MoneySavingExpert.com Cheap Train Tickets Article Discussion

[MSE Andrea]

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/images/articlealert.gif (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets)

This thread is specifically for discussing the content of the updated

Cheap Train Fares (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets)

To discuss or ask a question about this article: click reply

If you wish to report a good split ticketing route, please use the

Split Ticketing Thread (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=3902815)

Read the previous Train Fares discussion (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=7171705#post7171705)

[Edinburghlass]

Club 55 means £15 return for anyone over 55 for journeys in Scotland until the end of June. If you have a Senior Rail Card there is a further £2 off the fare.

http://www.firstgroup.com/scotrail/content/home/VIEWnews.php?id=00000000215&custom_title=Club%2055%20is%20back%20for%202008

[Beate]

For London - Birmingham you have to mention Chiltern Railways. Their super off-peak walk-up fares are great value at £18 for a return ticket that is valid a month, but the real deal are their text tickets that start at £4 one-way - you have to book online at least the day before and not all trains will be available, but we have done it twice with no problems and saved a bundle.
http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/tickets-and-fares/e-day-txt-2-mobile/

[sandraroffey]

i have been travelling on weekly basis from bognor regis to canterbury for some years now. and until someone at the station (nice kind man) told me i was paying too much, i was paying what was then a five day return of quite a large amount. now i have a network card (cost £20 and lasts for a year), travel off peak or on a sunday and get a monthly saver return for just £12.60. absolute bargain!!! a few years ago when i lived in canterbury, my son was often paying £35 for a return to bognor which i thought was extortionate!! why dont people tell about the cheapest option as a matter of course?? mmm stupid question really. just wish the train times/length of time travelling on a sunday was as good as the fares. weekdays travel time normally 3.5 hours. sunday travel times could be anything up to 6.5 hours and never less than 4.5 hours. outrageous!!!

[sandraroffey]

it may also be worth remembering that if you can take your journey NOT via london it can knock a huge amount off the fare. for me, going to canterbury via London would add approx £10 to the fare!!:eek:

[WashingMan]

I'm surprised the National Express East Coast website isn't mentioned (unless I've missed it) for ticket sales. There is no charge for credit cards and no postage fee. I'm pretty sure they sell tickets for all trains (I've certainly got Arriva Cross-Country tickets from this site) and they offer a 10% on-line discount for all NEEC tickets.

[Aubs]

I assume this is incorrect:

Outbound: London to Plymouth
Outbound: Plymouth to Penzance
Return: Penzance to Plymouth
Return: Plymouth to Penzance

The last return leg should read 'Plymouth to London'.

Aubs

[misterjohn]

I would endorse the suggestion of the National Express website, for the reasons given by WashingMan, and because it has the best search engine for journeys, giving all the price options for each possibility. I did a First Class return from Tiverton to Sheffield for £62, for example, on Cross Country. Hardly more than the cheapest second class, sorry Standard Class.
First Great Western are also a better bet then the ones mentioned, as they also don't charge a fee for booking.

[whashisface]

The national Express East Coast site is by far the best and cheapest. I used to use trainline but have now switched for the reasons above. It also seems to be easier to find cheap deals for some reason.

The site should definitely be added to the article!

[Bryony48]

I also endorse this website for journey planning and ticket finding. It's the most user friendly one I've found, once you've got used to the radically different layout, and their customer services were also friendly and helpful when I had to ring with a specific query about bike reservations.

[Restricted]

The article mentions 'travelling short' is not valid on Saver tickets, but doesn't point out that it is allowed on unrestricted tickets. Savings can be made on season tickets in particular using this method depending on the routes involved.

Also, as well as 2 singles being cheaper than a return, sometimes a return is slightly cheaper than 1 single so it may be worth checking return fares even if you only require a single.

[dzug1]

I really can't believe that thetrainline and raileasy are mentioned at all (other than to steer people away from them). They are the only ones to charge booking fees and I can't see ANY point in using them.

There's also some slipshod terminology - eg the use of 'saver' fares in trick one to mean advance purchase singles rather than actual 'saver' fares. 'Saver' singles are quite commonly available - usually for a pound or so less than a saver return. Eg London Liverpool £61.60 saver single, £62.60 saver return. Advance singles which are the ones that give the real saving start at £13.

And it perpetuates the 'exactly 12 weeks' myth which causes many posters here to panic if tickets aren't instantly available then.

Oh the savers from North Wales via Chester trick can't be done any more - the validity times of the tickets from North Wales have been changed to match those from Chester.

But in general - good advice.

[philkenning]

I am surprised no one has mentioned this but if you use www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk you dont pay a booking fee nor a credit card surcharge and the insurance isn't automatically offered. The site is identical as the trainline site so its as easy to use as that one and has all the same features.

[woobrad]

Hello
I regularly take my 8 year old daughter down to see her grandparents in Swansea and usually use the train from Chorley. The fare is getting more and more expensive all the time. Does anyone know any split tickets or money saving tips for the journey? It's costing at least 100 quid each which I think is extortionate....
I've looked on the websites but it won't give me any other fares apart from the standard ticket.
Thanks

[TimothyEBaldwin]

Hello
I regularly take my 8 year old daughter down to see her grandparents in Swansea and usually use the train from Chorley.


Get a Family & Friends Railcard.

Try splitting tickets where you change trains.

[A.Jones]

I'm surprised the National Express East Coast website isn't mentioned (unless I've missed it) for ticket sales. There is no charge for credit cards and no postage fee. I'm pretty sure they sell tickets for all trains (I've certainly got Arriva Cross-Country tickets from this site) and they offer a 10% on-line discount for all NEEC tickets.

Me too. I often buy tickets for the East Coast line and always go through them for three reasons.

1) They are cheaper than thetrainline as they give 10% discount on the tickets.
2) They allow you to select your price first, and then select the train, rather than selecting the train then the price.
3) No credit card surcharge.


The MSE team obviously need to do a little more research (on their own site) and update the article.

[yorkie2]

The article mentions 'travelling short' is not valid on Saver tickets, but doesn't point out that it is allowed on unrestricted tickets. Savings can be made on season tickets in particular using this method depending on the routes involved..
It is a matter of some debate (on both railforums.co.uk (http://www.railforums.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=105)and uk.railway (http://groups.google.com/group/uk.railway/browse_frm/thread/cbd9e34b054e452/ab5d7eb90487452c?lnk=gst#ab5d7eb90487452c)newsgrou p) whether or not savers are valid for starting or finishing short. At the end of the day it boils down to how you interpret the unclear wording of the NCoC, and of course how the ticket inspector interprets it...!!!!

[greyjaybee]

Having read on this forum how to travel from a stop further on from the start point on the ticket and getting off earlier than the destination shown, on the return journey, I purchased 2 single advance E tickets for £7 each from Bath to a station in West Sussex, got on at Bradford on Avon (the next stop along), having asked the ticket seller if this was in order, and been told perfectly ok. On the train the guard clipped my ticket without comment and the same on the return journey although that one didnt know obviously my intention to get off before Bath.
So it seems that is is indeed ok to travel short after all and I for one will be doing so again ! I saved exactly half of what I had previously paid for the same journey.
I'm not exactly trying to encourage others to do this but it did work for me......

[caliston]

I think this article is misleading. The biggest savings are made by reducing your flexibility.

Turn up at the BA desk at Heathrow and ask for a return on the next flight to Paris and you'll pay a lot more than if you bought a ticket months in advance. But also that advance ticket might be non-refundable and valid for that flight only. A flexible ticket is available at a much increased cost.

Take the London-Plymouth-Penzance example. A fully flexible any-train-any-operator-no-prebooking ticket (a Standard Open Return) is £257. If you split at Plymouth and buy four Standard Open Singles with the same conditions it's a total of £117.50+£117.50+£13+£13=£261. No saving.

Where you do save is by compromising on flexibility. The headline example of £48 can only be with Advance Purchase tickets. That means you have to decide in advance the day and train you'll travel on. If you change your mind you have to pay a change fee and the difference in fare. If you miss the train you have to buy a whole new flexible ticket.

If you're prepared to do this, you can save. But we're not comparing like with like. It's not specified precisely how far in advance and on which trains the £48 was booked, but it's unlikely you'd be able to get that price on peak-time trains when booking a few days before travel. Looking at trains for Monday, AP tickets aren't available until the 0906 out of Paddington, so if you need to be in Penzance before 2pm you're out of luck.

If you don't need to use peak trains the flexible ticket is a Saver Return, a rather different proposition at £75. This is valid on the 0906 from Paddington, so that's what you have to compare for the AP tickets.

Other than that the article is generally good advice. I disagree though that the railway can know all the things like:
I've got an important meeting so I must be up early and get there with plenty of time to spare. It might end late so I might need to get a later train. So I could book the later train and hang around if necessary. Or I could just stay with Auntie Doris and come back the next day. Or it might be postponed until next week. I could either stay the weekend or go on Monday
Only you know your situation, what flexibility you have and how to work this best to your advantage. Ticket websites and booking clerks can't do this.

One other thing to understand is that trains, like flights, have seat quotas. If I ask Expedia to give me a flight between London and Athens, it might want to send me via Zurich, Rome or Budapest as cheaper than a direct flight. This is because fewer people want to go to Zurich or Budapest, or the mayor of Budapest subsidises flights, or any number of reasons. It's the same with trains, only trains stop more than once so it happens on the same train.

[lizbath]

Hi do this journey frquently with and without family railcard has anyone any ideas the best split?

[SussexMan]

Is it just me or has the change in the ticket structure (having just three types of tickets) made prices go up? In the past when I wanted to do a journey - usually from the south coast up north - I bought in advance and travelled really early or in the evening. I was given lots of options for prices with some really low ones. For example I went from Crawley to Sandwell for £14 just before the changes. If I look on websites now booking well in advance, those cheap ones have all gone and the cheapest one for the same train is £72.50!

[Crabman]

Hi do this journey frquently with and without family railcard has anyone any ideas the best split?
Hi lizbath, welcome to the forums :D

You have a response here (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=11677601#post11677601) on the split ticketing thread :)

[caliston]

Is it just me or has the change in the ticket structure (having just three types of tickets) made prices go up? ... For example I went from Crawley to Sandwell for £14 just before the changes. If I look on websites now booking well in advance, those cheap ones have all gone and the cheapest one for the same train is £72.50!

Some fares have been 'simplified' upwards, though ATOC claims that there haven't been increases across the board. However Arriva took over the CrossCountry franchise (who operate Gatwick-Birmingham direct trains) from Virgin in December, so these fares revisions have been their first opportunity to change things. They've banned Cheap Day Returns on peak trains, so it wouldn't surprise me if they've also reduced the quota of cheap tickets. Reducing quota is a price rise by stealth, but the quotas are never published so it's hard to find out.

If you look at the 'Booking Horizons' link on:
http://www.atoctravelagents.org/
it tells you the latest booking date for CrossCountry is currently 21st August. If I search for 14th August I find plenty of £14 fares.

£72.50 is the Standard Open Single - ie fully flexible, use at any time of day. If I look into September - past the current booking horizons - it does only offer me the flexible tickets. If you want to book then, keep an eye on the horizons page to see when the tickets are released.

[Dave2012]

Why does the re-written article still promote Raileasy and The Trainline?!

"There are two main train booking websites: The Trainline and RailEasy, which tend to be quite powerful."

But you can book using any of the Train Operating Companies websites! Most of them use The Trainline anyway but don't charge you for the privelege of booking tickets and receiving them by post!

"Unlike The Trainline, Raileasy lists single fares on the first results screen, so to compare fares, click The Trainline’s “two singles may be cheaper” button"

As you can do with any of the websites, it's really not that difficult. But I save the worst part for last:

"Overall this means of the two, the Trainline is cheapest for debit card bookings or credit card payments over £60, whereas Raileasy wins for credit card bookings under £60."

BUT WHY BOTHER USING EITHER WHEN THEY BOTH CHARGE YOU!?

I realise you make a passing mention that the TOC websites don't charge but then you go on to discuss the use of Trainline/RailEasy anyway :confused::eek:

Neither site should be promoted in an article that purports to save money on railfares, other than to completely avoid them. This point has been raised several times in several threads on this site, and I would like an honest explanation as to why you continue to promote them at all. They are no more user-friendly/better designed than the TOC's websites, and through their use, waste your money

[ticketcollector]

Only reason that martin links to them is that he gets commission on them. He doesnt get such a commission on the other 'no booking fee' companies.

[MSE Martin]

Only reason that martin links to them is that he gets commission on them. He doesnt get such a commission on the other 'no booking fee' companies.

The above is a nasty slur and incorrect.

The reason they're linked to is that in many ways they provide an easier alternate route for researching tickets. The article very specifically and deliberately says that the cheapest way to book is via going direct through local ticket agencies and recommends people do that... I quote from the guide...

"Don’t pay unnecessary booking fees

Booking direct at a station or via the rail company’s own website is usually cheapest as there’s no booking fee; plus you may also find some extra online discounts.

If you're using the booking sites, the Trainline charges a flat £2.50 fee on credit card payments; though it does also add £1 travel insurance by default, so do un-check the box if you don't want it. Raileasy, on the other hand, charges a £1 booking fee on every purchase, plus a 50p debit card fee and 2.5% for credit cards.
Overall this means of the two, the Trainline is cheapest for debit card bookings or credit card payments over £60, whereas Raileasy wins for credit card bookings under £60."


Why are they in ?

The revenue gleaned from those affiliate links is frankly negligible - and even if it wasn't, as on all things on the site I don't recommend things for revenue reasons. Many people use those sites - and like them - they are thus included. More importantly by including them I get to EXPLAIN the costs of them and that you are paying more.

More importantly we are in the midst of pushing and trying to work with some of the booking companies to try and get a split ticket generator - this is impossible by ourselves and is something i think will generally help everyone. By keeping the ticket agencies in the article is useful for maintaining influence and weight to push that project along.

Within the 'main tricks' section - they're only mentioned (which is rare) when they provide an easier way to find the discounted tickets...

What about the 'First Great Western same as trainline'

Thanks for thsi... we're looking at it the idea that it provides the same service as the train line but no fee' agencies - the problem being that when we try it some of the cheaper ticket routes seem to not be included when they are on the trainline.

I've got questions in with FGW but sadly a derailment this week means the press office is slow to coming back to us and I await finding out exactly how it works, before adding it into the article.

