Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

Bogof_Babe

Noticed something today on my trip from Manchester Piccadilly to Hereford - my reserved seat was under one of those "please give up this seat if an elderly or disabled person needs it". You'd think they would not allocate those seats to pre-booking customers wouldn't you? There were plenty of unreserved seats, so if they'd jigged the reserved seat numbers a bit they could have avoided this.

Luckily it was half empty, but in other circumstances I might have had to give up my reserved seat if an elderly person got on. It would make more sense if they had those notices above seats that are not going to be pre-allocated.

KeithP

Bogof_Babe, you are quite right.

Start writing your email to the train operating company (if you haven't already).

You never know, this may not have dawned on them.

Bogof_Babe

Me again, the pest .

Just wondering if Advance tickets are withdrawn or severly restricted during the December/Christmas period. I seem to remember they fizzled out last year for a few weeks, and I'm struggling to find anything this year later than 6th December so far.

Fair enough if this is the case, but if someone could confirm then I can stop searching every day!

dzug1

That's because by and large they haven't been released beyond 6 December yet.

They may be fewer in number over the holiday period but they shouldn't be absent altogether.

Bogof_Babe

Cheers Dzug, I knew you or Keith would be able to clarify . I'll keep checking then.

exeterben

Hi guys,

Anybody know of a cheap ticket from Exeter to Nuneaton? If not Nuneaton we could go to Coventry if it works out cheaper. Two of us will be leaving on Friday, December 11th, and then returning on Sunday, December 13th.
Don't mind splitting trains either if it makes the cost cheaper.
Really don't want to drive this one so am hoping for a cheapish train ticket. Don't mind what time of the day we go and return.
Any help is much appreciated.

Cheers in advance.

Bogof_Babe

As Dzug1 has explained a couple of posts above, Advance tickets are not generally available for travel beyond 6th December at the moment.

I'd imagine if you give it a few days you should be able to find something on the National Express website.

dzug1

exeterben wrote: »

Hi guys,

Anybody know of a cheap ticket from Exeter to Nuneaton? If not Nuneaton we could go to Coventry if it works out cheaper. Two of us will be leaving on Friday, December 11th, and then returning on Sunday, December 13th.
Don't mind splitting trains either if it makes the cost cheaper.
Really don't want to drive this one so am hoping for a cheapish train ticket. Don't mind what time of the day we go and return.
Any help is much appreciated.

Cheers in advance.

If the advance tickets don't materialise at suitable times Bristol and Cheltenham are the places to split.

KeithP

exeterben wrote: »

Hi guys,

Anybody know of a cheap ticket from Exeter to Nuneaton? If not Nuneaton we could go to Coventry if it works out cheaper. Two of us will be leaving on Friday, December 11th, and then returning on Sunday, December 13th.
Don't mind splitting trains either if it makes the cost cheaper.
Really don't want to drive this one so am hoping for a cheapish train ticket. Don't mind what time of the day we go and return.
Any help is much appreciated.

Cheers in advance.

Hello again Exeterben.

Its only six days since you first asked this question... post #2013.

You appear to have totally overlooked Dzug's response then...

dzug1 wrote: »

You are doing Something Wrong. An off peak, walkon return is £73.70 each, nowhere near £100. You can buy it on the day.

Advance singles (I doubt if they are on sale yet - certainly not for the Sundays) are likely to total around £50 ish each, for the return trip.

Failing that try splitting at Bristol Temple Meads and Cheltenham Spa - £61.50 each total on walkon off peak returns

when you say...

exeterben wrote: »

Surely there must tickets cheaper than £100. That is extortionate.

There is also no indication that you have seen Dzug's next post...

dzug1 wrote: »

If that £100 is for both of you (ie £50 each) then you are going to be hard put to beat it. Cross Country are not very generous with their advance offers these days. If it's £100 each then it's very easy to beat.

Another thought is it could be worth trying for prices via London both with and without a split. Occasionally that is cheaper.

To find the booking horizons, look at the National Rail Enquiries website,
although this is sometimes out of date by a few days.

Good luck with your search. :beer:

zacspeed_2

Where would I look for a cheap ticket from Norwich To London on Dec 5th, returning on the 6th?