Split Ticketing: Report successful routes here

[MSE Martin]

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/images/articlealert.gif

This thread is specifically for reporting successful

SPLIT TICKETING ROUTES

as mentioned in my

Cheapest Train Fares Article (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1154104247,31062,)


For OTHER ISSUES please use the
Cheapest Train Fares Discussion Thread (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=3902768#post3902768)


To add a comment just click reply

[olympian]

Split at York to give Blackburn - York and York - Newcastle. Cheaper for saver returns, also even greater savings between York and Newcastle by using advance purchase on GNER or value fares on Virgin for that portion of journey.

[cowbagger]

I've made some great savings on the journey Peterborough to Cardiff, via Birmingham New Street. You travel on the same trains but splitting the journey/tickets into two stages Peterboro- B'ham then B'ham- Cardiff saves a lot of money. I always buy on the Trainline site and also make huge savings booking 2 singles. So for this return journey you may have to book 4 tickets, but save £££££££'s. e.g. Saver return Cardiff - Peterboro I was quoted £81:00. Buying a combination of tickets (in the latest case, Saver return Cardiff- B'ham and two singles for the Peterboro leg) the total came to £62. But I have done it a lot cheaper than this in the past.

[djw]

Splitting at Wolverhamton seems to give some good savings.

[JaneAire]

I couldn't get a cheap ticket to travel from Leeds to Newcastle on a Friday at the time I wanted to travel, so I got a cheap day Leeds-York ticket then a Virgin Value from York-Newcastle (staying on the same train). Cost is 9.50 plus 9 = 18.50 instead of 32.40 for a standard single. Very pleased with myself!

[16011996]

swansea to preston, split at crewe and if booked early enough, book 2 singles, saved about £40 all together of straight reurn price.

[carolinerunner]

I had to go Crewe to Bournemouth and Trainline said only full fare tickets available for travel less than a weeke away. By buying Crewe to London then London to Bournemouth I paid only about £10 more to go first class Crewe to London, then on return leg I split the journey at Oxford which allowed me to go first class from Oxford back to Crewe and still save £18 over the usual single fare! I love going first as you don't get so claustrophobic so this is a huge bonus. Always check the single fares as the value advance first class tickets on Virgin are amazingly cheap - eg my Crewe to London was £40 first class vs full fare of £137 first, £84.50 2nd.

I thought I was a dab hand at trainline.com so thanks for this tip!

[bunking_off]

Unfortunately, on Virgin West Coast a lot of the options are stymied by peak hour trains not having many intermediate stops, which is great for speed of travel, not so great for this kind of wheeze. E.g. the 0651 from Preston doesn't stop anywhere south of Stafford, 1715 from London doesn't stop anywhere south of Warrington. However, have picked out the following combination to demonstrate things can be done for Preston (Lancaster, Wigan, Warrington will be similar);

0718 Preston - Rugby, returning on 1834 from Rugby is available as a Saver Return, £49.30.
Remaining on same train down, Rugby-London cheapest fare is £32.50 (Advance standard B). Travelling from London on same return train (leaves London at 1745) costs £32.50 - again Advance Standard B.
Total cost = £114.30.

By comparison, booking straight through to London
Preston - London on 0718 = Advance Standard B = £68
London - Preston on 1745 = Advance Standard B = £68
Total cost = £136

...ie £21.70 saving.

[nyerun]

Go visit Scotland, for under £15 return if you're lucky

Wrexham Glasgow according to National Rail

Saver Return £78.80
Open Return £127.00

By going Wrexham-Manchester-Glasgow

Saver Return Wrexham-Manchester £12.60
Mega train Manchester- Glasgow from £1.00 each way!

Total Price £14.60

Saving a minimum of £64.20 but could well be a saving of over £100!!!!!!!!

[alanrowell]

I always buy on the Trainline site and also make huge savings booking 2 singles.
And do you pay the fee for CC use? AFAIK none of the train operating companies charge for CC use if you book through them

[AlexWright]

SINGLE York to Banbury £14
SINGLE Banbury to Haddenham £4.90
SINGLE Haddenham to Banbury £4.90
SINGLE Banbury to York £14

Total cost: £37.80

Saver return cost: £60.80
Single York to Haddenham: £56.60

Go figure!

[purplemargy]

This route takes approx 3 hrs each way. Ilford is in NE London, whilst York is in ..errr..Yorshire. I want to travel in February leaving at 7am in the morning (peak) and returning from 2pm in the afternoon (off peak)

I found that buying two single tickets (outward journey and return) was cheaper than buying a Return AND also cheaper than doing the split ticket thing.

Note - 'Saver' Return ticket was £77.80, but none available for the departure time. Next best thing was Business Return at £117.50.

Ilford to York Return = £117.50
Ilford to York Single = £20.50; York to Ilford Single = £27. TOTAL = £47.50

SAVING = £70!!!!

[DomtheMon]

One to watch is travelling in peak time. Eg Wrexham or Ruabon to Birmingham cheapday returns not available before 0830. However they are valid from Gobowen (I have no idea why). So buy SDR Wrexham/Ruabon-Gobowen and then a CDR from Gobowen to Birmingham. Same train. Its about £12 instead of £20 if you buy the two tickets.

Similarly Chester to London or Shrewsbury to London, saver returns not valid early in morning so you buy a standard open which is over £100 in both cases. The Chester or Shrewsbury booking office won't sell you a return (from the stations where savers ARE valid from) early in the morning but you can get round it if you buy the ticket the day before (assuming no cheap advance tickets available) eg Shotton-London (if from Chester) or Welshpool/Gobowen to London (if from Shrewsbury). If they query it you just say you are going in the car to Shotton/Gobowen as applicable and travelling in the morning. However, ensure the journey is possible, eg if you catch the first train from Shrewsbury at 0554 and you hold a ticket from Gobowen and no trains have yet arrived from Gobowen, an enthusiastic 'gripper' might delight in deeming your ticket invalid. However you could catch the 0640 or later trains. From Chester you have more scope as there are early trains from Shotton.

[alanrowell]

Note - 'Saver' Return ticket was £77.80, but none available for the departure time. Next best thing was Business Return at £117.50.

Ilford to York Return = £117.50
Ilford to York Single = £20.50; York to Ilford Single = £27. TOTAL = £47.50

SAVING = £70!!!!
But if you'd booked on the GNER website that £47.50 would have been £18.25 + £24.05 = £42.30

SAVING = £75!!!!

And you might have been able to get the return trip at £18.25 as well

SAVING = £80!!!!

BTW the London to York trip would be £9.50 each way (£19.00 total). I suspect you could get the bus/tube from Ilford to KX for a lot less than £18 and still make the trip in 3 hours

[u2o]

Manchester to London

Not quite splitting but alternative route (and doesnt take that much extra)

Many people tend to think that Virgin Value direct train is the cheapest at something like £12, but can get much cheaper by going via Sheffield using Transpennine Express and catching a Midland Mainline, cheapest combined fare £6 (MML + Connections)

[Gina Blue]

Ely is one of those prised places which acts as a crossover point and can cheapen your tickets.

I often travel from Norwich to Manchester with a Railcard so this as a saver open return comes to £54.50 on the day.

With the break at Ely, buying 2 return tickets, this comes to £47.55.

The saving would be a larger one if you didn't have a railcard, but i have been told that the ely stop works for cheapening all journeys!

Hope this helps!

Gina

[billybond]

I don't have the exact figures but when travelling from Cambridge to Cheltenham or Gloucester getting two returns (Cambridge - Birmingham and Birmingham to Chelt/Glouc) instead of paying about £60 with a railcard I pay about £50.

Also if going from Bath to Birmingham get two returns with Cheltenham as the central station. At certain times of day this can almost half the ticket price.

I was also told by a rail employee that going from Bath to London can be cheaper if you get two returns with Swindon as the central station.

Sorry I can't be more specific but hope it helps

[lg06111985]

On the Bath to London front the following are all possible:

Saver Return (most trains, return within one month): £45 (£30 railcard)

2x 'ValueAdvance' Tickets (travel on specific trains): from £9 each way; first class from £20 each (no railcards)

###Best option for day return trip buy on the day- saves £23##:
Split the journey in Didcot Parkway- any time travel (not specific trains):
Cheap Day return Bath-Didcot: £10 (7.90)
Didcot Offpeak TRAVELCARD- includes zones 1,2,5&6 on tube: £16 (£13)

Note: Only half of the trains stop at Didcot from Bath (every hour)- but if you miss the didcot train, get on the next London train then wait at swindon for the next train that goes to paddington via Didcot!


Also would be valid from bristol, presume cheap day returns are available from there too.

Note these are all the pre price-rise values so I think saver and cheap day returns have gone up a bit.

[mackay78]

I often travel this route - depending on how far in advance I book it can cost between £12 and £72 for a single.
Read the email and with a trip up in a few weeks went to have a look. The best single up there was

... £50.50

I've gone for Leamington to Birmingham New Street £5.70
Birmingham to York £9.00
York to Newcastle £9.00

Over half price :) (Plus if I can get these prices when the fare is only available at £70 then that's even better)

The return was available at £12 (no changes) - so I'll just enjoy the nap on the way home!

The only downer is it's possible I'd have to move seats on the way up twice (I'm one of the annoying laptop users) - I wonder if you can buy a split ticket on the phone and ask to have the same seat all the way up. Perhaps that's pushing my luck!

[Mojo29]

Birmingham - Bristol
Birmingham - Cheltenham (Open Return)
Cheltenham - Bristol (Day Return)
If doing a return more than one day, get the open return and buy 2 singles

Bristol - London
Bristol - Didcot
Didcot - London

Chiltern line stations south of Bicester - Birmingham
Split your ticket at Banbury

[Hip Priest]

Tickets out of London attract a premium price so it essential to split your journey unless you are travelling on the old Southern Region (basically south of the Thames) of from Fenchurch Street where Network Card discounts apply throughout apart from morning rushhours.
For other directions buy a ticket to the edge of the Network Card boundary if you can.
From Paddington buy a ticket to Reading/Didcot/Oxford/Banbury then other ones to your destination
From Marylebone best deal are "Just £15" tickets all the way to Birmingham and back although these are time restricted
From Euston buy to Milton Keynes, or if time is not an issue via Northampton.
From St Pancras buy to Luton/Bedford
From Kings Cross buy to Stevenage or if time is not an issue to Huntingdon
From Liverpool Street buy to Manningtree

By following this rule my day trips from the Capital to all points to watch football are generally halved in price.

[DjP]

Hmmm

Thanks anyway

but I've never managed to make any of these work

Milton Keynes????


London to Preston super saver return (Young Persons)
£41.50

London to Milton Keynes super saver return (YP)
£14.85
Milton Keynes to Preston super saver return (YP)
£35.05
Total = £49.90

LOSE £8.40


hmmm

thanks anyway

[Hip Priest]

Naturally if you have a nationwide card this affects things but I've made the following savings (ticket prices are approx and will have changed)
London to Yate (Glos) I paid 27 via Didcot rather than 39 from London
London to Rugby via Northampton I paid 17 rather than 30 direct
London to Ipswich via Manningtree I paid 27 rather than 51 direct
London to Kettering via Bedford I paid 20 rather than 50 direct

[froggy27]

My partner works in the North and we live in Surrey/Soutwest london border... he used to pay for about 60gbp return but now with a bit of planning... and after reading it on MSE few months back we book singles each way and the price has gone down a lot.. At the moment GNER is having special offers and Doncaster-London going friday and back Monday were at 7.50gbp each way.....needless to say we booked it for few weeks to come!!!

[ermintrude75]

Norwich to Midlands destinations (e.g. Nottingham, Birmingham):

Split at Peterborough and Leicester. (Not sure how this is affected by the relatively recent Central Trains cheap advance tickets though).


Norwich to London:

If there are no cheap One tickets left (singles as low as £5, so worth checking with them direct), you can get an Anglia Day Pass (off peak only) to Cambridge for £9, and a return or two singles to London from there. It takes longer but savings can be substantial for periods that are off-peak commuter-wise but still busy (e.g. bank holiday weekends).

[rtwuk]

Chiltern Line stations south of Banbury

Also try splitting tickets at Birmingham Snow Hill.

I did Gerrards Cross <> Kidderminster a year or so ago (leaving at 07.18 on a weekday and back the same day), and it was cheaper to split at Birmingham Snow Hill and get 2 returns Gerards Cross<>Birmingham Snow Hill and Birmingham Snow Hill<>Kidderminster.

This was before the £15 cheap ticket return referred to earlier in this thread

[rtwuk]

Don't split in London.

If you travel through London, consider not splitting in London.

Example Edinburgh<>Gerrards Cross return via Kings Cross and Marylebone is cheaper with one through return ticket than Edinburgh<>Kings Cross, tube tickets and Marylebone<>Gerrards Cross.

[moonrakerz]

On the Bath to London front the following are all possible:

Saver Return (most trains, return within one month): £45 (£30 railcard)



Not quite fare splitting - but don't forget the alternative route as well. There are two through trains a day from Bristol to Waterloo (and back !) with South West trains via Salisbury.
I know it takes longer, but the fares start from £17.70 !

[alanrowell]

Not quite fare splitting - but don't forget the alternative route as well. There are two through trains a day from Bristol to Waterloo (and back !) with South West trains via Salisbury.
I know it takes longer, but the fares start from £17.70 !
And for people visiting Bath you might (depending on ticket) be able to break your trip & visit Stonehenge / Avebury as well as Salisbury Cathedral

[LisaChristie]

Hi All

My mate needs to go from Redhill to York, think he may have to go through London. Which is the cheapest way of getting his ticket?

GNER won't let him search online as it's over 3months away.

