Patton Flyer (mod warning post #404) SEE POST #659 ALSO

Ham'nd'egger

devnull wrote: »

I have heard it is due to start in the next 10 days or so.

Latest from the Patton Facebook group who are now coming across as very childish.

josephgriffin

Have Aircoach ditched the Howth Jct to Airport plan, as I thought these had a licence for this route at one stage?

Run_to_da_hills

Brother took the Patton this morning, Fares have jumped from €7 to €9 since his last trip.

Fratton Fred

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Brother took the Patton this morning, Fares have jumped from €7 to €9 since his last trip.

it hasn't been €7 for ages. It was €14 return, but they ended that at the end of March and it became €8 each way, which it was on monday when i used it.

It musthave gone up again.

devnull

Did I hear it right that Patton does not offer discounts for children?

Rock Steady Edy

devnull wrote: »

Did I hear it right that Patton does not offer discounts for children?

That's right. Full charges for everyone over 2. Aircoach have a much more family friendly charging structure.

Cookie_Monster

They are training their drivers on OUR route.

His route? Oh dear Trevie, you'll in fact find that its Aircoach's route that you've been illegally operating on

devnull

Rock Steady Edy wrote: »

That's right. Full charges for everyone over 2. Aircoach have a much more family friendly charging structure.

Hopefully there new route will as well whenever it launches. I reckon if a single is eight euro about 3.50 or 4 euro would be a fare price for a child. I guess Aircoach may also take Concessionary Travel passes as they do on their other routes?

It's interesting to note Patton says he charges eight euro on his website but someone here suggests he actually charges nine? is he misleading his customers or did the guy on here get it wrong.

Cookie_Monster

devnull wrote: »

It's interesting to note Patton says he charges eight euro on his website but someone here suggests he actually charges nine? is he misleading his customers or did the guy on here get it wrong.

I remember them advertising that they had to put the fares up at the same time as cutting back the service. they also did away with return tickets

devnull

I know they got rid of returns, but I thought they increased the fares from 7 to 8 for singles?

Ham'nd'egger

devnull wrote: »

Hopefully there new route will as well whenever it launches. I reckon if a single is eight euro about 3.50 or 4 euro would be a fare price for a child. I guess Aircoach may also take Concessionary Travel passes as they do on their other routes?

Aircoach take OAP's for free with child fares a little less than half adult rates.

devnull wrote: »

It's interesting to note Patton says he charges eight euro on his website but someone here suggests he actually charges nine? is he misleading his customers or did the guy on here get it wrong.

Of course, if Patton really had a licence he'd have to take OAP passes like everybody else does.

GerardKeating

Hamndegger wrote: »

Aircoach take OAP's for free with child fares a little less than half adult rates.



Of course, if Patton really had a licence he'd have to take OAP passes like everybody else does.

Private operators doe not take OAP's for free, the government pays them..

Ham'nd'egger

GerardKeating wrote: »

Private operators doe not take OAP's for free, the government pays them..

They do insofar that OAP's don't pay upon boarding for their fare though yes, the State covers the fare on their behalf.

My point still remains here, Patton doesn't have such an arrangement with the State for a good reason.

Mrs OBumble

Hamndegger wrote: »

Of course, if Patton really had a licence he'd have to take OAP passes like everybody else does.

I don't think private operators are required to offer Free Travel.

Some choose to apply to participate in the scheme: eg GoBus started advertising "now accepting the Free Travel pass" when the joined it, which was a while after they started operating.

dub_commuter

Rumour has it that Patton may have got the license that he is after. as he has took all his campaign posters off the buses and someone on the 8 this morning saying that they had heard that the new legal service is set to start soon to put all this behind them?

Cookie_Monster

dub_commuter wrote: »

Rumour has it that Patton may have got the license that he is after. as he has took all his campaign posters off the buses and someone on the 8 this morning saying that they had heard that the new legal service is set to start soon to put all this behind them?

But Aircoach have the licence and I doubt they gave it up. If Patton was issued on, you'll be sure Aircoach will object to it too.

devnull

Aircoach were testing the route the second half of last week though? From all what I heard they were supposed to be commencing in the next week or so?

