Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

[fairydust]

Hey all, I wonder if any of you can help me? I'm looking to travel from Swindon to Bristol on the 31st Jan... I had a look before Christmas and it was advertised at £24. To Bristol?!! I thought that was too expensive (I've paid less than half of that to go to Cardiff and back!) but now I look and it's £29 - I can't believe it's so expensive?! I'm hoping someone will tell me I've got it wrong...

Edit - I've been looking around online and I've found a company called 'raileasy' who can offer me these tickets for £14.50 - has anyone dealt with this company before?

[Livingthedream]

Hey all, I wonder if any of you can help me? I'm looking to travel from Swindon to Bristol on the 31st Jan... I had a look before Christmas and it was advertised at £24. To Bristol?!! I thought that was too expensive (I've paid less than half of that to go to Cardiff and back!) but now I look and it's £29 - I can't believe it's so expensive?! I'm hoping someone will tell me I've got it wrong...

Edit - I've been looking around online and I've found a company called 'raileasy' who can offer me these tickets for £14.50 - has anyone dealt with this company before?

fairydust, you can get an Off Peak Day Single for £12.10 (valid for travel after 09:30) and this is using Virgin Trains website but any train company website with do. Raileasy and the Trainline will charge you booking and postage fees, train companies don't so therefore a cheaper way.

https://www.buytickets.virgintrains.co.uk/JourneyRequest.aspx

PS. this is a walk on fare so the price don't change and you can easily just go to your local station and get it on the day of travel. Off Peak day returns are only 10p more expensive

[Steeveb]

Hi,
I hope someone can help me out here. I need to travel down to London Euston on Friday 20th feb 09 to arrive before midday and then to return the following day departing around 6 - 7 pm. I'll be travelling with my wife & 2 kids so was going to apply for a family railcard. Looking at the cheapest option on Virgin trains, I can source the tickets for £52.80 ( I presume this is per person with no discounts for the kids?).
Does anyone have any other suggestions / promotion codes / offers for this journey?
I'm sure I saw somewhere that a national newspaper was doing return tickets to London for £5 in Feb, but can't seem to see it anywhere now - doh !
Thanks in advance for your help
;)

[Livingthedream]

Just had a look and the £52.80 is for 2 Advance Singles, 1 from Liverpol LS to London Eus and other London Eus to Liverpool LS, for 2 adults and 2 children with family railcard. That is the cheapest direct ticket you will get.

But will have a look to see if I can get it cheaper for you :T

Just had another look and I can get you and your family to London and back for £37.40 but this train arrives into London at 13:49 earliest and is a slower train :confused:

Liverpool LS to London Eus 10:04 Super Off Peak Return £37.40 (London Midland trains only and for Travel after 09:30)
London Euston to Liverpool LS 16:46 Super Off Peak Return £0 (London Midland trains only)

Ask for that type of ticket at a station or go to advance option on the national rail website and select 'London midland' in the 'show me journeys from the following operators' option

[Steeveb]

Hi,

Thanks for looking into that, I didn't realise London Midland provided this route ! The only issue I can see is the journey time is pretty long - over double that of Virgin, but at that price it may still be worthwhile.
Thanks for your help !

[suenbern]

Those £8 quid Advance ticket don't last long, had a quick check on Virgin trains and theres some still available;
Manchester Pic to London Eus 10:35 £8 advance single
London Eus to Manchester Pic 18:55 £8 advance single

https://www.buytickets.virgintrains.co.uk/JourneyRequest.aspx

The Preston to Manchester ticketsare walk on fares and can be bought anytime


:beer: Thanks again - I've just been on the website - think the £8 fares have gone but have found £45 for 3 of us (assume that's single) so it's still a lot cheaper.

Sue

[fairydust]

fairydust, you can get an Off Peak Day Single for £12.10 (valid for travel after 09:30) and this is using Virgin Trains website but any train company website with do. Raileasy and the Trainline will charge you booking and postage fees, train companies don't so therefore a cheaper way.

https://www.buytickets.virgintrains.co.uk/JourneyRequest.aspx

PS. this is a walk on fare so the price don't change and you can easily just go to your local station and get it on the day of travel. Off Peak day returns are only 10p more expensive
Thanks for the reply :) Do you mean get two walk on singles (@ £12.10 each way?) making the total £24.20?

How much do raileasy charge for booking and P&P then? Is it more than a tenner?!

And after reading the posts above it's so unfair we have to pay more for two of us to go thirty or so miles when it's so cheap from for three people from London to Manchester!!

[Livingthedream]

Thanks for the reply :) Do you mean get two walk on singles (@ £12.10 each way?) making the total £24.20?

How much do raileasy charge for booking and P&P then? Is it more than a tenner?!

And after reading the posts above it's so unfair we have to pay more for two of us to go thirty or so miles when it's so cheap from for three people from London to Manchester!!

Answers to your Q's
1. No the Off Peak Day Return is outward and return within the same day for £12.20 if you are staying longer then get an Off peak Return for £14.50 (again only valid after 09:30)
2.Raileasy, charges a £1 booking fee on every purchase over £10 (£2 if it's under a tenner), plus a 50p debit card fee and 2.5% for credit cards.
3. Long distance rail travel (London to Manchester) has another ticket type called 'Advance' these are a lot cheaper but have heavy restrictions but can sell out very quick and can only be bought up to 1800 the day before. Once there sold out you can only get expensive walk on fares :eek:

[Rumman]

Try this, takes you via Manchester/change train there, it will be longer time wise but it is cheaper;

Doncaster to Manchester Pic 22nd 05:40 Single £16.40
Manchester Pic to London Euston 22nd 07:35 Advance Single £28

Total £44.40

Hope it helps?
Advance tickets so get them early and you must travel on the booked train

Thanks for that appreciate it, booked it the couple days ago.

[sadiejp]

need to travel form melton mowbray to london, 23rd jan iseally around lunch time but anytime ok and return on the 25th again anytime, whats the cheapest way to get ther coming up at 50 pound return on trainline,

Well just to say i have sourced my travel for fri to london, getting national express coach a bit longer journey time, but with the funfare rate via the daily mirror promo got it for a grand total of 6 pound return, quite a saving, and to top this i managed to get a room on the staff rate at Hilton for 16.00 per night inc breakfast........my first real moneysaving

[nobletf]

I have been visiting the Virgin website to get the ticket deal recommended but they are only advertising tickets up until 6th February. I am travelling on 19th Feb returning 21st Feb. Will they extend the date soon for tickets to be sold for those dates or will i have to get a normal ticket?

[Lois and CK]

Hi, I was hoping someone can help me.

I want to travel from Manchester to London Euston on Tuesday 10 February. I need to arrive before 12noon. I want to return the same day and travel after 6pm.

I found it for £66 on Virgin Trains website. Does anyone know of any cheaper ways of doing this on trains?

Thank you.

[Livingthedream]

Hi, I was hoping someone can help me.

I want to travel from Manchester to London Euston on Tuesday 10 February. I need to arrive before 12noon. I want to return the same day and travel after 6pm.

I found it for £66 on Virgin Trains website. Does anyone know of any cheaper ways of doing this on trains?

Thank you.

go back to the Virgin Ticket website and input your details again;
https://www.buytickets.virgintrains.co.uk/JourneyRequest.aspx

about half way down is a box 'go via or avoid' select 'go via' and in the other box type 'crewe' then Check availabilty

Manchester Pic to London Euston 09:30 Advance Single £16 (arrives 12:00)
London Euston to Manchester Pic 20:40 Advance Single £8

Total £24

Advance Tickets so you have to travel on the booked train and these tickets can sell out quick

[Lois and CK]

go back to the Virgin Ticket website and input your details again;
https://www.buytickets.virgintrains.co.uk/JourneyRequest.aspx

about half way down is a box 'go via or avoid' select 'go via' and in the other box type 'crewe' then Check availabilty

Manchester Pic to London Euston 09:30 Advance Single £16 (arrives 12:00)
London Euston to Manchester Pic 20:40 Advance Single £8

Total £24

Advance Tickets so you have to travel on the booked train and these tickets can sell out quick

That's brilliant, thank you so much :j

How did you know to choose via Crewe?? I'd never have thought of that.

[Livingthedream]

That's brilliant, thank you so much :j

How did you know to choose via Crewe?? I'd never have thought of that.

I travel via Crewe or Warrington BQ alot and therefore use these stations to get the cheapest tickets. :beer:

[MrsMop]

Hiya
Im looking to travel from Newcastle to London on 15th April returning on the 17th. The price is coming up at £208 return. Does anyone know any cheaper ways, ticket splits or should I wait till near the time?
Thanks for any replys!

[miller]

Hiya
Im looking to travel from Newcastle to London on 15th April returning on the 17th. The price is coming up at £208 return. Does anyone know any cheaper ways, ticket splits or should I wait till near the time?
Thanks for any replys!
I've worked out whats happened here. Thats 2 singles @ £104.00. Some rail websites bring up the 2 singles option first, if you click on "view flexible return tickets" (or similar) it will bring up "proper" return tickets.

You should look at the Super Off Peak return which gives the most you should pay at £105.00 if travelling off-peak. Then try splitting at York, Doncaster, Peterborough etc. I think half the problem is that week contains Easter Monday.

I have also looked on www.flybe.com (http://www.flybe.com) for those dates and it is possible to get flights for £74.98 return all in then you would need to add a train ticket from Gatwick to London (if you don't know Gatwick Airport the train station is underneath the South Terminal so there is minimal walking involved). Easyjet looks like £44.00 return to Stanstead.

[dzug1]

Hiya
Im looking to travel from Newcastle to London on 15th April returning on the 17th. The price is coming up at £208 return. Does anyone know any cheaper ways, ticket splits or should I wait till near the time?
Thanks for any replys!


If you are getting £208 return you are doing something wrong - the walk up fare is £105, £163.80 or £266 (all return) depending on the degree of peak hour travel you need. You can buy any of these on the day of travel.

Ah - see what you've done. Two super off peak singles at £104 each rather than a super off peak return at £105. Two singles are not always cheaper than a return.

But if you wait for the advance singles to become available (12 weeks is an utter myth) you should be able to get it much cheaper - the cheapest possible fare is £14 each way. Even if you can't, you've lost nothing.

My guess is it will be another 2 or 3 weeks before you can book cheaply

[pazza2000]

GOING MAD!!!!!!

Really want to get a £1 fares with the mirror national express promo:

http://www.nationalexpress.com/coach/offers/mirror.cfm?nosession=yes&CFID=40665878&CFTOKEN=76108054

Looking for Glasgow>London rtn, the 'mirror' link shows me the dates of the £1 fares available on there site however when i select them at stage 2, any of them for that matter(as im flexible)-when im brought through to the next page 'stage 3' -the fares have dissappeared and im left with there regular fares. What am i doing wrong -i have tried countless times, different dates and im having no luck. Im going through the mirror link and have registered -i seriously believe its a site error.

Is there anyone that could shed any light, or offer any help. It would be ever so appreciated -its essential i go to London at some point over the next few weeks however sadly funds are very low

Thanks

[dzug1]

GOING MAD!!!!!!

Really want to get a £1 fares with the mirror national express promo:

http://www.nationalexpress.com/coach/offers/mirror.cfm?nosession=yes&CFID=40665878&CFTOKEN=76108054

Looking for Glasgow>London rtn, the 'mirror' link shows me the dates of the £1 fares available on there site however when i select them at stage 2, any of them for that matter(as im flexible)-when im brought through to the next page 'stage 3' -the fares have dissappeared and im left with there regular fares. What am i doing wrong -i have tried countless times, different dates and im having no luck. Im going through the mirror link and have registered -i seriously believe its a site error.

Is there anyone that could shed any light, or offer any help. It would be ever so appreciated -its essential i go to London at some point over the next few weeks however sadly funds are very low

Thanks

Try megabus instead? Can't help with main question, sorry.

[fairydust]

Answers to your Q's
1. No the Off Peak Day Return is outward and return within the same day for £12.20 if you are staying longer then get an Off peak Return for £14.50 (again only valid after 09:30)
2.Raileasy, charges a £1 booking fee on every purchase over £10 (£2 if it's under a tenner), plus a 50p debit card fee and 2.5% for credit cards.
3. Long distance rail travel (London to Manchester) has another ticket type called 'Advance' these are a lot cheaper but have heavy restrictions but can sell out very quick and can only be bought up to 1800 the day before. Once there sold out you can only get expensive walk on fares :eek:

Ahh I see - you're saying I can get a walk on (I'll be travelling out around 2pm and returning the following day around midday) off peak return for £14.50? So no need to pre book? Thats brilliant! Thanks ever so!

[shell_542]

Hi there. I'm hoping someone in the know can help me.

I'm wanting to travel from Merthyr Vale to Milton Keynes Central on the 30th January and return on the 1st February. I know it's short notice so might be pushing my luck for cheaper fares. But if anyone can find a cheaper fare than £114 return, for 2 adults, I would be really grateful.

Michelle x

[miller]

Hi there. I'm hoping someone in the know can help me.
I'm wanting to travel from Merthyr Vale to Milton Keynes Central on the 30th January and return on the 1st February. I know it's short notice so might be pushing my luck for cheaper fares. But if anyone can find a cheaper fare than £114 return, for 2 adults, I would be really grateful.
Michelle x

Tough one, I couldn't find much improvement on this. Maybe splitting at Birmingham New Street might help, but that is a risk as you will probably have to change trains there - then if you miss the connection you could be in hot water if its an advance purchase ticket.

I mucked around with coaches (and thats what you would be doing as well if you took the option) and I found a fare for £39.50 per adult (from Cardiff, so you would still need to get there) with National Express.

[shell_542]

Thanks for the reply.

I managed to get it a little bit cheaper by changing at Cardiff, Cheltenham Spa and Birmingham New Street. All booked now so please don't tell me if you find a cheaper way!!!

I may ask again in the future though. lol

Michelle x

[shell_542]

Miller, thanks for the coach suggestion too. It's how me and my husband were going to travel when we thought we were going on our own but turns out we are taking our 3 yr old and 1 yr old now so the thought of spending almost 2 days on a coach with them, there and back, brings me out in a cold sweat. lol

[kitty123]

Just looked on website - does the £1 national express deal only run until end March? I need Bath to London travel for Good Fri (10th April). Not showing any deals.

[KeithP]

Kitty, try a bit nearer the time. But a Bank Holiday may be difficult.

[miller]

Miller, thanks for the coach suggestion too. It's how me and my husband were going to travel when we thought we were going on our own but turns out we are taking our 3 yr old and 1 yr old now so the thought of spending almost 2 days on a coach with them, there and back, brings me out in a cold sweat. lolWhen I was a young I remember going on a 10 hour coach journey. I don't remember it being much fun (which means it was unlikely to be fun for all the other passengers too!).

[chem_j]

Hi,
Does anyone know the cheapest tickets for Liverpool to Bangor. There are two of us travelling on 4th February, out in the morning, back in the evening. The cheapest I can get is £46 off-peak return for the two of us, though we can save a few pounds by splitting tickets in Chester.
Thanks!

