The Photography Show - Saturday, 19 March 2016

[Mike Farley]

A group from the club has been to this show and its successor, Focus on Imaging, for the past few years and always had an enjoyable day. If you are looking for some new gear, there are always attractive show prices available. Focus on Imaging was essentially a trade show, but the organisers of its successor have made it a more inclusive experience and incorporated other activities. The event in 2016 will be the third time it has been staged and last time it expanded into a larger hall at Birmingham's NEC.

http://www.photographyshow.com/

Is anyone interested in going to the show? We have always gone on a Saturday and I propose that we do so again as that has always proved to be the most popular day for the club, but not for overall show attendance when historically Monday has been the busiest day. As before, we will travel by train which rules out Sunday as the journey times are much slower, making for a longer day and less time at the show. Normally we take advantage of prepaid low cost rail fares from Euston to Birmingham International as this is the most cost effective option. The lowest price tickets go on sale 12 weeks before the date of travel. By my reckoning, this will be around the end of the year or beginning of January, so if we get ourselves organised now we can get the tickets at the lowest price. The cheapest tickets are limited in number and sell out quite quickly, so I want to be able to move fast.

The cheapest train fare I can find for a journey to Birmingham is £7-50 single each way. Based on experience, those tickets can sell out quite quickly, especially for morning travel, after which the next lowest fare is £11. Surprisingly, these fares have remained at the same price for a few years now and appear to be unchanged for 2016. If that news was not good enough, those travelling to the NEC can obtain a 25% discount, bringing the lowest fare down to £5-60, which is £11-20 for the return trip. I will make the booking on behalf of everyone so that our seat reservations will be together. Unfortunately it is not possible to use a railcard in conjunction with these fares, but the difference in cost is small. One thing to be aware of is that these tickets are non refundable, although they are not assigned to named individuals. If you subsequently find that you cannot go, you might still be able to make arrangements for someone else to use them.

I propose that we travel from Euston on the 9:43 train which gets into Birmingham International at 10:53 and return on the 18:40, arriving back at Euston at 19:56.

It is also possible to save a bit of money by purchasing tickets for the show in advance. They have already gone on sale, although you might want to wait as there are usually discounts available nearer the time which reduce the admission price to the concessionary rate of £10-95. If you are travelling using the discounted fare, you will need to be able to show your entry ticket to prove that you qualify.

If you would like to go, respond to this thread ASAP so that I can be ready to purchase the train tickets on everyone's behalf.

[davidb]

Mike

Count me in. Just remind me to leave my cards at home

[Rose]

Mike

Count me in. Just remind me to leave my cards at home

Spoilsport...

Count me in too...

[walterconquy]

Hi Mike, I'm interested sounds as if I will be able to go.
Wally

[gcluer]

Hi Mike

If I go for that length of time I will get bored which will lead on to lots of spending. I propose I come up with you but make my own arrangements to return on an earlier train (probably around 3:00). It looks as if we can book from tomorrow week.

Are you able to book the outward journey only for me? If that makes life difficult let me know and I will make my own booking.

Graham C

[Peter Boughton]

I'm currently a maybe - will try to firm that up by this time next week.

[Mike Farley]

Are you able to book the outward journey only for me? If that makes life difficult let me know and I will make my own booking.
Graham C

Yes, that's easy to do. The tickets are purchased as singles rather than a round trip, so it's simply a matter of buying one less on the return trip so that you can travel with the rest of the group to Birmingham in the morning.

[Mike Farley]

Hi Mike, I'm interested sounds as if I will be able to go.
Wally

Wally, I will be purchasing train tickets on everyone's behalf so that we can travel together, so I need a definite commitment from you.

[walterconquy]

Mike I will reiterate I shall be going.
Third time
Wally

[Rose]

Mike - would you be kind enough to get three tickets for me please ? A friend and her husband would like to come up with us. He has a senior rail card, if that makes any difference ? They live in Sandwich so only need tickets from London and will meet us at Euston.