Or has something happpened since then, such as what happened with the Citylink Vs Gobus case?

devnull

Seems that Aircoach may be going live this week? On their online booking page it lists Dalkey and Glasthule amongst others for the options with fares of 8 euro single and 14 euro return, seems to be that anywhere on the route?

Also seems that child fares are a flat 2.50 per journey.

Cookie_Monster

Indeed. Hourly buses throughout the day, half hourly between 2am and 7am from Airpot, 3 and 8 to Airport. No map yet though...

KC61

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

But Aircoach have the licence and I doubt they gave it up. If Patton was issued on, you'll be sure Aircoach will object to it too.

They have a licence - perhaps there are more than one!

devnull

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Indeed. Hourly buses throughout the day, half hourly between 2am and 7am from Airpot, 3 and 8 to Airport. No map yet though...

Seems to be 24 hours and with a very good value childs fare unlike Patton.

Seems they will stop at:
- Dun Laoghaire (Marine Road)
- Dalkey (Hyde Park, Hyde Rd)
- Blackrock (Frascati Centre)
- Glasthule (St Joseph's Church)
- Monkstown (Knox Memorial Hall)

As it will be going through the port tunnel it will be interesting to see if they follow the same route from South Dublin that the Greystones route takes and add frequency to these services as well.

Wonder what the next move will be when the service starts, as I hink it could be quite a big rivalry if they are both running!

Cookie_Monster

devnull wrote: »

Wonder what the next move will be when the service starts, as I hink it could be quite a big rivalry if they are both running!

Aircoach are cheaper, offer return and are more frequent. Not much competition there if ya ask me, I know who I'd be using.

devnull

That maybe, but if you look at Patton's facebook page, a hell of a lot of them say they will not use Aircoach because they are not Irish, amongst other things and their bully boy tactics that Patton claims they have used.

Cookie_Monster

devnull wrote: »

That maybe, but if you look at Patton's facebook page, a hell of a lot of them say they will not use Aircoach because they are not Irish, amongst other things and their bully boy tactics that Patton claims they have used.

They (Aircoach) were Irish up until quite recently.
I certainly don't see that as a good reason, look where supporting the Irish banks has got us

devnull

Oh I don't see it as a good reason either, but just forecasting what I can see happen with some of the customers, as from my experience those in Dalkey are more sensitive to the kind of issues Patton is claiming.

patrickbrophy18

dub_commuter wrote: »

Rumour has it that Patton may have got the license that he is after. as he has took all his campaign posters off the buses and someone on the 8 this morning saying that they had heard that the new legal service is set to start soon to put all this behind them?

Cookie_Monster is right. Aircoach have now updated their list of options to include Dalkey, Glasthule, Blackrock and Dun Laoghaire.

OR

Patton Flyer and Aircoach could be merging their business for that particular route. A nice and neat happy medium. Could you imagine "Patton Flyer in association with Aircoach"?

dub_commuter

DO we know when this so called service is starting, it's a bit strange to put it in the journey planner but to have no info on it? I still don't think it is launching anytime soon, may just be an oversight on someone's part.

Nothing on the timetables, fares, or twitter about it or anything anywhere, you'd think they'd want to cry about it if they were launching, at the moment people are still using Patton because they are not evern advertising their service exists.

Personally I don't think it's launching anytime soon.

devnull

patrickbrophy18 wrote: »

Cookie_Monster is right. Aircoach have now updated their list of options to include Dalkey, Glasthule, Blackrock and Dun Laoghaire.

Patton Flyer and Aircoach could be merging their business for that particular route. A nice and neat happy medium. Could you imagine "Patton Flyer in association with Aircoach"?

I doubt the later would happen - seeing as Patton's Facebook page seemed to indicate they were very much against each other a few days ago.

Hopefully we will find out soon when it launches. I heard rumored some time this week.

patrickbrophy18

devnull wrote: »

I doubt the later would happen - seeing as Patton's Facebook page seemed to indicate they were very much against each other a few days ago.

Hopefully we will find out soon when it launches. I heard rumored some time this week.

Where did you hear that rumor?

patrickbrophy18

dub_commuter, where did you hear the rumor that Patton was granted the license? It seems a bit odd that this is the case given that Aircoach have now update their list to include Dalkey, Glasthule, Dun Laoghaire, Monkstown and Blackrock Frascati. I am a bit confused.