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Thread: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

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    Teacher Paul F's Avatar
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    Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    With the well publicised £1 a litre 'milestone' hit again I was wondering how much this fuel cost influences where people decide to go dancing.

    Do you find yourself considering the fuel costs more nowadays than you did say a year or two ago when thinking about attending an event?
    Has it ever swayed you to stay 'local'?


    Only the other week I was planning on going up to Daventry. Although not the only reason, a big factor for me deciding not to go was the fact that it would have cost me a fair amount in fuel for the 200+ mile round trip. Thats before the entrance fee.

    When you work out exactly how much it costs per mile to drive these days its definately expensive (obviously depending on the vehicle)


    It also struck me that with all this talk of improving public transport, its not going to help many of us who dance until 12/1am! Quite often PT does not run this late in many areas.
    Last edited by Paul F; 11th-November-2007 at 09:13 PM. Reason: Im stupid and keep on amending posts

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    Registered User Lynn's Avatar
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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    Not an issue for me (its one extreme or the other for me - either a 10 min drive or drive-flight-train/bus route!) but I would think that rising costs are to be expected and if its a real problem then its a case of cut back on a cost elsewhere, miss the occasional event, dance more locally - best option is probably car share.

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    Teacher Paul F's Avatar
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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    It must be difficult for you guys over there. I do feel for you having to pay so much to get to dance events.

    I wonder whether it will get to a time where those events hosted in 'out of the way' places will suffer when compared to those in more densely populated areas. Im sure they do right now but I wonder if this imbalance will change even further.

    Can people really afford to make long trips to events?

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    Registered User Lynn's Avatar
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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    Quote Originally Posted by Paul F View Post
    It must be difficult for you guys over there. I do feel for you having to pay so much to get to dance events.
    At least we have local freestyles now every month or so. And its a good excuse to go on a weekender.

    Quote Originally Posted by Paul F View Post
    I wonder whether it will get to a time where those events hosted in 'out of the way' places will suffer when compared to those in more densely populated areas. Im sure they do right now but I wonder if this imbalance will change even further.

    Can people really afford to make long trips to events?
    It might have some effect, but I think travel time, traffic conditions etc, will have an equal or greater influence in people deciding to travel to events than cost.

    When it comes to spending money on dancing - we usually manage to find a way of persuading ourselves we can afford it. If its a really good event then people will still feel its worth the extra cost.

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    Registered User Twirly's Avatar
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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    Interesting question - I've been wondering recently about how "environmentally friendly" dancing is, travelling being a big component for a lot of people.

    I don't have anything to compare with though, as I've only been driving just over six months. Last weekend was my first big trip out to an unfamiliar dance venue (Bedford for the Mariachi night). I did combine it with seeing some friends I haven't seen for years though, which did mitigate the time/distance factor. It's not something I'll be doing a lot of though.

    Even in London (I live in East Dulwich), where it is possible to get to and from Hammersmith and Chiswick on public transport, now I can drive, I just won't do it on PT... last time I tried, the night bus terminated early and dumped me in the middle of Peckham at 3am Plus it takes 2 or 2 1/2 hours to get home - as opposed to 40 minutes by car.

    Of course one way to alleviate the financial and monetary cost is car sharing, which sometimes happens.

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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    the biggest consideration for me when travelling is accomodation - if an event finishes at 1pm and the drive home is more than hour - I can't be sure that I can safely drive home ... so the question is always a matter of can I afford a B&B or find a sofa to crash on - for which I have to give a big thanks to DTS and PretzelMeister & Lemon Cake

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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    I think about it when im paying...........£70 a time

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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    Yes, recently fuel costs have made me think twice about travelling to dancing events.

    I have always either shared a lift with someone or driven to and from evening dancing events - mainly for the reason Twirly states, that at 1am you don't want to be attempting night buses that are infrequent and full of very drunk people - I personally don't feel safe travelling that way - taking an exceptionally long time to get home.

    Fuel costs are definitely becoming a burden for me now, whereas two years ago I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it. I do wonder though whether that's just as much to do with my financial situation changing slightly and my interest in dancing changing as to the cost of fuel going up...

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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    Quote Originally Posted by Paul F View Post
    With the well publicised £1 a litre 'milestone' hit again I was wondering how much this fuel cost influences where people decide to go dancing.

    Do you find yourself considering the fuel costs more nowadays than you did say a year or two ago when thinking about attending an event?
    Has it ever swayed you to stay 'local'?

    No

    ...