As a general note, when we publish a new article (as this is, its a rewritten reresearched guide) one of my priorities is to read people's feedback and suggestions; as we want to make it as good as it can be. I've done that here... and thank you for the many good suggestions - I am slightly pee'd off though at some of the notes above which try and attack the work we've done to try and help people rather than improve it.

Martin

[u2o]

Dear oh dear. shame on you MSE! not for the debate above - but suggesting Megatrain for Manchester to Edinburgh? If you do a little bit of research by clicking on the link that you took time to copy and paste from their website, you'll clearly see that this route is discontinued - and has been so for a long time!

Also, you need to be clear that in Trick One: Advance tickets beat returns. Yes, but not like for like comparison. If you need flexibility, you need to pay more. If you buy the advance ticket and miss your train, you have to pay the walk up fare thus costing you more money - you can't upgrade or pay the excess with these tickets. (Sorry, just realised Caliston already mentioned this!)


On another note. You should suggest rail operator websites for their discounts.

-National express east coast as already mentioned, 10% off.

-First Transpennine Express: 16-25 railcard holders get 50% off travel instead of usual 1/3. again, no booking fee. you can book their advance ticket for Edinburgh to manchester as cheap as £4.95 single!

[Dave2012]

Thanks for your reply and clarification Martin,

Dave

[caliston]

Thanks Martin for the explanation. I hope I didn't come over unduly adversarial. It's just this article annoyed me a bit:
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/47978/Lunacy-of-Britain-s-rail-fares

No doubt the journalist has failed to understand your press release, but it was the "rip-off Britain: £48 ticket overpriced to £257" angle that got me. By all means educate people as to the different ticket types and the best ways to buy them, but don't claim they're the same when they aren't.

I do agree that all the various time restrictions need simplifying, or at least printing on the booking confirmation. But simplify them too much and you'd end up with one of two scenarios: an all-tickets-are-valid-on-all-trains model, where fares would have to be set so high as to prevent casualties on rush-hour trains, or the every-seat-must-be-prebooked model where you'd lose all flexibility and people would switch to their cars in vast numbers.

[ticketcollector]

Heres an idea, as caliston has said. Why dont we have two types of tickets.
Travel anytime and thus stupidly expensive.
Or book your travel and get it cheap, restricted, like current advance tickets.
THATS IT.
Is that how simple people want it? Because it seems to be going that way.

As for getting copies of the relevant ticket restrictions this is easy. Just ask for a copy of the NFM at the ticket office.

Its articles like this that make me happy to work for the Railway and therefore do not have to pay for tickets.

When we do have to pay for tickets which is rare we pay 75% off, railway staff children get 88% off.

[Merrywidow]

Thanks everyone, whew - what a lot of great information. Keep it coming.

[u2o]

Heres an idea, as caliston has said. Why dont we have two types of tickets.
Travel anytime and thus stupidly expensive.
Or book your travel and get it cheap, restricted, like current advance tickets.
THATS IT.
Is that how simple people want it? Because it seems to be going that way.

.

nah. that would compromise anyone who needs flexibility but dont need to travel in the peak time. imagine not being able to buy "cheap day returns" when popping up somewhere for a day for shopping or something - or if, like me, want to pop over to friend's for a nightout thats been decided last minute and thus buying saver returns. so unless the rail operators scrap the peak-time and therefore everything is cheap off peak (which won't happen), we need the current (or to-become) 3 fare system: Advance, Off-Peak and Peak and quite frankly i like it!

[yorkie2]

Is it just me or has the change in the ticket structure (having just three types of tickets) made prices go up?...

There appears to be some confusion here. The change that has just occured harmonised conditions for advance purchase tickets, which are all given the same name, "Advance". The reality is that there are many price levels of Advance but as they all have pretty much the same conditions they are all called the same name.

For example I went from Crawley to Sandwell for £14 just before the changes. If I look on websites now booking well in advance, those cheap ones have all gone and the cheapest one for the same train is £72.50!
It sounds like there are not any advance fares for that journey. If it is well in advance, perhaps they are not on sale yet.
Some fares have been 'simplified' upwards, though ATOC claims that there haven't been increases across the board.
Again we have confusion. Only Advance fares have been subject to ATOC's "simplification".


However Arriva took over the CrossCountry franchise (who operate Gatwick-Birmingham direct trains) from Virgin in December, so these fares revisions have been their first opportunity to change things. They've banned Cheap Day Returns on peak trains, so it wouldn't surprise me if they've also reduced the quota of cheap tickets. Reducing quota is a price rise by stealth, but the quotas are never published so it's hard to find out.
I dislike Arriva's anti-CDR policy but all the evidence is so far that, if anything, they may have increased Advance availability as they are aiming to move toward a more 'airline' style model of people booking in advance, even for mid-range journeys of 50 miles or so.

[ticketcollector]

nah. that would compromise anyone who needs flexibility but dont need to travel in the peak time. imagine not being able to buy "cheap day returns" when popping up somewhere for a day for shopping or something - or if, like me, want to pop over to friend's for a nightout thats been decided last minute and thus buying saver returns. so unless the rail operators scrap the peak-time and therefore everything is cheap off peak (which won't happen), we need the current (or to-become) 3 fare system: Advance, Off-Peak and Peak and quite frankly i like it!

But it is not going to be that simple!
As far as I am aware, the restrictions are going to be as they are now. Its just the ticket names that are changing.
So you will buy a Off-Peak Day from company A (which you can travel on trains departing after 0930) but on Company B an Off-Peak Day will only be vaild on trains arriving after 1030. However on Company C you can use the Off-Peak Day on trains arriving before 0600 and trains arriving after 1100.

So its not going to change anything.

[cytokitty]

Having just been reading the posts regarding the train fares thought some of you may find this one interesting............

I want to travel from Swansea to Bristol Temple Meads on the 5th July return on the 19th July, the journey is via Cardiff and Newport.

Saver Return Swansea to Bristol £25.90


but get this !

Swansea to Bristol £5
Bristol to Swansea £5

yet,

Swansea to Cardiff £5.20
Cardiff to Swansea £5.20

half the journey on the same train costs you more :confused:

prices from Trainline

[yorkie2]

The £5 (each way) tickets are advance fares, only valid on the specified trains. At that price, providing you can be sure that you will get those trains, you should grab that bargain while you can!

The other prices you mention are all walk-on fares and £5.20 is the cheap day return fare from Cardiff to Swansea valid for walk-on travel.

[u2o]

But it is not going to be that simple!
As far as I am aware, the restrictions are going to be as they are now. Its just the ticket names that are changing.
So you will buy a Off-Peak Day from company A (which you can travel on trains departing after 0930) but on Company B an Off-Peak Day will only be vaild on trains arriving after 1030. However on Company C you can use the Off-Peak Day on trains arriving before 0600 and trains arriving after 1100.

So its not going to change anything.

yup nothing is going to change (except the name) - hence i think the current system is perfectly adequate. all im saying is we still need cheaper option for off-peak. the best solution would be for all train companies to standardise what "off peak" means and set on the same times!

[ticketcollector]

yup nothing is going to change (except the name) - hence i think the current system is perfectly adequate. all im saying is we still need cheaper option for off-peak. the best solution would be for all train companies to standardise what "off peak" means and set on the same times!

That would be wonderful but is never going to happen.

[Frances K]

HELP!! Hello???
I logged in for the first time this morning to get help on finding the cheapest way to get to Penrith from Oxford - Virgin is offering me £88.45 for a first class ticket, with Senior Railcard. I sent a message, but who knows where it went. Si I an trying again

I am trying really hard ( a full hour already) to get to the right forum place to get help with this one, but I need help even to get to the right site.

As a first time user, I would welcome any advice. I may be in my sixties but want to do this right!
Like, how do you get back to a thread you have found? I seem never to get back to where I want.
Many thanks

[Billy-no-Money]

Rangers
These get a mention, but only brief. There are some real bargains out there if you can find the anomalies.

For example the northern boundary of the West Midlands Day Ranger is, surprisingly, Crewe.

This means that you can get a day's travel across a large area for £15.40, when a return ticket to a single destination (e.g. Crewe-Hinckley) is £30!!
The only downside is it's off-peak only (all day weekends) and doesn't cover Virgin Trains (but does cover Cross Country).

There are Rangers for other conurbations such as Manchester, worth looking into if you're ok with getting off the train at the boundary.

Preston-area to/through Birmingham
For anybody in the North-West around Preston, cheap fares via Birmingham available through Virgin appear to have dried up - probably because Cross-Country no longer serves Preston.

Instead, consider going via Manchester as Arriva Cross-Country does serve the city - but use the www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk (http://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk) site. I've managed to find a Bristol-Manchester return for £37, (outward £16, return £21), to which you'd need to add a tenner for the leg to Manchester, total £47.

(The Duo ticket makes for a further saving on the Manchester leg for a couple, or you could set off from Chorley and use a Day Ranger which only costs £3.80!!)

The equivalent direct fare starts at £68.40.

For some reason it doesn't work if I ask for Bristol-Preston via Manchester, so you might need to buy the Preston-Manchester ticket separately.

Hope this helps

[yorkie2]

Instead, consider going via Manchester as Arriva Cross-Country does serve the city - but use the www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk (http://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk) site. I've managed to find a Bristol-Manchester return for £37, (outward £16, return £21), to which you'd need to add a tenner for the leg to Manchester, total £47.
It doesn't matter which site you use (as long as you avoid thetrainline.com itself) as they all offer the same fares, but NXEC's site does make it easier to find the good deals, it uses a different system developed by Atos Origin which is better than thetrainline-powered sites that all other companies use.

www.nationalexpresseastcoast.co.uk

[Billy-no-Money]

Well, b****r my boots!

I've bee buying tickets for years now and never realised how much better that National Express site is - it's not just a bit better, it's streets ahead.

Thanks v much - I'd seen the posts about it but it didn't register until I went on there and entered some typical journeys I regularly make.



Regarding the Preston-area tip, I think it can still sometimes be cheaper to buy a ticket to Manchester (esp a Duo or Ranger) and combine it with a ticket from Manchester to the destination, it's just a bit more effort and takes longer.

[hazseljord]

Can someone tell me the cheapest way to get from glasgow to portsmouth be it by train, plane or coach. Looking to travel on wednesday this week 18th june give or take 5 days. and return 4 or five days later.

Your help would be mostly grateful.

Thanks in advance

[veggie4life]

Hi there!

Could anyone help me ? I'm a bit lost!I need to travel from london to norwich on the 4th July leaving at 07:30 and returning at 17:30. Does anyone know the cheapest fare for this route ?

[janey70]

can anyone tell me if they can get a cheaper price for 3 adult train fares from nottingham to blackpool south leaving 4th july after 11am and returning 6th july around 1pm im getting £140.70 for all of us everywhere singles are more expensive before anyone suggests but are welcome to try can anyone try splitting for me i get to confused any help would be brill thanks x

[caliston]

There appears to be some confusion here. The change that has just occured harmonised conditions for advance purchase tickets, which are all given the same name, "Advance". The reality is that there are many price levels of Advance but as they all have pretty much the same conditions they are all called the same name.

Again we have confusion. Only Advance fares have been subject to ATOC's "simplification".


This is not the case. The new Fares Manual which came in in May was an opportunity for changes on other tickets, not just advance ones.

A biggie is that Cross Country have now banned Cheap Day Returns in the evening peak. This mostly hits formerly local journeys, like Birmingham-Nottingham and Newcastle-Durham. As these are also covered by other operators you can't just catch any train between these places, you have to pick and choose based on the time and the colour of the train (which operator it is).

Example: CrossCountry return trip from Nottingham to Birmingham, on a weekday, travelling in the evening peak:
Before: Cheap day return, £11.90
After: Standard open return, £23.50
Increase: 97%

There have been reports in other fora (http://groups.google.com/group/uk.railway/browse_thread/thread/8082f36c75fe531a/1e9cb21ce8a11580) of walk-on simplifcations leading to increases. In one instance, Harrow and Wealdstone to Cambridge SDR went up from £26 to £40. Eventually FCC admitted a mistake and they are changing it, but there's still an increase being applied (to what we don't know).

For a more 'straightforward' route, try Cambridge-London Saver with railcard:
2007 price: £16.50
Jan-May 2008: £17.15 (up 3.9%)
May 2008 onwards: £17.80 (up 3.8% from Jan)

This is not a simple realignment of AP conditions - fares have gone up too.

[u2o]

MSE MSE MSE!!

Whats wrong with you. I see you've updated the article regarding megatrains following my post, but you still didn't go quite far enough with your research.

"Also do note that on certain East Midlands and South West Trains routes, including Sheffield to Nottingham and London to Exeter, it's possible to get Megatrain (http://www.megatrain.com/uk/timetables/index_megatrain.php) fares for £1 if you book early enough. "

Wrong! Whilst im not going to try and find every possible combination, i can tell you that you can't book a fare as such. AFAIK they're only available for trains to/from London.

[Ronnie21]

First post, please bear with me. We go to see our daughter in Leeds, travelling from Swindon. Always use The Trainline for tickets, alwasy seem to get a different route!! Last two have been Swindon/Bristol Parkway/Leeds and then Swindon/Didcot/Oxford/Leeds. Anybody have any idea of doing that journey cheaper using splits? Any help would be gratefully received.

[u2o]

MSE MSE MSE MSE MSE!!

Why do i bother eh?

"Also do note that on certain East Midlands and South West Trains routes, including Sheffield to Derby and London to Exeter, it's possible to get Megatrain (http://www.megatrain.com/uk/timetables/index_megatrain.php) fares for £1"

You must be trying to wind me up. Even after I suggested a valid route, you still went on to suggest something you can't buy. Why don't you do some research!!

[Aphra]

This afternoon (24 June) e-tickets between London and Birmingham via Chiltern Railways were £2.60 single, but between London and Banbury (shorter distance, same train) were £4.60. The old conditions of issue allowed one to abandon one's journey en route, but I haven't been able to find the new Conditions of Issue. It is possible to avoid the ticket barrier at Banbury by using the lift.

