HELP: London to Mcr - Virgin Trains saying two different things...

GcDh_2

'm trying to get from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly on the 5th Sept, in mid-afternoon.

According to Virgin's website, there's engineering works during that week so all trains are diverted via West Midlands, with some having replacement coaches: http://www.virgintrains.com/changeforgood/default.aspx

I've tried to find out prices and their website threw up £40.55 with my 16-25 railcard, which is rubbish for a poor student like me. However, the website says that no Advance (i.e. cheaper) tickets are being put onsale, and you can get them if youi buy from the train station on the day: http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/buy_tickets/booking_in_advance/default.aspx.

So, I rang upVirgin Trains to ask about prices and also which trains would not have coaches (I get motion sickness ) and the person confirmed the engineering works, but when I asked about the chance of buying the Advance ticket on the day he said no. Not only that, he quoted me the price of £61.45 for the single, as a 'Saver Return' being the cheapest available!

I'm so confused, could anyone shed any light on this? Would I be able to buy a cheaper ticket on the day, or am I misreading things? Thanks!

harveybobbles

You should ask Marcus on Corrie as he seems to be doing that journey quite a lot recently - to see his ex I think...

chuckley

how can u buy an advance on the day of travel???

the £40 fare u speak of sounds to me like a saver rtn, thats a walk up fare but can also be bought in advance for the same price. and i think thats the best your gonna get unless you use slower modes of transport.

robt_2

As a result of the significant improvement works on the West Coast mainline, which require short term changes to the timetable, there are some days in the next few weeks where we will not be able to open seat reservations. As a temporary solution to enable customers to still buy Value Advance tickets we have made them available without the need to make a reservation.

They can only be bought from certain stations, in your case, they are available from Euston and Manchester Piccadilly.

For weekdays, they are only available for off peak trips, so fine in your case.

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

GcDh_2

chuckley wrote: »

how can u buy an advance on the day of travel???

Exactly: if you see the link I posted it's because of unusual circumstances that they're apparently allowing them to be bought at the station.... hence why I posted! I wanted to check and see I wasn't misreading things

rob_t - thanks, that's one of the links I posted. I just don't want to hold back, buy on the day only to be told that that's not the case and for all the saver return tickets to be sold out, forcing me to buy a reeeeally expensive one!

yorkie2

GcDh wrote: »

rob_t - thanks, that's one of the links I posted. I just don't want to hold back, buy on the day only to be told that that's not the case and for all the saver return tickets to be sold out, forcing me to buy a reeeeally expensive one!

Saver returns do not "sell out"; they are walk-on fares available for immediate travel on the day. You can buy them from any station, e.g. a Clapham to Manchester, or a London to Eccles, or whatever. You have to return within 1 month. You may have to stand if there are no seats.

If the Euston-Manchester route is particularly slow or busy you can always take the scenic route by going between St Pancras and Manchester by changing at Sheffield, this is fine on a 'Saver' ticket.

yorkshirecath

Just a thought and may take a tad longer but why not go up via East midlands trains and change at sheffield?
No engineering work on there.
Get the 1425 to Sheffield getting there at 1646(price £16.50) or the one earlier at 1325 arriving 1546 (price £11.90)
Then get the 1611 or 1711(both £3.30) from Sheffield to Manchester arriving 1703 or 1803.
Potentially only £15.20 in total Both are advance tickets so need to be bought asap and can be bought from the East Midlands site.

Just a thought Can you tell i used to sell rail tickets lol!

GcDh_2

yorkshirecath wrote: »

Just a thought and may take a tad longer but why not go up via East midlands trains and change at sheffield?
No engineering work on there.
Get the 1425 to Sheffield getting there at 1646(price £16.50) or the one earlier at 1325 arriving 1546 (price £11.90)
Then get the 1611 or 1711(both £3.30) from Sheffield to Manchester arriving 1703 or 1803.
Potentially only £15.20 in total Both are advance tickets so need to be bought asap and can be bought from the East Midlands site.

Just a thought Can you tell i used to sell rail tickets lol!

Thank you! And thanks to yorkie2 as well :T

lufcgirl

Sorry posted in here instead of new thread!