Planning to travel

There is every chance that you will need to travel to new places during this process. This may be for the inquest; it could be to meet lawyers, caseworkers or to attend an INQUEST Family Forum or other types of meetings.

With any kind of travel there are cost implications. You need to be sure where you are going, the best route for getting there, and whether you will be staying overnight or coming back the same day. Many of these planning skills are things you may already have looked at elsewhere in the toolkit. (Section 1.2: Action planning and Dealing with obstacles, and Section 1.3: Dealing with important facts). You might want to look at them again for help.

Making any trip involves planning in advance. If you are travelling by car, route finders on the internet can help you plan the best route as they include information on how long the journey will take, road works and petrol costs as well as directions.

If you intend to travel by coach or train there are a number of web sites that will give you information on routes, times and cost of tickets.

Tips on planning to travel

• Always plan your trip in advance – by doing so you will save money on pre booking tickets and improve your choice of travel options. Collecting rail tickets from your local station will save postage costs and allow you to have the tickets to hand in advance.
• Research the best route and mode of transport in advance – you can do this online, by phone or even asking at your local railway station.
• Find out before you travel if your destination is near the coach or rail station and if not plan how you make the final part of your journey.
• See if you qualify for a rail card of any sort (family, 16-25 and senior rail cards can save you money).
• If your trip is a long one you can save money by taking your own food and drink rather than pay higher costs on trains.
• Remember to take any maps or directions you may have been given in advance. If you need help contact the destination and ask them for information on directions.
• If you need to stay overnight, find out if there are cheap hotels in advance, again pre booking may save you money.

Here are some useful links for travel information:

• The AA – for road journeys
• RAC – for road journeys
• National Rail – train travel times and ticket costs
• TheTrainline – train travel times and ticket costs
• RailEasy – cheap ticket information
• National Express – coach travel timetables and ticket costs
• Transport for London – travel information in and around London including underground and bus information
• MoneysavingExpert – information on cheapest travel deals