[virginjon]

New Megatrain routes are starting as from 14 July 2008. All on the following Virgin West Coast Voyager Trains:

04:58 Manchester Piccadilly - Glasgow Central
08:03 Birmingham New Street - Edinburgh Waverley
11:03 Birmingham New Street - Glasgow Central
21:03 Birmingham New Street - Preston
12:51 Edinburgh Waverley - Birmingham New Street
10:10 Glasgow Central - Birmingham New Street
20:10 Glasgow Central - Manchester Piccadilly

Initially there will be 40 seats on offer on each train per day. Prices will range from £1 to £9, plus 50p booking fee. Passengers can book upto 03:00 the day before departure.
If you go on www.megatrain.com (http://www.megatrain.com/) and book for these services for travel on or after 14 July, the tickets should be available, until sold out.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/images/statusicon/user_online.gif http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/images/buttons/report.gif (abuse@moneysavingexpert.com?subject=Reporting post http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11994147)

[EASTLEIGH33]

There is , worryingly, some wrong information being given out on here. Firstly, Im rail staff and know my stuff!...Several people have said that ALL rail websites offer the same fares and same prices, THIS UNFORTUNATELY IS NOT THE CASE. It is stated that Nat Ex East Coast offers the best fares, this is not necessarily the case either, even, ridiculously, for its own fares! True, NXEC does give a 10% reduction on its site, but sometimes does not offer all available fares. My advice on this? Here goes, personally I do not like the NXEC site, although I have read others on here swear by it. Personally, I do not like the bubbles and boxes that pop up all over the place and find it irritating....Generally, when IM looking for prices for friends I use NXEC to compare fares then look at Arriva TrainsWales-which I find easy to use-...often fares are differently priced--even for the same ticket!..I could give you countless examples of this.....On certain websites there is an important...ADVANCED SEARCH option....dont be afraid to use this...For example London -Manchester advanced search put in route nottingham or sheffield and it will route you away from the direct Virgin trains which are almost always more expensive. Same goes for Leeds....NXEC will only list ITS tickets, ie direct......other sites using the advanced option vis sheffield will quote east midlands trains via Sheffield at lower prices.
Also dont be afraid to play around a bit. For example I was asked to find Newquay-Sheffield on a saturday in September. one site listed a fare to manchester for 11 pounds -advanced which was not shown on other sites..so there is nothing to stop you buying Newquay-Manchester then buying a separate ticket for about 7 pounds for the short extra hop to Sheffield. On the virgin website it quoted 110 pounds for Newquay-sheffield......with no advanced fares available..........Im happy to help anyone sort therough this nonesense , could I start a business doing this? lol
Of course, all this totally defeats the object of privatisation!..to improve customer choice which we all know is utter bxxllox.

[EASTLEIGH33]

Just to make certain I am right. I have just played around with the following example.
LONDON -LEEDS TRIP SUNDAY 10 AUGUST......Type in London-LEEDS USING THE ADVANCED SEARCH via Leicester or Sheffield you are offered an advance for 10 quid with a change in Sheffield..
If you dont, you get a direct train with NXEC for 21!.......
Of course, Joe Public cannot be expected to know all this., and even though I spend half my time doing this, I still come across staggering nonesense!....
I think of cheap rail fares as shoals of fish..they are out there ...you just need to know where to look for them.....

[EASTLEIGH33]

PS Though Im a newbie on here, I have already saved money on home insurance and annual travel insurance this week thanks to this website!, which has me hooked. Thanks to all for that. This is my way of paying you back for this!"....Cheers

[u2o]

Cross country trains are now offering 10% off their advance fares too, all you have to do is register!

[dzug1]

...Several people have said that ALL rail websites offer the same fares and same prices, THIS UNFORTUNATELY IS NOT THE CASE..

Same goes for Leeds....NXEC will only list ITS tickets, ie direct......other sites using the advanced option vis sheffield will quote east midlands trains via Sheffield at lower prices.
.

1. It SHOULD be the case (the odd owner only discount apart). Sometimes it's a case of knowing how to look for them as they don't always show up on the first level search. The advanced search is one way as you say; 'other slower trains' is another with the advantage you don't need to specify a route. (Most sites default to the fastest route). I'd assert that all sites WILL have all fares IF you know how to induce them to show you them. I'd also admit that that ain't always easy.

2. It's easy enough to get NXEC to show the East Midlands trains - just click on 'show slower routes' and tick East Midlands trains. Granted you have to know to do it.

[EASTLEIGH33]

LOL..Oh the joys of living in say, Finland, where train fares are set against a table of distances..ie look up the distance and you can work out the fare!"....Admittedly usually higher than here tho!.......Or one I find funny, that despite working in the rail industry for years, that i can use PKP-the Polish railways website--IN POLISH!..AND NO! I hardly speak Polish! easier than some of the nonesense websites here!.....Joy!

[traveller2]

Please can anyone explain why I can buy a single Advance from Reading to Southampton airport pretty cheap, but it it impossible to get return leg of the journey unless I pay 3 times as much!?

There are no advance fares!!! I've been keeping an eye on the railwebsites fairly closely. I want to travel back on a Saturday late August. it's not Reading festival or anything as thats the week before.

If anyone knows of a split ticket route that would be good. I've looked but no luck

Thanks

[dzug1]

Please can anyone explain why I can buy a single Advance from Reading to Southampton airport pretty cheap, but it it impossible to get return leg of the journey unless I pay 3 times as much!?

There are no advance fares!!! I've been keeping an eye on the railwebsites fairly closely. I want to travel back on a Saturday late August. it's not Reading festival or anything as thats the week before.

If anyone knows of a split ticket route that would be good. I've looked but no luck

Thanks

That's because Saturday and Sunday cheap fares (on Cross Country) have not been released yet beyond mid-August.

As to split ticketing - Eastleigh Winchester and Basingstoke are the intermediate stops. I doubt if they will help though.

[EASTLEIGH33]

Yes unfortunately you are right...my guess engineering work going on and timetables not yet finalised by Notwork Rail---keep checking mate, they should get released eventually!

[sandbyte]

Southern offer this DaySave £10 off peak ticket for travel within its area, but it is only available online and must be booked 7 -14 days before the travel date. Order a Group ticket and up to 4 adults can travel on the £20 ticket, plus up to 4 children per adult for £1 each. We use it for day trips to London from the south coast.

http://www.southernrailway.com/buytickets/daysave/DaySave.php?sEvent=TicketDetails

Southern DaySave costs just £10 per adult, or in a group (valid for up to four passengers who must travel together) DaySave costs just £20
Accompanied children travel for only £1 each (maximum 4 children per paying adult or group ticket)
Southern DaySave is only available online and must be purchased a minimum of 7 days before travel
During seasonal holiday periods, tickets may have to be purchased a minimum of 14 days before travel
If booking from outside of the UK tickets must be purchased a minimum of 14 days before travel
Southern DaySave offers you unlimited off-peak travel on Southern services on the day validity, subject to the following restrictions.
DaySave can be used as follows:
- Anytime on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays
- Not before 10:00 Monday to Friday
- Not between 16:45 and 19:15 Monday to Friday from London stations (Victoria, London Bridge and Clapham Junction)
- Not valid from London Waterloo or north of London Bridge
Group tickets are valid for up to four people (adults or children) who must travel together at all times.
Tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded

[Missus_LDP]

Hi Everyone,

I seem to be having trouble getting a saving from splitting the tickets for the above journey and wondered if anyone could help? I posted this message in the split ticketing thread, but to take the belt and braces approach ;) -

I need to arrive in Blackburn before 11:00h on Monday 14th July. I'll be looking to return the same afternoon, proboably around 16:00h

At the moment the only tickets I seem to find include Virgin Trains' service from London Euston to Manchester and the prices are really high, it's looking like around £200 for the return journey!!:confused:

Any help from MSE'ers would be much appreciated!!

[dzug1]

You might save a bit by split ticketing - Gatwick/London zone 1; Euston - Manchester and Manchester - Blackburn. It won't be a lot - you are looking at £120 ish for London - Manchester for example on Virgin's site then (I'm guessing - you can look them up) £20 return for each of the local journeys.

The short notice and (to a lesser extent) the peak hour outward travel do make things expensive unfortunately.

(You do need to use Virgin's site to get a 'half-saver' for the return leg)

[Missus_LDP]

Thanks dzug1, I have actually decided to drive up. I know it's not environmentally friendly but driving 600 miles in my economical little diesel works out cheaper than taking the train, even including an overnight stay in a local Travelodge (I don't fancy doing all 600 miles in one day!)

[an2003dy]

It's all so confusing!!! I'm looking at travelling from Brough (East Yorks) to Worthing (West Sussex). I'm looking for the cheapest fares possible. Will it be cheaper to get a single to London Kings Cross,then a single from London to Worthing? Can you book a return journey,single for the way back at the same time??? Help!!!

[KeithP]

You have given no clues about when you want to travel. An Advance Single for (arbitarily) an off peak journey on 7 August can be had for £44.50.

If you are eligible for any railcard, it will probably worth getting one if you are expecting to do a return trip.

It may well be worth splitting. Try it and see.

Yes, you can buy any tickets you like all at the same time.

[sinbad3]

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/images/articlealert.gif (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets)



This thread is specifically for discussing the content of the updated

Cheap Train Fares (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets)

To discuss or ask a question about this article: click reply

If you wish to report a good split ticketing route, please use the

Split Ticketing Thread (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=3902815)


Read the previous Train Fares discussion (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=7171705#post7171705)

Hi just a question hope some 1 can help got delayed they offered full refund but i dont have tickets now. will it matter as they contacted me so they know i was on the train?? any answers please post thanks

[sinbad3]

Hi just a question hope some 1 can help got delayed they offered full refund but i dont have tickets now. will it matter as they contacted me so they know i was on the train?? any answers please post thanks.

[KeithP]

Sinbad3, welcome to the forum.

Why have you posted this on the Cheap Train Tickets Article discussion?
Don't say you didn't know, you've just posted a massive quote telling us all.

No I do not believe you will get a refund without the ticket.

Ask for one and see. You have nothing to lose.

[traveller2]

thanks guys for the advice about hanging on for advance tickets from Southampton tp Reading

Now I'm after any advice you can offer for the cheapest way to get from Reading to St Ives in a couple of weeks, again on a Saturday, and back the following week.

Some sections of the jounrey I can get cheap, and others horrendously expensive.
Is there any way round it?

Thanks

[dzug1]

thanks guys for the advice about hanging on for advance tickets from Southampton tp Reading

Now I'm after any advice you can offer for the cheapest way to get from Reading to St Ives in a couple of weeks, again on a Saturday, and back the following week.

Some sections of the jounrey I can get cheap, and others horrendously expensive.
Is there any way round it?

Thanks

No there's no way round it other than pricing up advance singles and looking at split ticketing or a combination of the two. Looks as though you've done this.

If you are eligible for a railcard it can help.

Or maybe travelling the day before/after.

[sparklygemster]

We have just booked tickets for Sheffield-London St Pancras in September on thetrainline.com, £14 each going down and £31 each back, both first class, both booked as singles and works out cheaper than the standard return!

They weren't up there the other day when i looked, and dont know how long they will be at those prices for.

[KeithP]

Sparklygemster, if you had bought them from anyone other that The Trainline, you would have saved the creditcard fees and postage fees.

[SwingsNroundabouts]

Thank you to Beate for the link for the Chiltern Rail text-tickets. I need to get to Coventry on Friday 8th of August and so far I'm not having much luck ;_;

If I can get to Birmingham from Durham, or direct to Coventry from Durham cheaply that'd be fantastic. It's my first holiday in 7 years, due to disability it's also the first time I've been able to go anywhere unchaperoned! If I can get to Birmingham cheaply I can use the text ticket to London Marylebone (catch another train from there to Coventry) and maybe only pay £5 for that part of my journey!

Any advice or information that'd help would be gratefully recieved, as with the prices as they are, I won't have any spending money for my trip!

Swings

[holly413]

i am lookin for cheap train tickets from warrington to newcastle in september does anyone no where i should look for the best deal?? promotions? or another way of gettin there? cheap buses
thanks

[David Perks]

Look on the Trans Pennine Express site*, as they run from Warrington/Manchester - Newcastle. How ever, from Warrington, you will need to change at York as the train will goto Scarborough.

* http://www.tpexpress.co.uk

[freebies123]

Current discounts:

Please note: This only applies if the service is run by the train operator crosscountrytrains, not Great Western, Virgin, etc. You can get a 10% discount off crosscountrytrains services on their website by applying the promo code: Cheap

You can get a Virgin credit card and this gives you a 10% discount off train journeys, purchases in Zavvi, Holidays, etc. more discounts are available to view on the Virgin website.

[PaulScott]

Hi,

Can anybody tell me the best way of getting cheap tickets between Worcester and Penzance or the best split please.

Thanks

[dzug1]

Hi,

Can anybody tell me the best way of getting cheap tickets between Worcester and Penzance or the best split please.

Thanks

The best way is to buy advance singles soon after they are released.

For splits if this fails any or all of Bristol TM, Taunton, Exeter and Plymouth.

[balchder]

Hi,

I am starting University in September and will need to travel daily between Shotton ( Flintshire) and Bangor ( Gwynedd). I am entitled to a young persons railcard. I will have to do some journeys at peak time as will need to be there for 9am most days. Anyone any ideas on the cheapest way to do this, e.g day return, season ticket etc etc.

Thanks

[hells-fairy]

I wanted to book a return ticket from Dunkeld & Birnam rail station (Near Perth in Scotland) to Peterborough. I thought I was going to have to pay £68.50 which included the use of my disabled railcard. However, I found that if I went on the same trains, but booked for Dunkeld to London Kings Cross, got two singles, 17.20 out and £22.20 back making the cost £39.40...I saved £27.90:T

Happy traveling, Lynn xx

[janian]

I am trying to book tickets for a journey departing 4 November and returning 7 November from Middlesbrough or Darlington to London Kings Cross. I normally can find cheap prices booking this far in advance but the cheapest I can find this time are £190.00. Does anyone know why the price is so high? I have tried several sites and I am beginning to think it may be something to do with bonfire night on 5/11. Any advice welcome

[AirlieBird]

Because if you look on the National Express site, you'll see that they are "now booking up to & including Friday 17 October".

[adam918]

Hi im moving to the oxford or didcot area in the next couple of months depending which is better for me to commute to London 5 days a week. Does anyone know what price the tickets are and are there any sort of discounts available?
Many Thanks

[robt]

Hi im moving to the oxford or didcot area in the next couple of months depending which is better for me to commute to London 5 days a week. Does anyone know what price the tickets are and are there any sort of discounts available?
Many Thanks

Both Didcot and Oxford are £374 for a monthly season ticket.

[sminto]

can anyone offer advice.. myself and my daughter need to travel to london from manchester on fri 29th august at 7am returning to manchester late saturday night 30th august..
we are on a really really tight budget. any advice on finding cheap train tickets please??????