[KeithP]

Hi,
Does anyone know the cheapest tickets for Liverpool to Bangor. There are two of us travelling on 4th February, out in the morning, back in the evening. The cheapest I can get is £46 off-peak return for the two of us, though we can save a few pounds by splitting tickets in Chester.
Thanks!
Yes, as you say, you can reduce the return fare to £21.10 each by splitting at Chester.
That's the best I can do. Have you looked at coaches?

[chem_j]

Thanks for that. Unfortunately there's only one coach a day, which leaves from Bangor in the morning and Liverpool in the evening. :-(

[shopndrop]

Can anyone suggest if there is a cheaper way of getting from London Waterloo or Paddington to Westbury in Wiltshire or Bath Spa on Friday 6 Feb leaving London after 4pm. I was going to book last night and a single ticket was about £10-£11, now the cheapest is £26.75 to Westbury or £31.70 to Bath Spa using a Young Persons Railcard.

[dzug1]

Can anyone suggest if there is a cheaper way of getting from London Waterloo or Paddington to Westbury in Wiltshire or Bath Spa on Friday 6 Feb leaving London after 4pm. I was going to book last night and a single ticket was about £10-£11, now the cheapest is £26.75 to Westbury or £31.70 to Bath Spa using a Young Persons Railcard.

I think you are missing a trick somewhere

There's still a £9.90 single on the 1850 from Waterloo to Westbury. To find it go into advanced options and specify a route Salisbury

Or £10.55 to Bath on the same train

[shopndrop]

Hi dzug 1 - Which website did you find this on please? I certainly hadn't come across it.

[dzug1]

Hi dzug 1 - Which website did you find this on please? I certainly hadn't come across it.

I used the First Great Western site but it won't be exclusive to them. All sites should be manipulable to show them if you know how.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/

To find it put London (don't specify the station) to Westbury or Bath Spa as normal.

When the times come up (which will almost invariably be from Paddington)instead of going straight to find fares click the advanced options button and insert go via Salisbury, then go to fares. The Waterloo trains will then appear with hopefully cheap fares. (They are usually available well after the Paddington ones have sold out)

[Lady of D]

I'm looking for London to Glasgow - one way on 22nd February.

Usually I'm great at finding split tickets but I just can't find anything cheaper than about £40!!!


There are coaches that are pretty cheap but I travelled from London to Glasgow last month on a coach...11 hours. NOT fun. I'd prefer train so I can take my netbook and get some work done on my way home.


Thanks,


Kirsty

[rach3]

hi can any one help me find the cheapest return tickets? i need to get from carlisle to colchester either tommorrow 28th or thurs 29th, returning mon or tues2nd /3rd feb.might be on my own or with 1 child, i already have a family rail card. thanks.

[miller]

I'm looking for London to Glasgow - one way on 22nd February.
EasyJet is £23.99 on their 07.55 departure from London Gatwick

[Livingthedream]

hi can any one help me find the cheapest return tickets? i need to get from carlisle to colchester either tommorrow 28th or thurs 29th, returning mon or tues2nd /3rd feb.might be on my own or with 1 child, i already have a family rail card. thanks.

Try this hope its not to complicated;
Outward 29th Jan
Carlisle to Birmingham NS 12:07 £18 1 adult 1 child book/buy Via Megatrain.com
Birmingham NS to Colchester15:30 £22.95 Advance Single 1 adult and 1 child & FF card

Return 3rd Feb
Colchester to Birmingham NS 08:45 £18.30 Advance Single 1 adult and 1 child & FF card
Birmingham NS to Carlisle 12:20 £6 1 adult 1 child book/buy Via Megatrain.com

Total £65.25 :j

With the advance singles and I'm sure its the same for the megatrain tickets you must travel on the booked trains. As these are split advance tickets there is around 30 min for you to catch your connection at Birmingham but if the train from Carlisle or Colchester is later than this it could cause you problems, thats the risk with these cheap tickets

[rach3]

thanks for that! but theres been a change of plan, i am going carlisle to colchester wed 4th or thurs 5th coming back on mon 9th feb, 1adult 1 child with fam railcard. i will look on the megatrain site. x

[shb]

Can I buy an advance ticket at a very cheap price e.g Loughborough to London £11 but get on the specified train at Leicester?

[ruthiejane]

Can I buy an advance ticket at a very cheap price e.g Loughborough to London £11 but get on the specified train at Leicester?
No! You must make the journey specified on the ticket. If there are ticket barriers at Leicester you would not be allowed through with a ticket valid from Loughborough.

[superstan]

Having trouble with the National Express site, (fatal error) Trying to get cheapest tickets to and from Hull, preferably missing London altogether, Must be at Stansted by 14.00 on 14.02.09 and can return after 11.00 on 21.02.09. My seemingly pathetic attempts have only resulted in coming up with the advance return as cheapest! Can anyone help please?
(sorry I have posted this in a wrong topic previously, useless at this!)

[dzug1]

Can I buy an advance ticket at a very cheap price e.g Loughborough to London £11 but get on the specified train at Leicester?

It's likely you could get the same cheap ticket from Leicester itself though, maybe £1 cheaper

[dzug1]

Having trouble with the National Express site, (fatal error) Trying to get cheapest tickets to and from Hull, preferably missing London altogether, Must be at Stansted by 14.00 on 14.02.09 and can return after 11.00 on 21.02.09. My seemingly pathetic attempts have only resulted in coming up with the advance return as cheapest! Can anyone help please?
(sorry I have posted this in a wrong topic previously, useless at this!)

There's no such thing as an advance return so if what you are referring to is an advance single in each direction then it's likely to be the cheapest fare you can get.

What fare have you found?

[superstan]

There's no such thing as an advance return so if what you are referring to is an advance single in each direction then it's likely to be the cheapest fare you can get.

What fare have you found?

Thanks for replying. It's actually called a super off peak return on TheTrainLine.com. £75.00 return. I guess the East Coast Line doesn't offer so many deals.

I usually use National Express site but it constantly comes up with fatal error these days. (using Firefox)

btw Advance singles are £60.00 each way!

[dzug1]

You can buy a super off peak return at the same price on the day (and avoid thetrainline's booking fee in the process) - or use another train company's website if you really want it in advance with no fee. Doesn't matter which - they will all sell it. You are not tied to a specific train - any super off peak train is fine

You could try split ticketing at Peterborough - it works for some journeys.

[AdamBrunt]

Not sure if this is the best thread to ask in but .... does anyone know of any deals on family railcards at the moment ?

Also, would any deals be specific to local 'carrier' (SWT) or can be a family railcard be purchased from any carrier and used anywhere ?

[Livingthedream]

Not sure if this is the best thread to ask in but .... does anyone know of any deals on family railcards at the moment ?

Also, would any deals be specific to local 'carrier' (SWT) or can be a family railcard be purchased from any carrier and used anywhere ?

use this discount code Expert25

More info can be found here Link (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1429083&highlight=family+railcard)

Only restriction I know of is that the Railcard can't be used on weekday morning peak services entirely within the London and South East area.

To purchase a railcard go here Link (http://www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk/)

[TheMiner]

Just wondering why I can't see any cheap Advance tickets on the Cross Country site? I normally book trains for the missus once or twice a month from York to Birmingham and return, and can get two singles for generally about £20 (best was £17, worst £25.50) - and do this about 2-3 weeks in advance.

Now trying for 26th Feb after 4pm and there's only one train at £18.50; the return on 2nd March after 10am is the same price

This makes the journey a whopping £37 and more importantly (if anyone from a train site is reading) - A DAMN SITE MORE THAN USING HER CAR when you add in time and cost of getting to and from the stations.

I've checked March and April and these fares just aren't there anymore (there's the odd £11.50 but that's about it) - have they just stopped issuing them?? I can see a lot of empty trains...

EDIT - I can get an £18.50 fare tomorrow!!! All this book early stuff seems to be BS now

[banana1975]

Hi

I am new to all this but need to book to get to Edinburgh for the 15th April. Prices are coming up at 103.00 for a single!!! Last year I must have booked at the right time as it only cost me 45 quid!

Can anyone give me tips as to when I should be booking or spliting the journey?

Thanks in advance.

Jo

[miller]

I am new to all this but need to book to get to Edinburgh for the 15th April. Prices are coming up at 103.00 for a single!!!
£63.00 on the 0630 from Temple Meads via Paddington/Kings X

0645, 1620 & 1940 departures on EasyJet for £18.99 :money:
(apparently you wont be able to book these any cheaper according to their website)

[dzug1]

Just wondering why I can't see any cheap Advance tickets on the Cross Country site? I normally book trains for the missus once or twice a month from York to Birmingham and return, and can get two singles for generally about £20 (best was £17, worst £25.50) - and do this about 2-3 weeks in advance.

Now trying for 26th Feb after 4pm and there's only one train at £18.50; the return on 2nd March after 10am is the same price

This makes the journey a whopping £37 and more importantly (if anyone from a train site is reading) - A DAMN SITE MORE THAN USING HER CAR when you add in time and cost of getting to and from the stations.

I've checked March and April and these fares just aren't there anymore (there's the odd £11.50 but that's about it) - have they just stopped issuing them?? I can see a lot of empty trains...

EDIT - I can get an £18.50 fare tomorrow!!! All this book early stuff seems to be BS now

Cross Country appear to be releasing very few advance tickets in the cheaper price bands, but have lots at the top advance rate (making it often cheaper to buy an off peak return)

[TheMiner]

Well, they are pricing themselves out of the market. I've just fired a cheeky e-mail off, so will see how I get on. There are some cheap ones available in April

[dawnjess]

there is 9 of us going on saturday 25 april till monday 27 th april, best price return we found is 66 pound but i wanted to pay less, any offers about or anything i am missing, i saw virgin offering 8 pound one way but i cant find them tickets anywhere thanks

[C00kie]

Wanting to go to Birmingham from London on Sunday 22nd Feb, return same day (arrive in Brum midday, return trip anytime after 6pm). Had seen advance tickets for £7 each but they're now about £40 a few days later! Curses...was holding out on confirmation from a couple of friends to join me on trip, but of course the delay in coming back to me has meant it's pretty much priced out. D'oh!

Any way of making this cheaper - or is the coach the only option? I'm collecting the Sun tokens for 2-for-1 deal, but there's 3 of us going, and it's still a bit steep :rolleyes:

[dzug1]

Wanting to go to Birmingham from London on Sunday 22nd Feb, return same day (arrive in Brum midday, return trip anytime after 6pm). Had seen advance tickets for £7 each but they're now about £40 a few days later! Curses...was holding out on confirmation from a couple of friends to join me on trip, but of course the delay in coming back to me has meant it's pretty much priced out. D'oh!

Any way of making this cheaper - or is the coach the only option? I'm collecting the Sun tokens for 2-for-1 deal, but there's 3 of us going, and it's still a bit steep :rolleyes:

You might find Chiltern Trains a bit cheaper - put route High Wycombe in the search engines

[dzug1]

there is 9 of us going on saturday 25 april till monday 27 th april, best price return we found is 66 pound but i wanted to pay less, any offers about or anything i am missing, i saw virgin offering 8 pound one way but i cant find them tickets anywhere thanks

You are trying to book too early - if you wait a week or two the cheaper advance tickets should be available.

The Saturday ones may come out way later than the Monday one BTW

That £66 is a buy on the day ticket.

[kacie]

Does anyone know if I canget a hereford to preston return, on monday 9th feb of less tham £60, I need to get to preston by 12pm

[highland lass]

Friends going Aberdeen to Plymouth :eek: Friday 6 Feb returning hopefully Mon 9 Feb, 2 adults with 1 child and fam railcard.
Any advice on cheapest and fairly easy route by train please
Not used to searching rail sites as live on island with no trains near, when visiting Mainland use car.

[dzug1]

I've posted this in Silver Savers but it's probably worth repeating here:

Until early April First Great Western are offering over 55s a £25 off peak return ticket between any two stations on FGW lines. Or £45 for first class travel.

£5 off for senior railcard holders.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=3420

No need to prebook unless you want reservations - you can buy on the day.

[broke with student kids]

My daughter is at Brighton Uni and was using the megabus from Chester to Victoria and then the megabus to Brighton and it was very cheap. For some reason they have cancelled all buses to and from Brighton?! Ive just looked for the 'cheap' virgin train tickets but they dont see to apply to Fridays. I dont mind if its got to be manchester (27 miles away) I'll drive there, if it means she's closer and the fares (train or bus) are cheap. Anyone help?

[John89001]

megabus to Brighton ... was very cheap. For some reason they have cancelled all buses to and from Brighton?! ... Anyone help?

Southern offer Advance single train fares from Victoria to Brighton from £3.
http://www.southernrailway.com/main.php?page_id=499

John

[Gray-Fox]

I'm wishing to travel from London to Nottingham on the 21st February. However, when I search using trainline.com or eastmidlandstrains.com, the really cheap tickets are non-existent.

Am I right in thinking the cheapest advance tickets only start appearing a week before date of travel?

[dalianatkinson]

I want to travel from Edinburgh to London on the 26th feb, departing at around 9:00 and returning at around 18:00. National Express East Coast said the cheapest i could do it was £110 (for a return with a 16-25 railcard). 2 singles with them worked out more.

I checked with Virgin and with them, via Wolverhampton it's £78.50 return. Is this the best I'll do? As a penniless student it seems like a lot. Does anyone know of any split fares for this route, or if the cheaper tickets will be released nearer the time?

Thanks in advance.

[dzug1]

I'm wishing to travel from London to Nottingham on the 21st February. However, when I search using trainline.com or eastmidlandstrains.com, the really cheap tickets are non-existent.

Am I right in thinking the cheapest advance tickets only start appearing a week before date of travel?

No - they disappear soon after release 12 weeks (in theory - more often rather less) prior to departure

For your date megatrain still have £12.50 tickets.

[Gray-Fox]

No - they disappear soon after release 12 weeks (in theory - more often rather less) prior to departure

For your date megatrain still have £12.50 tickets.

How can this be right though? I've bought discounted tickets for this journey the day before???

[Gray-Fox]

It's ok.

The discounted fares are showing on Virgin and East Midlands trains now.

EDIT: Just ended up getting a single from nottingham to london on a monday mid morning for £6.60!!! It was an internet advance.

I've never ever had one that cheap before.

NB: I have a 16-25 railcard and I am travelling off-peak.

[gner_ex]

No! You must make the journey specified on the ticket. If there are ticket barriers at Leicester you would not be allowed through with a ticket valid from Loughborough.
Unless it is a ticket valid for break of journey.

[gner_ex]

I want to travel from Edinburgh to London on the 26th feb, departing at around 9:00 and returning at around 18:00. National Express East Coast said the cheapest i could do it was £110 (for a return with a 16-25 railcard). 2 singles with them worked out more.

I checked with Virgin and with them, via Wolverhampton it's £78.50 return. Is this the best I'll do? As a penniless student it seems like a lot. Does anyone know of any split fares for this route, or if the cheaper tickets will be released nearer the time?

Thanks in advance.

If you can delay a little bit, there is an off-peak return priced at £71.80 (with 16-25 railcard). This is valid via either route, restrictions being any train due to arrive london 11:17 or later, and departing London between 09:29 and 14:57 or after 18:59. Also check the 16-25 railcard restrictions in case they contradict this - I'm a little out of touch with these since they changed.