Thank you

[sparkymark]

Norwich to London:

If there are no cheap One tickets left (singles as low as £5, so worth checking with them direct), you can get an Anglia Day Pass (off peak only) to Cambridge for £9, and a return or two singles to London from there. It takes longer but savings can be substantial for periods that are off-peak commuter-wise but still busy (e.g. bank holiday weekends).[/QUOTE]

UPDATE

The Anglia plus one day pass has been £11.00 for a while now (also singles start from £6.00 since Jan 2nd, book in advance specified train only)

[SAG]

Leeds to Cambridge
Do have to change in Peterborough anyway, but much cheaper to buy the GNER bit to Peterborough as singles then saver return from Peterborough to Cambridge.
GNER website also has 10% discount when buying their tickets on line AND no charge for paying buy credit card (neither did Virgin Trains site last time I used it).

Hope this helps (it's my first post!)

[dalumsden1]

Glasgow Qn Street to Perth, Perth to Dundee

The guy selling the tickets advised me this was the cheaper option without me enquiring.

[the_geary]

Going via the GNER website and getting their extra 10% off, by splitting the Ely-Edinburgh trip at Peterboroug, I managed to get singles 2xEly-P, 2xP-Edin, and back the same... for less than the saver return and advance tickets that were given on National Rail site.
The best bit - the GNER sections are also first class!

Took a bit of to-and-froing between pages to check out properly, could have done it even cheaper but was keen to go First Class (long journey-more room :cool: ). There are cheaper tickets all along the direct GNER London-Scotland route, so well worth looking at splitting the journey.

[firesidemaid]

don't ask why!.......

anyway, it brought up some interesting finds......

the full price for dates in late march was £58.60 saver. my mum was also travelling to meet me but from newton abbot to margate.

i could get hers for £34.00 (2 singles) and could get cheap midland mainline singles for me from kettering to london (£6 each), but the timings meant i couldn't get a cheap break ticket from victoria to margate.

solution: bought 2 singles from swindon to margate and back at £12.00 each (tried loads of options and found this the cheapest). i will only use the london to margate bit, but it's cheaper! means i can still do the whole journey and meet mum in london total £36.00.

(plus we got room in newly opening travelodge in margate for £15 per night)

[firesidemaid]

don't ask why!.......

anyway, it brought up some interesting finds......

the full price for dates in late march was £58.60 saver. my mum was also travelling to meet me but from newton abbot to margate.

i could get hers for £34.00 (2 singles) and could get cheap midland mainline singles for me from kettering to london (£6 each), but the timings meant i couldn't get a cheap break ticket from victoria to margate.

solution: bought 2 singles from swindon to margate and back at £12.00 each (tried loads of options and found this the cheapest). i will only use the london to margate bit, but it's cheaper! means i can still do the whole journey and meet mum in london and we travel on same train to margate - total £36.00.:T

(plus we got room in newly opening travelodge in margate for £15 per night)

[benhill]

Hope this makes sense, as I did it in notepad, and am just pasting across. Whilst these are specific times, the journeys are fairly regular and so can be done at any other time (I reckon). The travelling days are Friday and then Monday.

Choosing to take the return leg from Newport makes sense for me as I live equidistance from Newport and Cardiff; it costs just the same from Cardiff though.

Ben


2nd March:

Truro - Plymouth : 10:06 - 11:17 £4.50 Virgin Trains
Plymouth - Bristol Temple Meads : 11:50 - 13:51 £1 + £0.50 Megatrain
Bristol Temple Meads - Newport : 14:24 - 15:00} First Great Western
Newport - Cardiff Central : 15:05 - 15:20}£2.50 First Great Western



5th March:

Newport - Bristol Temple Meads : 09:44 - 10:17 £3.50 First Great Western
Bristol Temple Meads - Plymouth : 10:44 - 12:48 £1 + £0.00 Megatrain
Plymouth - Truro : 13:09 - 14:21 £3.50 First Great Western

_____

£16.50 (without Young Person's railcard)

(it was around £67!!)

[ajdj]

Can't see it mentioned anywhere but Chiltern have introduced tickets by text message. They send a bar code by text which is scanned on the train by the conductor.

You can book right up to the night before you go and get a great selection of times (loads more than print your tickets option).

Example, I've just booked 2 single tickets for my trip to London from Birmingham for £10 total (tickets are £5 each way). Means it is cheaper than Chilterns £15 cheap return tickets. Cheapest Virgin option was singles totalling £33.

[MushyPeas]

Hiya

I make the trip from the South West to the smoke, and return, every week. I've looked at splitting at Bristol, but it doesn't seem to be any cheaper. Has anyone else managed to reduce the price on such a journey?

Thanks in advance!

[LCLC]

I was quoted £39.50 for the above trip, cheap day return.
Through splitting I found that London-Waterbeach was £18.50; Cambridge to Norwich (stopping at Waterbeach) was £17.40... Total therefore a bit less...
however, the real saving was that when I got to Cambridge, there's a ticket called a Ranger, which is unlimited travel for a day in the region, i.e. that got me to Norwich from there, for another £11. Sadly didn't know about that, and it's not available online. Go figure.

[loopy_lass]

after asking to split my ticket between york, manchester and liverpool the other week i was met with a grunt and a "why"! its the same price, "oh no it isnt says i, i save £9. The chap very said well ill do it this time and reluctantly gave me my tickets. The people behind me had overheard to conversation and did the same and the chap had a real tantrum.

Anyway, went back to station this week to do the same and theres a big sign up saying we no longer split tickets. Can they do this? have the rules changed?

loops

[GingerStokie]

Hi. This is my first post, so please be kind.

The following journey works on paper, but have not yet tried it in practise. Also the costs include a Young Persons Railcard.

Doncaster to Northampton with one Split (I'm looking into the economics of using several Splits, and will eventually look at Splitting Singles).

The Saver Return costs £33.20
Important Note: Where does your train stop?

If the train stops at Burton-on-Trent, Split the ticket here.
DON-BUT £14.65 + BUT-NMP £10.50 = Total cost £25.15

If the train doesn't stop at Burton-on-Trent, Split the ticket at Derby
DON-DBY £11.15 + DBY-NMP £16.75 = Total cost £27.90

Saving of, at most, £8.05 with a YP Railcard.

This can be used on any day, but may be cheaper to go to Virgin advanced deals if you have time.

Addtional Note: This assumes a physical change at Birmingham New Street. Recent Engineering works may scupper these plans during such works.

[Altarf]

after asking to split my ticket between york, manchester and liverpool the other week i was met with a grunt and a "why"! its the same price, "oh no it isnt says i, i save £9. The chap very said well ill do it this time and reluctantly gave me my tickets. The people behind me had overheard to conversation and did the same and the chap had a real tantrum.

Anyway, went back to station this week to do the same and theres a big sign up saying we no longer split tickets. Can they do this? have the rules changed?

They have to sell you any ticket you ask for, but they do not have to find the cheapest combination of tickets to get from A to B. Unfortunately some people don't understand that and get annoyed with the staff when they won't work out the cheapest combination of tickets for them, and the station staff also know that a lot of people don't know the rules, such as the train needing to stop at the split station, so there will be aggro when they get an excess fare.

So next time don't mention 'split tickets', just ask for a ticket from York to Manchester, and then when they have sold you that, ask for a ticket from Manchester to Liverpool. There are many valid reasons why you may want such a combination of tickets, such as a meeting in Manchester before your meeting in Liverpool, which is why they have to sell you whatever you ask for.

[malcolmwilliamson]

I was refused the following split ticket yesterday at Hatfield station,First Capital Connect run. They've supplied without question many times previously:

Hatfield (Herts) <>Hadley Wood (£2)+ Zones 1-6 CDTC(£2)

(Prices based on my New Deal discount card.HW is in zone 6.The benefit of the split is the £2 New Deal child Zones 1-6, £2.80 less than for other discount cards. Same amount cheaper than a Hatfield <> London inc. CDTC)

Instead I had to buy the Hatfield<>HW, get off at HW where the office was unmanned and the FCC machine doesn't cater for New Deal cards.
I bought the nearest equivalent (Disabled discount) for £4.80.

Have written a long closely argued letter to complain.

Any bets on whether FCC will
a) reimburse the extra £2.80 + apologise for the inconvenience+ promise it won't happen again , or
b) charge me with illegally travelling on a Disabled discount card

I'll post to let you know.

[AngLangS]

Cardiff to Birmingham open return is £50.70

Cardiff to Gloucester Saver Return £16.50
Gloucester to Birmingham £21.80

Total using split ticket is £ 38.30 ticket is valid for early morning rush hour!

Better still do Bridgent to Birmingham for £34.30 (seems to be valid for same journeys)

Mad! track equivalent to Highway Robbery!

[AngLangS]

Cardiff to Birmingham open return is £50.70

Cardiff to Gloucester Saver Return £16.50
Gloucester to Birmingham £21.80

Total using split ticket is £ 38.30 ticket is valid for early morning rush hour!

Better still do Bridgent to Birmingham for £34.30 (seems to be valid for same journeys)

Mad! track equivalent to Highway Robbery!

[monkeyspanner]

Barnstaple to Cardiff Standard single £30 plus
Split Barnstaple to Bristol Temple Meads £11.50 + Bristol Temple Meads to Cardiff £2.50. £14 total.

[weymuffred]

apologies if this i in the wrong bit but as I have stated in the DFW my family and i may be travelling to see my dad who is dieing. We live in Weymouth and will be going up to Manchester. I have tried to get my head round this ticket thing but I just cannot work it out, there is 3 adults 3 children. I would really appreciate help in working out the cheapest way up there.

[chelvic]

can anyone find me cheapest train travel return from birmingham to luxembourg, thanks

[kondormid]

Here is a bit of an explaination of how to do this split ticketing just incase someone is having problems.

I want to go to Skegness from Landywood, return Mon - Fri holiday. I want to start out at 7am so off I trot to thetrainline and get a quote of prices...
2 adults and 4 kids
train leaves at 7am, gets to Skeg at 11.38.
Suits me fine.
Now first the price without any family railcard...
£204.80
OK thats a lot of money, so I go back and add the railcard which costs me £20

Thats better, £106.60 (£126.60 inc my rail card)
So far I have saved myself about £80 but I can do better.

Clicking on the depart time on thetrainline gives me the operator, which happens to be central trains. Typing central trains map into google links me to central trains map, and I download it and open it with a pdf viewer.

Now I can see the journey better, I can see the trainstations it passes through I can try to split the ticket by buying two tickets, after a bit of trial and error I get the following results...

Landywood to Tamworth = £30.40 (2 x 15.20 singles)
Tamworth to skeg = £73.70
total return = £104.10

Landywood to Burton on Trent = £27.00
Burton on Trent to Skegness = £59.20
total return = £86.20

Landywood to Derby = £30.10
Derby to Skegness = £44.50
total return = £74.60

thats £74.60 + £20 for my railcard = £94.60. Way bellow the original £204.80 and a fair ol whack below the £126.60 if buying one ticket.

The reason for this is the "saver return" policy. I can travel in my own area before 9am and still get them. If I go past Derby then I can not. Yet I hit Derby just after 9am and so can buy two saver returns. Which a it happens, is still cheaper than a later saver return on an unsplit ticket.

So the tip here is, if your travelling from the west midlands and have to pass through Derby, test to see if buying a split ticket to and from their is cheaper.

[nanamags]

I go to Peterborough from Liverpool frequently and the journey takes 3.45 and costs £58.00. I managed to save aprrox £10.00 and saved 30 minutes by traveling to Nuneaton by Virgin and then catching the Central train service [which starts in Liverpool] to Peterborough. Not a huge saving but every little helps as Mr T says.

;)

[cannycat]

Hi weymuffred, don't know if this will help, the best (of a lot of bad) options I could see on thetrainline.com was Weymouth to Southampton Central; then Southampton Central to Oxford; and then Oxford to Manchester. Other routes were: Weyouth to Bristol; Bristol to Birmingham New Street; Birmingham New Street to Manchester. The last 2 seem to be available relatively cheaply, the main problem seems to be getting out of the south west unless you live in Bristol (by any mode of transport - I currently live in Exeter but my family is up in the north east so I regularly face the joys of road/rail/air!). Other options might be Weymouth to Bristol; Bristol to Coventry; Coventry to Manchester though I couldn't quite work out if this was cheaper or more expensive than the first suggestion; OR you could try Weymouth to Gloucester, Gloucester to Manchester. Hope one of these routes works out for you - best wishes. :)

[spudfish]

hi all, splitting is a great idea, but i'm having some problems.

I want to travel from Middlesbrough to London in mid-march, my problem is that i dont do this route often - can anyone suggest stations to split tickets with?

thanks in advance,

spud.

[aboylikeme]

Hi,

Can anyone help me in finding the best option with regards to splitting tickets for a journey from preston to oxford????

my friend and I are taking the trip - i have a railcard, he doesn't, though it may be advisable for him to get on?
it is £43.10 with a railcard, £65 without!

any help would be very much appreciated!!

thanks in advance

[alanrowell]

I want to travel from Middlesbrough to London in mid-march, my problem is that i dont do this route often - can anyone suggest stations to split tickets with?
If you split the journey it's going to cost you MORE as even a cheap day return to Darlington is £4 and Darlington to London is at least £9.80 each way

Book over the GNER website and Middlesbrough to London is from £11.55 each way.

[bunking_off]

Hi,

Can anyone help me in finding the best option with regards to splitting tickets for a journey from preston to oxford????

my friend and I are taking the trip - i have a railcard, he doesn't, though it may be advisable for him to get on?
it is £43.10 with a railcard, £65 without!



Preston - Oxford saver return is £65.30 (as you say).

Preston - Wolverhampton saver return = £33.40
Wolverhampton - Oxford saver return = £26.00
total = £59.40.

Think railcards just give a straight 1/3 off, so above savings should stand up with your card. Can't comment if it's worth putting your friend onto a railcard.

[gyinnit]

The Cardiff to London open return has got even more expensive recently at £144.

Saver return can be bought for £54 but this obviously limits the times you can travel.

I've been trying for hours to get a good split ticket - cardiff - reading, reading to london. cardiff - bristol, bristol to london, cardiff - swindon, swindon - london. The fares aren't much different, am I doing this wrong?