[KeithP]

can anyone offer advice..
<snip>
You could try reading this article (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets)...
entitled...
Cheap Train Tickets
how to find hidden fares

People are usually happy to help, but it would be really good if you could demonstrate that you are trying to help yourself. :D

[Spudnik]

Hi guys,

On Saturday I'm going to London - it'll be one adult and two kids with a family rail card. We went last Friday and paid about £30 for the tickets (2 singles), but the cheapest way I can see of doing it this time is buying two singles rather than a saver return which will cost £43.65 (via thetrainline.com). Before I purchase, I was wondering if anyone knew of a cheaper way of making the journey from Derby to London? I'm very willing to split - I have produced a list of the prices to every station from every other station en-route, but thought I might ask in case someone already has experience of this before I try to work it out!

We're aiming to leave Derby at around 10am and catch a return train at 6-ish.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Shelle]

Anyone know how much the cheap advance fares are from Newcastle to Edinburgh?

I am hoping to get cheap tickets when released at the end of the week (for travel on 29/11 there and 30/11 return), but would be great to have an idea of what it will be released as to help plan the budget for accomodation.

[dzug1]

Anyone know how much the cheap advance fares are from Newcastle to Edinburgh?

I am hoping to get cheap tickets when released at the end of the week (for travel on 29/11 there and 30/11 return), but would be great to have an idea of what it will be released as to help plan the budget for accomodation.

Look at what they are for a date that has been released.

And I very much doubt if they will be released at the end of the week, particularly as you will be travelling at a weekend.

[KeithP]

Spudnik, please don't use thetrainline.com. You will get the tickets cheaper almost anywhere else... no credit card fees, no postage charge etc.

[Aaron]

London Saver tickets on First Capital Connect Great Northern (to Huntingdon and King's Lynn) seem to have gone up again. Tickets for Dartford instead of London seem to be the old price and always change at Kings Cross. Possibly forbidden, but I doubt they can spot it, it can save you over a fiver per ticket and it serves them right for the continuing lack of Advance tickets on those routes. Anyone else seen this on other London-Network South East tickets?

[Lord Robson]

:confused:What is it about travelling to Plymouth? I get 2 singles travelling from Guildford (changing at Reading) for £21 economy and £44 first class, whereas 2 singles Guildford/London £18!

Also London to Paris by Eurostar 2 singles at £29.50.

I don't understand why some places have great deals and others don't!

[rangermcfadden]

Southern offer this DaySave £10 off peak ticket for travel within its area, but it is only available online and must be booked 7 -14 days before the travel date. Order a Group ticket and up to 4 adults can travel on the £20 ticket, plus up to 4 children per adult for £1 each. We use it for day trips to London from the south coast.

In addition to the DaySave, Southern also offers the All Network Downlander and South Coast Downlander e-tickets.

The All Network Downlander costs £12.50 and allows unlimited off-peak travel on the entire Southern Network plus some travel on some bus routes around the South Coast.

The South Coast Downlander costs £10 and allows unlimited off-peak travel on Southern trains around the South Coast area plus travel on the same bus routes.

One big benefit of these tickets is that they can be purchased 2 days before travel since they are e-tickets. Good if you missed the deadline for the DaySave.

The big drawback is that you have to pay for every person using it (i.e. there is no group discount).

http://www.southernrailway.com/main.php?page_id=281

[jeandet]

Hi

my computer skills are limited and have gone cross eyed trying to work out the cheapest route and days to travel, i generally go from Southend to Hull once a month whats the cheapest way, its to visit my man for the weekend, is travelling thursday a better option as i usually go Friday, same with return Sunday would Monday be better. Journay goes to Liverpool street then by tube to Kingscross, Kings Cross to Doncaster then Doncaster to Hull.


:confused: Jean x

[chippy37906]

Im no computer whizz kid or owt but ive been baffled on trying to get cheap rail tickets im looking for 3 adults day return leeds to kings cross on the 18th of october traveling after 8am and returning after 19.00 hrs any help will be much appretiated

thanks chippy

[dzug1]

Im no computer whizz kid or owt but ive been baffled on trying to get cheap rail tickets im looking for 3 adults day return leeds to kings cross on the 18th of october traveling after 8am and returning after 19.00 hrs any help will be much appretiated

thanks chippy

Go to http://www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com/ put in details of your journey and hey presto fares will appear.

You do NOT want a day return - there's no such thing anyway. You want advance purchase singles each way. It won't be startlingly cheap - maybe £25 to £35 a head each way depending which trains you choose.

If you really can't fathom it out then you can buy the same tickets at Leeds station though without the online discount.

[kittykitty]

Looking ahead a little bit but my boyfriend and i were hoping to go to London from Newcastle on 28th December and returning on 31st December. Anyone have any idea if i'll be able to get cheap train fares if I book on the day that they're released or if it'll be impossible to get cheap train fares with it being christmas/new year period?

[RIDEJON]

I need to get to Preston Lancaster by 12.00 noon from Watford Junction on Saturday the 27th September - can anyone advise how to get a cheap ticket!

[dzug1]

I need to get to Preston Lancaster by 12.00 noon from Watford Junction on Saturday the 27th September - can anyone advise how to get a cheap ticket!

At the moment cheap fares for that particular Saturday have not been released - presumably because whatever engineering work is taking place has yet to be finalised.

So the best advice is to wait - it could be as late as the Monday before.
Should they not materialise at all then you are no worse off - the ticket you buy on the day is the same price as what's available now.

One horrible thought though - there may be no trains that would get you there in time if the timetable turns out different than that currently planned.

I'd be a bit wary of split ticketing on a day where the service is disrupted. Trains may run on different routes and call at different stations to normal and it would be easy to get caught out

[dzug1]

Looking ahead a little bit but my boyfriend and i were hoping to go to London from Newcastle on 28th December and returning on 31st December. Anyone have any idea if i'll be able to get cheap train fares if I book on the day that they're released or if it'll be impossible to get cheap train fares with it being christmas/new year period?

I've got cheap tickets in that period before now without much trouble. But YMMV.

The main thing to worry about is engineering work and maybe the cheap tickets not being released simultaneously for each date.

[andrewbolt]

I have no idea about the legality of travelling short, but if it bothers you you could book the ticket from a different station, and then do whatever it takes to get yourself to that station: that way you are taking the train journey that matches your tickets. Even if the initial journey to the station costs more, it can pay for itself in the savings.

For example, recently the difference between Ely-Glasgow versus Cambridge-Glasgow was about £60 -- even considering all combinations of journey splitting and singles vs returns. Enough to be worth travelling to Cambridge to legitimately use the cheaper ticket.

[Oliashby]

Hi guys,

I need to get down to London King's Cross to get the Eurostar (2pm to Paris- woo!) on the 27th. I'm coming back on the 1st but that's probably to Sheffield. I've looked through the boards but can't really find a definitive answer. I've heard all about splitting but not sure where to split. Also I heard that "travelling short" on this route can save money and I reckon although it's banned I could blag it! ;-)

Any ideas would be hugely appreciated, I'm not really a seasoned traveler and am totally baffled by the whole thing. Many thanks in advance,

Oli

[Oliashby]

Hi guys,

I need to get down to London King's Cross to get the Eurostar (2pm to Paris- woo!) on the 27th. I'm coming back on the 1st but that's probably to Sheffield. I've looked through the boards but can't really find a definitive answer. I've heard all about splitting but not sure where to split. Also I heard that "travelling short" on this route can save money and I reckon although it's banned I could blag it! ;-)

Any ideas would be hugely appreciated, I'm not really a seasoned traveler and am totally baffled by the whole thing. Many thanks in advance,

Oli

:embarasse sorry I forgot to say it's the 27th of December, coming back on the 1st of Jan

[dzug1]

Splitting is usually a last resort, not a first one. You do it when you can't get cheap tickets any other way.

First resort is cheap advance purchase singles - when they come out. They are not available for your dates yet and I doubt if they will be for a while.

It might also be worth you looking at the Wrexham and Shropshire railway - they run a cheap if slow service from Wrexham to London Marylebone

For Sheffield you can also try megatrain. You can only book 45 days in advance. Not sure if they run on Bank Holidays though

[Gingembre]

Ahh please help!

I'm travelling from Newbury to Newcastle on 25th October (arriving about noon) and coming back on the 26th (leaving about 5pm). I need to go through London ideally as my friend is coming from London.

I know I've left it horribly late but I've tried various websites and splitting in York and Durham and I can't find any cheaper than around £65 each. It's probably too late for any more cheaper advance tickets to be released, but can anyone find it any cheaper!? Are there any promo codes around?! I'm only going for a weekend or I'd megabus it. Help!

Thanks.

[KeithP]

If you tell us where you are travelling from and to, maybe someone can help you further.

[AirlieBird]

The likelihood is that your train operator hasn't opened it's reservations system for that week yet. Some booking engines work by allowing you to search for trains up to a certain period ahead, regardless of whether the reservations system for that operator has opened. These will show the timetable stored on the National Rail database and seemingly allows you to book walkon tickets before the reservations system for that route has opened.

For example thetrainline will allow you to search 3 months from now, but train opreators don't usually open their reservations systems until 9-10 weeks in advance.

Of the long distance operators as far as I can tell only NXEC have opened their reservations system for the 15th Dec. All the long distance operators have their reservations system open for the previous week, at least for weekdays.

[activist3]

I am trying to get from London to Swansea on friday 17th october leaving london about 6ish and leaving swansea on sunday 19th about 5 ish. Cheapest i can find is £86quid. Any body got any tips/.

[coral]

travel on anything after 6.30pm and the return is £62 - not really any tricks on the peak FGW's

[guard]

Ahh please help!

I'm travelling from Newbury to Newcastle on 25th October (arriving about noon) and coming back on the 26th (leaving about 5pm). I need to go through London ideally as my friend is coming from London.

I know I've left it horribly late but I've tried various websites and splitting in York and Durham and I can't find any cheaper than around £65 each. It's probably too late for any more cheaper advance tickets to be released, but can anyone find it any cheaper!? Are there any promo codes around?! I'm only going for a weekend or I'd megabus it. Help!

Thanks.
try www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com (http://www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com) - i found them for £48.50 each way - its probably the online discount for buying national expres tickets through them.
if you can leave later - leave newbury at 11.54 and its £39.15.
leave at 14.54 and its down to£30

[someone]

Hi, I have just been looking at tickets for Manchester to Birmingham so me a few others can go The National Work Placement Exhibition @ NEC on the 30th.

The return fair is £58 but with split ticketing it goes down to £28 (splitting at Stafford). I haven't been able to find any advance fairs when looking and was wondering do they release them in one go or trickle them out

[ticketcollector]

Sometime ago last year the fares manual was leaked out. I have again got a hold of a copy at the link below...

There is a slight problem with the installation but I belive I may have found a work around.

http://www.theticketcollector.co.uk/wordpress/fares-manual/

mods: If im not allowed to link to this programme please let me know.

[savemoney]

You cant advertise here ticketcollector

[ticketcollector]

Is this not advertising??
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=5036561&postcount=109

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=5036692&postcount=509

I am not advertising either. This is a programme which is issued internally for working out fares and tickets.
This would be a lot of help to a lot of users on here!

[jazabelle]

My mum is travelling from Colchester to Canterbury on the 10th of October. She hoped to leave as early as possible - from 8, but can leave on an off-peak time if needed.

I'm trying to find cheap rail tickets but not having much luck. The best I've found is £23.90 single at 10:03am but it doesn't arrive until around 1:30pm.

Can anyone find anything cheaper please?

I also looked up the coach, but it's £23.60 and a six hour journey. Yuck!

[ticketcollector]

My mum is travelling from Colchester to Canterbury on the 10th of October. She hoped to leave as early as possible - from 8, but can leave on an off-peak time if needed.

I'm trying to find cheap rail tickets but not having much luck. The best I've found is £23.90 single at 10:03am but it doesn't arrive until around 1:30pm.

Can anyone find anything cheaper please?

I also looked up the coach, but it's £23.60 and a six hour journey. Yuck!


The cheapest I can find on the system is 36.20
CDS - OFF-PEAK DAY S XEA
00000 - +ANY PERMITTED

1 Adult @£ 36.20 = £ 36.20

[dzug1]

Hi, I have just been looking at tickets for Manchester to Birmingham so me a few others can go The National Work Placement Exhibition @ NEC on the 30th.

The return fair is £58 but with split ticketing it goes down to £28 (splitting at Stafford). I haven't been able to find any advance fairs when looking and was wondering do they release them in one go or trickle them out

As far as I know, each rail company issues all its cheap fares in one go for any one date. Different companies may do so on different dates though

[moonrakerz]

Some months ago I commented about how the new "simplified" fares structure seemed to be a great way of hiding price increases, one way or another.

This does indeed seem to be the case. Before the simplification I could get an Apex ret to Waterloo for £18.16, book 7 days in advance - these were nearly always available - I can't remember not being able to get one.
The "simplified" fare structure now offers me two singles at £9 each, book up to 1800 the day before. The only problem is that these tickets are like the proverbial rocking horse manure! unless you book many weeks in advance.
The cheapest fare available at the moment for when I want to travel, 9 days away is £22 each way.

Looks like the M3 again !

[BusyDee]

Hi all

I did get a great deal of help on a previous Thread I posted but have just found this one and want to update my problem.

I want to travel to Edinburgh from Mcr Picc 15 December and return 19th December. No changes if possible.

I have been checking the National Rail, Trainline and Virgin sites none stop waiting for the advance for that week to come online. They did but I only could find £58 return, nothing less.

I went to my small local station yesterday and asked about cheap prices, the ticket man offered to have a look for me and I returned this morning. He says he can get £15.50 single on 15th and the standard £29 return. I still can't find the £15.50 so my question, do some of the cheap fares never hit the internet? Would you go with what he has found?

This is really getting me down; my fingers are down to the knuckle from keep trying the sites :embarasse

[bigjvj]

The first 200000 people to register here- http://www.fgw5pounds.co.uk/ -will get a £5 discount off their next journey with First Great Western trains. Bargain! :beer: :money:
Promotion runs 07/10/2008 – 06/11/2008, but you can travel after this date as long as you booked your ticket in this time frame.

[robt]

The first 200000 people to register here- http://www.fgw5pounds.co.uk/ -will get a £5 discount off their next journey with First Great Western trains. Bargain! :beer: :money:
Promotion runs 07/10/2008 – 06/11/2008, but you can travel after this date as long as you booked your ticket in this time frame.