If you want a bit of flexibility, then this is your best bet.

You could look for advance fares, both for the whole journey, and perhaps splitting at York.

[gner_ex]

My daughter is at Brighton Uni and was using the megabus from Chester to Victoria and then the megabus to Brighton and it was very cheap. For some reason they have cancelled all buses to and from Brighton?! Ive just looked for the 'cheap' virgin train tickets but they dont see to apply to Fridays. I dont mind if its got to be manchester (27 miles away) I'll drive there, if it means she's closer and the fares (train or bus) are cheap. Anyone help?

A saver return from Chester to Brighton is £55.45 with 16-25 railcard - this is valid any route, off peak times (and includes the cross-London transfer). The cheapest advance fare in the system is £7.60 single - but you'll be lucky to find these I suspect. Try looking for a Thursday instead - Friday is the day everyone has off work in order to do a long weekend somewhere.

[dzug1]

Unless it is a ticket valid for break of journey.

Advance tickets (which OP was asking about) are never valid for break of journey

[dzug1]

How can this be right though? I've bought discounted tickets for this journey the day before???


Depends how well they sell - for popular trains they sell out quickly, for unpopular ones (or obscure routes sometimes) they can well be available the day before.

I've not heard of them releasing extra cheap tickets at the last minute but it's always possible. Not reliable though.

[streeting2006]

The split ticket option does work and saves you a serious amount on the standard fare!

I travelled recently on a Saturday morning from Bagshot, Surrey to Bristol Parkway, this ticket if you try and book form a ticket office or online will come up as £41.00 single.

I paid £13.80 single. By working out where you will pick up the mainline train and buying a seperate ticket to that destination you can save money. i.e. I paid a £2.30 fare on the day of travel from Bagshot to Ascot. I had pre-booked the ascot to Parkway fare the night before for £10.50.

One catch if trying to book online can be that you need a station that you can do ticket collection from a machine- alternatively as no stations round me offer this service therefore unable to take advantage of the cheap fare you can call the train company direct.

South west trains faxed my booking over to Ascot for me to collect the following day and I still got the same deal.
You need to have a bit of flexibility to when you travel but there where other times that day ealrier and later that also offered savings if not the maximum one I found.

[pifpofpaf]

looking to do Manchester to Edinburgh evening of 20th Feb, returning on 22nd.. with a young persons.. cheapest found so far is 60, anything better around? cheers.

[nyerun]

Split ticketing works quite well on train


Shrewsbury- aber anytime £13.80
Wrx-shr- £5.80
Total £19.60

Wxm- aber £28.90

These use anytime fares, there are certain cheap fares on these trains, but not enough for all the students like me going back and too :-p

p.s these are adult fares, don’t forget 1/3 off on16-25 railcard


p.p.s USING X94 and X32 ARRIVA BUSES, THIS JOURNEY CAN BE DONE FOR £5, AND ONLY TAKES AROUND 30 MINUTES MORE!!!!!!!

[anjelflower]

Does anyone know the cheapest way to get from Cleethorpes to High Wycombe, I have tried using raileasy to have a look at different ways, but most still seem to be around £80.
I have had a look at various routes from Clee - doncaster -banbury - high wycombe
and Clee - london - high wycombe.
Any ideas please?

[adamtrainman]

anjelflower,
i'd probably say the Cleethorpes - Doncaster/Sheffield - Banbury - High Wycombe but try splitting the ticket into different sections like try
A single Cleethorpes - Doncaster using a Transpennine Express adv ticket
Single Doncaster - Banbury using a crosscountry adv ticket
And a single Banbury - Wycombe with Chiltern

Ive took 13th april as an example:-
09:28 Clee - Sheffield arr 11:08 £4 one way (TPE advanced purchase)
11:23 Sheffield - Banbury arr 13:18 £20 one way(Crosscountry advanced puchase)
13;13/14:07 Banbury - High Wycombe £9.20 one way(anytime single)/£17.40 Return (off-peak return) to come back within a month.

But on that day on them times you can get a through advanced purchase ticket for £31.50 one way.

As its been said before if your flexible with dates and times you can pick up a bargain

[Billy-no-Money]

Hi,
I've got it down to £63.40 return, don't know if that helps:

Cleethorpes-Birmingham New Street = £43.90 Off Peak Return
(Usually involves a change at Sheffield)
Then on a separate ticket:
Birmingham Moor Street-High Wycombe = £19.50 Super Off Peak Return

Total = £63.40

These fares are leaving Cleethorpes at about 9:30 on a Tuesday, arriving High Wycombe around 3pm. No advance booking needed.
The downside is that you have to walk from Birmingham New Street to Moor Street,but that's probably better than King's Cross to Marylebone!

The Super Off Peak ticket is more restrictive than the Off-Peak but by the time you get to Birmingham you'll be OK.

That's just a quick look - there may be better deals.

HTH


EDIT (thanks to Adamtrainman for correction): You should be able to buy the tickets I've described above, but stay on the train at Birmingham and change at Banbury instead. That saves walking between stations.
You should be able to buy the tickets at any staffed station or online, just be specific.

[Billy-no-Money]

If you're travelling from Blackpool (and presumably Poulton, St Annes etc) to places like Penrith, Carlisle and so on, don't buy a through ticket - split the journey at Preston.

Off peak Blackpool - Carlisle = £39.90

Or:
Blackpool - Preston = £6.80
Preston - Carlisle = £17.50

Total = £24.30
Saving: £15.60, or 39% for exactly the same trains!

This anomaly seems to have crept in with the new fare structures, and no doubt the same warning applies to lots of other through tickets from the Fylde.

[adamtrainman]

Just a note the Cleethorpes - High Wycombe direct ticket is routed via London so automatically becomes more expensive.

Just to correct Billy you can use the 19.50 Super Off Peak on any route via Banbury not just chiltern only

[FARE-COP]

Only a couple of days to go, but worth a look for some people no doubt:

http://links.emails.nationalexpresseastcoast.com/servlet/MailView?ms=MzEzOTIzMzAS1&r=MTUyNTEzOTY0MQS2&j=NDU3MzE0OTkS1&mt=1&rt=0

[neonitrix]

Only a couple of days to go, but worth a look for some people no doubt:

http://links.emails.nationalexpresseastcoast.com/servlet/MailView?ms=MzEzOTIzMzAS1&r=MTUyNTEzOTY0MQS2&j=NDU3MzE0OTkS1&mt=1&rt=0


any reason i cant see the promotion code box for entering love09?

tks

Neonitrix

[neonitrix]

Hi

I am looking for the cheapest tickets for 2 adults from:

Stansted Airport to Huntingdon via Peterborough

Departing 25th March 2009 - after 6pm from stansted

and Departing Huntingdon on the 28th March 2009 around 11am.


any help appreciated, tickets would have to be collectable from stansted or printable as we are flying from ireland to see relatives.

tks

Neonitrix

[adamtrainman]

Cheapest on the walk up fare is £28.40 each thats:-

Off Peak Return Stansted - Peterborough £18.80 each (Rtn within a month)
Then a single at £4.80 each Peterborough - Huntingdon
And another single on way back Huntingdon to Peterborough (£4.80)

Cant find any advanced tickets for that date.

That give you a
18:21 Stansted to Peterboro arr 19:50
20:16 Peterboro to Huntingdon arr 20:31

and
10:47 Huntingdon to Peterboro arr 11:04
11:18 Peterboro to Stansted 12:45

And pre-purchased tickets can be collected from the fast ticket machine at stansted but the tickets outlined above can be bought on the day anyway on arrival at stansted

[mr_maniac]

Right! it's been a while since I came back here, but since you've been so useful in the past, it's time to ask for your help again!!

Eastleigh to Durham, departing Monday 23rd March (anytime after 7am), returning Tuesday 24th March (after 2/3pm) - the cheapest fare I have found so far is £50.20 return using the National Express East Coast website (standard advance singles at £25.10 each), is it possible to get it any cheaper?

I have a 16-25 Railcard which I used to get that fare, but the fare is the same with no railcard if you're using the special discount they have running at the moment, since that also gives 1/3rd off rail fares.... I'm not expecting miracles, but any saving, if it were possible, would be appreciated!!!

Cheers everyone :)

mr_m

[dzug1]

any reason i cant see the promotion code box for entering love09?

tks

Neonitrix

I understand it only works if you link direct from their promotional e-mail

Edit - I'll rephrase that. The offer is only available to those who have actually received the e-mail from National Express, not to the general public.

[Bogof_Babe]

Has anyone managed to make this offer work? I'm trying to book a ticket and keep putting in the LOVE09 code in the relevant box but it is not altering the ticket price. Even continuing to the payment page it still shows the full price, so I haven't been able to click on Buy. I've used their "contact us" email facility but don't suppose I will get a reply before the promo ends on Monday.

I wonder if I am doing something wrong. Would love to know if anyone else has succeeded, and if so did the price change when you clicked on "Confirm" after entering the code?

[sawanderer]

It does work... I've tried a trip from London to York on 1st May without the code and got a £12.50 cheapest fare, and then entering the code it goes down to £8.25, which is a third off the original price.

[Bogof_Babe]

Did the fare change when you entered the code and clicked "confirm"? It won't work for me. I was beginning to wonder whether only the journeys in the email were valid for the offer, but London to York isn't one so it must mean anywhere, presumably :confused:.

[Bogof_Babe]

I'm wondering now whether my journey (Hereford to Southport) doesn't count as it is not on the East Coast line, but National Express just act as booking agents for them.

Or maybe because I am only booking a one way journey?

This is driving me potty. I've wasted a whole afternoon on it :(. Just to save about £3.50 too :o.

[dzug1]

I'm wondering now whether my journey (Hereford to Southport) doesn't count as it is not on the East Coast line, but National Express just act as booking agents for them.

Or maybe because I am only booking a one way journey?

This is driving me potty. I've wasted a whole afternoon on it :(. Just to save about £3.50 too :o.

The offer is only off National Express East Coast advance tickets - not off any other advance tickets National Express East Coast happen to sell.

Can't see anything to say that one way doesn't count

[Bogof_Babe]

The offer is only off National Express East Coast advance tickets - not off any other advance tickets National Express East Coast happen to sell.


That explains it then. Pity it wasn't clear in the email. Or perhaps I am just thick. Thanks anyway, you've put me out of my misery.

Lol I actually genuinely just typed "miserly" instead of misery - says it all really :rotfl:.

[Icemaiden]

Hi, can anyone help,

Need to travel on 24th April returning 26th April from Leeds or bradford, could be Manchester at a push, to St Austell with me, 17yrs old & 7yr old. No rail cards but willing to buy.
Cheapest I've come up with is £123.00 with family railcard return, is this a good deal or does anyone know how I could get it cheaper;)

Thanks in advance

Ice
x

[dzug1]

Hi, can anyone help,

Need to travel on 24th April returning 26th April from Leeds or bradford, could be Manchester at a push, to St Austell with me, 17yrs old & 7yr old. No rail cards but willing to buy.
Cheapest I've come up with is £123.00 with family railcard return, is this a good deal or does anyone know how I could get it cheaper;)

Thanks in advance

Ice
x

For 3 (well 2½) travellers that's not a bad price.

It could be worth looking at travelling via and splitting tickets in London - assuming that's not what you are already doing.

[mr_maniac]

Right! it's been a while since I came back here, but since you've been so useful in the past, it's time to ask for your help again!!

Eastleigh to Durham, departing Monday 23rd March (anytime after 7am), returning Tuesday 24th March (after 2/3pm) - the cheapest fare I have found so far is £50.20 return using the National Express East Coast website (standard advance singles at £25.10 each), is it possible to get it any cheaper?

I have a 16-25 Railcard which I used to get that fare, but the fare is the same with no railcard if you're using the special discount they have running at the moment, since that also gives 1/3rd off rail fares.... I'm not expecting miracles, but any saving, if it were possible, would be appreciated!!!

Cheers everyone :)

mr_m

:confused::beer: :-) Any help appreciated!!

mr_m

[dzug1]

:confused::beer: :-) Any help appreciated!!

mr_m

If you have cheap advance singles for the complete journey then other than trying different times/dates you are not going to do any better. Just check that an off peak return isn't cheaper - it won't be very often.

[mr_maniac]

Just checked - comes out to over £80 for a "Super Off-Peak Return" so no contest really!

I noticed that the price of tickets from Eastleigh to York has gone up by quite a bit - if you remember from September/October last year when I asked for help getting cheap tickets for that trip, I managed to get a return (2 Advance singles) for just over £30, but now the same Advance tickets come to just over £40 - that's a bit of a sharp price rise, is it not? I know fare prices went up in January, but not by over 30% on advance fares surely?!

mr_m

[sawanderer]

If you have cheap advance singles for the complete journey then other than trying different times/dates you are not going to do any better. Just check that an off peak return isn't cheaper - it won't be very often.

Go for the advance ticket whilst you still can!

Looking at the options of splitting your tickets/journey at places like Winchester, Basingstoke, Reading and Birmingham all come out at a total of over £55 return, and take longer.

The standard single ticket price from Eastleigh to London Waterloo is about £18 in itself, so considering for another £7 you can get all the way across London and up to Durham is pretty good going!

This train fare into London also makes the National Express COACH/BUS option (£30 London-Durham) more expensive than the advance ticket you've found.

Grabbit now!

[mr_maniac]

Darn - it's gone up to £57.75 today (outbound up to £32ish)!! remind me to be a bit quicker next time ;)

I'll be making that trip more often in the future anyway :D

[hstudent]

I thought I'd share the following ways of saving money on rail journeys:

Norwich to Sheffield/Stockport/Manchester/Warrington/Widnes/Liverpool South Parkway/Liverpool
Megatrain.com offers £1 advance tickets on off-peak services between Sheffield and Norwich. However, the same train starts from or continues to Liverpool, so if, for example, you are travelling from Warrington to Norwich then you can buy a Warrington to Sheffield ticket in addition to the Megatrain advance ticket, save money and not worry about a missed connection.

Single or Return tickets to or from Greater Manchester stations* after 18:30
If you travel between two Greater Manchester stations* for an outward or single journey between 1830 and 2100 then you can get an evening return for half the price of an off-peak day return, which also means it's cheaper to buy an evening return than a single. You have until 0230 the following morning to make your return journey. (if applicable)
* All stations in Greater Manchester are covered but some stations in Cheshire, Lancashire and Derbyshire are also covered. See www.northernrail.org (http://www.northernrail.org/) for full details of stations covered.

Manchester to Scotland
Most direct trains are operated by First Transpennine Express. However, there is one Manchester to Glasgow service in each direction per day run by Virgin Trains. Megatrain.com offers tickets starting at £1 single for the Virgin Trains service. However, it does involve leaving Manchester at about 4am. If you wish to travel to Edinburgh then you could travel via York and change trains, instead of via Preston on a direct train, spilting your ticket at York to save money.