Any successful Cardiff - London split ticketing journeys found?

[alanrowell]

Cardiff to Birmingham by Central Trains - £10
Birmingham to London by Virgin Trains - £10

Same on the way back

[aah]

Book over the GNER website and Middlesbrough to London is from £11.55 each way.

And if you can't get this price - which is excellent - then try splitting the Darlo - London journey at Peterborough. You must find a train that stops at Peterboro, but stay on it to London. You then buy Boro - Pb, and Pb - London.

This has worked for me a lot on the GNER - London route

but GNER aren't even shortlisted for the new franchise - later this year or 2008... BOOHOO

[Magenta_Wolves]

My mom wanted to go from Wolverhampton to Great Yarmouth and was quoted £66.20 for a saver return. However if she does the following using the same trains it works out much cheaper

OAP Travel Pass - Wolverhampton to Birmingham - FREE
SINGLE Birmingham to Peterborough - £8.00 x 2
SAVER RETURN Peterborough - Great Yarmouth £18.00

Total cost: £34.00

Saving of £32.20

And if she purchases a railcard it will bring the cost down to £22.50
Not bad as she does this journey 4 times a year!

What a wonderful site this is!!

[boqq]

Any suggestions on how to split this route? Have always flown over so far so no idea as to train journey.:confused:

[evesham1988la]

Any suggestions on how to split this route? Have always flown over so far so no idea as to train journey.:confused:

Singles from £15, if booked in advance.

[protector]

Before reading this, please bear in mind that a few suggestions for even cheaper travel were made in posts following this one.
The suggestions were a Virgin Value Advance Single C each way from Manchester to Edinburgh at £12 each way. A considerable saving over what I've achieved, but unfortunately not an option that was available to me when I was booking.

Also, www.megatrain.com was suggested. A good idea but again it wasn't available when I came to book. Not sure why, but such is life.

Having said that, read on to see how I split and saved on this route. It might come in useful if you miss out on the Value Advance C tickets for £12 each way like I did. Thanks to Alanrowell and Voyager2002 for their input.



TheTrainLine prices this journey at £73.10 for a Saver Return and £153 for a Standard Open Return.
I'm traveling on a Saturday, returning on Sunday. Booking quite a way in advance (about 6 weeks)

The two routes thetrainline offers for this journey are:
Manchester-York-Edinburgh (change of train at York)
Manchester-Darlington-Edinburgh (change of train at Darlington)

There are other routes at other times, but these are the only two that came up around the time I'm traveling.


I went for the obvious and selected the change of train as my split station.


Manchester - York - Manchester
Trans Pennine Express Standard Advance B £14 (Return)

York - Edinburgh
Virgin Value Advance £11 (Each way)


Total Journey cost
£36
Total saving
£37.10 (over Saver Return)
£117 (over Standard Open Return)


(Splitting at Darlington left me with a split price of £45 - not as big a saving, so York it is)


When booking I was taking a while to make sure I got my journeys right so I didn't miss a train or end up at the wrong station, and in doing so I missed out on the Standard Advance B for the Manchester to York leg, which meant I've had to get the Standard Advance A instead at a total cost of £4 extra.


So for me...
Saver Return.. £73.10
Split Price...... £40
Saving.......... £33.10

To put that in perspective - National Express for the same journey costs just under £30. The journey is about 10 hours each way, with less comfort, and demands really awkward journey times. £10 well spent when you gain so much extra time at each end too.

I should point out that I made no attempt to reduce the price further than I did by splitting at York. It might be possible to reduce the price even further by splitting one or both of the legs either side of York. I'd spend enough time already though - I didn't fancy spending longer to try and save much more as I was happy with the price I had found.


Great technique and I wish I'd thought of it sooner. I'll be doing this any time I'm getting tickets from now on.
Thanks

[jayarr]

i do this several times a week, but have come across some people at bradford ticket office who are really unhelpful-even went so far to tell me that what i was doing was illegal, and that i could be turned off the train for doing it..as a student-whos journeys arent eligible for a saving on a rail card, the £3-4 a day i save makes a huge difference, but i was also made to feel like a criminal

[jdeagles]

I'm saving a good few quid on early trains from Liverpool to London, though I suspect Runcorn and Crewe could pull the same stunt: I split at Nuneaton. This works with the 05:45 or the 06:28 from Lime Street (but not the 07:07 after that)

Lime Street -> Nuneaton: Saver Return £31
Nuneaton -> London Euston: ADVANCE STANDARD A £42
London Euston -> Nuneaton: Saver Single £29.50

Total £102.50, a saving of £58.70 on the cheapest singles travelling back off-peak, or saving £102.50 travelling back at peak time!

If you pay on the day, you can get the nuneaton -> London leg for £51 - an extra £9 but still a decent saving. You may be able to get that leg cheaper if you book earlier.

[alanrowell]

Why not just pay £12 for Virgin Value advance single C tickets on a train DIRECT to Edinburgh?

Total cost £24 which is a saving of £12 over your indirect route

Also consider Manchester to Glasgow then getting the Citylink or Megabus coaches to Edinburgh

[Cullumpster]

Hiya,
does anyone know the best route to get from Brighton - kettering
My brother is coming up to see me at Easter but he's a student and it costs him loads on the train.

I've tried to look for one but i cant seem to find anything :o

[Voyager2002]

TheTrainLine prices this journey at £73.10 for a Saver Return and £153 for a Standard Open Return.
I'm traveling on a Saturday, returning on Sunday. Booking quite a way in advance (about 6 weeks)

The two routes thetrainline offers for this journey are:
Manchester-York-Edinburgh (change of train at York)
Manchester-Darlington-Edinburgh (change of train at Darlington)

There are other routes at other times, but these are the only two that came up around the time I'm traveling.


I went for the obvious and selected the change of train as my split station.


Manchester - York - Manchester
Trans Pennine Express Standard Advance B £14 (Return)

York - Edinburgh
Virgin Value Advance £11 (Each way)


Total Journey cost
£36
Total saving
£37.10 (over Saver Return)
£117 (over Standard Open Return)


(Splitting at Darlington left me with a split price of £45 - not as big a saving, so York it is)


When booking I was taking a while to make sure I got my journeys right so I didn't miss a train or end up at the wrong station, and in doing so I missed out on the Standard Advance B for the Manchester to York leg, which meant I've had to get the Standard Advance A instead at a total cost of £4 extra.


So for me...
Saver Return.. £73.10
Split Price...... £40
Saving.......... £33.10

To put that in perspective - National Express for the same journey costs just under £30. The journey is about 10 hours each way, with less comfort, and demands really awkward journey times. £10 well spent when you gain so much extra time at each end too.

I should point out that I made no attempt to reduce the price further than I did by splitting at York. It might be possible to reduce the price even further by splitting one or both of the legs either side of York. I'd spend enough time already though - I didn't fancy spending longer to try and save much more as I was happy with the price I had found.


Great technique and I wish I'd thought of it sooner. I'll be doing this any time I'm getting tickets from now on.
Thanks

Remember that Manchester-Edinburgh is a Megatrain route.

[Voyager2002]

i do this several times a week, but have come across some people at bradford ticket office who are really unhelpful-even went so far to tell me that what i was doing was illegal, and that i could be turned off the train for doing it..as a student-whos journeys arent eligible for a saving on a rail card, the £3-4 a day i save makes a huge difference, but i was also made to feel like a criminal

I think you should complain.

So long as you travel on trains that stop at the 'split' station then what you are doing is perfectly legal. Really they are the people who should be ashamed of themselves for charging such ridiculous fares, and for increasing the cost per mile if you travel further (logically, you would expect them to make split tickets more expensive rather than less).

[Voyager2002]

For journeys from the London area to the west country (perhaps also to Wales), Pewsey is a good place to split.

[melstone]

Hello all...this is my first post, yay!

After a lot of tinkering i manage to get the best price for a 2 day trip to Scarborough.
Normal open return from BTM-Scarborough is £94.60.
However....
BTM-Birm New St single = £11.50
BNS-York single = £13.50
York-Scar single =£10.90
total £35.90

The return trip booked as single ticket cost £33.20. Thats a total of £69.10 a saving of £25.50. Unfortunately i couldnt pay by Electron so i jotted down all timings and completely annoyed the guy who served me at BTM!

[protector]

Thanks for the input on the Manchester - Edinburgh route.

I looked at singles direct to Edinburgh but for the day I'm heading up there were none available at a rate cheaper than the split I've gone for.
Also at the times I'm going there were no direct trains on offer.

I did look into going via Glasgow and while it was a considerable saving, taking almost as long to get to Edinburgh as your average transatlantic flight takes, I didn't fancy the detour.

Finally, I checked Megatrain (didn't even know there was such a thing until this weekend) but got "no journeys available for your selected dates" so it was a dead end.


I'll edit my earlier post with a note to suggest people look into these alternative suggestions as it does seem like there's a bigger saving to be had.
I'll leave my post intact for those who, like me, try to get tickets just a bit too late to make maximum savings though.

Thanks again people - I'll look into even cheaper options next time I go.

[angelajl]

Apparently I should have bought tickets when I first realized I needed them. I need to travel from London to York on March 17th, and back again on the 24th. The last few days, every time I search on nationalrail.co.uk, I get a message that says, "Sorry, the site can't find any trains meeting your request." I get that message no matter what I try. I don't know what's going on. :confused:

On GNER, I can find tickets, but there is NOTHING for less than £74.10 each way!!! I'm about to cry.

Any ideas? Or are my husband and I doomed to spend nearly £300 just to get to York and back?

Thanks.

PS - I posted this on another thread, but thought perhaps this might be a better place for it. Sorry for the duplication.

[pompeyrich]

Apparently I should have bought tickets when I first realized I needed them. I need to travel from London to York on March 17th, and back again on the 24th. The last few days, every time I search on nationalrail.co.uk, I get a message that says, "Sorry, the site can't find any trains meeting your request." I get that message no matter what I try. I don't know what's going on. :confused:

On GNER, I can find tickets, but there is NOTHING for less than £74.10 each way!!! I'm about to cry.

Any ideas? Or are my husband and I doomed to spend nearly £300 just to get to York and back?

Thanks.

PS - I posted this on another thread, but thought perhaps this might be a better place for it. Sorry for the duplication.


It's £75:10 each RETURN so actually £150 for the 2 of you, not a great price as you can sometimes get singles for £9:50 but half the £300 you thought !! This fare is available on the day you intend to travel so keep looking for cheaper as they do sometimes release them late at weekends

[alanrowell]

On GNER, I can find tickets, but there is NOTHING for less than £74.10 each way!!! I'm about to cry.

Any ideas? Or are my husband and I doomed to spend nearly £300 just to get to York and back?
Posted a reply on Fodors - but the answer is to get a train to LEEDS then a separate train to York, works out about £26 each way

[alanrowell]

Thanks again people - I'll look into even cheaper options next time I go.

Looking at the train route maps (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/tocs_maps/maps/network_rail_maps.htm) can also be useful as it gives you some idea of what routings are possible

[captain_crunch]

Hi guys

Newport Gwent to Edinburgh Waverley

Split ticket, 4 singles:

Out
Newport Gwent - Crewe
Crewe - Edinburgh Waverley

In
Edinburgh Waverley - Crewe
Crewe - Newport Gwent

Just got this trip for £48 - the equivalent "saver" journey was £146!

Many thanks Martin!

[captain_crunch]

Apparently I should have bought tickets when I first realized I needed them. I need to travel from London to York on March 17th, and back again on the 24th. The last few days, every time I search on nationalrail.co.uk, I get a message that says, "Sorry, the site can't find any trains meeting your request." I get that message no matter what I try. I don't know what's going on. :confused:

On GNER, I can find tickets, but there is NOTHING for less than £74.10 each way!!! I'm about to cry.

Any ideas? Or are my husband and I doomed to spend nearly £300 just to get to York and back?

Thanks.

PS - I posted this on another thread, but thought perhaps this might be a better place for it. Sorry for the duplication.

Hi - try looking on www.thetrainline.com

I just entered your trip details - London Paddington to York, buy two single journeys and it will be less than £60 each.

hope this helps!

[NafUk]

Has anyone done split ticketing for travel to France. I would like to get from Stoke to Brive la Garde. Have been quoted £461 return for 2 adults + 2 kids. Costs £160 by car.

[angelajl]

Hi - try looking on www.thetrainline.com

I just entered your trip details - London Paddington to York, buy two single journeys and it will be less than £60 each.

hope this helps!

As it turns out, our travel companions are willing to pick us up in Leicester, since they're driving from Hereford to York that morning, and planned to stop in Leicester anway (I'm not sure why they chose that route, but it works out well for me!). So, yesterday I bought one-way train tickets from London Kings Cross to Leicester for the 17th. Then, I bought one-way tickets from York to London for the morning of the 24th. The total for these tickets was £13pp from London to Leicester, and £16pp from York to London. I bought them directly through GNER.

Thanks again for all your help!

[alanrowell]

Trains to Leicester go from St Pancras which is next door to Kings Cross.

[liz.kingdom]

I've just bought tickets from Exeter to London arriving in London at 09:21 Thursday 15 March. The usual price is £168 standard class. I bought Exeter-Pewsey and Pewsey-London and similar on return (on same train although changing at Taunton) for a cost of £62! Will be using them tomorrow and will report if there are any problems but the timetable is straightforward and the return journey leaving London at 16:33 is straight through.

[alchemista]

Some good newspaper articles were listed in this post:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=4604960&postcount=469

[mandarama]

Two years ago I travelled to Turin with a friend - we went on Eurostar to Lille (paid for with Airmiles - he he!) Lille to Lyon TGV (tickets bought in advance - online) then on to Turin buying a local ticket to go through the alps. Journey was fabulous, travelling upstairs in the double decker TGV was only one of the highlights. The combined price of the Waterloo to Lyon tickets are much higher than buying them seperately yourself, in any case. The online price for the Lyon to Turin route for two people was hundreds £s ( I can't remember the actual price) so we had thought we would pick up the overnight coach for that part of the journey. When we arrived we checked out the train - just in case and low and behold it was about £30 each - not much different to the coach fare. We stayed overnight in Lyon, but that only added about £40 (IBIS hotel - in August)

[bill the bus]

Retford to Huntingdon with mandatory change at Peterborough. It is approx 50% more to book direct than to book Retford - Peterborough and Petrborough - Huntingdon

Retford to Grantham. Book to Nottingham and its a lot cheaper.