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    Registered User sidney's Avatar
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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    Yes because of the increase of fuel, I have cut down on the traveling, we always now make sure we have a full car, and give a couple quid to the driver, and I only go once a week, and stick to the midlands, as I could not afford to do London every weekend, as I now visit my daughter since she had a baby last year who lives a three hour drive away, and that is more important to me now,

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    Teacher Paul F's Avatar
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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    I remember when I used to live up in Manchester. I used to drive down to London maybe once a month to dance. Can't even imagine doing that now

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    Teacher Paul F's Avatar
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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    Although it wasn't the deciding reason not to go, I was stunned when I worked out how much it would have cost me to go to the WCS event in Oxford this last weekend (about 65 miles one way)

    My car does, if I am careful, about 37.5mpg which works out at 8.22miles per litre.

    That means it would have cost me over £20 just to get there and back. And thats before paying to get in, paying for drinks etc.

    Wow.


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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    yes, I think about it, but so far it has not stopped/affected me travelling to dances.
    If anything I'm doing more travelling this year than ever before.
    Occasionally I manage a bit of car sharing.
    But, I still spend much much less than on my previous hobby. £3k vs £20k /ann.
    So, my addiction has a way to go before it hurts.

    One big advantage of the high fuel costs: it reduces the amount of traffic on the roads and this saves both journey time and fuel. Eventually commerce will move some of their transport requirement from Road Haulage to containerised Rail, saving even more for us and in road maintenance.
    How about £1.50/L now and increase this at 10% above inflation to ease road congestion?

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    Forum Bombshell - Our Queen! Lory's Avatar
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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    Quote Originally Posted by Paul F View Post
    My car does, if I am careful, about 37.5mpg
    I've started looking at new cars again but sadly this time, I'm taking the mpg in consideration on the spec.

    I test drove an absolute beauty of a car last week but the fact it only does 17.1 to the gallon (oh and the fact the earliest delivery is November ) is probably going to rule it out
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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    Quote Originally Posted by Lory View Post
    I've started looking at new cars again but sadly this time, I'm taking the mpg in consideration on the spec.
    I got myself a Honda Jazz for precisely that reason - most newish cars with small petrol engines are very fuel-efficient as long as you don't rag them around too much. I'm averaging 43mpg at the moment around town which I am quite happy about

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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    Quote Originally Posted by Lory View Post
    I've started looking at new cars again but sadly this time, I'm taking the mpg in consideration on the spec.
    Me too

    As someone who handed back their company car and ran with the cash instead it's quite impt for me.

    I get reimbursed per mile for fuel so I need the most efficient car possible to avoid losing out. Even my Ford Focus (which has a respectable 55-60mpg) is only just breaking even

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    Cool Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    As you know living in the Midlands we *have* to travel to dance. That's why we have recently bought a diesel car. Suddenly trips of a few hundred miles aren't denting the pocket quite so much.

    Stokie loves his diesel brum-brum

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    Registered User Lynn's Avatar
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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    Quote Originally Posted by CheesyRobMan View Post
    I got myself a Honda Jazz for precisely that reason - most newish cars with small petrol engines are very fuel-efficient as long as you don't rag them around too much. I'm averaging 43mpg at the moment around town which I am quite happy about
    Yeah, and you have such a long drive to your nearest venue....

    Was discussing this with a friend on Mon night. Its the people with the cars with poor fuel efficiency who are being hit most - more people will buy smaller, more fuel efficient cars and people will car share more. Therefore overall travel costs will not increase massively (though may do for some individuals, depending on circumstances) and there will be less cars on the road and lower fuel consumption.

    And a lot of other costs will increase as transport costs go up and we will have to buy locally more often for items we use a lot of, like food.

    As for dancing - none of the venues are too far from me so its not a problem.

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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    Quote Originally Posted by Lynn View Post
    Was discussing this with a friend on Mon night. Its the people with the cars with poor fuel efficiency who are being hit most - more people will buy smaller, more fuel efficient cars and people will car share more. Therefore overall travel costs will not increase massively (though may do for some individuals, depending on circumstances) and there will be less cars on the road and lower fuel consumption.
    But it's only the most modern cars that have the greatest fuel economy - ie the most expensive ones. If you're fiscally challenged, buying a cheap car is not going to be an option because it will cost so much to run.

    I can see car rental businesses doing good trade in the next few years

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    Registered User Lynn's Avatar
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    Re: Do you consider the increasing fuel price when going to dance?

    Quote Originally Posted by Gadget View Post
    But it's only the most modern cars that have the greatest fuel economy - ie the most expensive ones. If you're fiscally challenged, buying a cheap car is not going to be an option because it will cost so much to run.

    I can see car rental businesses doing good trade in the next few years
    You will still buy a smaller car than you would though, or a diesel. My car isn't exactly new, but its small and fairly fuel efficient.

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