Travelling to Newcastle via Stockport
If you are travelling to Newcastle and your journey involves travelling through Stockport then by default you would be given a route:Manchester ticket and be told to change at Manchester. However, if instead you ask for a cheaper route:Stockport ticket it means you are not permitted to travel in to Manchester, but must instead change at Stockport and Sheffield. That might sound like a longer journey with an extra connection and slightly longer route. However, it is usually quicker as 125mph trains are used between Sheffield and Newcastle, as opposed to the 100mph trains used between Manchester and Newcastle.

One example where this applies is Knutsford (Cheshire) to Newcastle.

Day Returns in the North of England
Some routes with fares set by Northern Rail have Day Return tickets available but no Off-Peak Day Return tickets available. If this is the case and you're travelling at an off-peak time then it may be cheaper to spilt your ticket or to buy a ticket beyond your destination. But if you do the latter it's important to note that you aren't allowed to cut short your journey with any type of advance ticket and could be charged extra or a penalty fare if trying to leave at an intermediate station.

One example where this applies is Knutsford (Cheshire) to Stalybridge (Greater Manchester.) The cheapest option is two tickets: one for Knutsford to Manchester and one for Manchester to Stalybridge, the next cheapest option is a Knutsford to Huddersfield ticket (Huddersfield being beyond Stalybridge on the same line) with the most expensive option being a through ticket from Knutsford to Stalybridge, for which Off-Peak Day Returns are not available

Free tram use in Manchester
If travelling locally to Manchester then you may find a ticket to Manchester STNS costs the same as one to Manchester CTLZ. But a ticket to Manchester CTLZ (CTLZ stands for Central Zone) allows you to use the Manchester Metrolink between Victoria and GMex, Piccadilly and Victoria and Piccadilly and GMex for free, which a ticket to Manchester STNS does not.

[dzug1]

I thought I'd share the following ways of saving money on rail journeys:


Manchester to Edinburgh
Most direct trains are operated by First Transpennine Express. However, there is one journey in each direction per day run by Virgin Trains. Megatrain.com offers tickets starting at £1 single for the Virgin Trains service. However, it does involve leaving Manchester at about 4am. If you don't want to do that then you could alternatively travel via York and change trains, instead of via Preston on a direct train, spilting your ticket at York to save money.

.

I can't find any mention of this service on the megatrain website.

Where is this info from?

[hstudent]

I can't find any mention of this service on the megatrain website.

Where is this info from?

It's been changed to a daily Glasgow service instead. I've corrected that on the above post now. Obviously, not as good if you wish to travel to Edinburgh.

[Mark Hewitt]

That might sound like a longer journey with an extra connection and slightly longer route. However, it is usually quicker as 125mph trains are used between Sheffield and Newcastle, as opposed to the 100mph trains used between Manchester and Newcastle.


As long as you don't go via Leeds as this line is used a lot for stopping trains so even a fast XC train won't be going very quickly there. Try to get a train that routes via Doncaster.

[javajim]

Hi could you please advise on trains from Great Yarmouth to Worthing. Is it best to buy a ticket for the complete trip or split tickets?
Thanks in advance.

[adamtrainman]

Jim id say probably a ticket for the complete trip which is £55.60 return (Off-Peak Return) cant arrive in London before 10am or during evening peak. The return portion is valid for a month.

You can pick up complete trip advanced tickets but are limited to 12:17/13:17 from Yarmouth taking about 5hrs and 17:12 back from Worthing.

Split trip advanced ticket you can pick up tickets to london for about £9-£15 each way (i used 23rd march and back on 26th) and using same dates £5 from London Victoria to Worthing and £7.50 back.

If you have specific dates and times post them and ill have a look see whats out there.

[javajim]

Thanks for your reply Adamtrainman.
Just single tickets are wanted. Returns are not required as it is for my neice and husband, from Toronto, who are flying over here in May. First they are going to Dublin, then Glasgow, York, Great Yarmouth and then to Worthing before getting flight back to Toronto. The Great Yarmouth to Worthing trip is for Saturday 30th May. Which I realise is a bit too far in advance to book tickets, but I would like to know best way to get tickets for them.
Thanks again

[Bogof_Babe]

Looking for anyone who knows how the Advance tickets system works.

I've just been trying to book a single from Southport to Hereford for 15th May (the latest date for which Advance tickets are currently available). The results show several £11 fares, which is what I usually pay, but when I click on Buy it takes me to Arriva Trains site, which says that ticket is not available. I've tried it with several different £11 ones and they are all the same, but when I select a £19.50 one it is okay, so obviously it's not a fault on their booking system.

I was wondering whether perhaps they haven't input the £11 ones yet, as it seems odd that suddenly they are all fully booked when they were only released probably yesterday.

Or maybe they have discontinued the £11 tickets and not got around to telling Railtrack. Bit of a jump to £19.50 if so :(.

[dzug1]

Could be (as it's the latest day available) that the input process is not complete and that if you wait until later (or tomorrow, or Monday...) that the problem willl be resolved.

Possibly try a phone booking??

[Bogof_Babe]

I just managed to get one via Qjump, which I don't normally use due to the booking fee and ticket collection charge. So it is now costing me £12, which is still a heck of a saving from £19.50. Phew, sorted! Until the next time anyway.

[AirlieBird]

I've done some playing. I've found this is a very interesting problem.

The reason why the £11 fare doesn't show up is because it is a slower journey. When you looked on the National Rail Enquiries website (Railtrack hasn't existed for several years now) it showed you an £11 fare. It showed me this for a journey starting at 11:24 taking 4hrs 16 mins. This train involves 1 change. However, it also showed me a journey taking a hour less departing at the same time but involving 3 changes. This journey cost £19.50. All train operators websites will show the fastest journey which is why the £19.50 journey was coming up and not the £11 journey. For the £11 ticket to come up you need to re-enter the journey but this time put in via Manchester Piccadilly.

Now, if you do this on the Arriva Wales website you will get the £11 fare for a train that arrives in Hereford at the same time as the one on the National Rail website. But it leaves Southport at 12 noon and involves 2 changes.

There seems to be no way of telling a train operator's booking engine to come up with the exact journey that National rail website comes up with.

[Bogof_Babe]

Thank you, that was diligent of you to go to all that trouble.

It is the 11.24 departure that I eventually booked on Qjump, and yes it does take over 4 hours, but I'm not too bothered about that. However I am now worrying because I haven't had a confirmation email from Qjump, although I have made a note of the booking ref. and ticket collection ref. Oh well, the sooner I get the ticket collected from the station and put my mind at rest, the better.

I did try several variations on the journey, including going via Liverpool South Parkway, splitting at Crewe, even going via Birmingham New Street, but the component parts always came to more than the £19.50 fare. On Qjump the 11.24 was the only departure showing an £11 ticket, all the rest were £19.50.

I hope they are not cutting back on the really cheap fares as a way of balancing the books, rail travel having been in the news a fair bit recently. I do appreciate that £11 is a bargain and probably doesn't even cover what it actually costs them, but obviously the less I have to pay for this regular trip the better. Unfortunately I am not in any category that would entitle me to buy a rail card, so rely on finding the best deals.

Something else that puzzles me - if all these different websites are available to sell the same journeys, there must be a central point somewhere that co-ordinates it all so that the same seat doesn't get sold twice. It only needs one blip in the link-ups to result in double bookings.

[dzug1]

Something else that puzzles me - if all these different websites are available to sell the same journeys, there must be a central point somewhere that co-ordinates it all so that the same seat doesn't get sold twice. It only needs one blip in the link-ups to result in double bookings.

They all actually interrogate the same central database so it shouldn't be possible to sell the same seat twice. However I'm not sure of the details of how it works. For example if you and someone else have the same £11 seat - the last at that price - on offer to you, I don't really know what happens when one of you confirms the purchase and the other a few minutes later tries to. Does the second person get told it's no longer available or is he sold another seat (not the same reservation surely though) at the same price that wouldn't otherwise have been on offer?

[Slicker777]

Got a ticket (Conventry - Gatwick) that says under "Route" - Kensington Olympia, but when I look the route up on Nationalrail it also comes up with the train times from Cov to Euston and then using the London Overground via Clapham Junction to Gatwick.

My question is using the ticket can I use this route instead of going getting off at Watford and taking the Southern to Clapham Junction?

Thanks

[dzug1]

Got a ticket (Conventry - Gatwick) that says under "Route" - Kensington Olympia, but when I look the route up on Nationalrail it also comes up with the train times from Cov to Euston and then using the London Overground via Clapham Junction to Gatwick.

My question is using the ticket can I use this route instead of going getting off at Watford and taking the Southern to Clapham Junction?

Thanks

No - it is a cheaper fare because it avoids London terminals

[Slicker777]

So even if the London Overground trip from Euston goes via Kensington Olympia to Clapham Junction, with this ticket is it still a no then?

On a side issue, if the ticket says London Terminals and you bought a return ticket from Victoria to Canterbury but for some reason the return train on the day (another day) only is available for Waterloo instead of Victoria, does that mean from Waterloo to Victoria you've got to fork out?

Thanks

[dzug1]

So even if the London Overground trip from Euston goes via Kensington Olympia to Clapham Junction, with this ticket is it still a no then?

On a side issue, if the ticket says London Terminals and you bought a return ticket from Victoria to Canterbury but for some reason the return train on the day (another day) only is available for Waterloo instead of Victoria, does that mean from Waterloo to Victoria you've got to fork out?

Thanks

You can't get from Euston to Kensington Olympia on the overground without doubling back to Willesden Junction so the journey via Euston cannot be done.

Yes (probably) to the second issue. I'd think there'd be some way (with a change) of getting to Victoria without going to Waterloo though.

[adamtrainman]

A ticket via Kensington mean change at Watford Jcn.

The example is the
08:31 Coventry - Watford Jcn arr 09:15
09:51 Watford Jcn - Clapham Jcn 10:33
10:38 Clapham Jcn to Gatwick Air arr 11:08

And that the same all day times wise.

I see the tight connection at Clapham but theres plenty of trains to gatwick from clapham every 15 mins during day taking about 30 mins

And your only train from Coventry is the 31 arriving 15 past the next hour (44 mins) and thats Virgin Trains, only other one is the 21 past arriving at 57 past the next hour (1hr 36mins) and that London Midland

[Distant_Cousin]

Hi All

I was very surprised to find no advance fares to go from Brighton to Clitheroe on a weekend at the end of March - on thetrainline.com there were no advance at all, very strange. Can't justify £90 walk-on fare with still a month to go.

Can't believe there are no advance fares left?!?

[Slicker777]

A ticket via Kensington mean change at Watford Jcn.


So in this case is it sort of implied that I should change at Watford Junction?

You can't get from Euston to Kensington Olympia on the overground without doubling back to Willesden Junction so the journey via Euston cannot be done.

But nationalrail.co.uk gives the the times for it (to Euston and by Overground via Kensington Olympia to Clapham Junction) and that route tends to be quicker given the Southern service from Watford is only every hour.

I did try giving nationalrail a call to clarify but the chap on the other end just gave me the ticket prices but not an answer!

[Bogof_Babe]

Hi All

I was very surprised to find no advance fares to go from Brighton to Clitheroe on a weekend at the end of March - on thetrainline.com there were no advance at all, very strange. Can't justify £90 walk-on fare with still a month to go.

Can't believe there are no advance fares left?!?

Hi and welcome to the site.

Have a look on qjump - I've found a single ticket leaving Brighton at 10.49 on Sat March 28th for £34.50. Qjump charge a 50p fee for paying by debit card, and another 50p for collecting your ticket from a station (or £1 for first class post). Don't know if this is any good for you. Did you want a return?

[W12Steve]

A full price return from Ipswich to London is £60. Two AnyTime singles from Colchester to London are £45.40 and two full price singles from Ipswich to Colchester are £11.20. A total of £56.60.

And all but one train a day in each direction stops at Colchester I think.

But when I went on nationalrail today. The cheapest fair I was offered peak time from Ipswich to London was £60 whereas by splitting at Colchester I got it for £51.90.

Not a bad saving.

[dzug1]

So in this case is it sort of implied that I should change at Watford Junction?



But nationalrail.co.uk gives the the times for it (to Euston and by Overground via Kensington Olympia to Clapham Junction) and that route tends to be quicker given the Southern service from Watford is only every hour.

I did try giving nationalrail a call to clarify but the chap on the other end just gave me the ticket prices but not an answer!


I see what you mean now - and am surprised, gobsmacked even. That route does seem to be valid. I'd dismissed it out of hand as it involved backtracking, which is normally a big no-no.

It does also seem to offer a loophole walk on fare from Coventry to Euston on Virgin - the fare is less than to Euston alone. As it's not an advance fare, travelling short/BoJ shouldn't be a problem.

[dzug1]

Hi and welcome to the site.

Have a look on qjump - I've found a single ticket leaving Brighton at 10.49 on Sat March 28th for £34.50. Qjump charge a 50p fee for paying by debit card, and another 50p for collecting your ticket from a station (or £1 for first class post). Don't know if this is any good for you. Did you want a return?

That £34.50 fare is available on several trains that Saturday - the 1149 and 1249 as well as the 1049. And later in the day there's a £23 fare as well.

Buy on http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/ (probably others as well) and avoid raileasy's fee

[AirlieBird]

Hi All

I was very surprised to find no advance fares to go from Brighton to Clitheroe on a weekend at the end of March - on thetrainline.com there were no advance at all, very strange. Can't justify £90 walk-on fare with still a month to go.

Can't believe there are no advance fares left?!?
There's still some left. Use the excellent new online system at Southern Railway where you won't be charged a booking fee.

[adamtrainman]

The route Kensington ticket implies Not London Terminals which includes Euston, Kings X, St Pancras, Victoria, Waterloo, Paddington, Charing X plus others.

I can see what your saying about coming into Euston and back out and still travelling via Kensington Olympia its a difficult one is that because to the average Joe on the street theres nothing wrong with that because your doing as your told and travelling via Kensington. Just background railway knowledge tells me its wrong. To be honest i cant see you getting pulled for it but theres always a chance.

[iamconfused]

Hi, I need a ticket from London to Blackpool, leaving on Fri April 3rd and coming back Sunday April 5th. qjump are quoting two singles as the cheapest, £33.50 each, £67 in total. Has anybody got any other ideas?
Thanks very much

[dzug1]

Hi, I need a ticket from London to Blackpool, leaving on Fri April 3rd and coming back Sunday April 5th. qjump are quoting two singles as the cheapest, £33.50 each, £67 in total. Has anybody got any other ideas?
Thanks very much

You can avoid qjump's fees by buying the same tickets on any rail company website.

As those are advance purchase singles, you are unlikely to get it any cheaper by splitting though have a look at Manchester (which will be a longer journey)

[John89001]

Got a ticket (Conventry - Gatwick) that says under "Route" - Kensington Olympia, but when I look the route up on Nationalrail it also comes up with the train times from Cov to Euston and then using the London Overground via Clapham Junction to Gatwick.

Very interesting. Thanks for pointing this out.

"Doubling back" is not normally allowed, and this is defined as passing through the same station more than once.

But the computer systems seem to have decided that there is no station you would pass through more than once on this journey and, having looked at this carefully, I think that is right.