[iglimpse]

Travelling from Liverpool to London in a few weeks. Have been quoted £59.70 return (out Sunday off peak, return Weds Peak). Does anybody know where to split this journey please

[Roland]

They have to sell you any ticket you ask for, but they do not have to find the cheapest combination of tickets to get from A to B. Unfortunately some people don't understand that and get annoyed with the staff when they won't work out the cheapest combination of tickets for them, and the station staff also know that a lot of people don't know the rules, such as the train needing to stop at the split station, so there will be aggro when they get an excess fare.

So next time don't mention 'split tickets', just ask for a ticket from York to Manchester, and then when they have sold you that, ask for a ticket from Manchester to Liverpool. There are many valid reasons why you may want such a combination of tickets, such as a meeting in Manchester before your meeting in Liverpool, which is why they have to sell you whatever you ask for.

I'll start by quoting from the National Fares Manual, which is issued to all station ticket offices :-

"Combination of Tickets
The National Fares Manual provides fares for most through
journeys. Tickets should always be sold for the throughout
journey required unless a customer specially requests more
than one ticket for the journey. In such cases the combination
of tickets should cover the entire journey being made. The
National Rail Conditions of Carriage specify circumstances
when tickets may be used in combination."

In other words, the ticket office staff at York cannot simply refuse to sell split tickets. They are within their rights to be refusing to do the necessary research for someone asking for the cheapest split fare from A to B, especially if there is a queue 10 deep at the time. You need to be able to ask for the correct, valid tickets for your journey on arrival at the booking office.

I have been looking at split tickets for some time and, for me, one notable example is for the relatively short trip from Leeds to Doncaster. The fares on this route are set by GNER, their trains operate this route from Leeds through to London Kings Cross. Cheap Day returns are usually available across the country for off peak journeys of less than 75 miles. GNER has decreed that cheap day returns will not be available on this route, so the day return fare at all times is £9.10.

However, Northern also operate a stopping service on the line, but the direct fare is the same, £9.10 for a slower journey. Travelling on Northern only and splitting tickets at South Elmsall, where GNER do not stop, reduces the fare to £5.30 return, a saving of £3.80. The split fares are now set by the Passenger Transport Authorities in West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.

Another example is a peak time day return from Leeds to Birmingham New St leaving at 7.05 returning before 18.00.

The are no Savers for departures before about 9.00.

Open Return LDS to BHM, an eye watering = £69.00
Advance Purchase 2 x £29.50, still enough to make you want to cry = £59.00

Standard Day Returns
Leeds to Sheffield (Not Doncaster)= £9.70
Sheffield to Derby = £14.60
Derby to Birm New St = £13.00
Total = £37.30 saving £31.70 over the Open fare and even £21.70 over the Advance Purchase fare. All journeys on this route require a stop or change at Derby or Sheffield.

When the Saver fare of £43.10 becomes available later, this can be beaten by an all Cheap Day Return, with the same splits of £25.50, saving £17.60.

The fact is that most passengers on these busy routes will only be sold the more expensive options.

[dn852k4]

Travelling from Liverpool to London in a few weeks. Have been quoted £59.70 return (out Sunday off peak, return Weds Peak). Does anybody know where to split this journey please


Did you manage to find a split journey?

I would like to know the best split between either Liverpool or Chester to London Euston?

[dn852k4]

Liverpool to Hull

Saver return = £49.40


Liverpool to Leeds, cheap day return = £21.70
Leeds to Hull, cheap day return = £14.80

Total saving of £12.90;)

[titus4t]

Just about to book Wareham (Dorset) to Penrith (Cumbria). Cheapest return for my dates was £110.

Booking 4 singles - South West Trains to Birmingham New St - Then Virgin to Penrith - will cost £57

NB 4 singles is cheaper than booking 2 returns. Seems to me from some of the other entries here that spliting any journey that goes via Birmingham New St has a good chance of working out cheaper as singles.

[KGG]

I'm looking for return tickets from London to Manchester for the Manchester United VS AC Milan game on the 24th of April.
Tickets to go to Manchester with Virgin is now about 25 pounds 1 way
and around 23 on the way back early in the morning (because there are no trains left after the game ends at about 22.00.

I was wondering if anyone knew a better way to manage this trip because I tried splitting in Milton Keynes and that just adds to the time and only saves me about 2 pounds! and I really want to get back to london that night but there isn't a virgin train at the time, is there any other way to get back to london??

Thanks for all your help
Kevin

[dzug]

National Express run an overnight bus leaving at midnight and another at 0130 - the 0130 actually arrives in London earlier!

[AP]

When the Saver fare of £43.10 becomes available later, this can be beaten by an all Cheap Day Return, with the same splits of £25.50, saving £17.60.

The fact is that most passengers on these busy routes will only be sold the more expensive options.

The section between Sheffield and Burton on Trent is also covered by the Derbyshire Wayfarer ticket which is valid after 9.00am during weekdays. The cost is £7.90 for an adult which includes a child for free.

Sheffield - Derby: Cheap Day Return £8.10
Derby - Birmingham Stns: Cheap Day Return £9.80
Total: £17.90

Sheffield - Burton on Trent: Derbyshire Wayfarer £7.90
Burton on Trent - Birmingham Stns: Cheap Day Return £7.20
Total: £15.10

i.e. A further £2.80 can be saved by using the Derbyshire Wayfarer ticket between Sheffield and Burton on Trent, though the train must call at Burton on Trent on the way to/from Birmingham.

[AP]

I have been looking at split tickets for some time and, for me, one notable example is for the relatively short trip from Leeds to Doncaster. The fares on this route are set by GNER, their trains operate this route from Leeds through to London Kings Cross. Cheap Day returns are usually available across the country for off peak journeys of less than 75 miles. GNER has decreed that cheap day returns will not be available on this route, so the day return fare at all times is £9.10.

However, Northern also operate a stopping service on the line, but the direct fare is the same, £9.10 for a slower journey. Travelling on Northern only and splitting tickets at South Elmsall, where GNER do not stop, reduces the fare to £5.30 return, a saving of £3.80. The split fares are now set by the Passenger Transport Authorities in West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.



If you want a slightly cheaper ticket on a non-stopping train from Leeds to Doncaster, you can try the following combinations, based on the fact that a Cheap Day Return between Wakefield and Cross Gates (one station further than Leeds) is cheaper than one to Leeds; and a Standard Day Return between Wakefield and Kirk Sandall (one station further than Doncaster) is cheaper than one to Doncaster.

Cross Gates - Wakefield Stns: Cheap Day Return £2.15 (£2.25 from Leeds)
Wakefield Stns - Kirk Sandall: Standard Day Return £6.30 (£6.70 to Doncaster)

Total £8.45 and are valid for travel on a GNER service between Leeds and Doncaster as it stops at Wakefield Westgate.

[k_cozens]

Any suggestions going from Coventry to Edinburgh?
Thanks.

[CazClay]

Please can someone help me!!!

As a poor student i'm desperate to find a cheap way to visit my boyfriend so looking for a cheap route from Leeds to Reading, all i can manage is fifty odd pounds which makes my purse weep!!

Any advice at all on how to make any portions of the journeys cheaper would be much appreciated!!
Caroline

[Altarf]

Please can someone help me!!!

As a poor student i'm desperate to find a cheap way to visit my boyfriend so looking for a cheap route from Leeds to Reading, all i can manage is fifty odd pounds which makes my purse weep!!

Any advice at all on how to make any portions of the journeys cheaper would be much appreciated!!
Caroline

GNER are doing Leeds to London for £5, so that may help a bit, http://www.gner.co.uk/gner/tickets/_leedslondonoffer.htm

[alanrowell]

For Leeds to Reading you can get tickets for £12 each way on a direct or via Birmingham Virgintrains service

If not then GNER via London is from £18.25 each way

Just go to the appropriate website and play around - cheapest fares tend to be available from 6-8 weeks before travel

[chrisc_20]

Anyone know any cheap routes for Glasgow to Newport South Wales?

thetrainline offers Saver Return £123.80. I've tried a few and been able to shunt it down a few quid but wondered if anyone had any better?

Cheers in advance...

[coral]

depends how flexible you can be on this one. If you can travel off peak this could work out very cheap

taking some random dates in may
Cardiff - Manchester (arriva trains wales) 11:50 - 15:13 £10 single
Manchester - Glasgow (megatrain - op by virgin) 15:58 - 19:37 - £3 single

Glasgow - Manchester (megatrain) 13:50 - 17:19 - £5 single
Manchester - Cardiff (arriva trains wales) 17:34 - 21:00 - £10 single

so £28 return (+ a few quid from newport)

otherwise look out for splits in Crewe, Birmingham or Manchester, using virgin value tickets for the England - Glasgow portion

[williamh1]

Any suggestions going from Coventry to Edinburgh?
Thanks.

Instead of paying the £70 or so from Waverley to Coventry travel via Glasgow to Birmingham New Street - the Glasgow to Brum sector can cost around £17 but will probably be available at £25. You'll need to get tickets from Edinburgh to Glasgow and Brum to Coventry too but these are relatively inexpensive.

[chrisc_20]

Cheers coral, that's brilliant.

[cactuslove]

Any ideas on best prices for 2 adults and 2 kids between Heworth(Newcastle and Auchinleck(Kilmarnock) Using family rail card.Would like to travel on or around 30th June. Thanks

[alanrowell]

I get £32.30 one way in total for Heworth(Newcastle and Auchinleck(Kilmarnock) travelling on a Saturday without splitting the route if you go via Carlisle & Glasgow.

Going via Edinburgh doesn't save anything and going direct to Auchinleck from Carlisle puts the price up to £94, though it's an hour quicker

[coral]

Well a GNER "Standard Advance 4" doesnt look bad value at all at £32.30 single for all of you from Newcastle - Auchinleck, so £64.60 rtn.

[oafcmetty]

Had to book a short notice single from London to Manchester for a Saturday morning in a couple of weeks time.

Trainline was giving £49.50 as the cheapest fare.

But, with a split at Stoke, managed to get:
London - Stoke: £12.50
Stoke - Mcr: £9.40

Total: £23.90
Saving: £25.60

:beer:

[cactuslove]

managed to get return for £47.10. Split from Heworth to Dumfries n Dumfries to Auchinleck though. Dont think will get for much less but if any one can prove me wrong:

[trubster]

Please not all prices quoted include Rail Card Discounts at 33.4%

I normally bought Saver Returns from sheffield or doncaster to newcastle (Valid all day/no off peak restrictions) but as I was going after 10 I was expecting a CDR option... was there one?.. nope!

After digging around the net for a bit I found this combination (Used with a SY Weekly Pass)

0954 Sheffield to Doncaster (Inclusive on pass)
Doncaster to York £6.40 CDR
York to Darlington £9.45 CDR
Darlington to Newcastle £5.30 CDR

TOTAL - £21.15

Saver Return £33.20
SAVED - £12.50

All the tickets were cheap day returns and I stayed on the same train that I got on at sheffield and saved myself over a tenner!

Anyone know an option for travel before 10 that is cheaper than £33.20 and that is not an advance ticket as I dont have much notice at times. (Possibly Via Leeds):rolleyes:

Thanks

Kev

[AP]

Please not all prices quoted include Rail Card Discounts at 33.4%

I normally bought Saver Returns from sheffield or doncaster to newcastle (Valid all day/no off peak restrictions) but as I was going after 10 I was expecting a CDR option... was there one?.. nope!

After digging around the net for a bit I found this combination (Used with a SY Weekly Pass)

0954 Sheffield to Doncaster (Inclusive on pass)
Doncaster to York £6.40 CDR
York to Darlington £9.45 CDR
Darlington to Newcastle £5.30 CDR

TOTAL - £21.15

Saver Return £33.20
SAVED - £12.50

All the tickets were cheap day returns and I stayed on the same train that I got on at sheffield and saved myself over a tenner!

Anyone know an option for travel before 10 that is cheaper than £33.20 and that is not an advance ticket as I dont have much notice at times. (Possibly Via Leeds):rolleyes:

Thanks

Kev

Well Done!

You can download the Avantix Traveller program from this website for future research and reference:

http://www.theticketcollector.co.uk/wordpress/2007/03/08/advantixtraveller/

(Suggest cut and paste the link onto the browser or highlight address and press return if forbidden message comes up)

This is essentially the National Fares Manual and contains all the rail fares between any two stations in the whole country.

