RouteZero offers a free route-planner that helps you compare the carbon of different routes, as well as checking how long each journey will take. 

Flight Free UK’s ‘how to guides’ offer helpful advice on topics ranging from travelling with children to how to keep your costs down.

The Man in Seat 61 is a comprehensive rail travel guide, primarily focused on Europe but with advice on destinations further afield as well.

Rail Europe offers a simple way to book European train tickets and passes.

Direct Ferries allows you to compare and book ferry routes from the UK to Europe (France, Spain, Netherlands, etc.).

Snowcarbon is an independent guide to ski holidays in the Alps by train, with tailored personal support for planning your trip. 

Hop on the Next Available Train is a scheme created by a group of high-speed trains in Europe (including the Eurostar) allowing you to get the next available train for free if you miss a connection due to train delays. Check the Railteam Alliance for a full list of participating trains. 

Eurostar Cheap Fare Finder is a tool for comparing Eurostar journeys on different days to find the lowest price option.

Turn every £5 in vouchers into £10.00 to use with Irish Ferries.

See here for more details.

There are a host of websites and organisations ready to help staff plan and book journeys by land or sea. Check out this section of the member portal for ideas.

Loads of places! Check out this page for details of where other employees have travelled to with their Climate Perks days. Organisations like Byway can help you plan flight-free holidays (and don’t forget that as Climate Perks members, you get a £50 discount on Byway holidays with the code POSSIBLE), or if you’re in the UK you can also look at our blog for popular overland travel routes.

Unfortunately ‘offsetting’ is not a solution to climate change. Offsetting involves paying for an action or service elsewhere that, in theory, removes the same amount of carbon from the atmosphere as is released from an activity, such as a flight.

There are many practical issues involved that make it very hard to say whether carbon has truly been removed from the atmosphere - and in what timeframe - as a result of the offsetting payment.

Most importantly, however, global carbon emissions need to start falling rapidly to avoid climate breakdown. Offsetting, by definition, does not reduce emissions. To reduce emissions we need both technological and behavioural change. But offsetting works against behavioural change by allowing existing, high carbon, behaviours to prevail - along with the industries that enable them.

For more information about the pitfalls of carbon offsetting, see this article by Possible’s Director of Campaigns, Max Wakefield.

Look at your workplace’s Climate Perks policy. Climate Perks journey days cover the difference in time between flights and overland travel, so you need to calculate how long it would take to travel by plane (including two hours’ check-in time each way), how long it will take using your chosen overland travel method (including check-in time each way), and then the difference between those two travel methods. That’s the amount you can claim as journey time. Sites like RouteZero can help you calculate this difference.

For the purposes of Climate Perks, sustainable holiday travel means travel by land or sea that has a significantly reduced environmental impact compared to journeys to the same destination by plane.

According to our 2024 Climate Perks policy template, qualifying sustainable holiday travel includes journeys by bus, train, ferry, coach and in both private and hired electric vehicles (EVs). It also includes journeys in petrol and diesel cars where there are three or more people in the vehicle. It does not include petrol or diesel car journeys with fewer than three passengers, nor does it include road-trips with campervans or caravans. It also does not include holidays which are journeys in themselves, e.g. long-distance cycle rides, cruises or walks - unless travel is required to or from start and end points.

Check your organisation’s policy for more details.

Some car journeys are eligible for Climate Perks. Qualifying journeys include journeys made by private or hired electric vehicles, or journeys in petrol and diesel cars where there are three or more people in the vehicle. Climate Perks does not cover single or dual passenger journeys in petrol or diesel cars, because these often have similar emissions levels to flying.

We recognise that some people live in areas where it is hard to get to the nearest transport hub without driving. Therefore, for the purposes of this scheme, a “journey” should be considered the travel from the nearest city or major transport hub, to your destination city or transport hub, rather than from door to door. As an example, if you were travelling from rural Yorkshire to Paris, you would calculate the difference in flying from Leeds to Paris and getting the train from Leeds to Paris and claim that as Climate Perks time. Car travel from your home to the station or airport would not be included in your calculation.

Most employers choose to offer travel time to part-time employees on a pro-rata basis. Check your organisation’s policy for more details.

We have a template email your spouse/partner can share with their employer to get them signed up. They can also email hello@climateperks.com for support, and we’ll help them make a case to their employer.

In our latest template policy there is an optional item that reads: ‘the policy excludes travel within mainland Great Britain, but can include travel between mainland Great Britain, Northern Ireland and British islands (e.g. the Isle of Man, the Scilly Isles, Shetland Islands, Channel Islands).’ Please check your organisation’s policy to see whether you included this paragraph in your final policy.