The route would be from Coventry to Euston on the fast lines, then from Euston to Willesden Junction on the "electric" lines, then from Willesden Junction to Gatwick via Kensington Olympia. (I know that all 6 lines out of Euston have been electrified since the 1970s, but the slowest pair of lines still retain that title.)

Now Willesden Junction station is not on the West Coast Main Line - it is several hundred metres to the east. Of the three intermediate stations, none have platforms on the fast lines, so I think it is correct to say that there is no station that one passes through more than once.

If this is correct then all tickets (except perhaps some Advance tickets) routed Kensington Olympia are valid via Euston in this way - a significant discovery.

John

[Bogof_Babe]

You can avoid qjump's fees by buying the same tickets on any rail company website.

As those are advance purchase singles, you are unlikely to get it any cheaper by splitting though have a look at Manchester (which will be a longer journey)

When I was searching for my Southport to Hereford trip I checked a few sites, and none of them had any £11 tickets except for qjump. I was quite surprised at that and have no idea how it works. Incidentally I got the same seat that I often get for the Manchester Piccadilly to Hereford leg of the journey, and I usually get it when booking via National Express, so they obviously don't allocate certain seats to certain agencies.

On non-allocated parts of the journey, where seat reservations are not possible because they are local commuter trains, is it okay to get off the train along the route, and get back on a later one to complete the journey? I don't see how they would know any different. This would be handy as if I go via Liverpool instead of Manchester I could hop off and visit mum on my way up, rather than making a separate trip the next day.

[aleksander]

A similar idea to that mentioned above regarding Coventry to Gatwick is that by buying tickets from London to Bedford which allow travel via Milton Keynes Central. It can save you £2 on an all train operating company Off Peak Day Return (£20 instead of £18). Not a big saving, but it's there. For First Class travellers, it can save much more though. Instead of a £64.20 1st Anytime Day Return, it is £28 1st Off Peak Day Return and £54.40 1st Anytime Day Return.

A much bigger saving though, from Ipswich, Stowmarket and Diss to London.
Buy a ticket Ipswich to Cambridge, which allows travel via London Liverpool Street (not Kings Cross). Just get off at London Liverpool Street, which should allow a split of journey.
£32 Off Peak Return/£60 Anytime Return
compared to
£12.90 Off Peak Day Return/£16 Anytime Day Return Ipswich-Cambridge

[Slicker777]

"Doubling back" is not normally allowed, and this is defined as passing through the same station more than once.

But the computer systems seem to have decided that there is no station you would pass through more than once on this journey and, having looked at this carefully, I think that is right.

Now Willesden Junction station is not on the West Coast Main Line - it is several hundred metres to the east. Of the three intermediate stations, none have platforms on the fast lines, so I think it is correct to say that there is no station that one passes through more than once.

If this is correct then all tickets (except perhaps some Advance tickets) routed Kensington Olympia are valid via Euston in this way - a significant discovery.

John

When you say "doubling back" should the train stop at the station that I'll be going via or should it just pass through? Or either?

Thanks

[dzug1]

When I was searching for my Southport to Hereford trip I checked a few sites, and none of them had any £11 tickets except for qjump. I was quite surprised at that and have no idea how it works. Incidentally I got the same seat that I often get for the Manchester Piccadilly to Hereford leg of the journey, and I usually get it when booking via National Express, so they obviously don't allocate certain seats to certain agencies.

.

Qjump I think searches for the cheapest fare.

Most of the others search for the fastest journeys and then look for all fares, including the cheapest, for the journeys that they have found. If you know how to ask them, they will show the cheapest fares as well - but it can be a bit of a black art.

[dzug1]

Very interesting. Thanks for pointing this out.

"Doubling back" is not normally allowed, and this is defined as passing through the same station more than once.

But the computer systems seem to have decided that there is no station you would pass through more than once on this journey and, having looked at this carefully, I think that is right.

The route would be from Coventry to Euston on the fast lines, then from Euston to Willesden Junction on the "electric" lines, then from Willesden Junction to Gatwick via Kensington Olympia. (I know that all 6 lines out of Euston have been electrified since the 1970s, but the slowest pair of lines still retain that title.)

Now Willesden Junction station is not on the West Coast Main Line - it is several hundred metres to the east. Of the three intermediate stations, none have platforms on the fast lines, so I think it is correct to say that there is no station that one passes through more than once.

If this is correct then all tickets (except perhaps some Advance tickets) routed Kensington Olympia are valid via Euston in this way - a significant discovery.

John

I've found an easement in the routing guide:

000085Journeys from Kensington Olympia and Willesden Jn made on tickets with a cross-London marker may double back from Euston. This easement applies in both directions


Whilst I wouldn't have though this particular ticket should have a cross London marker it sounds as though that's what's been programmed into the database.

[aleksander]

Qjump I think searches for the cheapest fare.

Most of the others search for the fastest journeys and then look for all fares, including the cheapest, for the journeys that they have found. If you know how to ask them, they will show the cheapest fares as well - but it can be a bit of a black art.

That is why National Express East Coast is (in my opinion) the best company to book with, because you can select 'show slower routes' on the left-hand side and choose the fares and routes you want more easily than everyone else based on The Trainline.

[John89001]

When you say "doubling back" should the train stop at the station that I'll be going via or should it just pass through? Or either?

Unless there is an easement, or the station is part of a group of stations for this purpose, it is not permitted to pass through the same station more than once. It doesn't matter if the train stops there or not.

Easements are listed here http://www.atoc.org/rsp/_downloads/Routeing_Guide/easements.htm

Group stations are explained and listed here http://www.atoc.org/rsp/_downloads/Routeing_Guide/instructions.htm

John

[John89001]

I've found an easement in the routing guide:

000085Journeys from Kensington Olympia and Willesden Jn made on tickets with a cross-London marker may double back from Euston. This easement applies in both directions


Whilst I wouldn't have though this particular ticket should have a cross London marker it sounds as though that's what's been programmed into the database.

I don't think this easement applies to a Coventry to Gatwick journey. I think the journey planners are allowing travel via Euston because they deem that there is no station which one passes through more than once. I didn't think this would be possible but, having examined Quail's track diagrams, I'm convinced.

John

[adamtrainman]

The 'cross' on london tickets implies that it includes the cross london connection be it tube/tram/train or DLR. The easement is saying instead of going by tube you can use the overground to into Euston and get your mainline train back out instead, its nothing to do with this ticket via Kensington.

My advice is to take the change at Watford Jcn as its a shorter overall journey time and less changes too. If you do decide to take the via Euston journey then print out the journey itinery off the internet for your chosen journey as proof to anyone who queries it that the journey planner says you can.

[spikejrt]

Dear All

Does anyone know a cheaper way to get a standard walk on fare from Bath Spa to Sheffield with YP card to travel tomorrow come back Saturday? So far the cheapest I can get it for is £48 or splitting about £45 (bath-chelt, chelt-brum, brum-sheffield). Any other ideas?

Spikejrt

[muffinhead]

Can anyone help me find a better price for a single ticket from Reading to Bristol Temple Meads for between 7:30am-8am on Wednesday 4th March. Cheapest I can find is one for £45.

[Bogof_Babe]

Can anyone help me find a better price for a single ticket from Reading to Bristol Temple Meads for between 7:30am-8am on Wednesday 4th March. Cheapest I can find is one for £45.

There's one on Qjump for £7.50 if you don't mind leaving at 6 minutes past midnight, and arriving at 1.21 a.m. If you could work out what to do with yourself for a few hours during the small hours of the morning, (make sure you stay safe), that is a heck of a good price.

[mr_maniac]

Right - a quickfire money-saving request here!

Eastleigh (or Southampton Airport) to Coventry, Wednesday 4th March arriving before 12:00, departing any time after 17:00 until around 19:30, with a 16-25 Railcard. Save me some money please!! :D

Am I too late for Advance fares? The best I've found so far is £38.75 on the CrossCountry website, for an Off-Peak Day Return going from Eastleigh.... :D

Obviously booking with the TrainLine would take £4 off the fee (including booking fee) but I'd have to pick up the ticket from another station as they don't appear to serve Eastleigh :) - but any money-saving alternatives except for that one would be handy!! :D

Cheers everyone

mr_m :)

[Bogof_Babe]

I wish, when people post requests on here ,they would mention what websites they have already searched on, as otherwise those trying to help are just repeating the same process.

I know there can also be savings by splitting journeys, but that requires knowledge of the relevant route, so is not something the general reader would necessarily know. Perhaps you (i.e. those wanting help) could also include a note of the main stations on the route they want to travel, and also any alternative routes that are available for their journey, even if longer and/or with more changes.

Maybe we could request a sticky on this board, listing all the online rail ticket providers, so that in the first instance people could do their own research.

[mr_maniac]

I wish, when people post requests on here ,they would mention what websites they have already searched on, as otherwise those trying to help are just repeating the same process.

I know there can also be savings by splitting journeys, but that requires knowledge of the relevant route, so is not something the general reader would necessarily know. Perhaps you (i.e. those wanting help) could also include a note of the main stations on the route they want to travel, and also any alternative routes that are available for their journey, even if longer and/or with more changes.

Maybe we could request a sticky on this board, listing all the online rail ticket providers, so that in the first instance people could do their own research. Is this post referring, for example, to my request above? I thought I'd given at least two sites I'd already trialled (CrossCountry and theTrainLine)? :)

As I say, besides CrossCountry (whose train I would be travelling on to get to Coventry from here) I've also tried theTrainLine (where there's the £4 saving at the moment, but I can't pick up the tickets from Eastleigh station, and would have to take my dad's credit card to get it from the machine anyway, so it's not really viable!), and Qjump - but as yet, no saving...

Stations along the route include Basingstoke, Reading, Oxford and Banbury - I don't travel along the route at all, so I couldn't give you any more than a few of the ones I've heard from train announcements at train stations! :D

mr_m

[Bogof_Babe]

Sorry, I wasn't being funny, and want to help although I am an amateur at this myself.

I'm looking on raileasy and finding nothing helpful, even starting from S'ampton Airport. I guess it's a question of having the time to try all possible combinations on all possible sites, which seems ridiculous doesn't it?

Why can't they make it simple and straightforward? :mad:

[Livingthedream]

Right - a quickfire money-saving request here!

Eastleigh (or Southampton Airport) to Coventry, Wednesday 4th March arriving before 12:00, departing any time after 17:00 until around 19:30, with a 16-25 Railcard. Save me some money please!! :D

Am I too late for Advance fares? The best I've found so far is £38.75 on the CrossCountry website, for an Off-Peak Day Return going from Eastleigh.... :D

Obviously booking with the TrainLine would take £4 off the fee (including booking fee) but I'd have to pick up the ticket from another station as they don't appear to serve Eastleigh :) - but any money-saving alternatives except for that one would be handy!! :D

Cheers everyone

mr_m :)

Hi, try this found using the Virgin trains website, you need to enter 'go via' box as London for this;
Eastleigh to Coventry Via London 4th March 07:43 Advance Single £15.50
Coventry to Eastleigh Via London 4th March 19:11 Advance Single £15.50
or
Coventry to Eastleigh Via London 4th March 20:31 Advance Single £10.25

Hope it helps

[mr_maniac]

Cheers for that Livingthedream - of course, going via London adds an hour or so onto the journey each way (what with Underground changes and so forth), but you're right, it is cheaper with the Advance single! What a strange system that charges you less to go the long way round!

I did some split-ticketing research - as Bogof_Babe suggests, it's a case of trying all the alternatives - I haven't really had much success in the past with this, but it seems to have worked this time!

There are a number of options for the split-ticket that are cheaper than the straight fare from Eastleigh to Coventry, but the cheapest split is at Banbury:

Outbound:
Depart Eastleigh 09:11, Arrive Banbury 10:52 (with change at Winchester)
Depart Banbury 10:54, Arrive Coventry 11:22
Return:
Depart Coventry 18:25, Arrive Banbury 18:54
Depart Banbury 18:55, Arrive Eastleigh 20:49 (with change at Southampton Airport, although I'd change at Winchester myself!)

Cost of Off Peak Day Return from Eastleigh to Coventry: £38.75
Split Ticket cost of going from Eastleigh to Coventry, splitting at Banbury:
Eastleigh <-> Banbury £21.00 Off Peak Day Return
Banbury <-> Coventry £8.85 Off Peak Day Return

Total Cost of Split Ticket Return from Eastleigh to Coventry (same trains as used on regular ticket!): £29.85

Saving: £8.90 or just under 23% of the original fare

Additional splits can be made at a reduced price at:
Reading (£31.25 based on an Off Peak Return from Eastleigh to Reading, then 2 Advance singles for the trip from Reading to Coventry and back)
Oxford (£31.70 based on Off Peak returns)
Leamington Spa (£35.75)

I have little doubt that Winchester and Basingstoke would also offer some sort of saving - but what a stupid system!! :D

So the new target's £29.85 to beat! :D

mr_m

[John89001]

Cost of Off Peak Day Return from Eastleigh to Coventry: £38.75
Split Ticket cost of going from Eastleigh to Coventry, splitting at Banbury:
Eastleigh <-> Banbury £21.00 Off Peak Day Return
Banbury <-> Coventry £8.85 Off Peak Day Return

Total Cost of Split Ticket Return from Eastleigh to Coventry (same trains as used on regular ticket!): £29.85


Where did you find the £8.85 Off Peak Day Return from Banbury to Coventry? It does not appear on the National Fares Manual 02 CD, nor on the journey planner on the NXEC site. Both give a £10.10 Standard Anytime Day Return as the cheapest fare for this journey.

John

[KeithP]

<snip>
So the new target's £29.85 to beat! :D
mr_m
Errr...
Doesn't Livingthedream's price via London beat this already?

Eastleigh to Coventry Via London 4th March 07:43 Advance Single £15.50
Coventry to Eastleigh Via London 4th March 20:31 Advance Single £10.25

[mr_maniac]

John - Hi - did you include a 16-25 Railcard in your search? It's actually £6.65 for the Anytime Day Return on the NXEC site with the railcard, and £8.85 for the Off-Peak day return (which is yet again very odd - why is it cheaper to buy a ticket that's valid at peak times?!) :)

Keith - yes it does, but as I already mentioned in an earlier reply to Livingthedream, that route adds an hour or so onto the journey each way! :)

In the end I think I'm just going to get the through ticket at the station on Wednesday morning or Tuesday evening - with the date being so close, and Eastleigh not being a station where you can pick up the tickets from (using the self-service ticket machines), I'd have to pay at least £6 for the delivery charge (none of the sites will send it free via first class post at this range, I've tried!), making any saving negligible :D

mr_m :beer:

[Browntoa]

found out that booking via

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=2

I can get a "Standard Advance Single" from London Victoria to Gatwick Airport for £3 , opposed to £11 , or £16.90 on the Gatwick express , which I can collect from my local station for free

for some obscure reason it's £5 the other way round :confused:

[AirlieBird]

That is very odd. Incidentally, if you book through SouthernRailway.com you can get them even cheaper as they are currently discounting their own advance fares if bought online: to Gatwick from £1.80, from Gatwick from £3.

