Nicholas GallI was surprised, I might even say astonished, to see that Gartner’s travel booking service (is it SaaS or just ASP?) Cliqbook is now listing the carbon footprint of each flight option it offers. Here is a screen shot:
Will this change my flying behavior? I doubt it; at least for the foreseeable future.
My first two criteria (in order) are: minimizing flight duration and minimizing ticket price. I can’t imagine choosing to take a flight that takes longer or costs more just to save on carbon. Now if two flight options were identical except for footprint (say one of flights was on more modern equipment that was more fuel efficient), then maybe (but not if the bigger footprint option gave me miles in a FF program I preferred). That said, I am happy that Cliqbook is at least showing me the information.
How about you? Would you use the carbon footprint information to change your flight preference?
PS Don’t ask why I’m going to Milwaukee in the middle of winter or why I’m booking a flight just a day before I depart; both are long stories.
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Richard Veryard January 19, 2009 at 8:18 am
But I might decide to take the train instead, if there was a decent rail option. I’d rather sit comfortably on a train for four hours (the train I was on last week had free wifi) than spend three hours queuing for security, sitting in an airport lounge, putting my laptop away for take-off and landing, waiting for my bags, and then having to take the shuttle into the city centre.
Flying is a false economy – people think they are in so much of a hurry, that they tolerate huge amounts of time-wasting by the airlines and airports. Maybe seeing the huge amount of carbon will encourage a few people to take the train instead.
What is the best way to get from Philadelphia to Washington? For some reason Barack Obama doesn’t want to arrive for his first day at the new job with his suit creased, his ears blocked and his toothpaste confiscated. Funny that.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7828467.stm
2 Heather April 7, 2009 at 4:51 pm
I would have to agree with Richard. After a discussion with a friend of mine regarding the reduction of our carbon footprints, I actually did a comparison of train versus plane in terms of cost, time, connections, and carbon emissions. Comparing Expedia.com for flights and Railpass.com for train tickets on same dates of travel, here is what I came up with for Paris to Rome (one-way, cheapest option for each mode of transport listed):
Plane : 1 plane change, 6.42 travel hours, $235, 1,360 lbs carbon
Train: 1 train change, 11.78 travel hours, $185, 600 lbs carbon
So that’s 56% less carbon for a 17% lower price! And I get to relax and enjoy the extra 5+ hours of travel. Sounds like a great deal to me!