In our template policy there is an optional item that reads: ‘in order to qualify for this scheme, both the outward and return journeys must be made via sustainable travel. As an example, you cannot claim travel time for train travel on your outward journey, if you plan to return by plane.’ Please check your organisation’s policy to see whether this paragraph was included in your final policy.

There are lots of ways to encourage greater uptake of the scheme. Some ideas include:

• Spread the word: Remind staff through internal forums, emails, Slack channels, team meetings and staff newsletters. Make sure Climate Perks is covered in your staff handbook and on recruitment materials so new employees are aware of the scheme.

• Expand the scheme: Offer more journey days to allow people to travel further, or change your policy to allow Climate Perks to be used for one-way trips or shorter journeys.*

• Offer financial support: Some Climate Perks employers offer a bursary to cover the difference in cost between flights and overland travel. To find out more, email us on hello@climateperks.com.

• Run a team session: Climate Perks Premium members with over 100 employees can request that we run a session for your teams about Climate Perks and how they can claim their journey days. We will also consider requests from smaller organisations, although this will be dependent on our capacity. Email us on hello@climateperks.com to find a time.

We want Climate Perks to be as simple and low-cost as possible for employers to implement, while being able to demonstrate the impact of the scheme.

As a Climate Perks employer, each year we will ask you to tell us:

• How many employees used the scheme

• How many journeys were taken.

• How many journey days were used.

With further optional reporting including:

• Which destinations were travelled to.

• Which modes of transport were substituted for plane travel.

• Demographic characteristics of employees using the scheme.

Using information you provide, we will provide you with reports to demonstrate the estimated emissions savings of implementing Climate Perks at your organisation.

Climate Perks is run by climate change charity Possible.

We’re on a mission to speed up action on climate change. Our work cuts carbon, but because we work on a cultural level as well as technical ones, we build infectious projects which get people talking.

It is always more than just a solar panel here, or an LED there: it’s groups of people working with tech to change the world.

Our charity number is 1157 363 and you can find out more about our work at wearepossible.org.

No. Paid journey days are not the same as annual leave days because they can only be used to travel, not for leisure time.

Whether an employee has flown to a destination or taken advantage of Climate Perks to travel over land or sea, they will have exactly the same number of annual leave days remaining after their holiday.

Our data suggests that implementing Climate Perks results in a major reduction in carbon emissions, even taking into account the small number of employees that may travel further as a result of the scheme.

Because Climate Perks employers offer a limited number of paid journey days - not additional annual leave days - all employees are entitled to the same amount of annual leave, however they travel.

Paid journey days can only be used to enable longer, lower carbon, trips by land or sea. The scheme recognises that it is more time-consuming, and often more arduous, to travel over land or sea, and so it offers journey days in exchange. Climate Perks is designed to enable low-carbon travel choices for as many people as possible, rather than act as a reward for certain staff.

Due to the different lifestyles, responsibilities and locations of staff members, it will be easier for some to make use of Climate Perks journey days than others. Staff that are less able to use journey days will have no less access to paid leisure time: they can spend the same amount of time on annual leave, but with less travel time required.

Employers often offer a range of employee perks - from gym memberships to childcare vouchers - that are not applicable or attractive to every employee, with employees choosing benefits that suit them best. We believe Climate Perks is a novel and timely addition to this offer for participating employers.

As a Climate Perks Premium member, you can request an annual breakdown of your estimated carbon saved through implementing Climate Perks, as well as template text to be put into your sustainability report. Get in touch with us at hello@climateperks.com to request this (NB: You must have a full year of Climate Perks usage to qualify for this reporting support).

As a Premium member, you and your teams get access to a range of exclusive resources and support, including:

• Exclusive staff discounts on low-carbon holidays and workplace sustainability tools through our discount providers.

• Annual reports on your estimated carbon savings through Climate Perks membership, along with template text for sustainability or annual reporting.

• Ongoing one-to-one implementation and roll-out support from the Climate Perks team, including supporting employees to plan trips.

• Access for all employees to a Climate Perks member portal through which staff can research, plan and book flight-free holidays.

• Communications materials for sharing the scheme internally and externally, including a tailored press release to publicise the scheme’s launch.

• Use of the Climate Perks accreditation stamp.

• A regular member newsletter, including resources and inspiration for planning flight-free trips.

• (For organisations with 100+ employees) A launch session for employees run by Climate Perks to explain the scheme and their low-carbon travel options.