[Munro Bagger]

Hello everyone! I've not used this thread before and would really appreciate some advice!

My partner and I are looking to travel from Durham to Birmingham for the 'Great Outdoors Show' at the NEC. I'm going to the show on 27/03 - managed to grab a couple of bargain tickets! However, getting there in the cheapest way possible is proving a bit of a nightmare!

I've looked at National Express (coach) as an option, and although there are cheap fares (£1, £5) to be had, we'd have to travel down on 26/03 (£10.80 Durham to N'castle, £2 N'castle to Leeds, £10 Leeds to B'Ham) and stay over in a cheap hotel (£35) [total £57.80]. Train to the NEC on 27/03, plus a coach and a very late train would mean a return leg of £38.20 - that's £96 for the entire trip by my reckoning!

Ideally we'd like to travel by train as it removes the need for an overnight stay. I've tried Trainline.com but was quoted £290 return for 2 adults), and so far the cheapest I've found are 2 singles on the Virgin site for £64 each [total £128]. Can anyone help me out at all?

Many thanks :)

[Livingthedream]

Hello everyone! I've not used this thread before and would really appreciate some advice!

My partner and I are looking to travel from Durham to Birmingham for the 'Great Outdoors Show' at the NEC. I'm going to the show on 27/03 - managed to grab a couple of bargain tickets! However, getting there in the cheapest way possible is proving a bit of a nightmare!

I've looked at National Express (coach) as an option, and although there are cheap fares (£1, £5) to be had, we'd have to travel down on 26/03 (£10.80 Durham to N'castle, £2 N'castle to Leeds, £10 Leeds to B'Ham) and stay over in a cheap hotel (£35) [total £57.80]. Train to the NEC on 27/03, plus a coach and a very late train would mean a return leg of £38.20 - that's £96 for the entire trip by my reckoning!

Ideally we'd like to travel by train as it removes the need for an overnight stay. I've tried Trainline.com but was quoted £290 return for 2 adults), and so far the cheapest I've found are 2 singles on the Virgin site for £64 each [total £128]. Can anyone help me out at all?

Many thanks :)

Try Splitting at Manchester Picidilly;
Durham to Manchester Pic 27/03 07:43 £18.50 Advance Single
Manchester Pic to Birmingham NS 27/03 11:07 £14 Advance Single
Total 32.50 each one way

There's plenty of other train times available at the same price but if you do go on a different time give yourself plenty of time to catch your connection (at least 30 mins)

[mm66]

Hi All

Would appreciate some help. We need to travel to edinburgh to London on April 7, 09, 2 adults. We need to be in London latest by 2pm, Departure on April 8th anytime after 11 am. ththe cheapest i can find is £150. Thanks for the help

[Livingthedream]

Hi All

Would appreciate some help. We need to travel to edinburgh to London on April 7, 09, 2 adults. We need to be in London latest by 2pm, Departure on April 8th anytime after 11 am. ththe cheapest i can find is £150. Thanks for the help

Posted a reply on the split ticket thread :D

[kgall]

Hi,

Can anybody tell me how "break of journey" works in practice? Essentially I often travel from station A to station C using standard off peak monthly returns. Ideally I would sometimes like to stop off at station B (which is called at on route) during my return journey.

I had a quick look on the National Rail website and it says that breaks of journey are allowed with my type of ticket. However are there any restrictions to this i.e. maximum amount of time that the break can be for? Also on a practical level if my ticket has been stamped upon leaving station A will the conductor who sees it again after I rejoin at station B think it invalid?

Thanks,
K

[Munro Bagger]

Try Splitting at Manchester Picidilly;
Durham to Manchester Pic 27/03 07:43 £18.50 Advance Single
Manchester Pic to Birmingham NS 27/03 11:07 £14 Advance Single
Total 32.50 each one way

There's plenty of other train times available at the same price but if you do go on a different time give yourself plenty of time to catch your connection (at least 30 mins)

Thanks so much for your input - I've now booked the tickets and look forward to our day out at the NEC!

[redalert]

Does anyone know of any promotions coming up as I need to book two adult return tickets from Manchester to London for Fri April 10th and returning Sat April 11th?

[Bogof_Babe]

Have you tried the search sites? Trainline, National Express, Qjump etc.?

You might struggle for a cheapie on Good Friday though, being Easter weekend.

[Livingthedream]

Does anyone know of any promotions coming up as I need to book two adult return tickets from Manchester to London for Fri April 10th and returning Sat April 11th?

As above get yourself on a train search website, I use Virgin Trains (https://www.buytickets.virgintrains.co.uk/JourneyRequest.aspx) or NXEC (http://www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com/), you can get cheap advance singles from £8 each way.

Don't leave it to late, as previously said it's Easter weekend that weekend and expect those cheap tickets to sell out soon

[LIDDARD]

Hey guys appreciate any help.

Im looking to go from Bridgend to Weymouth
Going saturday coming back sunday (any weekend in the next 12 weeks)

2 Adults (With one young persons railcard)

Cheapest ive found is £74.70

Can anyone find cheaper. Don't mind which way we go, how long it takes.

[Livingthedream]

Try this, need a couple of weeks in advance to get the cheap advance tickets;

Bridgend to Bristol Parkway £6.65 Advance Single
Bristol Parkway to Weymouth £39 Off Peak return

Weymouth to Bristol Parkway £0 Off Peak return
Bristol Parkway to Bridgend £6.65 Advance Single

Total: £52.30 for you both return

Sure there is cheaper will keep looking

[dzug1]

Hey guys appreciate any help.

Im looking to go from Bridgend to Weymouth
Going saturday coming back sunday (any weekend in the next 12 weeks)

2 Adults (With one young persons railcard)

Cheapest ive found is £74.70

Can anyone find cheaper. Don't mind which way we go, how long it takes.

Possibly:

advance single to Bristol TM (£4 each way possible)

off peak return Bristol - Weymouth (£23.50) via Yeovil

Prices are each before any railcard discount

[LIDDARD]

Found its about £15 return if you go from cardiff via swindon.
Advance tickets.

Thanks for the help so far guys

[antheagraham]

I have been trying to book tickets for 1 June from Gloucester to london
and there are no saver fares even when I try to split the journey.
I think that Great Western Rail have clamped down on advance saver
fares and there are no more to be had. Has anyone else found that?
Are there any other ways of getting cheaper fares for peak travel times?:

[Bogof_Babe]

[replying to antheagraham above, forgot to "quote"]

I was trying to book an Advance ticket for 24th May through Trainline all last week, and eventually I emailed them using their "contact us" facility to ask whether Advance tickets on the journey I wanted had been discontinued.

They replied almost immediately (very impressed I was) and indicated that they would not be released until 6-8 weeks ahead of the date, as they have to know what track works are scheduled etc.

Therefore I'd say you are still a bit early for 1st June. Leave it a couple of weeks and try again, but don't give up. I managed to get a £11 Advance just this morning, to travel on 7th April, so it's not necessarily true that they all sell out as soon as they are released.

[AirlieBird]

I have been trying to book tickets for 1 June from Gloucester to londonFirst Great Western are currently only booking up to 20th May.

[dzug1]

I have been trying to book tickets for 1 June from Gloucester to london
and there are no saver fares even when I try to split the journey.
I think that Great Western Rail have clamped down on advance saver
fares and there are no more to be had. Has anyone else found that?
Are there any other ways of getting cheaper fares for peak travel times?:


No - First Great Western remain fairly generous with advance fares. It's just that they are not released yet as airliebird says above.

Don't believe the 12 weeks myth - it's just that, a myth, most of the time. It's really time Martin reworded his article to reflect this - it really is misleading.

[thriftykatie]

[replying to antheagraham above, forgot to "quote"]

I was trying to book an Advance ticket for 24th May through Trainline all last week, and eventually I emailed them using their "contact us" facility to ask whether Advance tickets on the journey I wanted had been discontinued.

They replied almost immediately (very impressed I was) and indicated that they would not be released until 6-8 weeks ahead of the date, as they have to know what track works are scheduled etc.

Therefore I'd say you are still a bit early for 1st June. Leave it a couple of weeks and try again, but don't give up. I managed to get a £11 Advance just this morning, to travel on 7th April, so it's not necessarily true that they all sell out as soon as they are released.


If you look on thetrainline.com you can sign up for their email alert (there is a link on the home page under the section where it says 'save 39% on train tickets'. I did this when trying to get a ticket for my daughter when she goes back to uni after Easter - if you put the dates you want to travel they email you when the special offer tickets are available for those dates.

[Rydeboyz]

Hello people, I hope someone can help me out here and hope this is the best place to ask.. Right, here goes:

I'm looking into a train journey this July over 4 days but this would involve multiple trains on multiple days.. It's a round trip of about 500 miles which I think might be too much for my girlfriend to drive. Here's my itinerary:

Thurs:
Manchester Piccadilly to Stratford (London)

Fri:
Stratford (London) to Swindon

Sun:
Swindon to Manchester Piccadilly

I worked out that for the 2 of us buying singles for each leg (with Young Persons Railcards) comes to £224.70 which is rediculous.

I also worked out that if I instead cancelled the last leg, and bought returns for the first 2 legs, it'd cost £148.80 but add a few hours travelling time.

What I'd like to know is - is there any way to book a return ticket from Manchester to Swindon which allows me to go via London but over 4 days? Any help would be very much appreciated on this journey!

[SandC]

You should wait until 12 weeks before as that is when the cheaper tickets start to come out. If you try National Rail Enquiries they won't allow you to look it up for July just yet.

[Rydeboyz]

Yes I realise that, thanks, but assumed July wouldn't differ much from May (the prices I was working with).

[Livingthedream]

What I'd like to know is - is there any way to book a return ticket from Manchester to Swindon which allows me to go via London but over 4 days? Any help would be very much appreciated on this journey!

Try Splitting the journey up and getting cheap advance single tickets for your dates of travel but remember to book early and give yourself plenty of time to get acrosss London to catch your Manchester/Swindon train - prices random date in May

Manchester Pic to London Euston from £10.60 (2x &YP)
London Euston to Swindon from £13.90 (2x &YP)

Swindon to London Euston from £13.90 (2x &YP)
London Euston to Manchester Pic from £10.60 (2x &YP)

But with Sunday travel they sometimes don't release the advance ticket until quite late, use this website to help watch First Great Western and Virgin;

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html

[Rydeboyz]

That's extremely helpful! Thanks for taking the time to help me out. I'll keep my eye out for those advance singles in April then. :cool:

[dzug1]

Yes I realise that, thanks, but assumed July wouldn't differ much from May (the prices I was working with).

Even May is not fully released yet - depends on what dates you were working with

[gner_ex]

What I'd like to know is - is there any way to book a return ticket from Manchester to Swindon which allows me to go via London but over 4 days? Any help would be very much appreciated on this journey!

Yes - there are two saver return fares from Manchester to Swindon. not London £66.50, and +London £97.70. Remember this is a period return fare (return within one calendar month). See my next message re break of journey.

[gner_ex]

Hi,

Can anybody tell me how "break of journey" works in practice? Essentially I often travel from station A to station C using standard off peak monthly returns. Ideally I would sometimes like to stop off at station B (which is called at on route) during my return journey.

I had a quick look on the National Rail website and it says that breaks of journey are allowed with my type of ticket. However are there any restrictions to this i.e. maximum amount of time that the break can be for? Also on a practical level if my ticket has been stamped upon leaving station A will the conductor who sees it again after I rejoin at station B think it invalid?

Thanks,
K

The rules changed last year (they became even better for the passenger). The following does NOT apply to advance purchase tickets - it only applies to flexible tickets.

Take a look at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/system/galleries/download/misc/NRCOC.pdf in particular clauses 11, 13, 16, 17 and 30.

OUTWARD JOURNEY
Generally break of journey IS allowed, though there are exceptions on certain Anglo scottish services (I had heard these were due to be lifted, so check). Note that the final leg of your outward journey must be commenced by midnight of the first day.

In essence, you can break your journey at any station that is on the line of a permitted route for your ticket. These are sometimes quite bizarre. For example a valid route for London-Leeds could be via Cheshunt, Cambridge, Ely, Peterborough, Lincoln, Doncaster and York - and you could break at each if you wanted to.

Normally, your outward journey must be completed the day stated on your ticket, however there is to be a change to Anytime Returns (this is the full price ticket formerly known as an open return) where from 16th March for a trial period of six months, the outward journey can be the date on the ticket or the four days after that.

As long as you have commenced your journey on this date (prior to 23:59), then you can carry on your journey as much into the next day as you need to (for example the 23:30 Kings Cross-Leeds doesn't arrive until 02:37). In circumstances where you cannot complete your journey that day, you can break your journey to stay in overnight accommodation. An example would be if you arrived at Kings Cross at 21:00 tonight with an off-peak return for Edinburgh. As the last through train was the 19:00 from Kings Cross, you can get a different train, and stay anywhere en route (for example Stevenage, Leeds, York or Newcastle) - though your journey has to be completed _i think_ by 12:00 the following day (or is it started by 12:00?).

RETURN JOURNEY
A return ticket is valid for one calender month. If the date on the outward part is 13th March, the date on the return part will be 12th April.
Lets say you have a ticket from London Waterloo to Weymouth. You've done your outward journey on 1st March, then on 2nd March you decide that you want to spend 28 days at Clapham Junction (!!) then travel Clapham Jct-Waterloo on day 31 (31st March). This is perfectly permissible. You must board the final leg of your journey (Clapham-Waterloo) before midnight on that final day (i.e. the 23:59 from Clapham, arrive Waterloo 00:11).

Does this go some way to answer your question?

[hstudent]

RETURN JOURNEY
A return ticket is valid for one calender month. If the date on the outward part is 13th March, the date on the return part will be 12th April.
Lets say you have a ticket from London Waterloo to Weymouth. You've done your outward journey on 1st March, then on 2nd March you decide that you want to spend 28 days at Clapham Junction (!!) then travel Clapham Jct-Waterloo on day 31 (31st March). This is perfectly permissible. You must board the final leg of your journey (Clapham-Waterloo) before midnight on that final day (i.e. the 23:59 from Clapham, arrive Waterloo 00:11).

Does this go some way to answer your question?

Be careful with breaking your return journey over different days. Your ticket quite often gets date stamped and if you are travelling over different days you could be accused of fare evasion, even if you aren't.

Say for example your return journey was London to Manchester. What's to stop you doing it the day after Manchester to London and then 7 days later buying a single ticket for Manchester to Macclesfield and use your London ticket again for Macclesfield to Manchester? Answer: nothing apart from it'll be suspicous if your ticket is date stamped from last week.

[shark435]

Hi All

Im trying to get from durham to brimingham over easter. the best I have manages is 42, and a little cheaper If I split the journey at york. Does anyone know of a way to get a cheaper ticket. Thanks

[Livingthedream]

Hi All

Im trying to get from durham to brimingham over easter. the best I have manages is 42, and a little cheaper If I split the journey at york. Does anyone know of a way to get a cheaper ticket. Thanks

Skark435 can you tell us what day and around what time you want to travel, but had a quick look and for Friday 10th you can get a ticket for £32 without spliting.

