Cheap Train Fares guide discussion

[dggar]

On the Bristol to Birmingham leg Cheltenham is usually the best slpit.

On the Birmingham to Manchester leg try a split at Stoke on Trent.

If going via Birmingham Derby Sheffield try splitting the journey to
Birminghan Derby and Derby Sheffield.

The trick is to know which sections of the full route have their fares set by which train operating company(TOC) and what restrictions each TOC apply to their part of the route.

(I must be going word blind, I read Clitheroe as Cleethorps---Ignore Birmingham Derby Sheffield)

[Livingthedream]

Originally Posted by loyceyhaj

Hello everyone!

I'm looking for an adult ticket from Bath Spa (at a push, Bristol) to Clitheroe (again, may be able to travel to/from Skipton if it brings down the price) on the 21st December, returning on the 23rd.

Try this;
21/12 06:54 Bath Spa to Clitheroe via Newport (S.Wales) arrive 13:17 (change at Newport S.Wales,Manchester Piccadilly and Bolton) Advance single £28

23/12 16:40 Clitheroe to Bath Spa via Newport (S.Wales) arrive 23:39 (change at Bolton, Manchester Piccadilly and Newport S.Wales) Advance single £28

Total £56

To get these fares to show up in your ticket search engine use more/advance options then select 'via' and then type 'Newport S.Wales'

Advance tickets so you must travel on booked trains.

[Nice2Michu]

Hi all,

I booked two (advance) single rail fares (£12 each) yesterday but I've just realised that I will probably need to change the date. As I understand it, you can't get a refund on advance fares and to change the time would incur an admin cost of £10 per ticket (plus any difference in fare cost).

I paid for this online by credit card. Can I use the Distance Selling Regulations to claim a refund? They do state that "Your right to cancel starts the moment you place your order and doesn’t end until seven working days from the day after you receive your goods."

Thanks.

[wealdroam]

Originally Posted by Nice2Michu

Hi all,

I booked two (advance) single rail fares (£12 each) yesterday but I've just realised that I will probably need to change the date. As I understand it, you can't get a refund on advance fares and to change the time would incur an admin cost of £10 per ticket (plus any difference in fare cost).

I paid for this online by credit card. Can I use the Distance Selling Regulations to claim a refund? They do state that "Your right to cancel starts the moment you place your order and doesn’t end until seven working days from the day after you receive your goods."

Thanks.

No, you cannot use the DSRs for this.

On page 9 of the OFT's guide to the DSRs we are told...

2.20 The requirements to provide pre-contractual information, written and additional information, the right to cancel and the obligation on the supplier to carry out the contract within a maximum of 30 days do not apply to the following types of contract:

• Contracts to provide accommodation, transport, catering or leisure services (for example hotel accommodation; plane, train, or concert tickets; car hire; or sporting events) where you agree to provide the service on a specific date or within a specific period.

[Mercy1]

any ideas for cheap singles from Ipswich to London.

[redux]

Originally Posted by Mercy1

any ideas for cheap singles from Ipswich to London.

Off peak. Buy the ticket in advance. Travel only on booked train. From £19 am £14.50 pm

[thelawnet]

Originally Posted by Mercy1

any ideas for cheap singles from Ipswich to London.

what date and time, for how many people adult/child? Advance fares start at £8, but not on most trains.

Walk-up fare is £43.30, peak, but depending on the time of day fares can go as low as £25 using splits. Network Railcard can be used with split fares from Manningtree/Colchester/Chelmsford. Other railcards may apply.

[Susan1942]

I am out in Australia at the moment and my young Nephew is leaving OZ 26th Dec and will be in the UK for 7 weeks

He has got his flights there and back but nothing else He is just 17 and has not thought the process through.
They will be flying into Manchester where they will spend about 2 weeks in North Wales They then want to go to Glasgow/Edinburgh for a further 12 weeks

They would also like to go to Ireland to visit my Son Nearest airport is Belfast but they could do Dublin and then coach. Finally they are coming to me in Harrogate and will then travel to Manchester for their flights home.
They would also like to visit a friend in France but think they won't be able to affords.

I have looked at young peoples rail card cost 28 pounds offering 33% off
Also looked at National Express where the fares are much lower than the train.

Finally looked at flights to Belfast or Dublin one way as all fares would be.

Could anyone give me advice as to the best option for them would be based on costs

They will not need to build in accommodation as they will stay with family and friends. 2 young people just 17 who want to travel a bit before they start University end of Feb.