I think I should point out the following from the T&C's. Note the part in bold

The Discount only applies to transactions involving the purchase of single (one ticket for a one-way journey) or return (one or more tickets for outward and return journeys) tickets available through the internet and telesales channels. specified on this web site. It can be used on tickets for journeys on train companies other than First Great Western.

[bigjvj]

Well spotted! I missed that. Not actually going to use the promotion myself so didn't read the T&C's that thoroughly. I just saw it advertised and instantly thought MSE! :money:

[Hallelujah]

A warning to all - the customer service provided by Trainline.com Limited is WOEFUL. I had to change a booking over the phone, and they mistakenly cancelled my entire booking. I received no email confirmation so did not realise this until we arrived at the station with heavy cases only to be told there was no ticket. I furiously rang them back and was told to buy new tickets, send them to thetrainline.com and I would receive a refund. THREE MONTHS ON and they do not even return my emails. It looks as though I will be forced to go through the Small Claims Court to retrieve my refund of £65.

The moral of the tale? GO DIRECTLY TO THE SERVICE PROVIDERS. There is no degree of removal between you and the ticket, and they have a far greater customer service provision. By all means use Trainline.com to find the journey, but DO NOT BOOK THROUGH THEM. Not only do they charge a fee, but should you have a problem with the booking, they are clearly not equipped to deal with the issue.

Anyone else had a similar issue with them?

Hx

[Aaron]

The first 200000 people to register here- http://www.fgw5pounds.co.uk/ -will get a £5 discount off their next journey with First Great Western trains.

I think the above is a scam. It seems that if you are registered with trainline.com (that is, if you have ever bought tickets online through them, FGW or other operators that they power), then you will be refused the above offer.

I suspect this involves a privacy violation because:-
1. I've asked FGW to delete my details because of their defective email marketing;
2. trainline.com's privacy policy says they don't share my details (which they have because I still book online) for things like this;
3. fgw5pounds is a FGW website;
4. fgw5pounds thinks I am registered.
Conclusion: either FGW didn't delete my details as instructed, or FGW's website is checking trainline.com's database.

Anyone else having trouble with this offer? I've seen some grumbles on other sites already.

[robt]

I think the above is a scam. It seems that if you are registered with trainline.com (that is, if you have ever bought tickets online through them, FGW or other operators that they power), then you will be refused the above offer.

I suspect this involves a privacy violation because:-
1. I've asked FGW to delete my details because of their defective email marketing;
2. trainline.com's privacy policy says they don't share my details (which they have because I still book online) for things like this;
3. fgw5pounds is a FGW website;
4. fgw5pounds thinks I am registered.
Conclusion: either FGW didn't delete my details as instructed, or FGW's website is checking trainline.com's database.

Anyone else having trouble with this offer? I've seen some grumbles on other sites already.


Nothing you have said suggests or backs up you saying that it is a 'scam' - it just makes it look like you have a grudge I'm afraid. I doubt the 200,000 people who use the offer think it is a 'scam'.

[stevros88]

Hi Guys, could anyone suggest the cheapest possible single ticket starting at any station and going to any other station? I'm wanting to buy a single ticket from Lancaster to Huddersfield @ £5.95 but as the minimum order is £6.00 I just need to get that extra 5p. The cheapest I've found so far is from Stourbridge Junction to Stourbridge Town @ 40p for a child ticket. (I'm 20 but the child ticket is only to get over £6, I wouldn't actually have any use for it.)

Cheers

[bigjvj]

Hi Guys, could anyone suggest the cheapest possible single ticket starting at any station and going to any other station? I'm wanting to buy a single ticket from Lancaster to Huddersfield @ £5.95 but as the minimum order is £6.00 I just need to get that extra 5p. The cheapest I've found so far is from Stourbridge Junction to Stourbridge Town @ 40p for a child ticket. (I'm 20 but the child ticket is only to get over £6, I wouldn't actually have any use for it.)

Cheers

An off-peak child single Exeter St Davids to Exeter Central is 35p! Only just beats yours, but 5p is 5p! :D
I also tried Exton to Lymstone Commando (another very short journey) which came out at the same price. I'm thinking that 35p is the minimum??? :money:

[cymro]

I registered for the £5 discount - almost immediately received an Email with the PIN code and a hyperlink to the promotion website. The link takes you to a broken website that does not work properly and does not let you complete the booking - lets you get to page 5 of 7. It gives you an 0870 number to ring. The line is an automated service so you cannot use your PIN. I rang FGW customer service 0845 who told me I had to ring the promotions telephone line 0844. I rang them, was on hold for 5-6 minutes and then I was told I had to ring another 0845 number and they would sort it out. I rang the 0845 number which was an automated service that does not allow you t speak to anyone arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgghhhhh.

[WelshGandalf]

I had no problems with the £5 FGW thing, and have used them to book tickets over Christmas on a different train company, tickets arrived today.

Lake District to Birmingham single, for myself and other half, £8.60 total for us both (YP railcard each), so only paid £3.60 after the £5 off. Get in! :beer:

Cymro I had problems like that the first time, I think it was to do with me already being logged in when I went to the link from the PIN email. I closed down my browser completely, started it up again, then followed the link from the email and it booked fine.

[greencode]

I'm still trying to get a "cheap" train to London, from Leicester, on the 11th January (returning the same day). I'm getting quoted £44 for a return and £43 for a single - now I don't call that cheap... there's two of us going, therefore £88. If I travel by car I've worked it out it would cost £25.

[dzug1]

I'm still trying to get a "cheap" train to London, from Leicester, on the 11th January (returning the same day). I'm getting quoted £44 for a return and £43 for a single - now I don't call that cheap... there's two of us going, therefore £88. If I travel by car I've worked it out it would cost £25.

East Midland Trains haven't released the cheap fares yet - they are way behind most of the other operators. What you've found are the walkon fares that you can buy on the day, so you'll lose nothing by waiting.

I'd also suggest megatrain (who release tickets 45 days in advance) but 11 Jan is a Sunday and they don't run

[Livingthedream]

As dzug1 says East Midland Trains havn't released their Advance tickets yet so better off waiting so that you can get a cheap direct train. However, you could try this;

Leicester to Nuneaton £8.30 Anytime return (before 09.30 travel) or
Leicester to Nuneaton £7 Off Peak return
Nuneaton to London Euston £5 Advance Ticket

London Euston to Nuneaton £5 Advance Ticket
Nuneaton to Liecester use the return part of Anytime or Off peak ticket

Total = £17 or £18.50

But as dzug1 say a direct Advance will be cheaper still

[bobmccluckie]

for a few days now I haven't been able to access the Virgin Manchester to London self print ticket site. It keeps telling me the site is too busy. Can anyone confirm that they get the same message and it isn't a computer/cookies thing. Much obliged thanks.

[Guanajuato]

I'd suggest trying a couple of websites for tickets. Yesterday I travelled from Oxenholme to Birmingham International. When I booked the ticket, Thetrainline quoted £59.60 for a limited ticket (I HAD to travel on the trains I was booked on), with the unlimited ticket being just shy of £100. However, using Virgin's site, the unlimited ticket came out as the same price as the trainline's limited ticket.

I thought it very odd, considering thetrainline are part of the same group - probably a website coding error somewhere.:confused:

[flynny]

Hi, you may have covered this earlier. But I travelled first class to London, returning standard class for less than the return fare. £93 in total compared to £154. Being new to this site I could probably have done even better. The first class tickets seem to have been discounted at short notice, perhaps in response to lack of booking, the carriage was pretty empty, standard was packed as usual.

[Livingthedream]

Hi, you may have covered this earlier. But I travelled first class to London, returning standard class for less than the return fare. £93 in total compared to £154. Being new to this site I could probably have done even better. The first class tickets seem to have been discounted at short notice, perhaps in response to lack of booking, the carriage was pretty empty, standard was packed as usual.

At least you made a saving, that what its all about and yes you could have made a bigger saving if you had found a standard class ticket. But sometimes if all the standard tickets are sold out and if 1st class is all thats left and its cheaper that a off peak return then well done :beer:

[tommyjoeybirchie]

for a few days now I haven't been able to access the Virgin Manchester to London self print ticket site. It keeps telling me the site is too busy. Can anyone confirm that they get the same message and it isn't a computer/cookies thing. Much obliged thanks.


i can't get on either, rather frustrating as I want to check it before I book standard advance single anywhere else

[bravobeastie]

Hi, i was wondering what would be the cheapest way to get tickets for 3 adults and 2 children from Wolverhampton train station to as close to Harrods in London as possible on 10th December? (we're off to see Santa)

[KeithP]

Get a Family & Friends Railcard. With it you can all travel return to Euston for a total return price of £96.75. Ok, the rail card will cost you £24 but you will save nearly three times that... and it is valid for a whole year.
I'll leave someone else to comment on travel within London.

[Livingthedream]

Hi, i was wondering what would be the cheapest way to get tickets for 3 adults and 2 children from Wolverhampton train station to as close to Harrods in London as possible on 10th December? (we're off to see Santa)

As KeithP say's get a family and friends railcard but use this discount code to get it for £18 EXPERT18

As to your journey try this;
Wolverhampton to London Euston 10th 10:05 Advance single £24.85
London Euston to Wolverhampton 10th 19:10 Advance single £24.85

These are advance tickets so buy early as they do sell out

Total: £49.70 (+ Railcard but that can be used again for a year)

Knightsbridge is the Underground station for Harrods its on the Piccadilly line so its;
Euston to Kings cross Northern line
Kings cross to Knightbridge Piccadilly line
£1.50 Adult Single
£.050 Child Single

As pointed out by dzug1 below I did copy the wrong fare 4 the underground it should read;
Adult £4 single
Child £2 single
The £1.50 and £0.50 fares are if you have an Oyster card

[RHB1965]

If you are not doing a journey that is not straight forward but want flexiblity I always make sure I do the following. Make sure you plan your journey in that you go to the furthest point first. Break of journey is permitted on the outward leg of an off-peak return (formerly Saver-note name changes from 07/09/08) but you must complete the outward portion on day 1 !. The return portion is valid for one month and here you can have complete flexibility subject to the route shown on the ticket. If you are not sure what the permitted route is you can ask for a definition from most staffed railway booking offices which should carry a copy of The National Routeing Guide. The National Conditions of Carriage booklet mention it and you have every right to ask about your route. Experienced railway booking clerks should have no problem reading it. Do not be fobbed off! I recently did a journey from Cambridge to Edinburgh returning via Windermere and Nottingham and thought I would have to book singles. The experienced booking clerk I had good fortune te be served by sold me a return to Glasgow with singles from Edinburgh to Carstairs Junction and singles from Oxenholme to Windermere and vice versa. The return portion of the Glasgow ticket was valid automatically via the West Coast Main Line and then to Nottingham via Manchester. I then continued onto Cambridge from Nottingham via Leicester. I knew my dates for the single tickets(if I had not I could have bought them locally) but had flexibility going from Manchester via Nottingham to Cambridge. The whole journey cost around £115-not bad I think! A normal single from Cambridge to Edinburgh is almost £102. Even if I had been very well organised and booked the dates well in advance and stuck ridgidly to the Itinery, I probably wouldn't have saved that much!
The internet is very useful for point to point journeys but any journeys that require flexibility and might be considered off route-the personal human touch from an experienced railway booking clerk who really knows there stuff could save you a fortune!

To all you fellow railway passengers, good luck in saving money!

[Livingthedream]

RHB1965 I understand what your saying, and yes flexibility is nice but people who come to this website are trying their best to get a train journey they can afford. £115 Cambridge to Edinburgh per person, Ouch, however £31.40 return per person is easily much more acceptable.

[dzug1]

Euston to Kings cross Northern line
Kings cross to Knightbridge Piccadilly line
£1.50 Adult Single
£.050 Child Single

eerm no - £4 adult single £2 child single. A one day travelcard would be better

You are I think quoting Oyster prices which is a bit of a faff for a day trip

[rcgras]

hi

anyone can travel for cheap if they have registered and have a WAP enabled phone.

a sub-service of virgin trains allows you to buy tickets usually for within the next 2 weeks (a couple of days in advance is usually needed aswel) for anything between £3 and up.

This is for service specifically between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston. I find this service particually useful as a student in london from manchester.

Once registered all you have to do is follow instructions on how to register mobile phone.

This service does state it is beta and possibly only around a little while. But for now its very useful, have a look
http://www.mobitix.thetrainline.com/vt/

the site often comes back to say 'busy' and quite possibly it is, but keep trying as it will load if you give it a few minutes/hours

love rob

[paul mcl]

Not sure if this true elsewhere but GUILDFORD to LONDON...

If you travel after 11:30 am it's even cheaper, about 10%.

BUT the TICKET machines don't offer this, only the ticket offices.

This was only for 2 people day returns, including tube.

Thanks

[dzug1]

Not sure if this true elsewhere but GUILDFORD to LONDON...

If you travel after 11:30 am it's even cheaper, about 10%.

BUT the TICKET machines don't offer this, only the ticket offices.

This was only for 2 people day returns, including tube.

Thanks

It's true of most SouthWest trains services, and a few others (eg Chiltern)

Are you sure the ticket machines didn't offer it? You might have to hunt for it rather than being offered it upfront.

[MoneyMiser]

Hi,

I have got myself a hoxton hotel room for £29 and trying to get some cheap tickets from Manchester to London using the link below. For the last week it has said 'Site Busy', anyone know why and how I can get some of these cheap tickets?

http://www.mobitix.thetrainline.com/VT/MaxUsersOnSite.aspx

MM

[stevros88]

Hi,

I have got myself a hoxton hotel room for £29 and trying to get some cheap tickets from Manchester to London using the link below. For the last week it has said 'Site Busy', anyone know why and how I can get some of these cheap tickets?

http://www.mobitix.thetrainline.com/VT/MaxUsersOnSite.aspx

MM

I've just tried it now and it still says site busy, so there could well be a problem with the system, as it's highly unlikely that the site will be at maximum capacity for a full week. When are you actually going down to London and coming back?

[ticketcollector]

hi

anyone can travel for cheap if they have registered and have a WAP enabled phone.

a sub-service of virgin trains allows you to buy tickets usually for within the next 2 weeks (a couple of days in advance is usually needed aswel) for anything between £3 and up.

This is for service specifically between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston. I find this service particually useful as a student in london from manchester.

Once registered all you have to do is follow instructions on how to register mobile phone.