[kathrynt]

hi , i'm going from wigan to cleethorpes. only beginning of july. which will be best tickets to get, straight though or split ones. its for 4 adults. and how far in advance can you get advance tickets please

[shark435]

Hi Livingthedream

Thanks so much for giving up your time! 32 pounds sounds great.:j Far better than anything I could find. I didnt have a fixed date - whenever is cheap in early april. I would like to leave on a thurday and come back on monday but I am flexible. What are generaly the cheaper days and times to travel?

Thanks again!

[dzug1]

hi , i'm going from wigan to cleethorpes. only beginning of july. which will be best tickets to get, straight though or split ones. its for 4 adults. and how far in advance can you get advance tickets please

Advance tickets come on sale in theory 12 weeks before the date of travel but it's rare for this to actually happen - more like 8 a lot of the time.

For your journey a local ticket to Manchester and cheap advance singles Manchester - Cleethorpes looks like the answer. The latter start at £8.50 each

A walkon return is £36.60 each off peak (from Manchester). If at 12 weeks this is all you are offered, then the cheap tickets are not released

[Livingthedream]

Hi Livingthedream

Thanks so much for giving up your time! 32 pounds sounds great.:j Far better than anything I could find. I didnt have a fixed date - whenever is cheap in early april. I would like to leave on a thurday and come back on monday but I am flexible. What are generaly the cheaper days and times to travel?

Thanks again!

The £32 was one way so a return would be £64, however, some of the dates are sold out over the Easter weekend. But they are available on the Thrusday (9th) and Friday (10th) to Birmingham and Tuesday (14th) back to Durham.

I can get the price down to £28 (£56 return) by spliting at Manchester Piccidilly or £27.50 (£55 return) at York but again travelling on Easter Monday is proving to be expensive.

[lexilex]

I'm trying to find train tickets for my mum and dad, going from Hull to Leeds on 16th June. I thought by booking early we would get best prices, but the cheapest I can find is £17 each. Normally I can get £5 tickets. Am I better waiting?

[dzug1]

I'm trying to find train tickets for my mum and dad, going from Hull to Leeds on 16th June. I thought by booking early we would get best prices, but the cheapest I can find is £17 each. Normally I can get £5 tickets. Am I better waiting?


Yes wait for the cheap tickets to be released. A couple of weeks maybe

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html

[manda1205]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask but any help is much appreciated.
We're going to London next weekend from Norwich, we bought advance tickets with The Sun offer a few months back. On the saturday we should travel at 11.30, with 3 changes on the route. Now on the national express timetable it says the times are 10.57 and 11.57 and the changes are different. So Im guessing because of weekend engineering they've changed the times, is this ok for us, do we just get on either train at either time and hope for the best? Trains are so bloomin confusin dont want to get on and end up being told we've got to pay. TIA for any help. :)

[-Ad-]

Just saved a cool +£1000 today.

Moved home to the parents house out of London and my annual zone 1-3 travelcard ran out last week, plus have been paying £345pcm for the train into London also.

Total projected for this year = 345x12 + 1208 = £5348.

Decided to buy an annual travelcard to St Pancras instead for the year, saving me £50 on my monthly train costs. (£3600 + 1208 = £4808)

BUT, but got some advice on a rail forum and managed to purchase a ticket covering me from my home station to boundary Zone 6, inc zone 1-6 underground for £4260.

£548 saving on the best I used to think could be had, and equivalent to £1808 annual saving compared to my monthly buying at this time.

Much better than keeping than money in an e-savings account :beer: :T :beer:

[aleksander]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask but any help is much appreciated.
We're going to London next weekend from Norwich, we bought advance tickets with The Sun offer a few months back. On the saturday we should travel at 11.30, with 3 changes on the route. Now on the national express timetable it says the times are 10.57 and 11.57 and the changes are different. So Im guessing because of weekend engineering they've changed the times, is this ok for us, do we just get on either train at either time and hope for the best? Trains are so bloomin confusin dont want to get on and end up being told we've got to pay. TIA for any help. :)

Don't worry! The 11:30 is still running, so you should travel on this service. What I think has happened is that the online timetable has recommended travelling via Cambridge, because of the engineering works between Colchester and Billericay, but trains are still running as planned from Norwich to Colchester with a coach connection to Billericay to connect with trains to London.

[manda1205]

Don't worry! The 11:30 is still running, so you should travel on this service. What I think has happened is that the online timetable has recommended travelling via Cambridge, because of the engineering works between Colchester and Billericay, but trains are still running as planned from Norwich to Colchester with a coach connection to Billericay to connect with trains to London.
Oh thank you so much:beer: , was gonna ring them next week just to confirm times, cos didnt want to get there and miss trains etc. Trains are so confusing especially at the weekends, glad we're coming back on a monday. :D

[littlejaffa]

i'm looking to do newcastle/cambridge on friday 27th for less than £43.
ideally arriving cambridge between 4-6, i've tried all the usual sites but they're all £76, even the £43 trains arrive to early or two late...can anyone helps?

[Saban]

Hi,
There are three of us travelling from Rochester, Kent to London Victoria next tuesday, would it be possible to book 3 seperate tickets through the discount link to TheTrainline.com and receive $5 off each ticket??
Thanks!

[dzug1]

Hi,
There are three of us travelling from Rochester, Kent to London Victoria next tuesday, would it be possible to book 3 seperate tickets through the discount link to TheTrainline.com and receive $5 off each ticket??
Thanks!


You need to check the T&C, but I suspect not. From memory the booking has to be for £20 or more. As the Rochester to London fare is less than this, individual bookings won't work, but two or more will, for one discount.

But my memory may be faulty, so check.

[aleksander]

i'm looking to do newcastle/cambridge on friday 27th for less than £43.
ideally arriving cambridge between 4-6, i've tried all the usual sites but they're all £76, even the £43 trains arrive to early or two late...can anyone helps?

If you want to arrive at the times you want, then you can get tickets for £50.20.
Buy a ticket from Newcastle to Peterborough (most trains have Advance tickets available for £37.40)

Then buy an Anytime Day Single from Peterborough to Cambridge at £12.80. You would have to change at Peterborough anyway, so it shouldn't add any time to your journey. Although it's not cheaper than £43, it will allow you to arrive in Cambridge at the times you want for less than £76.

I don't know whether cost or times are more important to you, but hope this helps in some way.

[damo1507]

I spotted this in todays Sun news paper :

25% Off - Family & Friends Railcard
Adults 1/3 off and kids 60% off rail fares across Great Britain.
Offer ends 31st March

www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk (http://www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk)

ENTER CODE: Sunpro25

[gner_ex]

Just saved a cool +£1000 today.

Moved home to the parents house out of London and my annual zone 1-3 travelcard ran out last week, plus have been paying £345pcm for the train into London also.

Total projected for this year = 345x12 + 1208 = £5348.

Decided to buy an annual travelcard to St Pancras instead for the year, saving me £50 on my monthly train costs. (£3600 + 1208 = £4808)

BUT, but got some advice on a rail forum and managed to purchase a ticket covering me from my home station to boundary Zone 6, inc zone 1-6 underground for £4260.

£548 saving on the best I used to think could be had, and equivalent to £1808 annual saving compared to my monthly buying at this time.

Much better than keeping than money in an e-savings account :beer: :T :beer:

Just to clarify, you don't mean that you have one season ticket from BEDFORD to the boundary, and then a zone 1-6 travelcard. You mean that you have a ticket from BEDFORD to ZONE R1256 in just the one ticket (price is £4260).

Having two seperate tickets in this instance is more expensive, plus you would be limited to trains that stop at Elstree.

As an aside, you may be interested to know that your ticket is also valid via Bletchley/Hemel/Watford - may be of use, and on any operator - East Midlands Trains, First Capital Connect, and London Midland - obviously within zones 1-6 you can travel on any train, tube or bus run by any operator.

[saxonrosecliff]

Does anyone have any idea what time of day the cheap tickets are released (East Coast Mainline)?

Two of us are wanting to travel from Leicester to Newcastle on 20th June returning a week later or departing 27th June returning a week later (we're visiting relatives so it doesn't matter which week). The best way seems to be to split the tickets at Peterborough but we are willing to split anywhere in order to get a cheaper ticket but there doesn't appear to be any tickets available from Peterborough to Newcastle on 20th June. Can anyone help?

Its the first time I've done this and I'm getting really confused!

[adamtrainman]

Maybe a week or 3 till release dates for the weeks you want. Another options would be Leicester to Sheffield on East Mids Trains then Sheffield to Newcastle on Crosscountry.

Or even try Leicester to Birmingham on a walk up fare then Birmingham to Newcastle on advanced purchase

[saxonrosecliff]

Maybe a week or 3 till release dates for the weeks you want. Another options would be Leicester to Sheffield on East Mids Trains then Sheffield to Newcastle on Crosscountry.

Or even try Leicester to Birmingham on a walk up fare then Birmingham to Newcastle on advanced purchase
Thanks adam. I thought where the train companies said the tickets were on sale 12 weeks before they meant it!

[ClareLouise]

I'm actually desperate.

Does anyone know of a way to get cheap tickets London - Manchester leaving Saturday 18th April, coming back on the 19th? Leave between 7-9am on sat, 11am-1pm on Sun.

I've split tickets on the route and it's not cheaper, singles are more expensive than returns and bus isnt an option because of travel time. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[wapow]

how desperate hmm??

lol hey look, first of all, define how flexible you are. why isnt bus an option? would you be willing to train some part of the journey and bus the rest? do you have any rail/coach cards?

08:00 Depart London, Victoria Coach Station
Arrive Manchester Chorlton Street 12:40

ticket £10.00 1 seat bus journey only.

thats the sunday return ive found if you leave at 12pm

but im sure we could find more once you state everything

[Livingthedream]

I'm actually desperate.

Does anyone know of a way to get cheap tickets London - Manchester leaving Saturday 18th April, coming back on the 19th? Leave between 7-9am on sat, 11am-1pm on Sun.

I've split tickets on the route and it's not cheaper, singles are more expensive than returns and bus isnt an option because of travel time. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

You could try this, a slower service but cheaper;

Manchester Pic to Crewe - Anytime return £13.80
Crewe to London Euston - London Midland Super Off Peak Return £20

Total £33.80

You can get it even cheaper by getting London Midand advance tickets from Crewe to London at £7 each way but the Super Off Peak gives you more flexibility. These are walk on tickest so can be bought on the day of travel just ask for them by name and their NOT valid on faster Virgin Trains services.

[Alonso14]

Does anyone know why no advance tickets are available for the week 23-29 May? There are advance tickets available before and after this week, so is it likely that they have all sold out already? Cheers

http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/buy_tickets/booking_in_advance/default.aspx

[Livingthedream]

Does anyone know why no advance tickets are available for the week 23-29 May? There are advance tickets available before and after this week, so is it likely that they have all sold out already? Cheers

http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/buy_tickets/booking_in_advance/default.aspx

Most probably down to the engineering work planned in the Stoke on Trent, Milton Keynes and Crewe area between 23-25 may which will cause serious disruptions and might overrun to the 29th May.

http://nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/2009/05/25/vt/engineeringworks.html#ene14787153240ccbf69c64a2595 c924

[Dannyd123]

is it cheaper in most cases to stop a station early and get the bus

[beecher]

Yes wait for the cheap tickets to be released. A couple of weeks maybe

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html

Thanks so much for this link - it is exactly what I was looking for.

[Abbie]

I know I'm a bit early but I'm looking for a return (leaving Friday morning, coming back Sunday afternoon) for the end of July from Chester to Ludlow. Looking at other dates now available, I can't find anything under £28.50 return. Is this right? To go on the same train to Shrewsbury (a couple of stops earlier) is only £14.40 return (ie half price!). Has anyone come across this before or got any suggestions?

Thank you.

[KeithP]

I know I'm a bit early but I'm looking for a return (leaving Friday morning, coming back Sunday afternoon) for the end of July from Chester to Ludlow. Looking at other dates now available, I can't find anything under £28.50 return. Is this right? To go on the same train to Shrewsbury (a couple of stops earlier) is only £14.40 return (ie half price!). Has anyone come across this before or got any suggestions?

Thank you.
A return from Chester to Shrewsbury is only £14.30, and an anytime return from Shrewsbury to Ludlow is £17.60.
Not a good one for splitting, it appears.

[gner_ex]

is it cheaper in most cases to stop a station early and get the bus
No - this is by no means correct.

If you want to give your start and end stations (and dates etc) we will tell you if there are any tricks you might be able to use).

[dzug1]

I know I'm a bit early but I'm looking for a return (leaving Friday morning, coming back Sunday afternoon) for the end of July from Chester to Ludlow. Looking at other dates now available, I can't find anything under £28.50 return. Is this right? To go on the same train to Shrewsbury (a couple of stops earlier) is only £14.40 return (ie half price!). Has anyone come across this before or got any suggestions?

Thank you.

Looks right to me unfortunately. There are no advance purchase fares on this route.

And it is a fair distance from Shrewsbury to Ludlow.

Buy your ticket on the day - it will be the same price. There's not the slightest point in buying it in advance.

[gner_ex]

I know I'm a bit early but I'm looking for a return (leaving Friday morning, coming back Sunday afternoon) for the end of July from Chester to Ludlow. Looking at other dates now available, I can't find anything under £28.50 return. Is this right? To go on the same train to Shrewsbury (a couple of stops earlier) is only £14.40 return (ie half price!). Has anyone come across this before or got any suggestions?

Thank you.
Yup your prices are correct. I agree with you that it seems wrong, but there is no obvious explanation. Then again, it is 70 miles each way.

[munsterforever]

i'm after going to penzance from dublin on one of these rail and sail tickets-does anyone know if i would be allowed to take the euston train from holyhead (change at chester but direct on return) and then get the tube to paddington and go to penzance that way? or will they make me go to brum and change there and plymouth.

If you are allowed to go via london i would take the sleeper from paddington and pay the extra charge for the berth-would that be ok? does anyone know?

[dzug1]

is it cheaper in most cases to stop a station early and get the bus


To generalise - no, it will never be cheaper to do this.

There may be the odd exception, but it's very much an exception

[howskint?]

Can anyone help please? Wanting to travel from Derby to London on 4th July, returning on 5th July. Don't mind what time trains we catch - going down for a concert. What would be the cheapest way of doing this? Would we be better booking direct at the train station or booking on line?
Thanks in advance
howskint?

[Livingthedream]

Can anyone help please? Wanting to travel from Derby to London on 4th July, returning on 5th July. Don't mind what time trains we catch - going down for a concert. What would be the cheapest way of doing this? Would we be better booking direct at the train station or booking on line?
Thanks in advance
howskint?

Your a bit early at the moment, the 12 week rule for advance tickets doesn't always happen, it depends on the train company, and East Midland trains, who do the direct service to Lonodon are always late with releasing theirs. Use this website to help you find out when the cheap advance tickets are released;

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html

[wapow]

Could someone please explain when the FGW Promotion code kicks in?

It says i have to follow the link in the email. When i do this and check the train times, the prices are bumped up! Im not sure when the discount kicks in either.

Anyone booked with the promotion code? How does it work please explain.

