied sarcasticly, "It makes a nice change from it being you".

(26 Jul 2014, 7:35 am)NEBCD Malarkey wrote Just to do an Olympic Sprint up the Street to catch 50, and started to pull away, so stopped and continued walking, only for the Driver Stop, he then said as I boared "Your Late", to which I replied sarcasticly, "It makes a nice change from it being you".

Haha, what was hes reply?

(26 Jul 2014, 7:40 am)Michael wrote Haha, what was hes reply?

He just chuckled

(26 Jul 2014, 7:41 am)NEBCD Malarkey wrote He just chuckled

Wow, thought he might of made a sly remark

6090 isnt displaying the Number 56 on the front Blind, showing Newcastle and via Points only

(26 Jul 2014, 7:44 am)Michael wrote Wow, thought he might of made a sly remark

He seemed to be in a cheerful mood for a Chester Driver, as some of them are miserable

(26 Jul 2014, 7:45 am)NEBCD Malarkey wrote 6090 isnt displaying the Number 56 on the front Blind, showing Newcastle and via Points only

Assume you've headed over to the airshow early then? I'm still uploading some photos to Flickr (although onto my final few now), but I didn't plan on heading over until the Stagecoach 510 started - which isn't for another hour or so yet.

(26 Jul 2014, 8:06 am)Dan wrote Assume you've headed over to the airshow early then? I'm still uploading some photos to Flickr (although onto my final few now), but I didn't plan on heading over until the Stagecoach 510 started - which isn't for another hour or so yet.

Yeah I am, coming through Southwick on 56 now