This service does state it is beta and possibly only around a little while. But for now its very useful, have a look
http://www.mobitix.thetrainline.com/vt/

the site often comes back to say 'busy' and quite possibly it is, but keep trying as it will load if you give it a few minutes/hours

love rob

Good luck getting it to work. I have been at throats with virmin over this and im still waiting for my tickets.

[MoneyMiser]

I've just tried it now and it still says site busy, so there could well be a problem with the system, as it's highly unlikely that the site will be at maximum capacity for a full week. When are you actually going down to London and coming back?


Hoping to go down on the 23rd December and come back the following day.

Thanks,

MM

[JayTeeBee]

Its worth having a look at the Rovers and Rangers section on NR's website.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/promotions/rangers_and_rovers.html (http://http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/promotions/rangers_and_rovers.html)

For example, an Off Peak return (The new name for a Saver) costs £53.90 from my house in Hexham to Sheffield.

Yet, I can do this trip everyday of the week for £82 using a Freedom of the North East 7 Day Rover - A huge saving of £295!

You can use Railcards on it (except the Family Railcard), which means if you are Disabled, Under 25 or an owner of a Senior Railcard, you can get it for £54.

The catch? You can only travel after 0845 on weekdays.

[Bueno]

simply go to the first great western website and sign up for a £5 voucher, it states that it is one per journey but if you create some other email addresses and split your journey up you can use as many as you like as long as each bit is over £5!

[BrianBlackmore]

Some general tips for those that want to make the effort:
- If you have access to the electronic fares manual (known as Avantix Traveller, you can get it from the TSO bookshop, and it has leaked onto the web), you can find out every fare between any two places, all of the conditions, and who prices it!
- Different rail companies have different pricing policies, so simply knowing who prices where helps you work out how to get the best combination of tickets.
- It may be illegal to "travel short", however nearly all off peak, and anytime tickets now allow you to break your journey in either direction. So if anyone asks why you are getting off/on simply say you are breaking/resuming your journey, its almost impossible for them to prove otherwise. Check that a break of journey is permitted on your ticket before doing this though!
- If you are travelling on a Virgin train and have a railcard the "off peak" restrictions are relaxed, and you can travel on any train.
- Sometimes "borrowing" a kid can actually save you money, since then you can use a family railcard! Mix this with the Virgin trains relaxation and it can save you even more.
- Travelling from a PTE area (e.g. Centro, or West Yorkshire) a day rover to the boundary, followed by a ticket to cover the extension often saves you money. Some PTE's even have special cheap extensions, not all of which are very well advertised.
- Time restrictions are generally on specific trains not the ticket, sometimes using the same ticket but going a different route can save you money. The ATOC national routeing guide ( http://www.atoc.org/rsp/_downloads/Routeing_Guide/enrg.htm ) lets you know all the possible routes you can use with your ticket.

[stevec59]

Hi,
Is there a site comparison site for rail fares?My daughter wants to go From Great Yarmouth to Edinburgh,not bothered when,so flexible,might just be 1 way,she is 20yrs old, so she could get a 16-25 rail card(£24),but might not be worth it 1 way, I found £52.20 on National Rail,anything cheaper, she would like to get up there in the next week or 2..

Thanks

Steve

[ipswichblade]

Hi,
Is there a site comparison site for rail fares?My daughter wants to go From Great Yarmouth to Edinburgh,not bothered when,so flexible,might just be 1 way,she is 20yrs old, so she could get a 16-25 rail card(£24),but might not be worth it 1 way, I found £52.20 on National Rail,anything cheaper, she would like to get up there in the next week or 2..

Thanks

Steve

Don't know about comparison sites but I chose a couple of dates at random and searched on the national express east anglia site...

Origin: Great Yarmouth, 10:17
Destination: Edinburgh, 16:26
Date:Wed 3 Dec 2008

Cost: £29.35

Origin: Great Yarmouth, 10:17
Destination: Edinburgh, 16:26
Date: Thu 4 Dec 2008

Cost: £37.85

[stevec59]

Thanks for that!Great saving :beer:


Steve

[ipswichblade]

Thanks for that!Great saving :beer:


Steve

Glad to be of help. I find the National Express East Anglia site to be the best to use and the cheapest finds seem to be there. :T

[dzug1]

Hi,
Is there a site comparison site for rail fares?My daughter wants to go From Great Yarmouth to Edinburgh,not bothered when,so flexible,might just be 1 way,she is 20yrs old, so she could get a 16-25 rail card(£24),but might not be worth it 1 way, I found £52.20 on National Rail,anything cheaper, she would like to get up there in the next week or 2..

Thanks

Steve

No there isn't - it would be a waste of time since all sites sell the same tickets at the same prices. In theory anyway. Some are more user friendly at finding them than others, true, but if (big if) you know how to manipulate them you will find the same prices, nearly all the time. Where you don't it's a glitch in the system rather than intentional.

One or two exceptions - a few operators give a discount if you book on their site for their own trains.

[Livingthedream]

Some are more user friendly at finding them than others

That is so true i use Nationalrail.co.uk to do my searching but Virgin trains to do my buying, wont us Virgin trains for searching as they are at times biased towards their own services and don't show up all the cheap fares unless you search deeper.

Also as dzug1 says they all sell the same tickets whether Advance tickets for other train companies or regular Peak Tickets and the majority use the same search engine ie the trainline's search engine.

[Skint_Student]

Hi MoneySavers,
I'm currently travelling from Leamington to Lincoln on a weekly basis. The cheapest price I have found is 20.95. I've done a bit of browsing but find it all pretty confusing, from what I have seen though it looks like there could be some cheaper alternatives.
Any suggestions or answers you could provide would be really appreciated as the cost is racking up.

Cheers.

[Livingthedream]

Skint_Student, a few questions is that £20.95 one way and is it with a railcard, do you know what day and date you need to travel on a few weeks in advance and finally do you need a return ticket?

[marionquine]

Club 55: travel anywhere in Scotand for £15 return until the end of March 2009, if you are over 55. Must be off peak and there are restrictions over the Christmas/ New Year holiday period; but a great deal:-))

[Skint_Student]

Skint_Student, a few questions is that £20.95 one way and is it with a railcard, do you know what day and date you need to travel on a few weeks in advance and finally do you need a return ticket?

Livingthedream, sorry it was my first post so didn't know exactly what info to state. Its is a open return ticket with railcard from Leamington to Lincoln. I know when i'm traveling 2 weeks ahead sometimes, if not at least 5 days in advance.

Was also intrigued by the mega bus deal from birmingham to sheffield for a quid I think. Wandered if anyone had worked this into a similar journey and had success.

Cheers.

PS 2 sweets.

[Livingthedream]

Livingthedream, sorry it was my first post so didn't know exactly what info to state. Its is a open return ticket with railcard from Leamington to Lincoln. I know when i'm traveling 2 weeks ahead sometimes, if not at least 5 days in advance.

Was also intrigued by the mega bus deal from birmingham to sheffield for a quid I think. Wandered if anyone had worked this into a similar journey and had success.

Cheers.

PS 2 sweets.


Thanks for letting us know, but as Dzug1 says in your other post £20.95 isn't a bad price with that amount of notice.

Just remember the £20.95 ticket is an Off peak ticket and can't be used be 09:30

[stevec59]

Going away in March.looking to buy advance tickets but can't find anywhere for Debden (London Underground) to Gatwick Airport.Any thoughts?

Thanks

Steve

[dzug1]

Going away in March.looking to buy advance tickets but can't find anywhere for Debden (London Underground) to Gatwick Airport.Any thoughts?

Thanks

Steve

There aren't any. Just buy on the day. FCC and Southern are cheaper than the Gatwick Express if you want to save

Suburban journeys generally don't have cheap advance tickets. It would be far too early to get them anyway.

[dzug1]

Was also intrigued by the mega bus deal from birmingham to sheffield for a quid I think. Wandered if anyone had worked this into a similar journey and had success.

Cheers.

Try it and see - I'd be surprised if after adding in the trip to Birmingham and then Sheffield to Lincoln it would work out any cheaper - or at least not enough to warrant the longer journey time unless you are really skint.

The £1 megabus deal you'll only get if you book soon after tickets come out - but they are still cheap even at the higher fare you pay nearer departure.

On the journeys I have done with them they have never actually sold out - but I suppose it can happen

[looktothefuture]

I commute every day from Wickford in Essex to Embankment and a day travel card is £25.60 :eek: . This commute involves a change at Liverpool street onto the London Underground (+/- 1 1/2 hrs in travelling one way!) and by golly it works out expensive, even with a weekly ticket which is in total £83.00 a week!

BUT

If you go to Upminster station (A short 15 minute car journey), use an Oyster card and get onto the District line the cost for the day from Upminster (Zone 6) to Embankment (Zone 1) is only £7.00! :D That's a whopping £18.60 saved a day! Now that's what I call a money saver! :T

[stevec59]

There aren't any. Just buy on the day. FCC and Southern are cheaper than the Gatwick Express if you want to save

Suburban journeys generally don't have cheap advance tickets. It would be far too early to get them anyway.


Thanks,I am going with my friend and he (or his wife) has an Oyster card, will that save me anything?
I don't travell by rail, so i don't know anything about the Oyster card, is it worth me geting one? (I guess not for 1 return journey)

Steve

[Shelle]

I have been looking at trying to get the cheapest possible tickets for Newcastle to London for december. I do normally book 12 weeks in advance thus getting really good deals. However this trip has been sprung on me and very last minute hence expensive prices.

I have tried doing the split ticketing method, but it worked out about £8 MORE than the whole journey method. Anyone know of anything else I can do?

What I have done so far is:

one ticket (or 4 singles!):

4 December
Newcastle 3.55pm train £34.25

5 December
London Kings Cross 5pm train £124.50

Total cost for Whole tickets £158.75

Splitting Tickets


4 December
Newcastle 3.55pm train to York £10.70
York to Kings Cross £27.60

5 December
London 5pm to York £21.90
York to Newcastle £103.00

Total cost for split tickets £163.20

Can consider 4.28pm train to London on 4th, and 5.30pm train from London on 5th.

Any ideas how I can save more money as the split ticket at York doesnt work (or rather it works but is more money!)? Tried Doncaster but had difficulty finding trains at right time.

Really hoping someone has an idea?

Thanks

[dzug1]

The Oyster card will (depending on the type) cover or give a reduced price for the underground part of the journey.

It will save you a pound or two if you get one if you can be bothered to pay the £3 deposit and get it back after you return, but for one journey the savings are not massive.

[Livingthedream]

I have been looking at trying to get the cheapest possible tickets for Newcastle to London for december. I do normally book 12 weeks in advance thus getting really good deals. However this trip has been sprung on me and very last minute hence expensive prices.

I have tried doing the split ticketing method, but it worked out about £8 MORE than the whole journey method. Anyone know of anything else I can do?

What I have done so far is:

one ticket (or 4 singles!):

4 December
Newcastle 3.55pm train £34.25

5 December
London Kings Cross 5pm train £124.50

Total cost for Whole tickets £158.75

Splitting Tickets


4 December
Newcastle 3.55pm train to York £10.70
York to Kings Cross £27.60

5 December
London 5pm to York £21.90
York to Newcastle £103.00

Total cost for split tickets £163.20

Can consider 4.28pm train to London on 4th, and 5.30pm train from London on 5th.

Any ideas how I can save more money as the split ticket at York doesnt work (or rather it works but is more money!)? Tried Doncaster but had difficulty finding trains at right time.

Really hoping someone has an idea?

Thanks

If you don't mind traveling back from London Euston via Manchester then try this;
4 December
Newcastle 3.55pm train £34.25 as you described

5th Dec Rtn
London Euston to Manchester Picadilly 18:05 £64 Advance Single
Manchester Picadilly to Newcastle 21:42 £14 Advance Single
Total £112

If you can travel earlier it will work out cheaper going Kings cross - Leeds - Newcastle
It's a start I'll keep looking but it is a Friday and the trains are always very busy:T

[Shelle]

Thanks for that. Hadnt thought of using a different london station, although I wasnt aware of trains from Newcastle to anywhere but Kings Cross! You learn something new every day :j

[Livingthedream]

Thanks for that. Hadnt thought of using a different london station, although I wasnt aware of trains from Newcastle to anywhere but Kings Cross! You learn something new every day :j

Sorry if my post confused, you have to change trains at Manchester Picaddily

[bluepricey]

hi am going to london 14th december returning same day from liverpool lime st, it's coming up £102 2 adults 2 kids is this a good deal? tia

[dzug1]

hi am going to london 14th december returning same day from liverpool lime st, it's coming up £102 2 adults 2 kids is this a good deal? tia

Very good - I can't find anything nearly as cheap

You could save a little more with a family railcard (£24 but gives a bigger discount)

[Spudnik]

Family Railcard is £18 if you use the 25% off voucher. I think it's on this site somewhere? It expires on December 1st so you'll have to be quick!

[noelphobic]

I'm travelling to Hastings for the weekend with a friend in January. I need to travel from Liverpool and she needs to travel from Crewe. We were intending to buy the tickets from Crewe together so that we could reserve seats and I intended to buy a ticket from Liverpool to Crewe for myself separately. However, if we book the cheapest tickets together for the two of us it will cost us £40 each, but if we book as single travellers it will only cost us £30 each, which seems bizarre! The cheaper option would also mean that we could not reserve seats together.

Anyone got any idea of a way round this?

[Pennypincher10]

Have just read your cheap train tickets article. No mention of Tourist Information offices. They are doing an offer called Daysave Rail Ticket which can be used on First Capital Connect services between Bedford and Brighton. All day at weekends, and after 9.30am weekdays. I got a return ticket from St Albans to Brighton for £12.50 - saving £12.50. You can also travel to Gatwick apparently. Apparently, they have been doing this offer for years!

[dzug1]

I'm travelling to Hastings for the weekend with a friend in January. I need to travel from Liverpool and she needs to travel from Crewe. We were intending to buy the tickets from Crewe together so that we could reserve seats and I intended to buy a ticket from Liverpool to Crewe for myself separately. However, if we book the cheapest tickets together for the two of us it will cost us £40 each, but if we book as single travellers it will only cost us £30 each, which seems bizarre! The cheaper option would also mean that we could not reserve seats together.

Anyone got any idea of a way round this?

Probably means there was only one seat left at the lower price, which has probably gone by now anyway

[noelphobic]

Probably means there was only one seat left at the lower price, which has probably gone by now anyway

I don't think so, because we looked at the sites again and again over a couple of days. We have now booked through www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com (http://www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com) at a cost of £31.50 each. I still have to buy a return from Liverpool to Crewe for myself.