And do FGW charge a booking fee?

Thanks

[Bogof_Babe]

Another "could someone please explain...", as there are several experts who are helpful on this thread.

There seem to be no train services between Shrewsbury and Hereford on 28th June, only replacement buses. There is no planned maintenance work listed in the National Rail website. I just wondered what is going on.

[dzug1]

Could someone please explain when the FGW Promotion code kicks in?

It says i have to follow the link in the email. When i do this and check the train times, the prices are bumped up! Im not sure when the discount kicks in either.

Anyone booked with the promotion code? How does it work please explain.

And do FGW charge a booking fee?

Thanks

It's deducted when you come to the payment screen.

They do not charge a booking fee unless you ask for eg special delivery

[dzug1]

Another "could someone please explain...", as there are several experts who are helpful on this thread.

There seem to be no train services between Shrewsbury and Hereford on 28th June, only replacement buses. There is no planned maintenance work listed in the National Rail website. I just wondered what is going on.

If there are replacement buses there is engineering work whether the National Rail website lists it or not

[gner_ex]

i'm after going to penzance from dublin on one of these rail and sail tickets-does anyone know if i would be allowed to take the euston train from holyhead (change at chester but direct on return) and then get the tube to paddington and go to penzance that way? or will they make me go to brum and change there and plymouth.

If you are allowed to go via london i would take the sleeper from paddington and pay the extra charge for the berth-would that be ok? does anyone know?

This is what I like - a query I cannot answer - mainly because I'm not sure how to issue these on the machine. This is a query where popping down to your local station (CIE or national rail) finding an old school chap whose been there for more than 2 minutes and getting proper help is required. I can find various destinations for Dublin on my system - but they appear to give only advance fares to Penzance (some are amazingly cheap - £30 single!). Nothing said about routing though.

To try and give you some meaningful information, I've looked at Holyhead-Penzance tickets: there is an any permitted saver return at £146.90 - this ticket is priced by Arriva cross country. Now given that you'd have to go through the west midlands whichever way you went, it isn't that much shorter going via Bristol to going via London. Lets look at the routeing guide (http://www.atoc.org/rsp/Routeing_Guide.asp): the routeing point for Holyhead is Shotton, and for Penzance is Plymouth. Routes between Shotton and Plymouth are numerous:

BC+CE BC+CE+SW BC+MW+SW BC+MW+WE BC+MW+WR BD BD+CH CC+CE CC+CE+SW CE+BC+CH CH+BC+CE+SW LC+MW+SW LC+MW+WE LC+MW+WR MW+SW MW+WE MW+WR
The short answer to your question is that based on a quick look, the nearest to Paddington you can go is Reading. The sleeper picks up from there. To do what you want to do, the combination LC+WE or LC+WR would need to be on the list, but they're not (but remember that this information only applies to Holyhead to Penzance).

If you can get someone at a ticket office to give you the Dublin-Penzance information, they should be able to book you seat and berth reservations throughout - if they give you a reservation into Euston and another from Paddington then that automatically covers you from any suggestion that your route is invalid.

[Quickblood]

I'm going to Birmingham's NEC on the 17th and had planned on getting a coach but the Funfare price has gone up from £6 to £12 so now I'm wondering what the cheapest train ticket could be from London.

Thanks in advance.

[Stewartjp]

Hi all

I've seen advance tickets for London to Glasgow go for £15 ow and really want to use these in future but live in Bedford and it costs this much to get into London.
If the train from London stops at a station closer to me, e.g. Stevenage/Milton Keynes, could I still get on the train without any trouble if I had a London to Glasgow ticket?

Thanks for any help.

Stewart

[debjay]

Hi
I am trying to book 2 tickets for 2 16 year olds to travel from Plymouth to Birmingham on 14th July and coming back on 17th.

How do I know when the cheap advance tickets will be on sale?

[KeithP]

I'm going to Birmingham's NEC on the 17th and had planned on getting a coach but the Funfare price has gone up from £6 to £12 so now I'm wondering what the cheapest train ticket could be from London.

Thanks in advance.
It can be done for £5.00 each way on that date using advance singles, but the timings may not be suitable...
Dep Euston 11:54, arr Birmingham International 14:04.
Dep Birmingham International 22:20, arr London Euston 00:03.

[modo]

Does anyone the cheapest price for this route travellingon a Saturday morning 25 April after 10 a.m. returning on Sunday after about 3 p.m.

Thanks

Maureen:cheesy:

[KeithP]

Maureen, have you done any research yourself?
What's the best price you have found?

p.s. Advance Single tickets can be had for £36.50 each way on the dates and almost at the times that you ask for.

[adamtrainman]

Maureen cheapest im getting is an off peak return by Grand Central only at £69 return.
The trains are
London to Sunderland sat 25th apr
07:57 arr 11:50
11:27 arr 15:14
16:50 arr 20:34

Sunderland to London sun 26th apr
09:10 arr 12:51
13:42 arr 17:24
18:42 arr 22:20

Just to add if your over 60 the price comes down to £49.50 using same trains all you need is proof of age

[adamtrainman]

Debjay keep your eye on this link from National Rail

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html

[kathrynt]

hi going from wigan to cleethorpes 10 july returning 17 july, 4 adults. anyone got a idea of cheapest tickets to get

[russellelly]

Hi, I'm trying to get from Glasgow - Portsmouth harbour, arriving by noon on Thursday 11 June (so via Caledonian Sleeper), coming back leaving from noon on Monday 15 June. I've made this trip at the same time for the last few years (Isle Of Wight festival) and got some really good deals, but everything's more or less full price at the moment. Any ideas on journey splits etc? The 'Slower but Cheaper' button on thetrainline isn't doing its usual wonders :( Number of changes/travel time isn't a major issue.

[adamtrainman]

kathrynt, there is major engineering work between Doncaster and Cleethorpes all summer so its a bus between Doncaster and Cleethorpes taking just over 1.5 hours. And your a bit early for the cheap fares yet give it a week or 2.

russellelly, i seem to have drawn a blank too on cheap fares, my thinking was split at london and get cheap southern advanced tickets but cant seem to get any of them up

[kathrynt]

so i'm going to be a bus for 1.5 hours. is this the only way

[Quickblood]

It can be done for £5.00 each way on that date using advance singles, but the timings may not be suitable...
Dep Euston 11:54, arr Birmingham International 14:04.
Dep Birmingham International 22:20, arr London Euston 00:03.

Thanks mate but yeah wanted to get there a bit earlier and leave much earlier than that. Cheers anyway.

[dzug1]

russellelly, i seem to have drawn a blank too on cheap fares, my thinking was split at london and get cheap southern advanced tickets but cant seem to get any of them up

You could try megatrain between London and Portsmouth - it may be a bit early to book though

For the cheap Southern fares I think you need to specify London Victoria to ensure they appear.

[lingojingo]

Does anyone know of any offers on 16-25 railcards? This time last year they were 1/2 price via a link from Martin's weekly mail, but no sign of anything this year.

thanks to anyone who can help

[gner_ex]

Hi all

I've seen advance tickets for London to Glasgow go for £15 ow and really want to use these in future but live in Bedford and it costs this much to get into London.
If the train from London stops at a station closer to me, e.g. Stevenage/Milton Keynes, could I still get on the train without any trouble if I had a London to Glasgow ticket?

Thanks for any help.

Stewart
Stewart - according to the rules for advance tickets, you must be on the train for the complete length of journey - whether you can get away with it is another matter, however.

Looking at fares, the cheapest Euston-Glasgow ticket I can see is £10.00 single, the cheapest Kings Cross-Glasgow is £16.50, the cheapest Milton Keynes is £10.00, cheapest Stevenage is £16.00, and the cheapest Bedford-Glasgow single ticket is £16.50 - I'm not sure of the routing of this without looking further - could possibly be either along the branch to Bletchley, up to Derby, or maybe even down to Euston - the trick will be finding these cheap tickets.

[gner_ex]

so i'm going to be a bus for 1.5 hours. is this the only way
It looks like it sadly. Possibly take a look at whether national express coach do anything?

Also there are no advance fares between Wigan and Cleethorpes, just off-peak period return at £39.60 - could potentially split at Manchester but it isn't much of a saving.

[adamtrainman]

I'd say your best bet is either Wigan - Manchester singles each way £3.10 each per adult then Manchester - Cleethorpes advanced purchase which for the 3rd july are coming out at about £8.50 or £12 at the moment (your a bit early for the 10 and 17th.

OR

Wigan to Sheffield Off-Peak Return (can travel back within a month) at £21.70 per adult and Sheffield - Cleethorpes advanced singles which for 3rd are coming up starting at £4 each each way.

If you were to travel on a saturday Northern Rail run a Sheffield to Cleethorpes service but these trains only run on a saturday.

[John89001]

so i'm going to be a bus for 1.5 hours. is this the only way

The latest information on the engineering work is shown in the National Rail nationalrail.co.uk site under "Service Disruptions".

This suggests to me that travelling via Newark may let you avoid the bus.

John

[kathrynt]

The latest information on the engineering work is shown in the National Rail nationalrail.co.uk site under "Service Disruptions".

This suggests to me that travelling via Newark may let you avoid the bus.

John
could you tell me how to do this please

[adamtrainman]

Its a long trip by time youve done it you could have gone on replacement bus. From Wigan id say
Wigan - Manchester - Leeds - Newark North Gate - Grimsby Town then Replacement bus for 20mins into cleethorpes.

Journey Planner for 3rd July:-

Via Newark

10:53 Wigan Wallgate
Manchester Piccadilly arr 11:35


11:57 Manchester Piccadilly
Leeds arr 12:52

13:05 Leeds
Newark North Gate arr 14:10

14:36 Newark North Gate
Grimsby Town arr 15:57

16:05 Grimsby Town
Cleethorpes arr 16:25 (BUS)

Travel Time 5hours 32mins

OR Via Bus and Doncaster

10:58 Wigan Wallgate
Salford Crescent arr 11:34

11:47 Salford Crescent
Manchester Piccadilly arr 11:56

12:20 Manchester Piccadilly
Doncaster arr 13:40

13:55 Doncaster
Cleethorpes arr 15:30

Journey Time 4hours 32mins

[John89001]

hi going from wigan to cleethorpes 10 july returning 17 july, 4 adults. anyone got a idea of cheapest tickets to get

Re cheapest tickets:
There are no Advance fares between Wigan and Cleethorpes. They do exist between Manchester and Cleethropes, currently until 19 June. But there are none available after the start of the engineering work, and it is not uncommon for Train Companies to withdraw Advance fares during periods of disruption.

If this happens, look for Advance fares for the major part of the journey, eg. Manchester to Doncaster.

If you travel via Newark, there is a Groupsave fare between Newark and Cleethorpes which may be helpful. This costs £23.60 for all 4 of you and you must all travel together. It is actually a day return ticket but in your case you would throw away the return half and then buy another one for £23.60 the following Friday. Groupsave tickets don't need to be bought in advance.

If the lack of Advance fares makes travel via Doncaster expensive (£39.60 each Off-Peak Return), then via Nottingham may be a cheaper, but longer, option. There are Advance fares between Manchester and Nottingham and a Groupsave ticket from Nottingham to Cleethorpes is £30 for 4 Adults.

John

[russellelly]

You could try megatrain between London and Portsmouth - it may be a bit early to book though

For the cheap Southern fares I think you need to specify London Victoria to ensure they appear.

Thanks - the Southern site only shows one train with an advance ticket which leaves before I get to London (I've booked Megabus down) and the Megabus/train from London to Portsmouth times aren't any good for me.

The Southern DaySave tickets look a bit too good to be true - £20 for unlimited travel for upto 4 adults? They're not on sale until upto a month in advance, but is there a catch that I'm missing? Why would anyone pay for a £28 single for 1 when this is available? Thanks!

[ljwoody]

Hi, this is my first post and I hope I am doing it right! My friend and I are looking to travel to Newcastle from Buxted, East Sussex on 22nd April and returning 24th April - this is the first time I have tried to save money online before travelling - the cheapest price I can find is £232.20 return (for the 2 of us) - I hope I am just being silly and not understanding the whole - split fares thing! Any help would be gratefully received!!:confused:

[John89001]

My friend and I are looking to travel to Newcastle from Buxted, East Sussex on 22nd April and returning 24th April - ... - the cheapest price I can find is £232.20 return (for the 2 of us)

The semi-flexible Super Off-Peak return from Buxted to Newcastle is £115.10, that's £230.20 for 2 adults. If you have been quoted £232.20 perhaps you're looking at a site like thetrainline which charges credit/debit card or delivery fees. Don't use them! Any of the train companies will sell you these tickets from their own site without a fee.

Do either of you qualify for a National Railcard? Every adult does unless they are age 26-59.

It's too late to get the very cheapest tickets, but if you can commit to leaving Buxted on 22nd between 0735 and 1139, and leaving Newcastle on 24th between 1101 and 1455, the National Express East Coast site will currently sell you Advance singles with 11% discount for £51.20 each single journey, a total of £204.80. You are restricted to travelling on the trains you book.

Now the next suggestion really surprised me! superbreak.com will sell you a package holiday of 1 room in the Travelodge Newcastle Central plus travel to Newcastle from any National Express East Coast station (in this case, Kings Cross) for these dates for a total of £153! You need to book this very soon because they need 5 days in order to post the rail tickets and hotel voucher to you. Add £37.20 for two Off-Peak Returns from Buxted to St Pancras and the total is £190.20, saving £40 on the through rail fare. And you don't even need to sleep in the hotel!

John

[ljwoody]

Thank you John - how weird it is - I have already booked the hotel but it will be cheaper for me to book this offer and not go to the booked hotel room!! strange - thank you for taking the time to help me!

[cozza]

can some one help me my son needs to go to london on the 8th and 9th may (he cannot afford to stay over nite . he has to be at the places be for 9.30am so its not off peak travel is there any cheaper price then £43.00 for each day hes traveling from west worthing to london victoria any one got any advice plz

[HOPEFUL-HEATHER]

My sister and I have to travel from Sunderland to Hull for a family wedding on Saturday July 4th. I thought the cheapest option would be to travel early Sat (wedding at noon) stay one night in a cheap hotel on Sat night and return the next day. Oh my word. I have been on a ton of rail sites to find a good deal and have had absolutely no joy. :( Ive tried, singles, returns and even breaking up the journey ie ticket from home to York, then a ticket from York to Hull, but everthing is so expensive. We are on a really tight budget and I havnt even started to look for a place to stay yet. I thought that looking so far in advance I would have more chance of finding a bargain but no joy. Im thinking about looking at cheap coach travel next. :o Can anyone help me at all pleeeeeeease. I can leave from either Sunderland, Durham or Newcastle and can come back anytime at all on the Sunday. Thanks, Heather x :A

[AirlieBird]

can some one help me my son needs to go to london on the 8th and 9th may (he cannot afford to stay over nite . he has to be at the places be for 9.30am so its not off peak travel is there any cheaper price then £43.00 for each day hes traveling from west worthing to london victoria any one got any advice plzTake a look at the Daysave Peak ticket, or the flexi or weekly options.
http://www.southernrailway.com/main.php?page_id=189