Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

MG87

Hi, i'm utterly useless when it comes to organising train journeys, but was wondering if anyone could come up with a cheap trip for a

return Halifax - London for August 16th, returning August 18th.

Am open to 'split ticketing' and generally cheating my way to an affordable trip :rolleyes:

mahoney9

In reply to some of the earlier posts, CrossCountry Trains are still running their Summer Seat Sale campaign on their website.

I've been speaking with people in other rail forums and they're also receiving some excellent cheap deals.

For those of you who arent aware, the URL you need to visit is www.crosscountytrains.co.uk/sale and the promo code that's worked for us to get further 10% discount is GIVEAWAY.

mahoney9

You may be able to jump on an NXEC train or perhaps think about using Cross Country service to Reading then changing there...

mr_maniac

Hey again,

I've got another "save me money" query for you guys, after your excellent help and advice with planning my trip from here (near Southampton) to York in October, which, as i mentioned in a post a while ago, I managed to book for just over £30 through NXEC using their Advance singles, which was a great saving (seriously) on the standard fare considering the round trip is over 8hrs, almost all of it on the trains!

So yeah, I've got another one - I'm going to Exeter on Sat 20th September for the day, leaving from Eastleigh (or Southampton Central, whichever as I have a season ticket between the two places - I'm vaguely aware there are several different ways to get to Exeter from here so it may be worth looking into them!) early in the morning (I need to be in Exeter for about 10:30/11am, leaving Exeter around 4-5pm)...

I don't know where to start with finding the best option, since a quick search on National Rail indicated one could change at Basingstoke for the SWT service to Exeter and beyond, or change at Reading for the FGW train from Paddington, or even change at Romsey and then Salisbury for the SWT one again - infact you could, if you wanted, go down to Weymouth and then change somewhere near Honiton (I think it's there anyway? Could be Yeovil Junction, I didn't check this one as it's a longer trek)...

With all these options, I need to find a solution that won't see me having to leave too early on Saturday to get there for 10:30ish (leaving after 7am would be great if possible!!), yet will see me not paying too much when there's another solution which would save me a packet.... I shall leave this in your hands!!

I have a Young Persons Railcard, and the best I've found so far price-wise is somewhere around £20-25 for a Cheap Day Return which you can presumably get on the day anyway....

So quickly to summarise my slightly waffling post:
Eastleigh/Southampton Central (whichever's faster/cheaper) to Exeter St Davids
Saturday 20th September 2008
Depart after 6am, arrive by 11am latest at Exeter
Depart Exeter after 4pm, arrive back by 9/10pm, if not earlier
Have a Young Persons Railcard

Good luck, and thanks once again for your help and in anticipation of your reply(s)!!

mr_m

rivers84

hi guys this site is brilliant and the posts are very usefull but me im not very technical minded when it comes to my travel so was wondering if someone could help.

i travel from brighton every morning at 7:16 on the victoria line to victoria and then i get an underground train to euston

i do the return the same journey but in reverse

this costs me monthly £368 a month!
the ticet i have is called a travel ticket and i have the ability to travel in all zones (I dont need this ability as never travel anywhere else)

i enquired about a year travel ticket and the total is £3880 which is a saving of £536 of the £4416 i would be paying if i carried on getting monthly travelcards. thus turning my monthly payment to £323 with a monthly saving of £45

is there any other way of increasing my savings that anyone can help me with

MUNCHKIN89

newcastlebelle wrote: »

well, was told on the phone it would be £5.....went to the station today and bought the tickets, but they cost £76 instead of £67.20 quoted on website....[ website was supposed to give 10% discount......someone cant do maths!]..........cashier at station told me I could book thro website, but would have to pay £5 to have them delivered to me or do a 40 mile round trip to a station that issues the cheaper tickets!

Because railway prices get rounded to nearest 10p, the NXEC website actually offers an 11% discount to ensure it always gives at least a 10% discount as advertised (so that explains the Maths)

Unlike Tranline it offers free first class post and free TOD collection from self service machines. Unfortunately Ely station's machines don't accept TOD so the service can't be offered there. As you say you can choose to colect them at any station that does. NXEC won't offer First Class post as a delivery mechanism within 5 days of departure because of risk of tickets not turning up on time. But in this case the 10% discount more than makes up for the cost and still makes it the cheapest place to buy the tickets you want.

nutty1

is there any discounts about for money off buying a family railcard

dzug1

rivers84 wrote: »

hi guys this site is brilliant and the posts are very usefull but me im not very technical minded when it comes to my travel so was wondering if someone could help.

i travel from brighton every morning at 7:16 on the victoria line to victoria and then i get an underground train to euston

i do the return the same journey but in reverse

this costs me monthly £368 a month!
the ticet i have is called a travel ticket and i have the ability to travel in all zones (I dont need this ability as never travel anywhere else)

i enquired about a year travel ticket and the total is £3880 which is a saving of £536 of the £4416 i would be paying if i carried on getting monthly travelcards. thus turning my monthly payment to £323 with a monthly saving of £45

is there any other way of increasing my savings that anyone can help me with

You could check whether buying a season ticket just to Victoria and then using Oyster PAYG to Euston would be cheaper.

You could also check whether getting a season on FCC to St Pancras, then walking, would be any better.

dzug1

kathrynt wrote: »

is there any discounts about for money off buying a family railcard

There was a Daily Mail offer - but unfortunately it ran out a few weeks ago. Don't know of anything current.

dzug1

mr_maniac wrote: »

Hey again,

I've got another "save me money" query for you guys, after your excellent help and advice with planning my trip from here (near Southampton) to York in October, which, as i mentioned in a post a while ago, I managed to book for just over £30 through NXEC using their Advance singles, which was a great saving (seriously) on the standard fare considering the round trip is over 8hrs, almost all of it on the trains!

So yeah, I've got another one - I'm going to Exeter on Sat 20th September for the day, leaving from Eastleigh (or Southampton Central, whichever as I have a season ticket between the two places - I'm vaguely aware there are several different ways to get to Exeter from here so it may be worth looking into them!) early in the morning (I need to be in Exeter for about 10:30/11am, leaving Exeter around 4-5pm)...

I don't know where to start with finding the best option, since a quick search on National Rail indicated one could change at Basingstoke for the SWT service to Exeter and beyond, or change at Reading for the FGW train from Paddington, or even change at Romsey and then Salisbury for the SWT one again - infact you could, if you wanted, go down to Weymouth and then change somewhere near Honiton (I think it's there anyway? Could be Yeovil Junction, I didn't check this one as it's a longer trek)...

With all these options, I need to find a solution that won't see me having to leave too early on Saturday to get there for 10:30ish (leaving after 7am would be great if possible!!), yet will see me not paying too much when there's another solution which would save me a packet.... I shall leave this in your hands!!

I have a Young Persons Railcard, and the best I've found so far price-wise is somewhere around £20-25 for a Cheap Day Return which you can presumably get on the day anyway....

So quickly to summarise my slightly waffling post:
Eastleigh/Southampton Central (whichever's faster/cheaper) to Exeter St Davids
Saturday 20th September 2008
Depart after 6am, arrive by 11am latest at Exeter
Depart Exeter after 4pm, arrive back by 9/10pm, if not earlier
Have a Young Persons Railcard

Good luck, and thanks once again for your help and in anticipation of your reply(s)!!

mr_m

A cheap day return Southampton to Exeter via Salisbury and Honiton at a shade over £20 sounds cheap enough to me. Yes buy on the day.

You might save a small amount by advance singles - Southampton to Westbury and Westbury to Exeter. Remember that connections at Westbury won't be guaranteed.