[Livingthedream]

I don't think so, because we looked at the sites again and again over a couple of days. We have now booked through www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com (http://www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com) at a cost of £31.50 each. I still have to buy a return from Liverpool to Crewe for myself.

noelphobic its a dirty trick some train companies do to get a little extra cash from you

If I book advance tickets from Manchester to N.Wales for 1 adult and 1 child with family railcard it costs £9.35 so if I was to do 2 adults and 2 children it should cost £18.70 (9.35 x 2) you would think?
Answer: NO the train site gives you £23.80 :eek: so I have to book twice to get it for £18.70 :mad: and hope the seat reservations are near each other

[midflight]

Can National Express East Coast tickets be bought in person from a train station? I've just tried it, and they said no - those are online prices only. But that's not what the website said - the "internet only" prices were shown in red, and the ones I wanted were not.
I need to buy in person as I'm using National Rail vouchers, and they are not accepted online (or over phone)... I think?

So it seems I have to either:

(1) buy in person with vouchers but pay higher prices
(2) buy online cheaper, but can't use vouchers

Is this right? :(

[Livingthedream]

Can National Express East Coast tickets be bought in person from a train station? I've just tried it, and they said no - those are online prices only. But that's not what the website said - the "internet only" prices were shown in red, and the ones I wanted were not.
I need to buy in person as I'm using National Rail vouchers, and they are not accepted online (or over phone)... I think?

So it seems I have to either:

(1) buy in person with vouchers but pay higher prices
(2) buy online cheaper, but can't use vouchers

Is this right? :(

Yes and No, I had some National Rail Vouchers I got as compo when my train was late, I used them the next time I booked my journey over the phone, I had to send the vouchers to the phone booking office. I used Virgin trains to book my journey, so unless they changed their policy they should still take them but which ever train company you phone ask them straight away if they accept the vouchers, they can only say 'no' then try another one.

[dzug1]

Can National Express East Coast tickets be bought in person from a train station? I've just tried it, and they said no - those are online prices only. But that's not what the website said - the "internet only" prices were shown in red, and the ones I wanted were not.
I need to buy in person as I'm using National Rail vouchers, and they are not accepted online (or over phone)... I think?

So it seems I have to either:

(1) buy in person with vouchers but pay higher prices
(2) buy online cheaper, but can't use vouchers

Is this right? :(

Yes they can be bought at a station in person.

However for certain tickets there is a 10% online discount which you wouldn't get. This is for advance singles on 100% National Express East Coast journeys. You should stilll be able to buy them without the 10% off.

Sounds as though you encountered an ill trained ticket clerk - not surprising given the complexities

[dzug1]

noelphobic its a dirty trick some train companies do to get a little extra cash from you

If I book advance tickets from Manchester to N.Wales for 1 adult and 1 child with family railcard it costs £9.35 so if I was to do 2 adults and 2 children it should cost £18.70 (9.35 x 2) you would think?
Answer: NO the train site gives you £23.80 :eek: so I have to book twice to get it for £18.70 :mad: and hope the seat reservations are near each other

That calculation does look odd, not sure why. More likely a foul up rather than a dirty trick

Problem with booking twice is that they might expect each adult to have a railcard, not just one between you.

[Livingthedream]

Problem with booking twice is that they might expect each adult to have a railcard, not just one between you.

Hope Not or might be in trouble :eek:

but was lucky all the seat reservations are together, so when the guard checks we'll be there as a group me holding 4 tickets and one railcard. But you are right could be an issue if I was in one carriage and the OH in another.

[miamidice]

ADVANCE TICKETS STOPPED???!

I'm checking online on trainline and network rail site for advance tickets up to 12 weeks in advance from london to chesterfield but there doesn't seem to be any advance tickets available AT ALL!

What's happened? Have the companies stopped doing cheaper advanced tickets? Cheapest I can see is £40

[miamidice]

BAD NEWS

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article5425815.ece

These train companies are absolute joke! It seems like it's going to cost me an extra £15 more every time I want to go to Chesterfield from London from now on - £40 up from £25 - and that's with a young persons railcard!!! I'm furious!

[dzug1]

ADVANCE TICKETS STOPPED???!

I'm checking online on trainline and network rail site for advance tickets up to 12 weeks in advance from london to chesterfield but there doesn't seem to be any advance tickets available AT ALL!

What's happened? Have the companies stopped doing cheaper advanced tickets? Cheapest I can see is £40

12 weeks in advance rarely if ever happens. It's often nearer 8 weeks and not always then. Just be patient and you will be rewarded.

But..... £40 is way below the normal fare. Unless you have a railcard that is. If it's a none-railcard fare then it's probably as cheap as you are going to get. Also look at megatrain - generally released 45 days in advance

[bikerjodie]

Hi

Can someone offer some help and advice please. We would like to travel to Manchester Airport from Glasgow on 17th April 09 and have been trying to work out the cheapest way to do this.

Do we need to split our journeys and if so can you suggest the changes please? or Altenatively, what time exactly should we expect they 12 weeks advance tickets to go on sale (for example is it 00.01 or later in the day) exactly 12 weeks before the date of travel?

We had thought that leaving from Manchester would be cheaper but if we dont manage to get a reasonable deal on train tickets we fear it will cost us more!

Help much appreciate.

Jodie

[dzug1]

The cheap tickets never go on sale exactly 12 weeks in advance - it's more commonly about 8 weeks and I have (for weekend journeys badly affected by engineering work) known it to be as late as the Monday before. As to time - there is no set time. You are looking for exactness where it doesn't exist.

To see what sort of fares might be available, look about a month ahead.

[ukgolfer92]

For your journey, there are direct trains provided by Transpennine Express. Try giving their Customer Services a call, and they may be able to tell your when tickets for your journey should be released, or alternatively visit their website.

[iwant2asave]

Hi,

I dont travel on trains much so dont know what the cheapest ways to get tickets is, so if anyone who can tell me the cheapest way to get tickets for the following journeys then i'd appreciate it!

Three people travelling from Luton Station to London Gatwick Airport on 19/1/09 (off peak - evening), returning on 03/2/09 (off peak - evening). There are 2 pensioners and 1 adult. Thanks in advance for any help :-)

Sam

[dzug1]

FCC do a Gatwick Flyaway ticket at £60 total - no peak restrictions

An offpeak groupsave3 ticket is marginally cheaper at £59.40. There are a couple of late afternoon trains on which it's not valid.

As far as I know you can buy at Luton Station on the day

A standard off peak return is £30 each so it's a fair saving

[iain lett]

Hi i pay £49 a week to get to work in Warrington from Bolton, has anyone got any good ideas to trim the cost???

[dzug1]

Hi i pay £49 a week to get to work in Warrington from Bolton, has anyone got any good ideas to trim the cost???

A monthly season would save a little

[dal2008]

HELP

I buy a season ticket from witham to liverpool street yearly and my work gives me a season ticket loan which i pay back est. £260 a month from my salary.

I pay £3,280.

I tried to see if i can get a season ticket from witham to shenfield and then another one shenfield to london liverpool street and it's actually 1k more.

Any ideas

[lalibums]

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/images/articlealert.gif (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets)



This thread is specifically for discussing the content of the updated

Cheap Train Fares (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets)

To discuss or ask a question about this article: click reply

If you wish to report a good split ticketing route, please use the

Split Ticketing Thread (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=3902815)


Read the previous Train Fares discussion (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=7171705#post7171705)
does anyone know the cheapest way to travel from cheltenham to birmingham once a week, every week by train.:j

[dzug1]

does anyone know the cheapest way to travel from cheltenham to birmingham once a week, every week by train.:j

One direction only? If returning is it the same day or later?

Anyway

off peak day return £18 - morning and evening restrictions
off peak return £19.40 - morning restrictions only
anytime return £26 - no restrictions

Off peak single £17.90 anytime single £18

The key to getting it cheaper is advance purchase singles, which are between £4 and £8 depending on availabilty. For example a week today £5.50 is available off peak on quite a few trains

If you are prepared for a slower, less frequent service with unreliable connections travelling via Worcester on split tickets can shave a little off the walk on Cheltenham fares

[ampersand]

BAD NEWS

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article5425815.ece

These train companies are absolute joke! It seems like it's going to cost me an extra £15 more every time I want to go to Chesterfield from London from now on - £40 up from £25 - and that's with a young persons railcard!!! I'm furious!
########################
......and I'm at the other end of the scale, officially Ancient as of 2 Sats back, so was looking up poss. extensions of eagerly awaited Bus Pass/variants for travel to Scotland.
Thanks for posting this article - it's a shocker.
Shall return to Thread and see what advice dzug, who seems to have right fingers on right buttons, had to proffer.

I'm interested generally in ANYTHING that gives cheap UK/European travel for Over 60's - especially since the demise of Speedferries.

[james2005]

Hello, I am travelling down to Cornwall on Friday 20th and returning Monday 23rd about 2pm

I was looking for a train ticket

Twickenham to Redruth (after 2pm) Friday 20th February

Returning

Redruth to Twickenham (after 2pm) Monday 23rd February


The cheapest i can find is about £79 pounds, thats well steep.

I do have a network railcard but doesnt cover me that far.

Also i did try some split ticketing programme that i downloaded but didnt get any cheaper and it doesnt have the option to use network railcard, as it would cover me to exeter so i am told?

Really would appreciate some help.

Thanks

[dzug1]

If you've looked in the past hour or two then I think there's a problem with the reservations system at the moment which means they can't sell advance tickets. Might be worth trying later - you can buy the £79 on the day anyway so you won't lose out

[james2005]

Dzug1 tried that before the problem arose and tried again but will try again in abit.

Cheers:beer:


If you've looked in the past hour or two then I think there's a problem with the reservations system at the moment which means they can't sell advance tickets. Might be worth trying later - you can buy the £79 on the day anyway so you won't lose out

[james2005]

Its still showing 79 quid, help:mad:


Dzug1 tried that before the problem arose and tried again but will try again in abit.

Cheers:beer:

[pifpofpaf]

Trying to get from Edinburgh to London and back, leaving about 28th Feb and returning on 2nd March..

have a young persons railcard. I think I just missed an offer in the scotsman so if anyone has that password it would be great too?

[Livingthedream]

Trying to get from Edinburgh to London and back, leaving about 28th Feb and returning on 2nd March..

have a young persons railcard. I think I just missed an offer in the scotsman so if anyone has that password it would be great too?

There's some cheap advance singles availble on those dates;

Edinburgh to London Kings Cross 11:00 £15.85 Advance Single with YP R'card
London Kings Cross to Edinburgh 06:15 or 07:00 or 08:00 £21.45 Advance single with YP R'card

Total £37.30

There is other advance singles on those dates but the price is more expensive if you want to travel at a different time.

Scotsman rail offer 'my rail deal' thats the Password but you need the Voucher that was in the Scotsman/Scotsman on Sunday to validate your tickets when traveling

[AirlieBird]

Hello, I am travelling down to Cornwall on Friday 20th and returning Monday 23rd about 2pm

I was looking for a train ticket

Twickenham to Redruth (after 2pm) Friday 20th February

Returning

Redruth to Twickenham (after 2pm) Monday 23rd February


The cheapest i can find is about £79 pounds, thats well steep.

I do have a network railcard but doesnt cover me that far.

Also i did try some split ticketing programme that i downloaded but didnt get any cheaper and it doesnt have the option to use network railcard, as it would cover me to exeter so i am told?

Really would appreciate some help.

Thanks

Advance single 16.10 from Twickenham-Reading via Bracknell, then Reading-Redruth £34.50
Advance single 16.29 from Redruth £15.50
Total £50

[james2005]

Hey Arliebird thats great, thanks, if i purchase these tickets will the actual time be stamped on them, reason i am asking couldnt i just leave earlier then the time i am supposed too? cheers

Advance single 16.10 from Twickenham-Reading via Bracknell, then Reading-Redruth £34.50
Advance single 16.29 from Redruth £15.50
Total £50

[dzug1]

Hey Arliebird thats great, thanks, if i purchase these tickets will the actual time be stamped on them, reason i am asking couldnt i just leave earlier then the time i am supposed too? cheers

Advance singles are only valid on the train booked.

[james2005]

http://images.moneysavingexpert.com/images/forum_images/editor/separator.gifCheers peeps, i decided to get the slower night train saves the price of a bed and breakfast, that means get to Redruth at 7.22am Saturday morning. £44 quid, so well happy with that.

On the other hand, I Hope I don't snore and wake everyone up haha, now that would be embarrassing.

How much are those sleeper cabins any idea?

[Livingthedream]

http://images.moneysavingexpert.com/images/forum_images/editor/separator.gifHow much are those sleeper cabins any idea?

Here you go, all the info about the Night Riviera Sleeper Service Click (http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=1555)

[bh026]

Apologies if posted in wrong thread.

Can someone help me. I've bought these offer tickets, and now I can't travel on those dates. What can I do? Can I sell it? If so, where and how.

4 x London - Glasgow (£40.00) - 13-02-09 Special offer
1 x London - Glasgow (£77.00) - 13-02-09 Advanced Single

Return
4 x Glasgow - London - 14-02-09 Special offer tickets
1 x Glasgow - London - 14-02-09 Advanced single

I would like to put them to good use and get some money out of it, instead of it going in the bin.

Ta

[Livingthedream]

Apologies if posted in wrong thread.

Can someone help me. I've bought these offer tickets, and now I can't travel on those dates. What can I do? Can I sell it? If so, where and how.

4 x London - Glasgow (£40.00) - 13-02-09 Special offer
1 x London - Glasgow (£77.00) - 13-02-09 Advanced Single

Return
4 x Glasgow - London - 14-02-09 Special offer tickets
1 x Glasgow - London - 14-02-09 Advanced single

I would like to put them to good use and get some money out of it, instead of it going in the bin.

Ta

The only places online to sell Train tickets are;
www.craigslist.com (http://www.craigslist.com/) or maybe www.gumtree.com (http://www.gumtree.com/)

You can't sell them on Ebay as its against their rules and their very good at removing/closing that auction if you do try :(

Or you could try the local Free ads, shop window or word of mouth to friends

[trainfaresconfuseme]

What's the cheapest way I can get to London Waterloo from Eastleigh, possibly including a travel card? There are a few of us, and we don't mind if we have to go to Southampton Central or something first in order to get it cheaper.
Last time we went we got the groupsave thing for 4 of us, and it was a lot cheaper, but it looks like they've stopped doing that on the travelcard option? :confused:
Thanks.

