Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

adamtrainman

Its a long trip by time youve done it you could have gone on replacement bus. From Wigan id say
Wigan - Manchester - Leeds - Newark North Gate - Grimsby Town then Replacement bus for 20mins into cleethorpes.

Journey Planner for 3rd July:-

Via Newark

10:53 Wigan Wallgate
Manchester Piccadilly arr 11:35


11:57 Manchester Piccadilly
Leeds arr 12:52

13:05 Leeds
Newark North Gate arr 14:10

14:36 Newark North Gate
Grimsby Town arr 15:57

16:05 Grimsby Town
Cleethorpes arr 16:25 (BUS)

Travel Time 5hours 32mins

OR Via Bus and Doncaster

10:58 Wigan Wallgate
Salford Crescent arr 11:34

11:47 Salford Crescent
Manchester Piccadilly arr 11:56

12:20 Manchester Piccadilly
Doncaster arr 13:40

13:55 Doncaster
Cleethorpes arr 15:30

Journey Time 4hours 32mins

John89001

kathrynt wrote: »

hi going from wigan to cleethorpes 10 july returning 17 july, 4 adults. anyone got a idea of cheapest tickets to get

Re cheapest tickets:
There are no Advance fares between Wigan and Cleethorpes. They do exist between Manchester and Cleethropes, currently until 19 June. But there are none available after the start of the engineering work, and it is not uncommon for Train Companies to withdraw Advance fares during periods of disruption.

If this happens, look for Advance fares for the major part of the journey, eg. Manchester to Doncaster.

If you travel via Newark, there is a Groupsave fare between Newark and Cleethorpes which may be helpful. This costs £23.60 for all 4 of you and you must all travel together. It is actually a day return ticket but in your case you would throw away the return half and then buy another one for £23.60 the following Friday. Groupsave tickets don't need to be bought in advance.

If the lack of Advance fares makes travel via Doncaster expensive (£39.60 each Off-Peak Return), then via Nottingham may be a cheaper, but longer, option. There are Advance fares between Manchester and Nottingham and a Groupsave ticket from Nottingham to Cleethorpes is £30 for 4 Adults.

John

russellelly

dzug1 wrote: »

You could try megatrain between London and Portsmouth - it may be a bit early to book though

For the cheap Southern fares I think you need to specify London Victoria to ensure they appear.

Thanks - the Southern site only shows one train with an advance ticket which leaves before I get to London (I've booked Megabus down) and the Megabus/train from London to Portsmouth times aren't any good for me.

The Southern DaySave tickets look a bit too good to be true - £20 for unlimited travel for upto 4 adults? They're not on sale until upto a month in advance, but is there a catch that I'm missing? Why would anyone pay for a £28 single for 1 when this is available? Thanks!

ljwoody

Hi, this is my first post and I hope I am doing it right! My friend and I are looking to travel to Newcastle from Buxted, East Sussex on 22nd April and returning 24th April - this is the first time I have tried to save money online before travelling - the cheapest price I can find is £232.20 return (for the 2 of us) - I hope I am just being silly and not understanding the whole - split fares thing! Any help would be gratefully received!!

John89001

ljwoody wrote: »

My friend and I are looking to travel to Newcastle from Buxted, East Sussex on 22nd April and returning 24th April - ... - the cheapest price I can find is £232.20 return (for the 2 of us)

The semi-flexible Super Off-Peak return from Buxted to Newcastle is £115.10, that's £230.20 for 2 adults. If you have been quoted £232.20 perhaps you're looking at a site like thetrainline which charges credit/debit card or delivery fees. Don't use them! Any of the train companies will sell you these tickets from their own site without a fee.

Do either of you qualify for a National Railcard? Every adult does unless they are age 26-59.

It's too late to get the very cheapest tickets, but if you can commit to leaving Buxted on 22nd between 0735 and 1139, and leaving Newcastle on 24th between 1101 and 1455, the National Express East Coast site will currently sell you Advance singles with 11% discount for £51.20 each single journey, a total of £204.80. You are restricted to travelling on the trains you book.

Now the next suggestion really surprised me! superbreak.com will sell you a package holiday of 1 room in the Travelodge Newcastle Central plus travel to Newcastle from any National Express East Coast station (in this case, Kings Cross) for these dates for a total of £153! You need to book this very soon because they need 5 days in order to post the rail tickets and hotel voucher to you. Add £37.20 for two Off-Peak Returns from Buxted to St Pancras and the total is £190.20, saving £40 on the through rail fare. And you don't even need to sleep in the hotel!

John

ljwoody

Thank you John - how weird it is - I have already booked the hotel but it will be cheaper for me to book this offer and not go to the booked hotel room!! strange - thank you for taking the time to help me!

cozza

can some one help me my son needs to go to london on the 8th and 9th may (he cannot afford to stay over nite . he has to be at the places be for 9.30am so its not off peak travel is there any cheaper price then £43.00 for each day hes traveling from west worthing to london victoria any one got any advice plz

HOPEFUL-HEATHER

My sister and I have to travel from Sunderland to Hull for a family wedding on Saturday July 4th. I thought the cheapest option would be to travel early Sat (wedding at noon) stay one night in a cheap hotel on Sat night and return the next day. Oh my word. I have been on a ton of rail sites to find a good deal and have had absolutely no joy. Ive tried, singles, returns and even breaking up the journey ie ticket from home to York, then a ticket from York to Hull, but everthing is so expensive. We are on a really tight budget and I havnt even started to look for a place to stay yet. I thought that looking so far in advance I would have more chance of finding a bargain but no joy. Im thinking about looking at cheap coach travel next. Can anyone help me at all pleeeeeeease. I can leave from either Sunderland, Durham or Newcastle and can come back anytime at all on the Sunday. Thanks, Heather x :A

AirlieBird

cozza wrote: »

can some one help me my son needs to go to london on the 8th and 9th may (he cannot afford to stay over nite . he has to be at the places be for 9.30am so its not off peak travel is there any cheaper price then £43.00 for each day hes traveling from west worthing to london victoria any one got any advice plz

Take a look at the Daysave Peak ticket, or the flexi or weekly options.
http://www.southernrailway.com/main.php?page_id=189

dzug1

HOPEFUL-HEATHER wrote: »

My sister and I have to travel from Sunderland to Hull for a family wedding on Saturday July 4th. I thought the cheapest option would be to travel early Sat (wedding at noon) stay one night in a cheap hotel on Sat night and return the next day. Oh my word. I have been on a ton of rail sites to find a good deal and have had absolutely no joy. Ive tried, singles, returns and even breaking up the journey ie ticket from home to York, then a ticket from York to Hull, but everthing is so expensive. We are on a really tight budget and I havnt even started to look for a place to stay yet. I thought that looking so far in advance I would have more chance of finding a bargain but no joy. Im thinking about looking at cheap coach travel next. Can anyone help me at all pleeeeeeease. I can leave from either Sunderland, Durham or Newcastle and can come back anytime at all on the Sunday. Thanks, Heather x :A

There are advance singles at £13.50 or £14.50 each way from Newcastle. That doesn't look overly expensive to me - but you may have different ideas of course. It's about half the walk on fare.