Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

pompeyrich

mr_maniac wrote: »

If anyone can help on this one, it would be fantastic - that's Eastleigh/Southampton Central/Soton Airport/Brockenhurst (whichever's cheapest) to Bristol Temple Meads on Tue 23rd September 2008, with Young Persons Railcard - arriving mid-morning, departing mid/late afternoon :-)

Cheers,

mr_m

Have a look HERE, the cheapest, from SC based on 2 advanced singles is £6:60 no flexibility for that price, i.e. you must travel on the train you book and buy asap, up to £18:15 for an open return valid on most trains and you can buy on the day.

dzug1

mr_maniac wrote: »

If anyone can help on this one, it would be fantastic - that's Eastleigh/Southampton Central/Soton Airport/Brockenhurst (whichever's cheapest) to Bristol Temple Meads on Tue 23rd September 2008, with Young Persons Railcard - arriving mid-morning, departing mid/late afternoon :-)

Cheers,

mr_m

£16.50 saver return (from Central). Buy on the day. 0910 and later trains. £18.15 open return if you want to go earlier.

Or £6.95 out on 0910 and £3.30 back advance singles if you wait until the evening to return.

samf1971

Wonder if anyone can help me on this journey.

I'm wanting to travel from Leeds to Ashford or St Pancras and then on to Disneyland Paris on the eurostar.

Due to the length of the journey I'd like to have an overnight stay and have found a couple of cheap nights in Travelodges for the dates I need at Ashford

Can anyone advise on the Journey from Leeds to Ashford or St Pancras where I should split the journey to get cheaper tickets than a straight price. The quote is £97.50 and about the same on the Eurostar which Idon't think I can get cheaper, so I'd like to see if I can shave a bit off the first leg of the journey.

thanks anyone who can help

dzug1

Well the Eurostar is I think going to be the same price from St Pancras as Ashford

The fare from Leeds to Kings Cross or St Pancras is going to be at least a little cheaper than Leeds to Ashford.

Split ticketing doesn't work that well on journeys that involve crossing London and finishing at a suburban station (which Ashford is) - the through deals can be well priced, but a separate ticket London-Ashford is difficult/impossible to discount.

So I'd break my journey in London and get the Eurostar there. If you book ahead the Travelodges can have good deals and there are several within a couple of miles of St Pancras

Edit - is the fare you've got a saver or supersaver? If so you may be trying to book too early for advance singles. If you've got advance singles anyway, then split ticketing is probably not going to help.

samf1971

Thanks for that info. Yes the Eurostar appears to be the same cost from St Pancras as it is from Ashford. £182 pp - is that a fixed price or does anyone sell tickets cheaper?

The train from Leeds, as you mentioned, goes to Kings Cross and I think from looking at it we can walk from Kings Cross to St Pancras so I'll have a scout for hotels/travelodges near by (wasn't sure if there were any so thanks again for that extra info)

Leeds to St Pancras via Kings Cross I can't obtain fares for the actual journey yet as it's in December, so I was working on the basis of travelling in November and the prices being pretty similar, I've had a look on Virgin and can get Supersaver as you mentioned at £79.20 pp, the website shows supersaver singles at £72 (which would work out more) can't see any advance singles though - do these usually work out cheaper?
so I guess when the dates become available I will be in time to get supersavers returnes if they are available then too, or would the advance singles still be cheaper?

Thanks very much that's very helpful information, I'll wait for the journeys to come available and then book.

Altarf

If you are travelling from Leeds to Paris on Eurostar, have you investigated the combined tickets - http://www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com/en/Special-offers/Fast-routes-to-Europe-from-only-75-/

I assume that you have looked for cheap Eurostar travel here - http://www.eurostar.com/UK/uk/leisure/latest_deals/cheapest_fares.jsp

If you are connecting in London and the connection is the same day, then book a ticket to 'London International CIV', not 'London Terminals' or Kings Cross / St Pancras. This is a special destination for Eurostar (so you may need to show your Eurostar ticket at the station to buy it).

These tickets are covered by the European international conditions of carriage (Convention Internationale pour le transport des Voyageurs' or 'CIV') rather than UK domestic conditions of carriage. This means that they cover you for your whole journey from UK starting point to European destination. If the UK train is late and you miss your Eurostar, CIV conditions of carriage oblige Eurostar to put you on the next available Eurostar without additional charge, even if your Eurostar ticket theoretically restricts you to the specific departure you've booked.

More details at at the Man in Seat 61

dzug1

Advance singles normally work out much cheaper - from about £10 or £12 each way Leeds - London

You are too early for them, even for November.

Altarf

samf1971 wrote: »

the Eurostar appears to be the same cost from St Pancras as it is from Ashford. £182 pp - is that a fixed price or does anyone sell tickets cheaper?.

Just playing around on the Eurostar site - www.eurostar.com you can get Leeds to Paris returns for £79, which includes the Kings Cross to Leeds part of the journey. They seem to have tickets loaded up to the end of October, but not after, so you may want to keep trying until they do.

the_mackem

can anyone help me on this journey please, im after a 2 or 3 night stop in bath around about the december the 1st time,im travelling from the north east area durham/n,castle ive tried getting some sort of timetable and price and coming up with zilch hope you can help please.

dzug1

the_mackem wrote: »

can anyone help me on this journey please, im after a 2 or 3 night stop in bath around about the december the 1st time,im travelling from the north east area durham/n,castle ive tried getting some sort of timetable and price and coming up with zilch hope you can help please.

You'll get zilch for a while yet - the cheap tickets on the direct route haven't been released beyond mid October yet and via London is mid November. Weekends are worse.

The 'three months in advance' twaddle is very misleading 90% of the time.

Timings will be the same as now in the week but may vary at weekends.