I see that you are also from Sheffield and the followings are some more tips for local rail travel in this area:-

Sheffield to Doncaster: Standard Day Single £3.50
Dore (one stop before Sheffield) to Bentley (one stop after Doncaster): Standard Day Single £2.50

Sheffield to Swinton: Cheap Day Return £3.00
Dore to Mexborough (one stop after Swinton): Cheap Day Return £2.90

Sheffield to Wakefield Stations: Cheap Day Return £6.50 (not via Doncaster)
Sheffield to Castleford (two stops after Wakefield): Cheap Day Return £6.00 (any permitted route)

Doncaster to Leeds: Standard Day Return: £9.10
Split ticket between:
1. Kirk Sandall (one stop before Doncaster) to Wakefield Stations: Standard Day Return £6.30, and
2. Wakefield Stations to Cross Gates (one stop after Leeds): Cheap Day Return £2.15
Total = £8.45

Sheffield to Leeds: 1 month season ticket £168.20 (or £165.60 for not via Doncaster)
Sheffield to Howden (via Leeds): £157.10

Sheffield to Baildon: Standard Day Single £9.80
Split ticket between:
1. Dore to Wakefield Stations: Standard Day Single £5.80
2. Wakefield Stations to Baildon: Standard Day Single £2.90
Total = £8.70

Sheffield to Manchester Stations: Cheap Day Return: £13.60
Sheffield to Stalybridge (via Stockport): Cheap Day Return: £12.70 - under National Routeing Guide Easement no. 36 - 'Journeys from Stockport to Stalybridge may go via Manchester. Journeys via Stockport and Stalybridge may go via Manchester. These easements apply in both directions'

Sheffield to Birmingham Stations/Aston (return on the same day): Standard Saver Return: £30.80
Split ticket between:
1. Derbyshire Wayfarer (valid between Sheffield and Burton on Trent): £7.90
2. Derby to Shenstone: Cheap Day Return: £6.60 (any permitted route) - under National Routeing Guide Easement no. 97 - 'Journeys from Lichfield Trent Valley, Lichfield City, Shenstone, Blake Street, Butlers Lane, Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield, Wylde Green, Chester Road and Erdington to Derby or via Derby may go via Birmingham. This easement applies in both directions.'
Total = £14.50

NB. Tested and worked on 05/05/07 with tickets inspected at Birmingham New Street and Aston stations

Details of all National Routeing Guide Easements can be found on:

http://www.atoc.org/rsp/_downloads/Routeing_Guide/easements.htm

Happy Travelling!

[skyepark]

anyone know how to split a Liverpool to London journey?

[TheJimster]

Travelling one-way peak-time from Brighton to London Bridge train station:

Buy a ticket from Brighton to Gatwick (ask for a "First Capital Connect only" ticket): cost £7.40

Buy another ticket from Gatwick to London Bridge (ask for "First Capital Connect only"): cost £9

Total cost: £16.40
Direct cost: £19.30
Saving: £2.90

Not the biggest saving, but better than nothing!! You could probably buy a return for similar savings.

[alanrowell]

anyone know how to split a Liverpool to London journey?
It's from £12.50 each way on a direct train. I'd be amazed if you can do better

[theredjack]

Anyone got a genius idea for a split from Bristol to York? Its going to bankrupt me otherwise and i have to go tonight...

thanks

[dzug]

Anyone got a genius idea for a split from Bristol to York? Its going to bankrupt me otherwise and i have to go tonight...

thanks

The Birmingham to Bristol sector is cheaper booking at Cheltenham. For York - Birmingham you'll have to experiment - maybe rebooking at Sheffield and Derby.

But at this late stage your scope is limited - you'll be paying standard fares.

[trubster]

Anyone have any ideas on Sheffield to Poole, I need to get the train to POOLE arriving before 12! 54.85 was the cheapest I found but it was NOT LONDON, I would prob go back via london.

Thats with a Y-P Railcard

Thanks

[dzug]

Anyone have any ideas on Sheffield to Poole, I need to get the train to POOLE arriving before 12! 54.85 was the cheapest I found but it was NOT LONDON, I would prob go back via london.

Thats with a Y-P Railcard

Thanks

Try megatrain for the Birmingham - Bournemouth sector, and for Bournemouth - London going back

[trubster]

Sorry, excuse my stupidity, but what is megatrain?

[dzug]

Sorry, excuse my stupidity, but what is megatrain?

It's a way of selling very cheap fares on existing trains. On a few Bournemouth - London trains a coach is set aside for megatrain passengers. Where Virgin do it you just find an empty seat (or not,as the case may be). Advance booking internet and mobile phone only.

http://www.megabus.com/uk/ - it shares a website with megabus, don't be alarmed.

[trubster]

So I would need a SOR on the Sheffield to Birmingham route (Changing at Derby) £32.35 as the Saver wont be valid, £10.00 to Bournemouth and £1.90 CDR to poole. £44.25, better! lol, the £5X.XX Saver wouldnt be valid for travel at 5am from sheffield anyway would it?

[trubster]

Actually lookin at times, it isnt going to be possible :( I have to two routes below, any cheap ways to do these ones?

SHEFFIELD 05:20 Train MIDLAND MAIN LINE DERBY 05:54
06:05 Train VIRGIN TRAINS BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET 06:45
07:03 Train VIRGIN TRAINS SOUTHAMPTON CENTRAL 09:40
09:51 Train SOUTH WEST TRAINS POOLE 10:34
Or
SHEFFIELD 05:29 Train NORTHERN RAIL DONCASTER 06:06
06:23 Train GNER LONDON KINGS CROSS 08:12
08:12 Tube* LONDON WATERLOO 09:05
09:05 Train SOUTH WEST TRAINS POOLE 11:19
Or
SHEFFIELD 06:45 Train VIRGIN TRAINS SOUTHAMPTON CENTRAL 10:40
10:51 Train SOUTH WEST TRAINS POOLE 11:34

They are the only 3 options as i NEED to be there before 12!

Thanks for helping :-D

[dzug]

This may be a false memory, but ISTR that GNER savers to Peterborough had far fewer time restrictions than those to London - so maybe saver to Peterborough, SDR London, CDR Poole (though you may just be too early for that)

[trubster]

This may be a false memory, but ISTR that GNER savers to Peterborough had far fewer time restrictions than those to London - so maybe saver to Peterborough, SDR London, CDR Poole (though you may just be too early for that)

£22.10 SVR Don to Peterborough
£15.50 CDR Peterborough to London
£24.30 CDR London to Poole

£61.90, Its only £62.05 and that includes the tube travel. I am not really that keen on going via london, I just cant think of a cheaper way to get the tickets. :-(

ATM I am looking at the £54.85 SVR (With Railcard) or a eyewatering £94.00 Without a railcard!!!!!! (ouch!)

[silaslang]

anyone know how to split a Liverpool to London journey?

You can get a £20 return if booking a day inadvance.

[wijit]

I usually do quite well, but I'm strugling to get a reasonable price for my son and I for a return on 20/05 leaving at 09:30-ish and returning on the 18:05. I looked at splitting at Stoke, Stafford and Macclesfield but no joy. I even tried downloading the program mentioned earlier. I have a family railcard, can anyone offer advice?

[JennaCox]

Can anyone help me i am looking to travel from london to glasgow for 2 passengers on the 31st May.
I have been searching for hours looking for cheap fares and have got totally frustrated with the cheapest being nearly £100.
I am a novice at travelling by train and don't know the route and would appreciate any help with this to buy split tickets?

Thanks

[alanrowell]

I get a one-way fare of £17.50 per person on the 08:46 train from Euston that day - try www.nationalrail.co.uk or www.virgintrains.co.uk

[WiseInvestor]

I need help too!

London-Harrogate (Leeds or York will do)
Outbound: 20 May
Return: 23 May

The cheapest I'm finding is £80rtn, which is to be expected given the short notice but I'm not travelling alone so the cheaper the better!

Thanks

[alanrowell]

Leeds to St Pancras with Midland Mainline (http://www.midlandmainline.com/), dep 20 May 10:53 arrive 14:55, cost £15.50 - 1st train from Harrogate arrives at 10:30

Kings Cross to Leeds with GNER (http://www.gner.co.uk), dep 23 May 20:30 arriving 22:57, cost £11.15 - the last train to Harrogate is at 23:29

It's £5.70 each way between Leeds & Harrogate BTW

[WiseInvestor]

Fantasic prices - except they're the wrong way round

Thanks for trying tho!

[duh]

Can I request assistance in finding a cheap route for Reading - Newcastle? The Virgin site keeps reporting a technical fault and trainline gives me a single ticket price of over a hundred pounds!
Would buying the advertised London - Glasgow ticket be valid if I boarded at Reading or Oxford and got off early? Doesn't sound right to me..but not sure if it's legit?

[trubster]

Reading to Newcastle £102.60 Saver Return

£68 Reading to Doncaster (Saver Return)
£9.70 Doncaster to York (Cheap Day Return) after 10am
£20.50 York to Newcastle (Cheap Day Return) after 10am
------
£98.20 Total

Not much of a saving but if you can split the route before reading and get a CDR and go after 10am its not too bad

Dont know anywhere near reading to split the tickets at.

Hope This Helps

Kev

[coral]

try splitting at birmingham ns & getting virgin value tickets. what dates were you looking for?

[alanrowell]

Fantasic prices - except they're the wrong way round

Thanks for trying tho!
Just had a thought - try going via Birmingham as per previous poster suggests

[stoneman]

Would like to know if there is a way of splitting Nottingham to London and return. I do not need to travel before 10am.
Thanks in advance

[AP]

Would like to know if there is a way of splitting Nottingham to London and return. I do not need to travel before 10am.
Thanks in advance

Are you coming back on the same day or not?

[littlestar1981]

Hi

I need to go from Leeds to London (any central station, that's what the tube's for!)

out: around 9am on 23 June
return - late afternoon early evening 24 June

Thanks!

[AP]

Hi

I need to go from Leeds to London (any central station, that's what the tube's for!)

out: around 9am on 23 June
return - late afternoon early evening 24 June

Thanks!

Advance Purchase Tickets - only valid on the specific trains that you have booked on

23/06/07 Leeds dep 0905
London arr 1132 £17.50

24/06/07 London dep 1810
Leeds arr 2041 £24.50

Total £42.00

Saver Returns - valid on any trains

Leeds - London £74.70

Split ticket between: Leeds - Barnsley £8.00
Barnsley - London £55.30 (via Chesterfield)

Total £63.30 (Journey time up to 4 hours each way)

[alanrowell]

With Leeds to London ALWAYS check Midland Mainline (http://www.midlandmainline.co.uk) first.

In this case the 8:40 from Leeds costs £15.50 - but the fare could be as low as £7

[stoneman]

Are you coming back on the same day or not?
Sorry AP, yes.

[AP]

Would like to know if there is a way of splitting Nottingham to London and return. I do not need to travel before 10am.
Thanks in advance

Nottingham - London Terminals (via Grantham)
Standard Saver Return - £41.50 (no splitting)

[WiseInvestor]

Could someone who's registered on the Midland Mainline website kindly tell me the cheapest fare from London to Leeds on May 20th, and Leeds to London on May 23rd.

Many, many thanks.
WI

[littlestar1981]

Advance Purchase Tickets - only valid on the specific trains that you have booked on

23/06/07 Leeds dep 0905
London arr 1132 £17.50

24/06/07 London dep 1810
Leeds arr 2041 £24.50

Total £42.00

Saver Returns - valid on any trains

Leeds - London £74.70

Split ticket between: Leeds - Barnsley £8.00
Barnsley - London £55.30 (via Chesterfield)

Total £63.30 (Journey time up to 4 hours each way)


The £42 would be ideal. Where would I book this? I've loaded up trainline and it's £50?

[AP]

The £42 would be ideal. Where would I book this? I've loaded up trainline and it's £50?

It has actually gone down to £25.00 (i.e. £12.50 each way)

Click '2 singles could be cheaper' and you will find the fare under GNER STD ADVANCE 1 at £12.50 each way for these two journeys.

(Time checked: 2110 Hours 11/05/07)

[skyepark]

You can get a £20 return if booking a day inadvance.


where? how is this possible? even going on the weekend? is this over the phone or at teh ticket station?

[papacool]

Split at York to give Blackburn - York and York - Newcastle. Cheaper for saver returns, also even greater savings between York and Newcastle by using advance purchase on GNER or value fares on Virgin for that portion of journey.

By 'SPLITTING' does it mean getting off the Glasgow to London train somewhere... wait for another, OR get off and back on the SAME train?? :rolleyes:

[dzug]

By 'SPLITTING' does it mean getting off the Glasgow to London train somewhere... wait for another, OR get off and back on the SAME train?? :rolleyes:

Neither - you STAY on the same train, but have two tickets for the different legs of your journey.

[pompeyrich]

Neither - you STAY on the same train, but have two tickets for the different legs of your journey.

Usually but not always, a trip from Scotland might be cheaper using Megatrain to Manchester for example. Sorry to be pedantic.

[naughtyminnow]

Any ideas anyone for the cheapest tickets Bath to York leaving mid-afternoon Fri 1st June and leaving York on Sunday 3rd, again mid-afternoon?

Cheapest I can find so far is Bath-Cheltenham, Cheltenham-York (same split-ticket on return leg) gives £11.20 and £43.10 respectively. Total = £54.30, only marginally cheaper than Bath-York price of £55.60....

Thanks for all the tips so far!

[skate1966]

Hi can anyone help me to get a cheap rail fare from portsmouth to oxenholme lake district

I can travel any time of day can i split ticket this route if so any suggestions ?

thanks for your help

[AP]

Any ideas anyone for the cheapest tickets Bath to York leaving mid-afternoon Fri 1st June and leaving York on Sunday 3rd, again mid-afternoon?

Cheapest I can find so far is Bath-Cheltenham, Cheltenham-York (same split-ticket on return leg) gives £11.20 and £43.10 respectively. Total = £54.30, only marginally cheaper than Bath-York price of £55.60....

Thanks for all the tips so far!

Bath Spa - York: Standard Saver Return - £55.65 with Young Persons Railcard

Split ticket at: Cheltenham Spa, Birmingham Stations and Derby
Bath Spa - Cheltenham Spa: £11.20
Cheltenham Spa - Birmingham Stations: £11.55
Birmingham Stations - Derby: £8.65
Derby - York: £20.75

Total = £52.15 (saving £3.50)

[noisypinkbubble]

Anyone want to lend a hand?

I'm needing to get from Leeds to Glasgow, after 11 on the 23rd August, coming back the next day after 12. Basing it on the fares for ever other thursday - friday return trip, I can't get anything lower than £71, but only a year ago I went and it was £38!

[alanrowell]

Anyone want to lend a hand?

I'm needing to get from Leeds to Glasgow, after 11 on the 23rd August, coming back the next day after 12. Basing it on the fares for ever other thursday - friday return trip, I can't get anything lower than £71, but only a year ago I went and it was £38!
Try clicking on "Singles from £10.25 for best value fares 2 singles could be cheaper" when you get the prices - and book via www.gner.co.uk for a discount.