Any advice would be appreciated

[dzug1]

Noone can give you the best option - you or he will have to work that out for yourselves based on specific dates/times. You seem to have investigated very thoroughly anyway. It's just a question of a lot of arithmetic

In general terms a mixture of transport modes wil be best depending what's on offer on the dates you want to travel

Deciding and booking in advance - particularly for longer distances - is a must

[Jeff Bridges hair]

Look into railsail for the trip from Scotland to Belfast too as it will incorporate train and ferry crossing so could be cheaper than a flight if booked far enough in advance.

Is your son an Australian resident/person? If so maybe buying a Britrail pass would also be of benefit as its once price travel

[Susan1942]

Thanks will look at these options again many thanks

[wanderlust5]

I hear people talk of £10 return train travel from Edinburgh to London and £1 tickets!!! I never seem to find any! Any ideas? This would preferably be a regular thing, am I cheaper booking flights?

Thanks in advance

[wealdroam]

Originally Posted by wanderlust5

I hear people talk of £10 return train travel from Edinburgh to London and £1 tickets!!! I never seem to find any! Any ideas? This would preferably be a regular thing, am I cheaper booking flights?

Thanks in advance

Have you read MSE's Cheap Train Tickets article ?

Also worth keeping up to date with the Any train promotion codes out there? thread.

[AdeleBird]

Hello! I need two tickets to get from Bexhill to London Euston on 26th Feb coming back the next day, cheapest I can get is about £60! Please can anyone find it cheaper? Thanks

[dzug1]

Your best bet is to use the Southern Railway site and buy tickets to London Victoria only. I can see £5 singles (per person) on a fair selection of trains each day - which leaves you a fair amount to get to and from Euston and still be cheaper than the fare you have found. Bus will be cheaper than tube, and both will be cheaper with an Oyster card

[seebee73]

Best I can get is £87.00 with an advance ticket. Flights already booked because I have to go to a funeral. Any suggestions for splits. The bus journey would take hours and hours and involve a 4am start. Any advice or tips would be appreciated

[cosmojohnson]

Originally Posted by seebee73

Best I can get is £87.00 with an advance ticket. Flights already booked because I have to go to a funeral. Any suggestions for splits. The bus journey would take hours and hours and involve a 4am start. Any advice or tips would be appreciated

Without knowing times/dates it's hard to advise... The route avoiding London (i.e. change at Reading for the via Guildford service to Gatwick) is likely to be cheaper than going via London.

I'd recommend not getting an Advance ticket for your return leg, as if you miss the booked train because your return flight to Gatwick is delayed then you will need a new ticket.

A Super Off-Peak Swansea-Gatwick return is £81.50 (via Guildford/Reading) or £84 (via London). This lets you on a train from Swansea departing on or after 0845.

If you need to leave Swansea earlier, the Off-Peak is £102.50/£104 (via Guildford/London respectively) and you can depart Swansea on or after 0715.

Both the ticket types mentioned above allow return travel within a month of the outward journey.

[thelawnet]

There's a £63.40 off-peak return valid to travel Swansea - Salisbury, Salisbury - Clapham Junction, Clapham Junction - Gatwick.

There are no time-of-day restrictions on it at all, despite being an off-peak ticket.

I think it will be a much slower route than Swansea - Reading, Reading - Guildford however.

Otherwise you will want to find Swansea - London Advance singles for a low price, and just buy walk-up fares for the London-Gatwick section.

[lesshaste]

I need to go from Bristol to London once a month at peak times. I leave at 7.01am and return at 19:15 on the same day. The open day return is 187 pounds. You can get this down to about 110 pounds by splitting at Didcot however. Even cheaper is to buy three singles, Bristol->Didcot, Didcot->London, London-> Bristol which comes to about 86 quid!

Can you get any less than this given that I have to do the journey a lot and it still comes to almost 1000 pounds a year. Buying tickets in advance doesn't seem to save any money sadly. I was wondering if buying a network rail card and then buying london->didcot (which seems to be covered by a network rail card), then didcot->bristol might work. Any experts have any advice?

I also need to get across london of course so maybe a Gold card makes sense if you can get one cheaply somehow?

[dzug1]

A Network Railcard is not valid to leave Didcot until 1000am - so no good to you.

You might look at travelling to London Waterloo via Salisbury - but it's a much longer journey