AON Project

London Conference arrangements

I have been asked to research and choose travel and accommodation arrangements for my manager’s business meetings. My manager has to attend a two day conference in London on the last Thursday and Friday of January, the conference will be taking place at the Excel Exhibition Centre in London.

I am going to research the travel costs of 3 different modes of transport and find out which one will be the cheapest. The 3 modes of transport will be bus, train and car. As well as the travel costs to and from London I will find out the price of a day ticket on the London underground for the days of the conference.

I will also be researching accommodation costs of 3 different hotels surrounding the ExCeL centre from the 29th of January to the 1st of February.

Survey

I conducted a survey of my colleagues of which method of transport they would prefer to use travel to London and travelling by car was by far the most popular choice with 10 votes and the second favourite was by train with 5 votes.

1Rob Mash

AON Project

Travelling Costs

Car

I have been asked to find out the cost of petrol based on the MPG consumption of a Ford Focus and a Peugeot 407 the following table shows the price of petrol for the journey (one way) with the price of petrol at 126p per litre for the Ford Focus and diesel at 135.7p per litre for the 407. I used some different formulas in Excel to work out the costs.

Ford Focus Peugeot 407 MPG 42.2 57

Cost of fuel (£/Gallon) 5.73 6.17 Cost of journey (£) 26.60 21.21

Train

Here are the prices and times of trains leaving Wednesday 29th of January 2014 from Swansea train station to Custom House in London (with one change at London Paddington) and returning on Saturday the 1st of February 2014.

Bus

2Rob Mash

AON Project

Here are the prices and times of buses leaving Swansea on Wednesday 29th of January 2014 from to London Stratford in London and returning on Saturday the 1st of February 2014, the bus station is 3.6 miles away from the centre a 1 hour and 11 minutes walk or 17 minutes by tram, leaving the tram stop at Stratford and arriving at Custom House tram stop which is a 5 minute walk from the centre.

After looking at the data I have collected I would suggest that the train is the better option because although it’s not the cheapest option it is the fastest.

Based on my research I have found that the cheapest option for travelling to London on the 29th of January and returning on the 1st of February 2014 is travelling by bus but I have not chosen this option because I think the better option would be to travel by train.

3Rob Mash

Focus 407 Bus Train

Price £54.90 £42.42 £24.80 £44.20

£5.00

£15.00

£25.00

£35.00

£45.00

£55.00

£54.90

£42.42

£24.80

£44.20

Price

AON Project

Hotels

Ibis Hotel

Distance: on site

Nearest Tube: Prince Regent (DLR)

Prices: £154.86 for 3 nights £51.62 per Night)

Premier inn

Distance: On Site

Nearest Tube: Prince Regent (DLR)

Prices: £233.85 for 3 nights (£77.95 per night)

Crowne Plaza

Distance: On Site

Nearest Tube: Prince Regent (DLR)

Prices: £333 for 3 nights (£111 per night)

4Rob Mash

AON Project

Ibis hotel Premier Inn Crowne Plaza£0.00

£20.00

£40.00

£60.00

£80.00

£100.00

£120.00

£51.62

£77.95

£111.00

Series1

The cheapest accommodation option would be the on site Ibis hotel which is only £51.62 per night.

5Rob Mash

AON Project

Underground day pass prices

The price of a day ticket on the London underground for the entire underground (Zones 1-6) is £17 per day so this would be £34 for the two days of the conference. The passes are only available in 1 day, 7 day, monthly and annual Travelcards so 2 1 day passes is the cheapest option. As everything including the hotels is on the site of the excel centre this is completely optional as he wouldn’t be doing much travelling around the city.

6Rob Mash

AON Project

Summary

For travelling to and from London I have chosen the train, it’s not the cheapest option but it is the fastest and the most comfortable. There is only one transfer at London Paddington and the final stop, Custom House, is only half a mile away from the Excel centre.

The hotel I have chosen is the Ibis hotel All 3 of the hotels I looked at are on the same site as the ExCeL Centre so there is no benefit there of choosing one over the other my choice is purely based on the cost of the room per night. As there is a £100 a day food allowance I have not included meals in the hotel bookings.

I have calculated the total costs of the trip the majority of the costs will be the food allowance which is £100 per day the next highest is the accommodation costs at £154.86 for 3 nights and the lowest cost is the travelling which is the return journey on the train at £44.20

67%

7%

26%

Total Costs (%)

Food AllowanceTravel (Train)Accomodation (Ibis Hotel)

7Rob Mash

AON Project

Resources

Nearest tube station to ExCeL Centre

http://www.londontown.com/TransportInformation/Attraction/ExCel_Exhibition_Centre/46bd/

Train Times and prices

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/timesandfares/SWA/Custom_House/290114/1015/dep/010214/1215/dep

Bus times and prices

http://coach.nationalexpress.com/nxbooking/journey-list

Ford Mondeo MPG

http://www.whatcar.com/car-reviews/ford/mondeo-hatchback/1-6-120-graphite-5dr/summary/66988

Peugeot 407 MPG

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-figures/peugeot/407/saloon-2004/44102/

Map from Swansea to London

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=sa5+8jf&daddr=London+E16+1XL&hl=en&sll=51.654609,-4.088351&sspn=0.362096,0.617294&geocode=FYHmEwMdZWbD_yn5QvDt3_RuSDEzL1r7vLiT_A%3BFRX0EQMdvHYAACl_xntpcajYRzELP89GqZUKAQ&oq=e16+&mra=ls&t=m&z=8

Map from Stratford bus station to ExCeL Centre

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Stratford+Bus+Station,+London+Borough+of+Newham&daddr=51.5095649,0.0348651+to:London+E16+1XL&hl=en&ll=51.524552,0.016737&spn=0.045392,0.077162&sll=51.5253,0.013733&sspn=0.045391,0.077162&geocode=FeBzEgMdTvj__yH9Ztnw93UdQyk_Tq-OYR12SDH9Ztnw93UdQw%3BFTz5EQMdMYgAACmZ7E-ucKjYRzEPzGz5RryWaQ%3BFRX0EQMdvHYAACl_xntpcajYRzELP89GqZUKAQ&oq=Stratford+b&dirflg=w&mra=ltm&via=1&t=m&z=14

Crowne Plaza Hotel

http://www.cplondoncityhotel.co.uk/

Marriott Hotel

http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/travel/loncw-london-marriott-hotel-west-india-quay/

Premier inn

http://www.premierinn.com/en/checkHotel/LONDOC/london-docklands-excel

Travelodge

http://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/553/London-Excel-hotel

Ibis Hotels

8Rob Mash

AON Project

http://ibishotel.ibis.com/gb/united-kingdom/index.shtml

Underground day ticket prices

http://www.toptiplondon.com/transport/tickets/underground-tickets-travelcards

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Underground_ticketing#Travelcard

Petrol Prices

http://www.petrolprices.com/search.html?search=sa5+8jf

9Rob Mash