It's unlikely the cheapest fares for late August are available yet - so keep monitoring between 4 & 6 week before hand

[richiep87]

Any ideas anyone for the cheapest tickets Bath to York leaving mid-afternoon Fri 1st June and leaving York on Sunday 3rd, again mid-afternoon?

Cheapest I can find so far is Bath-Cheltenham, Cheltenham-York (same split-ticket on return leg) gives £11.20 and £43.10 respectively. Total = £54.30, only marginally cheaper than Bath-York price of £55.60....

Thanks for all the tips so far!

Coincidently I am booking the same journey but leaving on Monday 4th June.

I found that by splitting at Birmingham I saved £30.

Bath - York £45

Bath - Birmingham £6.60 (Value Advance)
Birmingham -York £8.80 (Advance)

Therefore a saving of £29.60!! This is with a Young Persons Railcard and the advantage is that it is the same train all the way there!

If the cheap advances have gone from Bath, I also found that there are many more value advances going from Bristol, eg:

Bath - Bristol £5
Bristol - B'ham £6/7/8
B'ham - York £8.80

You should note that travelling on a Friday and Sunday will decrease the availability of advance fares available (most popular train travel time!). Good luck!

[benmullen]

Sheffield to Exeter, split at Birmingham.

Tring to Sheffield, spit at Birmingham or Tamworth. £32 return trip/4tickets

Sheffield to Dunbar day trip, bought day returns Sheff-York, York-Newc, Saver Newc-Dunbar. Saved my interviewers £20!

Sheffield to Birmingham day trip, use day returns splitting at Derby if no VV available.

Sheffield to Worcester day trip, use day return Sheff-Derby, Day return Derby-Worcester, although may change when Central Trains franchise ends.

Sheffield-Stansted, split at Ely or go via London. GNER do fares for this route so book on their website. Found Midland Mainline (MML) fare for £22 one-way, but couldn't actually bring this up on various train ticket buying sites (Sun June 24 Stansted Air - Sheff) after discovering it on nationalrail.co.uk when clicking on the 'cheapest' fare option and not the 'quickest'. I guess I would be able to buy from midlandmainline.com or over the phone.

Also try Stansted Mountfitchet station if you don't actually need the airport. Sheff-Airport MML £26, Sheff-Mountfitchet MML £22.

Incidently via my AOL router I cannot open MML website, anyone else have this problem? Prob one for the techies forum!

Sheffield - London, when searching type London not St Pancras as GNER offer cheaper fares at some times of day to KX.

Tring - Euston Silverlink single £11
I found Tring to Birmingham VV fares for £10.50 which were routed via Euston!

Great Western do good singles, I got Tring to Exeter and return for 2 dates in June and July for £14 single. This includes Tring - Euston (single £11), Underground (£4 without Oyster card) and Paddington - Exeter!

When booking a journey try a few sites, eg nationalrail.co.uk (use 'cheapest option as well as fastest), virgin.com show fares well but impossible to compare singles with returns as there is no go back to return fare link after looking at singles (I've emailled them about this) and the site of the train company whose tickets you will buy, eg GNER offer 10% discount for their tickets from their site I beleive.

When I book I use nationalrail & virgin to see the 1 ticket fares and also gives an idea of possible routes to search for cheaper split ticketing.

Happy Searching!

[trubster]

rather than checking websites, download the ATOC Avantix Traveller (Posted somewhere on this thread) or I have mirrored off my website, click HERE (http://www.mysteryshoppingforum.org/atoc.zip) and it finds the prices straight away.

Hope this helps.

Kev

[AP]

Sheffield to Exeter, split at Birmingham.

Tring to Sheffield, spit at Birmingham or Tamworth. £32 return trip/4tickets

Sheffield to Dunbar day trip, bought day returns Sheff-York, York-Newc, Saver Newc-Dunbar. Saved my interviewers £20!

Sheffield to Birmingham day trip, use day returns splitting at Derby if no VV available.

Sheffield to Worcester day trip, use day return Sheff-Derby, Day return Derby-Worcester, although may change when Central Trains franchise ends.

Sheffield-Stansted, split at Ely or go via London. GNER do fares for this route so book on their website. Found Midland Mainline (MML) fare for £22 one-way, but couldn't actually bring this up on various train ticket buying sites (Sun June 24 Stansted Air - Sheff) after discovering it on nationalrail.co.uk when clicking on the 'cheapest' fare option and not the 'quickest'. I guess I would be able to buy from midlandmainline.com or over the phone.

Also try Stansted Mountfitchet station if you don't actually need the airport. Sheff-Airport MML £26, Sheff-Mountfitchet MML £22.

Incidently via my AOL router I cannot open MML website, anyone else have this problem? Prob one for the techies forum!

Sheffield - London, when searching type London not St Pancras as GNER offer cheaper fares at some times of day to KX.

Tring - Euston Silverlink single £11
I found Tring to Birmingham VV fares for £10.50 which were routed via Euston!

Great Western do good singles, I got Tring to Exeter and return for 2 dates in June and July for £14 single. This includes Tring - Euston (single £11), Underground (£4 without Oyster card) and Paddington - Exeter!

When booking a journey try a few sites, eg nationalrail.co.uk (use 'cheapest option as well as fastest), virgin.com show fares well but impossible to compare singles with returns as there is no go back to return fare link after looking at singles (I've emailled them about this) and the site of the train company whose tickets you will buy, eg GNER offer 10% discount for their tickets from their site I beleive.

When I book I use nationalrail & virgin to see the 1 ticket fares and also gives an idea of possible routes to search for cheaper split ticketing.

Happy Searching!

Don't forget the Derbyshire Wayfarer ticket which is a day rover ticket valid between Sheffield and Burton on Trent. At £8.30 for an adult and a child or £13.10 for two adults and three children, it represents excellent value as a partial ticket for day trips from Sheffield towards the West Midlands.

See my earlier post on: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=5036561&postcount=109

[littlestar1981]

Hi

Can anyone find me a cheap split ticket?

Might sound strange but due to family in various places we can do any of the following three:

Manchester - London
Leeds - London
Stoke On Trent - London

Want to go out on 23/06, arrive before midday, and come back on 24/06, leaving after 3pm.

Thanks in advance!

[dzug]

Hi

Can anyone find me a cheap split ticket?

Might sound strange but due to family in various places we can do any of the following three:

Manchester - London
Leeds - London
Stoke On Trent - London

Want to go out on 23/06, arrive before midday, and come back on 24/06, leaving after 3pm.

Thanks in advance!

Have you looked at cheap singles? Getting one to London doesn't look too difficult - getting back you might have to leave it until later in the day to make the whole thing cheaper than a saver. Virgin will sell you a half saver though - try their website.

[littlestar1981]

Thanks, I hae looked ay singles but it's still coming in at £100, which I don't want to pay.

[alanrowell]

Leeds-London 23rd June

05:05 : £10
06:10 : £16.90
Others : £23.15

London-Leeds 24th June

19:30 : £23.15
20:10 : £23.15
20:30 : £23.15
21:30 : £10.00
22:10 : £10.00
Others : £33.00

All prices from www.gner.co.uk

[TAZ]

hi there
just wondered if anyone could help me find the best deals on the following trips, thought i had it sorted but keep confusing myself (info overload i think)

1st trip
hull to london on 18/06/07 leaving after 8am
london to hull on 20/06/07 leaving after 5 pm

2nd trip
hull to derby 14/07/07 arriving derby for meeting 10.30 start
derby to hull same day leaving after 6.30pm

[TAZ]

can anyone help

[trubster]

Probably a Advance ticket with Hull Trains, check out there website on www.hulltrains.co.uk (http://www.hulltrains.co.uk) beware, the site is pretty cheesy and you cant book online (I dont think)

[trubster]

I need some help from someone, I need to buy 8x First Class returns (First Open) and they have to cost OVER £62, they also need to be on virgin routes/valid on virgin trains as I am looking at joining the Virgin Traveller scheme to get free weekend first class tickets. What is going to be the best route to take from sheffield, chesterfield or Doncaster that will be as near to £62 as possible. (But Over)
More Info HERE (http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/traveller/default.aspx)
Is anyone actually a member and is it worth it???
Thanks
Kevin

[dzug]

I need some help from someone, I need to buy 8x First Class returns (First Open) and they have to cost OVER £62, they also need to be on virgin routes/valid on virgin trains as I am looking at joining the Virgin Traveller scheme to get free weekend first class tickets. What is going to be the best route to take from sheffield, chesterfield or Doncaster that will be as near to £62 as possible. (But Over)
More Info HERE (http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/traveller/default.aspx)
Is anyone actually a member and is it worth it???
Thanks
Kevin


More difficut than it sounds

Chesterfield to Tamworth at £68 is the best I can do easily.

[louise_1981]

not a ticket split, but I was looking for manchester to newquay but the cheapest were £36, single. Therefore I went to Manchester Airport and got two return tickets for £110. was better all round as oh has a back back and 7hours on the train would not have really been an option, one hour on a plane is much better!

[AP]

hi there
2nd trip
hull to derby 14/07/07 arriving derby for meeting 10.30 start
derby to hull same day leaving after 6.30pm

Hull - Derby: Standard Saver Return £33.60

Split ticket at Thorne North and Sheffield
Hull - Thorne North: Standard Day Return £12.90
Thorne North - Sheffield: South Yorkshire Zone Day TravelMaster (Valid all day) £5.50
Sheffield - Derby: Derbyshire Wayfarer (Valid after 9.00am) £8.30
or Cheap Day Return (Valid after 9.30am) £7.90

Total = £26.70 - saving £6.90

Please make sure the train between Hull and Sheffield (or change at Doncaster) stops at Thorne North for this combination to be valid.

Both South Yorkshire Zone Day TravelMaster (scratchcard type) and Derbyshire Wayfarer tickets can be bought in advance from any Travel Information Centres in South Yorkshire.

[misterjohn]

Tiverton parkway to London

You can often make savings by getting a Virgin train to Taunton, and FGW from Taunton to London.
In particular I saved about £100 by travelling on the 1803 to Taunton from Paddington, where there were cheap singles available, but not on to Tiverton.
The journey is slightly longer, but not much.

[Auds]

Hey, i'm just new to here and was wondering if anyone knew of a cheap way of getting from Inverness to London as the tickets i'm getting offered on GNER's website are over £100. I don't need to go until the end of July and i normally fly which is why i don't know anything about train prices etc..

I'd be grateful for any help given thanks :)

[trubster]

More difficut than it sounds

Chesterfield to Tamworth at £68 is the best I can do easily.

Cheers, Also, Does this seem like a good deal or not? Free weekend First Class travel for 2 every weekend!

[alanrowell]

Hey, i'm just new to here and was wondering if anyone knew of a cheap way of getting from Inverness to London as the tickets i'm getting offered on GNER's website are over £100.
When you look at return prices click on the line above the prices that says "Singles from 16.00 For best value fares 2 singles could be cheaper>>"

I picked random dates at the end of July and came up with fares of £26.25 each way - ie £52.50 return

Also check the Caledonian Sleeper "bargain berths" from Firstscotrail

I'd also check flying from Inverness as I see fares as low as £35 one way at the end of July

[Auds]

When you look at return prices click on the line above the prices that says "Singles from 16.00 For best value fares 2 singles could be cheaper>>"

I picked random dates at the end of July and came up with fares of £26.25 each way - ie £52.50 return

Also check the Caledonian Sleeper "bargain berths" from Firstscotrail

I'd also check flying from Inverness as I see fares as low as £35 one way at the end of July

Thank you for your reply, i shall look into it and see how i get on :)

[nosdrahcir]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I'm looking for tickets for a journey from Newcastle to Totnes/Paignton on 10th August (1 way)... need to be setting off between 7.30 and 9.00am (obviously not ideal).

Anyone have any suggestions? I'm struggling to find anything particularly cheap (even with a YP railcard) but I'm new to this.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[alanrowell]

11:00am, arriving 18:05, £36.05 booked through GNER (www.gner.co.uk) via London. No discount for railcard

You could also try booking the legs separately - ie Newcastle to London, London to Totnes or do the same with Virgin trains via Birmingham and / or Bristol.

You might even get a bargain if you travel Newcastle, Birmingham, London, Totnes

[BeeUK]

Hi,

Does anyone have any suggestions for splitting a York or Hull to London journey.

Leaving late on Friday 20th July (after 2000)
Retirning First thing Saturday 21st July

Thanks
Bee

[eamonn321]

Can any of you nice people help with this one?
London to Preston.
Depart Friday 13/07/07 early afternoon.
Return Sunday 15/07/07 early afternoon.

Thanks

[alanrowell]

Hi,

Does anyone have any suggestions for splitting a York or Hull to London journey.

Leaving late on Friday 20th July (after 2000)
Retirning First thing Saturday 21st July

Thanks
Bee
21:38 York, 00:15 KX, GNER, £10.00
06:20 St Pancras, 10:16, Midland Mainline, £9

Giving you 6h05m in London

Book the tickets via the GNER website otherwise it costs £1.25 more

[LyndsM]

Standard off peak single fare from Birmingham New Street to Sandown (including ferry): £58.60
(whether booked early or on the day)

Fare from Birmingham New Street to Portsmouth Harbour: £17.50
(booked in advance, up to night before)

Fare from Portsmouth Harbour to Sandown (including ferry): £11.20
(on-the-day fare, no need to pre book)

Total cost after splitting fare: £28.70

All timings/changes are exactly the same, but it saves £29.90 - more than 50% saved!

[sludge7]

Just booked this...

Swansea to Cardiff (return) £5
Cardiff to Bradford on Avon (single) £3.50
Bradford on Avon to Cardiff (single) £7

TOTAL: £15.50

Swansea to Bradford on Avon (return) £34

So a savings of £18.50 -- over 50%!

I could have got it even cheaper if I could have been more flexible about my travel times, but I couldn't so...

