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[MSE Martin]

This thread is specifically for reporting successful

SPLIT TICKETING ROUTES

as mentioned in my

Cheapest Train Fares Article

For OTHER ISSUES please use the
Cheapest Train Fares Discussion Thread

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[olympian]

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

[cowbagger]

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

[djw]

Splitting at Wolverhamton seems to give some good savings.

[JaneAire]

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

[16011996]

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

[carolinerunner]

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

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

[bunking_off]

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

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

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

...ie £21.70 saving.

[nyerun]

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

Wrexham Glasgow according to National Rail

Saver Return £78.80
Open Return £127.00

By going Wrexham-Manchester-Glasgow

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

Total Price £14.60

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

[alanrowell]

Originally Posted by cowbagger

I always buy on the Trainline site and also make huge savings booking 2 singles.

And do you pay the fee for CC use? AFAIK none of the train operating companies charge for CC use if you book through them

[AlexWright]

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

Total cost: £37.80

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

Go figure!

[purplemargy]

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

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

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

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

SAVING = £70!!!!

[DomtheMon]

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

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

[alanrowell]

Originally Posted by purplemargy

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

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

SAVING = £70!!!!

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

SAVING = £75!!!!

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

SAVING = £80!!!!

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

[u2o]

Manchester to London

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

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

[Gina Blue]

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

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

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

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

Hope this helps!

Gina

[billybond]

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

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

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

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

[lg06111985]

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

[mackay78]

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

... £50.50

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

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

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

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

[Mojo29]

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

Bristol - London
Bristol - Didcot
Didcot - London

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