doncaster to london - advice please

ih8stress

Hi

My son is planning a trip to London with his girlfriend on Tuesday 7th July (staying overnight). He's booked accommodation, just needs train tickets sorting.

I've looked through the forums and checked on the trainline and megabus but am just too confused with all the options.

He doesn't want to travel by coach and would prefer a direct train.
Basically he can travel from noon onwards on the 7th to London and return sometime in the late afternoon on the 8th.

All advice welcomed thanks.

ajb69

Hello there,

I would personally go to http://tickets.nationalexpresseastcoast.com to buy tickets - it's run by a train operator and also (I think) slightly easier to use - although that is relative....

Putting in you dates and times, you get to the ticket pricing page which gives several selections. It's a lot of choices, but basically they are (in order of increasing price):

* buy two singles for each leg - 16 quid per person for a single, so 70-odd quid total
* buy two off-peak returns, which is valid trains outside the commuter hours - 70 each, 144 quid
* buy two anytime returns, which means they can get any train - 107 each, so 214 quid total.

The singles are the cheapest, but they will only be valid on a single, nominated train - so you must travel on, say the 2.15pm from Doncaster: if you miss it, you'll have a buy a new ticket at the station / on the train - which will be very expensive.

So, assuming you want to buy the singles,

* you need to click on the box that says "18 to 164", for both the outwards journey and then the return journey - so both boxes go gold.
* the computer will then list all the trains on which cheap singles are available. The more popular the train, the more the ticket costs - so some trains will cost more than others.
* click on a train time for both the outwards and return journeys.
* pick your seats - don't pay the extra for travel insurance, it's a rip-off - and pay

Looking now you can get the 2.15pm outwards for a total of 32 pounds, but the cheap tickets have sold out on most other trains and they are now selling tickets for 43 pounds for the pair.

The returns are all much busier, and all the cheapest tickets have sold out (unless you fancy the 11.30pm train). best option is the 2.35pm back for 43 pounds (75 quid in total). But these prices may have changed since I wrote this...

One further hint, which may or may not save money:

* on the left, click "show slower routes"
* untick "show fastest services"
* tick as many of the other boxes as you can (I can tick all but the last two).
* then click "update", and start again

This give you cheaper fares on slower trains, which may save some money (or may not).

KeithP

Wow! what a comprehensive reply from ajb69.

Just a slight improvement for the return leg...
The return leg can be done for £18.70 each (£37.40 for both).
Dep Kings Cross 13:35, arr Peterborough 14:24, Advance Single £10.25
Dep Peterborough 14:25, arr Doncaster 15:25, Advance Single £8.45
Note this is exactly the same train, no need to change trains... it just happens to stop at Peterborough. Just buy the two tickets each... perfectly legal.

Note you have to buy these tickets online from NXEC website to get these prices (or indeed those tickets mentioned in prev post).

KeithP

Ooops... I guess 13:25 may not be "late afternoon". Sorry.:rolleyes:

ih8stress

:TThank you to ajb69 for such a detailed reply (and your time spent researching this information for me). I would imagine that my son would be most interested in the off peak return tickets as he wouldn't want to be tied to catching certain trains (too stressful and expensive if you miss them as you say).

KeithP, thank you for your input too. I think that my son would want to catch a later train if possible. I will look at both websites mentioned, thanks.