[dzug1]

What's the cheapest way I can get to London Waterloo from Eastleigh, possibly including a travel card? There are a few of us, and we don't mind if we have to go to Southampton Central or something first in order to get it cheaper.
Last time we went we got the groupsave thing for 4 of us, and it was a lot cheaper, but it looks like they've stopped doing that on the travelcard option? :confused:
Thanks.

Megatrain from Southampton may (only may) work out cheaper - but won't include a travelcard

But you can still use Groupsave and get a travelcard - I've just checked. £78 odd total for you all as against £39 for one.

How far ahead were you trying? Travelcards can't be bought more than roughly a month ahead.

[KeithP]

What's the cheapest way I can get to London Waterloo from Eastleigh, possibly including a travel card? There are a few of us, and we don't mind if we have to go to Southampton Central or something first in order to get it cheaper.
Last time we went we got the groupsave thing for 4 of us, and it was a lot cheaper, but it looks like they've stopped doing that on the travelcard option? :confused:
Thanks.
How about going to London Victoria instead?
It looks like a group of four of you can go from Southampton Central, via Gatwick, to Victoria and return (and anywhere else on the Southern services) for £20. Doesn't include the Travelcard, and it is much more expensive if not travelling off-peak.
See here for details. (http://www.southernrailway.com/buytickets/daysave/DaySave.php?sEvent=TicketDetails)

[giant08]

Hi
We need to travel from Huddersfield to Edinburgh Haymarket Friday 1st May anytime up to lunchtime and return Monday 4th May anytime after 11am. I can find reasonably priced tickets for outward journey at £18-24 but the return journey is coming out at £153+! I've tried splitting the return journey various ways but it does not come out any cheaper - any suggestions would be welcome.

[dzug1]

Hi
We need to travel from Huddersfield to Edinburgh Haymarket Friday 1st May anytime up to lunchtime and return Monday 4th May anytime after 11am. I can find reasonably priced tickets for outward journey at £18-24 but the return journey is coming out at £153+! I've tried splitting the return journey various ways but it does not come out any cheaper - any suggestions would be welcome.

Cheap tickets on most routes have yet to be released beyond 1 May so waiting a bit might be the answer.

Buying the outward now would secure that price - but risks no acceptable fares being available to return. Waiting risks those fares going - so not sure what to advise:confused:

[Mark Hewitt]

Hi
We need to travel from Huddersfield to Edinburgh Haymarket Friday 1st May anytime up to lunchtime and return Monday 4th May anytime after 11am. I can find reasonably priced tickets for outward journey at £18-24 but the return journey is coming out at £153+! I've tried splitting the return journey various ways but it does not come out any cheaper - any suggestions would be welcome.

£177? If you have a car, it's almost certainly going to work out cheapest to drive.

[giant08]

Yes it is a dilemma - as it is a sporting weekend most people will be waiting to 'dive' on the tickets when released although I guess if the rail company realises something is going on they may keep the prices up and particularly as we need to travel back May Day Monday - oh well may have to drive instead!

[stressedclaire]

what is the best way to get cheap tickets from west yorkshire (huddersfield, wakefield or leeds...) to london - where should i 'split' the ticket>?

[veggie4life]

£38 for two adults return london - notts and thats with megatrain !!!

It's a cliche but I can fly to dublin cheaper :(

[KeithP]

<snip>
It's a cliche but I can fly to dublin cheaper :(
Probably because not so many people want to go to Dublin. :confused:

[Patrick20]

I'm going to amsterdam on 22nd march and the ferry departs from newcastle. i live in coatbridge,scotland and need to get to newcastle. The best price i can get is from motherwell station(quite close to me) to newcastle and thats £44 return. I've tried to split the ticket but cant find out where the train stops on the route.

If anyone could help me find this snippet of info it would be a big help. Or if your good at finding cheap tickets i wouldnt be too much of a man to humbly accept your help.

[KeithP]

To find stations where your chosen train stops, you could use the National Rail Enquiries Journey Planner. (http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/en/pj/jp) Type in details of your proposed journey, and then click on 'see details' and then 'See all stations called at for this journey leg'.
In your example, from Motherwell to Newcastle, there is at least one direct train that stops at Haymarket, Edinburgh, Berwick and Alnmouth. Other routes may take you via Glasgow, require changes and stop at more places. Try splitting at the places mentioned.

[Lindy-Lou]

Any ideas as I live in London and they always pile it on for us (no, the streets are definitely not paved with gold!!). I travel regularly between London/Cardiff and London/Taunton. :confused:



Whilst on the subject, anybody who is happy to travel by coach to Somerset/Devon (various local drop offs), there is a local company who runs a couple of coaches each way on a daily basis and they are cheaper than Nat Express if you haven't got a discount code. The company is Berry's Coaches and their let down in London is Hammersmith Bus Station - obviously it is quicker to make the rest of your journey by tube and miss the traffic. Hope this helps.

Lindy-Lou

[Patrick20]

Hi Savers. I need help once again. Ok if you havent read my post above #226
then please read that first. And Keith P thanks for your help. Anyways ive done what keith p suggested on national rail and my train from motherwell to newcastle was split. I will buy the tickets from Motherwell to Edinburgh in the station saving about £2 each ticket. Then From Edinburgh to Berwick is £9 for a return ticket. Then from Berwick to Newcastle £17. Anyways when trying to book the tickets if i change the quantity of tickets the price from edinburgh to berwick goes from £9 a ticket to £18. Is this supposed to happen? what a scam.

[KeithP]

Patrick, I think you'll find that if it costs £9.00 for one person to travel it is probably fair that they charge £18.00 for two people. (i.e. not £18.00 each).
What do you think?

[Patrick20]

Patrick, I think you'll find that if it costs £9.00 for one person to travel it is probably fair that they charge £18.00 for two people. (i.e. not £18.00 each).
What do you think?

No It was £18 each. Please don't question my numeracy. It was £9(£4.50 each way) and then when i put the quantity to 4 it went from £18(9 each way)

I have run out of time so i had to book the £44 tickets. thanks for the help anyways/

[dzug1]

Anyways when trying to book the tickets if i change the quantity of tickets the price from edinburgh to berwick goes from £9 a ticket to £18. Is this supposed to happen? what a scam.

Not a scam as such

If you were trying to book the last available ticket at the lower price, increasing the quantity will get you two tickets at the next price up, not one at the lower price and one at the higher. You'd need to book them separately to get that.

[RedBern]

my daughter it looking to travel from London - Manchester this weekend - she has a student railcard and is flexible on time - wants to leave manchester about 17.30 Sunday afternoon - and I can't find a fare cheaper than £44 - and don't know where the stops are to try split ticketing.

Anyone help please?

[Livingthedream]

my daughter it looking to travel from London - Manchester this weekend - she has a student railcard and is flexible on time - wants to leave manchester about 17.30 Sunday afternoon - and I can't find a fare cheaper than £44 - and don't know where the stops are to try split ticketing.

Anyone help please?

you can try this split, however, its a slower service and there's Industrial action affecting London Midland (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/sa706a8d9df942d7a23ad1e23a42f1a4/details.html) services between Northampton and London Euston, Friday 13th :mad:

Manchester to Crewe Anytime Return £9.10
Crewe to London Euston London Midland Super Off Peak Return £13.20
Total Return £22.30 (with YP railcard)

[Livingthedream]

Total Return £22.30 (with YP railcard)

Forgot to say that these are walk on fares and can be bought at the station on the day, just ask for those types of tickets.

[KeithP]

my daughter it looking to travel from London - Manchester this weekend - she has a student railcard and is flexible on time - wants to leave manchester about 17.30 Sunday afternoon - and I can't find a fare cheaper than £44 - and don't know where the stops are to try split ticketing.

Anyone help please?
There is already a post just a few before yours, #227 (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=19607687&postcount=227), which will tell you one way to find out where a train stops.

[veggiecar]

I have 2 elderly relatives travelling from Liverpool to London.
Tues 26 May, returning 1 week later on 2nd June.
They do not already have senior rail cards.
These I think would be £24 for a year and generally save 1/3 of fares.
The cheapest I can find for them (nationalrail.co.uk) is £138.80 for the two tickets without railcards.

Or £87.70 with railcards, which brings the cost to £135.70.

They are unlikely to use the railcards again in the next 12 months.

Can anyone on here, offer any other cheaper rail alternatives for them.
Thanks in advance. :)

[dzug1]

I have 2 elderly relatives travelling from Liverpool to London.
Tues 26 May, returning 1 week later on 2nd June.
They do not already have senior rail cards.
These I think would be £24 for a year and generally save 1/3 of fares.
The cheapest I can find for them (nationalrail.co.uk) is £138.80 for the two tickets without railcards.

Or £87.70 with railcards, which brings the cost to £135.70.

They are unlikely to use the railcards again in the next 12 months.

Can anyone on here, offer any other cheaper rail alternatives for them.
Thanks in advance. :)

Yes - just wait a few weeks until the cheap advance tickets are released (Virgin are currently up to mid-May). They should be able to get something a lot cheaper and won't have to get railcards.

[veggiecar]

Yes - just wait a few weeks until the cheap advance tickets are released (Virgin are currently up to mid-May). They should be able to get something a lot cheaper and won't have to get railcards.
Excellent, Thanks Dzug.
A nice quick response, and something I wouldn't have thought of...I thought the further in advance the cheaper they would be:confused:. I will hold back for a while then!
A quick follow up to that....do I just check the Virgin site daily, to find out when they are available, or is there a way of getting a notification?

EDIT::
I found this ...which I think answers my question, for anyone else that might be wondering the same:beer:
If you look on thetrainline.com you can sign up for their email alert (there is a link on the home page under the section where it says 'save 39% on train tickets'. I did this when trying to get a ticket for my daughter when she goes back to uni after Easter - if you put the dates you want to travel they email you when the special offer tickets are available for those dates.

[dzug1]

No It was £18 each. Please don't question my numeracy. It was £9(£4.50 each way) and then when i put the quantity to 4 it went from £18(9 each way)

I have run out of time so i had to book the £44 tickets. thanks for the help anyways/

Keep your hair on - it's not your numeracy that was being questioned but your interpretation of the results on the screen.

When you ask for 2 tickets the price you get given is total for 2 people, not each.

So £9 each way on the screen is for 2 people at £4.50 each.

You can't have been shown £9 each - such a fare doesn't exist for your journey. £8.50, £9.50, yes - but not £9.

[RedBern]

There is already a post just a few before yours, #227 (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=19607687&postcount=227), which will tell you one way to find out where a train stops.

yep I'd looked at that but when I followed the instructions it was not showing any stops - honest!

[Saban]

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

[evesham1988la]

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

If you are going off-peak, where a return is £10.70 then no as for this deal to work each ticket has to be over £20. However, in London and the South East 3 people travel for the price of 2 so effectively giving a 1/3 off at £7.05 return - just by buying on the day at the station.

If you are going in the peak, where a return is £25.70 then you can do it that way.

[Saban]

If you are going off-peak, where a return is £10.70 then no as for this deal to work each ticket has to be over £20. However, in London and the South East 3 people travel for the price of 2 so effectively giving a 1/3 off at £7.05 return - just by buying on the day at the station.

If you are going in the peak, where a return is £25.70 then you can do it that way.

Hi,
We are travelling off-peak, I didn't know about the 3 for 2 offer, thank you very much!! :D

[AirlieBird]

The ticket is called GroupSave
http://nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/promotions/pr354fdc0a0400020101fea1769fbf60/details.html

[thetaxidriver]

thanks to this site i got two single tickets from glasgow to blackpool and vice versa . glasgow/blackpool was 8 pounds and blackpool/glasgow was 12 pounds .. thats for 1st june - 8th june 2009 .. what a fantastic site ..oh and that is including connections which for me there are 2 of.

[veggiecar]

I have 2 elderly relatives travelling from Liverpool to London.
Tues 26 May, returning 1 week later on 2nd June.
They do not already have senior rail cards.
These I think would be £24 for a year and generally save 1/3 of fares.
The cheapest I can find for them (nationalrail.co.uk) is £138.80 for the two tickets without railcards.

Or £87.70 with railcards, which brings the cost to £135.70.

They are unlikely to use the railcards again in the next 12 months.

Can anyone on here, offer any other cheaper rail alternatives for them.
Thanks in advance. :)
Yes - just wait a few weeks until the cheap advance tickets are released (Virgin are currently up to mid-May). They should be able to get something a lot cheaper and won't have to get railcards.
Ok...a follow up to this one....Virgin have now relased their dates....but
Virgin Trains are not open for reservations on Sat 23 May and Sat 20 June, Sun 24 May and Sun 21 June, Mon 25 to Fri 29 May inclusive and Wed 17 to Fri 19 June inclusive

the return leg is much cheaper now, but why are Virgin not doing reservations for the week I'm looking for?
At the moment the total cost looks comparable to when I asked a few weeks ago.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.:beer:, VC

[dzug1]

Ok...a follow up to this one....Virgin have now relased their dates....but
Virgin Trains are not open for reservations on Sat 23 May and Sat 20 June, Sun 24 May and Sun 21 June, Mon 25 to Fri 29 May inclusive and Wed 17 to Fri 19 June inclusive

the return leg is much cheaper now, but why are Virgin not doing reservations for the week I'm looking for?
At the moment the total cost looks comparable to when I asked a few weeks ago.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.:beer:, VC
There's extensive engineering work that week which means schedules are not yet finalised. They won't do reservations for trains that probably won't run at the times currently shown.

[Beccaa2406]

Hi - wondering if you could help me.

I'm looking to by three returns from Manchester to Northampton, departing 17th April and returning 20th April. We need to arrive before 10am on the 17th, but are flexible with time on the 20th.

The cheapest price I've been able to find is £144 for three with no railcards, and splitting tickets doesn't seem to have helped, with the price even seeming to increase. As I'm new to this, I was wondering if I've missed any obvious catches, or if I've just been looking at the wrong type of thing.

If anyone could give me some advice on this, I'd be incredibly grateful.

Thanks in advance.

[AirlieBird]

What you could try is a ticket to Crewe or Stafford, and from there change trains to a London Midland train using a "London Midland only" ticket. Train specific operator tickets are usually cheaper than "Any permitted" tickets. I don't know whether this will be cheaper, but worth a look.

I don't know what website your using, but if you use the WebTIS based system that londonmidland.com uses you can hover over the ticket options at the top to tell you if it is restricted to a specific operator.