[Katy W]

Hi

Could anyone advice me of the best priced tickets to get to go from York - Gloucester, or Cheltenham Spa.

2 adults and 2 children will be travelling with a family rail card on about 27th July returning on 29th or 30 July.

Thanks :j

[martin_26]

hi im wanting to travel on the 20th july returning on 22nd july from leyland - london can you tell me the cheapest i can get it for cheapest i got was £114 thanks

[dn852k4]

You can get a £20 return if booking a day inadvance.

How? I've never seen that available.

[activist3]

I am travelling from swansea to wokingham next thursday and need to be in wokingham by 10.30. I have followed the advice on here and have looked at singles and was wondering if any of you guys could check i have got this right and that this is the cheapest and that it is on the same train apart from the last change.

Swansea to Bristol Parkway 7.30am £4.50
Bristol Parkway to Wokingham 9.01 to 10.12 £31.60

Can anyone check this for me?:j

[dzug]

How? I've never seen that available.

You don't (unless you are very lucky) get the £20 return by booking a day in advance. You get it by booking well in advance. If perchance the allocation of cheap tickets hasn't sold - then you can get it up to 1800 the day before.

[dzug]

I am travelling from swansea to wokingham next thursday and need to be in wokingham by 10.30. I have followed the advice on here and have looked at singles and was wondering if any of you guys could check i have got this right and that this is the cheapest and that it is on the same train apart from the last change.

Swansea to Bristol Parkway 7.30am £4.50
Bristol Parkway to Wokingham 9.01 to 10.12 £31.60

Can anyone check this for me?:j

Yes it's a through train from Swansea to Reading, but Wokingham is 1025 arrival

But I can't see your £31.60 fare at all - £39 is the cheapest still available that I can see

[djc2006]

Can someone help me with the following my computer has decided to go on a go slow so taking long time
Traveling this friday after 13.00 from Leamington Spa to Blackpool
Returning this Sunday after 10.00 Blackpool to Leamington Spa
I'm getting £53 return if this can be done cheaper by splitting i would be gratefull of help
Thanks

[djc2006]

My computer has decided to go on a go slow so taking long time to search
I'm looking for the best price for the following
Travelling this friday 13.00 from Leamington Spa to Blackpool and returning This Sunday after 10.00 back to Leamington. price £53 return i would be very gratefull if someone could help and get this price down by splitting etc
Thanks

[bottleredhead]

Hiya, can anyone help me please, new to all this train travel stuff!

Need tickets for 4 people to travel from London Euston to Chorley in Manchester on Thursday 12th July to arrive in Chorley about 10-10.30

The return journey would be on Friday 13th July travelling back after 12 midday.

Thanks in advance

Vikki

[bunking_off]

In all honesty you might struggle to get anything too cheap because you'll be leaving London at peak hour, and Virgin are getting clever about trains not stopping at places like Rugby which facilitate split ticketing.

However, you'll probably gain by getting single tickets to Preston, then returns from Preston - Chorley, e.g.

0646 Euston - Preston arrives 0914, there's availability of Virgin Value Advance A @ £28
1249 Preston - Euston arrives 1528 (alt same timings an hour later), same £28 single fare.

It's then £3.70 each way Preston - Chorley.

Contrast with £227 for the standard return, or £45.50+61.90=£107.49 for the cheapest fare quoted if you try to book direct London-Chorley.

By the way, don't refer to Chorley as being in Manchester while you're there...won't go down well. It's Lancashire. Unless you consider e.g. Reading to be in London...

[simplicity]

hello everyone. just trying to get my head round this ticket splitting thing. but am at work and my heo keeps taking side glances at me :)

Need to go to Manchester from London. Any station in London but I think It's Euston it goes from.

One of us had a young persons railcard and I have a Annual season gold card so does that get me anything?

Many thanks.

[pompeyrich]

hello everyone. just trying to get my head round this ticket splitting thing. but am at work and my heo keeps taking side glances at me :)

Need to go to Manchester from London. Any station in London but I think It's Euston it goes from.

One of us had a young persons railcard and I have a Annual season gold card so does that get me anything?

Many thanks.

London-Manchester is a pretty cheap route, if you can book in advance and do not need any flexibility in the time you travel. Fares start from £12:50 each way, £8:25 each way with the young persons card but no discounts for the Gold card. To get these fares it is best to book ahead as soon as you can, although there is some availability tomorrow, also you must travel on the train you book.

[bigbadfox]

Booking this 10 days in advance. Thetrainline suggested a 3 change "standard open single" at £53.60. The route is Huntingdon - Peterborough - Manchester Piccadilly - Bolton.

Now the individual fares for those exact journeys:

Huntingdon - Peterborough: £4.40
Peterborough - Manchester Piccadilly: £13
Manchester Piccadilly - Bolton: £2.55

Unbelievable! Booking the exact three legs that it suggested separately comes out to £19.95 - a saving of 63%

[sludge7]

Not the hugest savings, but still cheaper:

Return from Llangadog to Flint, cheapest ticket is £33.80.

Single from Llangadog to Shrewsbury: £9.30
Return from Shrewsbury to Flint: £13.30
Single from Shrewsbury to Llangadog: £9.30

Total: £31.90
Saved: £1.90

[Dingwalldemon]

Stirling to dundee or glasgow queen street to dundee returning the same day.
So long as you tavel after 0915 from Glasgow (Other stations dont matter) Buy a cheap day return from Glasgow to perth then a cheap Day return from Perth to dundee. Or from stirling a Cheap day return to Perth and a Cheap day return from Perth to Dundee. Save at least a Fiver!
Also National conditions of carriage dont require you to leave the train, just have a valid ticket/tickets for the appropriate journey undertaken. I.E you do not have to leave the train and get on again.

[dlevene]

I've been reading through the posts on tips to cut York/London and York/Bristol fares, and I just want to say I love you people.

[Riyazi]

Hope someone can help me out here.

Does anyone know the cheapest split from London to Cardiff and back ? I need to leave london on the 20th at about 8am and leave cardiff at about 5pm on the same day.

Just wondering whether somebody has already done this before I go through all the pain. I did a search and someone mentioned that you could from London to Birmingham on Virgin for £10 and from Birmingham to Cardiff on Central for £10 - but I dont seem to be getting the £10 fare from Virgin.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[theome2001]

I assume its 20th July?
Don't know if it helps. megabus 8am , arr Bristol 10.30 £5
train , single to Cardiff 10.54, arr 11.41 £3
Later train, Cardiff -London (First Great Western) 19.38 arr 21.45 £10

I tend to use Scotrail to find fares, it is easy on the eye.

[Riyazi]

I assume its 20th July?
Don't know if it helps. megabus 8am , arr Bristol 10.30 £5
train , single to Cardiff 10.54, arr 11.41 £3
Later train, Cardiff -London (First Great Western) 19.38 arr 21.45 £10

I tend to use Scotrail to find fares, it is easy on the eye.

Thanks for that - but I need to get there a little bit earlier maybe at about 10:30. Checked megabus but there are no buses before 8.

[theome2001]

Not having much luck. Lowest I found was £35.
the early National Express 7am, to Bristol.(9.30) £6 fun fare
Then the 9.54 train arrive Cardiff 10.30 , £3 single

[Riyazi]

Not having much luck. Lowest I found was £35.
the early National Express 7am, to Bristol.(9.30) £6 fun fare
Then the 9.54 train arrive Cardiff 10.30 , £3 single

Thank you very much for taking the trouble to do this. Very much appreciated.

However, I cant find the 9:54 from Bristol - is this on another line ?

Also you mentioned that the amount is £35 but I found a 10:05 from Bristol to Cardiff for £6.70 on the national express - correct ?

[theome2001]

Actually the connections are better.
The Nat.Express gets in at 9.30 to Bristol Its maybe a 10 minute walk to Temple Meads. First Great Western service, 9.42--arr Cardiff 10.22
9.54--ar 10.42,
10.08 arr 1046
the train to Cardiff is £3 , the bus is £6 and won't get there till 11.15.
I guess its better to prebook em to get thta price , might be more as a walk up fare. Best wishes

[theome2001]

Hi apologies if double post.
the connections are better ...
Nat express gets to Bristol 9.30 Walk to Temple Meads fro the train, The service is by Greta First Western, times 9.42 arr Cardiff 10.22
9.54 arr 10.42
10.08 arr 10.46
The fare is £3. I guess if booked before the day. the bus is double that and won't get you there till 11.15
I did find an early train 7.00 ? from London, but it was£35 single to Cardiff

[dzug]

Didcot Parkway would be the place to split tickets - but make sure the train stops there. Not all of them do.

I seriously doubt that you can walk from the centre of Bristol to Temple Meads station in 12 minutes and get on a train - it's a 5 minute bus ride which means a 20 minute or so walk. Assuming the coach is on time for starters.

[CarolineX]

Hi, not used this forum before, but having great difficulty in finding a cheap way to get from Bristol to Darwen (Lancs), so to any stations around there, ie Manchester, Blackburn, Rochdale, Preston, Bolton etc? For one adult and 2 children (8 & 3). After an hour on the Rail website I found 2 singles for £39 from Bristol to Bolton but while I was looking into other options I missed it! Now there are no cheap singles left on the days I want (17th Aug - 21 Aug). Cheapest flights are not available from Bristol as BA don't fly from Bristol or the other cheap ones like BMI baby (got a quote for £300+ from other airlines, for an hour's flight and some of those were via Edinburgh!!!). Coach tickets seem to be same price as the train was but don't fancy being on a coach for 7-9 hours with a 3 year old! I have tried all the usual places, and wondered if anyone on here could offer an alternative site I have missed or advice please? Thanks so much.

[pompeyrich]

Hi, not used this forum before, but having great difficulty in finding a cheap way to get from Bristol to Darwen (Lancs), so to any stations around there, ie Manchester, Blackburn, Rochdale, Preston, Bolton etc? For one adult and 2 children (8 & 3). After an hour on the Rail website I found 2 singles for £39 from Bristol to Bolton but while I was looking into other options I missed it! Now there are no cheap singles left on the days I want (17th Aug - 21 Aug). Cheapest flights are not available from Bristol as BA don't fly from Bristol or the other cheap ones like BMI baby (got a quote for £300+ from other airlines, for an hour's flight and some of those were via Edinburgh!!!). Coach tickets seem to be same price as the train was but don't fancy being on a coach for 7-9 hours with a 3 year old! I have tried all the usual places, and wondered if anyone on here could offer an alternative site I have missed or advice please? Thanks so much.

If you buy a family railcard for £20 try Cheltenham Spa-Darwen showing availability for £10:40 single for all 3 of you, £20 without the card. Might have to get up early as this only seems available on the 09:42 from CS but most times back on the 21st. Add either 2 singles from Bristol-CS at £5:30 or maybe a saver return, gives more flexibility, for £14. Info from National Rail (http://ojp1.nationalrail.co.uk/en/pj/jp).

[CarolineX]

I live in Bristol, so no probs getting to TM. Not sure whether to try Chelt to Darwen or Cardiff? Please THEOME2001, can you give me more details of the Cardiff route - what route and price did you see (Cardiff to where exactly?) Thanx : )

[dzug]

The Cardiff to London open return has got even more expensive recently at £144.

Saver return can be bought for £54 but this obviously limits the times you can travel.

I've been trying for hours to get a good split ticket - cardiff - reading, reading to london. cardiff - bristol, bristol to london, cardiff - swindon, swindon - london. The fares aren't much different, am I doing this wrong?

Any successful Cardiff - London split ticketing journeys found?

Try Didcot as the splitting point, or one of them - it's the boundary for cheap fares from the west. Reading is too near London.
It's even more limited on trains though as only about half of them stop

[mda]

Hi There,

Can anyone help me to find the cheapest was to get from leeds to london by train this weekned?

Leaving Friday 27th July (Evening) and Returning Sat 28th July (early Morning) I know its late but someone may know of a last min deal or a way to split it to get it cheaper.

Its for 2 people and we have 1 young persons railcard, Cheapest i can find is £106.80 for the two of us

[dzug]

Check if splitting at Peterborough is any better - maybe maybe not.

If it's still available what you have got is a good fare - I can't find it as a potential fare even, let alone with availability.

[patchkipper]

Really struggling to find cheap fares for Telford or Stafford to London Euston this saturday (28 July)

I could find a good deal for virgin at 6.43 for £10 and then London to Birm at 6.17 for £27.00 but have still got to get to/from stafford/telford.

Any ideas or info very much appreciated.

Also, does anybody know what the delays are likely to be with flooding?:confused:

[pompeyrich]

Really struggling to find cheap fares for Telford or Stafford to London Euston this saturday (28 July)

I could find a good deal for virgin at 6.43 for £10 and then London to Birm at 6.17 for £27.00 but have still got to get to/from stafford/telford.

Any ideas or info very much appreciated.

Also, does anybody know what the delays are likely to be with flooding?:confused:


I assume you want to go down and back on 28th, the 6:43, Stafford-London, is now showing at £12:50 and there are singles back to Stafford at 18:04 or 19:00 (6:04 or 7 o'clock) showing at £18:50.

The line from Stafford to London seems to be relatively unaffected by the flooding, although the trains may be busier as people may travel via London to avoid the worst hit areas.

[patchkipper]

Thanks for that much appreciated.

[patchkipper]

Pompeyrich

Could you tell me which sites you are finding the single fares on. I had no joy with Virgin or trainline so info. much appreciated.

[pompeyrich]

Pompeyrich

Could you tell me which sites you are finding the single fares on. I had no joy with Virgin or trainline so info. much appreciated.

They were on National rail site but had to be bought in advance, I think they may stop selling them at 6p.m. the day before travel. Cheapest, easy option from Stafford now looks like the £45:10 saver return, which you can buy at the station in the morning. Or you could get a saver return to Birmingham from Stafford at £7:50, then a return from Birmingham Moor Street-London Marylebone for £27:50, which is a tenner cheaper but more hassle, and again can be bought at the station in the morning.

