A woman successfully convinced her boss to give her two extra paid days off to travel. Amy Cameron, 36, travelled via train instead of plane and bagged more annual leave as a result.
The 36-year-old managed to spend just 10 days of annual leave on a 12-day trip to Majorca. This was due to the fact the she had foregone flights and booked herself onto a train instead, reports the Mirror.
Her employer, Glimpse, is signed up to Climate Perks, which gives extra annual leave to employees who opt to take greener forms of transport to their holiday destinations. The additional leave left Amy feeling like the extra cash she spent on the train was worth it over the cheaper flight alternative.
She took the took the train from London to Majorca via Paris and Barcelona for her vacation with her partner. Amy said: "You can actually enjoy the journey.
"People make the mistake of swapping like for like and try and fire straight down to Barcelona on the train. You can do that, but I like to enjoy the journey.
"[My boyfriend and I] went in the evening from London to Paris, spent a night and had dinner there, and then went from Paris to Barcelona the next day where we had dinner before taking the overnight ferry to Majorca. We left on Thursday evening and arrived at 6am on Saturday.
"It was so nice. We turned the journey into part of the holiday.
"On the train from Paris to Barcelona we saw all the flamingos in the Camargue. There's also a restaurant car you can sit in."
Amy argues that taking the train is much more of a luxurious experience than going by plane because "flying hasn't been glamorous since the 80s". She added: "People underestimate how long flying takes.
"In reality you have to get to the airport two hours before because it's never where your holiday is. Whereas I find when I travel by train I'm already on holiday when I get on."
In 2023 companies signed up to Climate Perks are expected to give just shy of 5,000 days of extra annual leave to employees who utilise greener transport links for their holidays. Some of the firms which have signed up include Wholegrain Digital, Julie's Bicycle, Bristol Credit Union, Friends of the Earth, Direct Ferries, Triple Bottom Line Accounting, 39 Essex Chambers, the Brunel Museum and Third Sector Accounting.
Amy's company gives employees up to two days off, but there is no limit for how many extra leave employers can doll out. She says her workplace includes its Climate Perks policy in its job ads, which is a draw for potential employees
Amy said: "The year before I went to a friend's wedding in south of France which took two days on the train. I am lucky because I live in London and the Eurostar makes it easy to get to mainland Europe, and the trains are much cheaper there."
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