[patchkipper]

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Sorry I missed the boat for the earlier deals but hey oh! Thanks anyway.

[mm66]

i want to travel from edinburgh to london in second week of august and return in two days. we are 2 adults one with a senior rail card. We are flexible as to which day we go and which day we get back as long as we get 2 days in london.

i cant seem to get any return tickets for less than £170 odd. I have tried splitting tickets in berwick upon tweed, chathill and new castle but seem to get the price down. Pl. help.

[dzug]

i want to travel from edinburgh to london in second week of august and return in two days. we are 2 adults one with a senior rail card. We are flexible as to which day we go and which day we get back as long as we get 2 days in london.

i cant seem to get any return tickets for less than £170 odd. I have tried splitting tickets in berwick upon tweed, chathill and new castle but seem to get the price down. Pl. help.

Have you tried single tickets in each direction? They look to be reasonably available. If you are really lucky (probably a bit late though) you could get the total cost down to under £60.

Even a standard saver ticket is only £163 for the two of you - less than the figure you've quoted - where did you get it from??

Peterborough might be a good place to split tickets if you have to, but advance booking is a more reliable way of reducing costs.

[Infidel]

Do the train companies stop doing cheap advance singles in August? Normally on the Preston-Birmingham route you can get them, but i was checking various dates right the way through August on thetrainline.com and there didn't appear to be any (cheapest is the standard £31 fare).

[dzug]

Do the train companies stop doing cheap advance singles in August? Normally on the Preston-Birmingham route you can get them, but i was checking various dates right the way through August on thetrainline.com and there didn't appear to be any (cheapest is the standard £31 fare).
No but they probably reduce the quota and it runs out quicker.

[mm66]

Have you tried single tickets in each direction? They look to be reasonably available. If you are really lucky (probably a bit late though) you could get the total cost down to under £60.

Even a standard saver ticket is only £163 for the two of you - less than the figure you've quoted - where did you get it from??

Peterborough might be a good place to split tickets if you have to, but advance booking is a more reliable way of reducing costs.

I tried single ticketing also but still cant get the reduced price. any direct help greatly appreciated

[dzug]

I tried single ticketing also but still cant get the reduced price. any direct help greatly appreciated

Go to http://www.gner.co.uk/GNER

Put your return journey requirements in the box on the right

When you get the return prices up click the box 'singles from £29.05'

They will appear - though the cheapest ones have gone you should still be able to do it for under £140 total - a bit less if you are not fussy about trains

I've checked 6 7 and 9 August with good results

[Infidel]

No but they probably reduce the quota and it runs out quicker.

I even tried September and had the same problem. I can't believe they have all sold out.

[dzug]

I even tried September and had the same problem. I can't believe they have all sold out.

A couple of random dates in August produced results - though not at the lowest fare and few and far between. Plenty on a random date in September including a £9 fare.

[patchkipper]

Looking to travel from Shrews/Telford or Stafford to Barnstaple on the 11 August or 25 August. Returning 17 August/1 September respectively. I can only find fares in the £100 mark, listing singles at 18.00 approx but I cant find any. Any ideas much appreciated.

[mrs lds]

What is the cheapest day return please from london to manchester returning with 2 children

thank you in advance sorry complete novice on trains

[patchkipper]

Any idea for reasonable fares from telford or shrews/staff to barnstaple on the 19th Aug Much appreciated

[Mark Williams]

EDIT: Sorry mods about posting in the wrong place originally.

Hi everyone found some cheap ways to get from Birmingham to Manchester and the times they are valid from using validity codes. (All fares are on Young Persons railcard but work for CHILD and PUBLIC)

Standard Tickets (for compare)
Standard Open Return: £30.35
Saver (09:00 from Birmingham to Manchester, 09:24 from Manchester to Birmingham, 09:07 from Stoke to Birmingham, ANY from Stoke to Manchester): £19.20

From the 08:18 off Birmingham Day Return Monday to Friday
Birmingham - Stafford (Standard Day Return) = £5.90
Stafford - Stoke-on-Trent (SDR) = £3.15
Stoke-on-Trent - Manchester (CDR B3) = £6.25 (Valid after 09:00)
[Stoke-on-Trent - Manchester (SVR 8A) = £8.10 (Valid ANY TRAIN)]
Total Price is = £15.20 valid from the 08:18 from Birmingham, stoke at 09:12 into Manchester for 10:02

From the 09:18 off Birmingham day return Monday to Friday and any time Saturday and Sunday
Birmingham - Stoke (Cheap day Return B3) = £5.80
Stoke - Manchester (Cheap day Return B3) = £6.25
Total £12.05 valid from 09:18 MF also any time SSuO

Restrictions in detail:

B3 Cheap Day Return
Outward Travel
By any train except those timed to depart Mondays to Fridays before 09:00

Return Travel
Any Train

8A Saver Return
Outward Travel
Valid by ANY train

Return Travel
Valid by ANY train

2V Saver Return (complex one)

Restriction applies outward and return Monday to Friday. Also applies when connections into and out of these services (only important bits included)

For journeys to or VIA Wolv, Birmingham NS, Birm INT, Cov or Leam Spa:
Valid from or later:
Manchester Pic: 09:24
Stoke-on-Trent: 09:07 (sounds stupid don't it)
----------------------------------------------------
From or Via:
Wolv, Birmingham NS, Birm INT, Cov or Leam Spa

to Manchester Crewe, Wilmslow, Stockport, Bolton, Warrington, Wigan, Preston and Lancaster

Depart at or after: 09:00
-----------------------------------------------------
There is no restriction for any journey not covered above. (That's Birmingham to Stoke-on-Trent)
=========================================
So for a quick example of Manchester to Birmingham the way to use 2V well is looking at a Day Trip point of View NOT MONTHLY as that isn't my point:

MAN to SOT saver 8A (£8.10) any time.

Then after 09:00 you use:
Stoke on Trent to Birmingham Cheap Day Return B3 (£5.80)

But after 09:07 you can use (even though it's more expensive for a day trip?)
Stoke on Trent to Birmingham Saver Return 2V (£9.40)

This is the key train:
MAN - 08:24
SOT - 09:04
BHM - 10:04

Also another move you can do is Kidsgrove, this then gives you the Crewe routed trains (very few though)
so if you dig deep and plan properly you can make it valid with a split at Kidsgrove, Birmingham to Stoke ,a VXC fare, is cheaper than Birmingham to Crewe, an RCL fare.

Any comments or faults please bring them up.

http://www.atoc.org/retail/_downloads/NFM96/NFM96_Common_E.pdf is with all the validities in. Alot of faults in as well.

Regards, Mark Williams

[tamlin]

HI can anyone help me find a split ticket from london 16th this month to nottingham ,returning 23th..i have to be a airport for 10.15 so arriving around 9.30 would be great...so far to early to get any discount...heres hoping,,

[dzug]

HI can anyone help me find a split ticket from london 16th this month to nottingham ,returning 23th..i have to be a airport for 10.15 so arriving around 9.30 would be great...so far to early to get any discount...heres hoping,,

First of all, assuming you are going to East Midlands, don't get the train to Nottingham - get it to Loughborough. It's a shorter journey, and the bus to the airport is just as frequent and doesn't take as long. xx20 and xx50 from Loughborough station, 30 minute journey.

For cheaper fares:

Two singles. It will be full fare on the way out but depending on the time of day you return there are advance tickets from £7. Plenty at £9 in the afternoon.

Alternatively, split at Bedford - but make sure the train stops there. It's £34 standard return from Bedford to Loughborough and £14 standard single (no returns) each way between Bedford and London.

[Ingela]

Sheffield to Norwich/Ipswich/Diss

I am looking to travel from sheffield to any of these stations on the 8th September, preferably arriving before 4, and returning on the 11th, preferably to arrive around 5.30pm.

The cheapest i have found is to Norwich for £28, and this includes a bus from Ely to Norwich.

Help- can it be done any cheaper??

Thank you.

[kkorolija]

Does anyone have exp. splitting tkts btwn london (any station) & edale or any station in peak district. Planning on lv Sun23 Sep Rtn Tues 25. Tried nationalrail:
euston to stockport to edale
kings cross to doncaster to sheffield to edale
but cheapest was saver rtn £58.
Also looked at GNER but no better.
thanks in advance

[tamlin]

thanks dzug checked it out times not working out..so may have to go with full fares 72quid!!! thank take care

[stevros88]

Just come back home to Huddersfield from Bournemouth having made big savings by split ticketing.
This is all with a Young Person's Railcard by the way.

Saver Return: £62.85

Huddersfield to Bournemouth - Single: £10.55
Bournemouth to Manchester Piccadilly - Single: £9.90
Manchester Piccadilly to Huddersfield - Single: £5.70
Total cost: £26.15, saving of £36.70 (58%)

[TonyMacaroni]

Liverpool (Wavertree) to Manchester - £12.70 Return

Liverpool (Wavertree) to Newton le Willows - £4.50 Return
Newton le Willows to Manchester - £6.20 Return
TOTAL: £10.70.

Only saves £2 but I have to do this every day, saves me £10 a week, over £500 a year.

[TonyMacaroni]

Liverpool – Nottingham: £50.80
Liverpool – Birchwood: £7.50 Return
Birchwood – Sheffield: £15.30 Cheap Day Return
Sheffield – Nottingham: £10.70 Cheap Day Return
TOTAL: £33.50

[jaygrunt]

Hello lovely people

If anyone who is better than me at this ticket splitting,could you answer my question please?
I want to get from Mannchester Picadilly....to (as close as possible) Weston Super Mare

Many Thanks in advance

[dzug]

Hello lovely people

If anyone who is better than me at this ticket splitting,could you answer my question please?
I want to get from Mannchester Picadilly....to (as close as possible) Weston Super Mare

Many Thanks in advance

If you can book in advance you would be better off getting value singles than ****ing about with split tickets. You should be able to get them for the complete journey.

If not, split at Birmingham New Street, Cheltenham and Bristol - possibly Parkway rather than Temple Meads.

[wannabe_a_mum]

Succefully booked split tickets from Preston to Torquay for 2 people for £103 instead of the £200 odd it would have cost to buy standard tickets!

Did this as a result of reading the MSE article!

Quite chuffed with myself as it was for a present so saved a lot of money for ourselves!!!!

[billinge]

I regularly travel to Glasgow on business.
First I have to get to Crewe on a local train, then I get a Standard Class ticket upto Preston costing £9, then I get a First Class ticket from Preston the rest of the way to Glasgow for £21.
The return is even better, Glasgow to Preston can be as little as £29 First Class. Well worth it.
I usually book via virgintrains.com
First Class gets you free drinks, and snacks, if you get the later trains back, you can get a meal aswell as lots of drinks (including alcohol), although the price rises to about £39.

[happy2bhere]

Anyone know if i can split journey from Llanduno Junction to London? want a cheap as chips fare if possible! :D

[natlus]

does anybody know if it is posible to buy split tickets for this journey? or any alternative ways ways to get there, i cant find any advance tickets and cheapest option i can find iis about £63,

Thanks.

[dzug]

does anybody know if it is posible to buy split tickets for this journey? or any alternative ways ways to get there, i cant find any advance tickets and cheapest option i can find iis about £63,

Thanks.

Yes it's possible to buy split tickets - the question is will they be any cheaper? You need to experiment with stopping points en route to find out.


Advance tickets do exist though - from £13.50 single. Maybe you are looking too far ahead - or too near.

[Hyperen]

Hello there,

Is it possible to buy split tickets on the day from my station?

I would like to go from Newport (South Wales) to Dawlish Warren tomorrow.

I have worked out that it would be cheaper to get a return from Newport to Bristol Temple Meads, a return from Temple Meads to Exeter St Davids and then a return from Exeter to Dawlish Warren.

Would my local station (Newport) be allowed to sell me the return tickets starting at Temple Meads and Exeter?

[dzug]

Your local station is not only allowed but virtually compelled to sell you the tickets you ask for. Some smaller stations may not have the facilities to, or may get the fare wrong - but Newport is not one of those.

Try to go early and buy at a quiet time though.

[xowainx]

I'm sorry to be the guy who newly signs up to the board to ask a question, but if anyone would still be able to help me find a way from getting to Cardiff to Chesterfield and visa-versa it would be greatly appreciated.

[eileenfromplaistow]

Natlus:When my daughter needed a single from Swansea to Warrington a while ago, I looked at the route, as her single was costing about £19. Arriva are advertising that they do £10 tickets from Cardiff to Manchester. Without times and dates, impossible to be any more helpful. I looked at changing at Newport, but thought Bristol would be too awkward as there are two stations(like Warrington!).
ps have you seen the Virgin offers to Euston, some tickets as low as £1? Might be able to change en-route

[OSM80]

I need to travel to Penzance from Leeds with the next month. I have to change at London, and the ticket will cost me £170. I don't know the best way to split it. Can anyone help please? I need a return travelling on a tuesday PM and returning on a wednesday PM,

Thanks in advance! :o

[dzug]

I am totally totally baffled as to where you got that £170 fare from.

A saver return is £132.20, route not London, or an any permitted (ie via London OK) £149.90. There's no point in going via London unless you actually want to be in London as there are (a few) through trains via Birmingham.

And if you can find them advance purchase singles will do you a lot better than split ticketing - it doesn't always help.

To find if a split would help you have to do the work - easy enough on line. Choose various stations that the train stops at and experiment.

Bristol Parkway Cheltenham and Birmingham would be candidates on that route - and London itself if you land up going that way.

[dzug]

Another thought (on Leeds - Penzance) - for the Bristol - Plymouth sector look at megatrain.

[trubster]

Please can someone help me find a cheaper ticket... I am going from Retford (Could be Lincoln or Doncaster if Cheaper) to Dumfries on 17/10 any time after 12 and returning 18/10 after 5pm.

Cheapest I can get is £99.90 splitting at newcastle with virgin value tickets + Super Saver to Dumfries. ( 3 Adults and 1 Child with Family Railcard)

Thanks

Kev