Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

MUNCHKIN89

Most of the rail websites now have cheapest fares finders or similar. Which is the best one for finding the cheapest tickets (not including split ticketing)? I've tried the National Rail one but it only seems to work for singles

JohnBd

KeithP wrote: »

That's all I can see now. I did see this earlier, but eventually the 15:25 departure appeared at £37.40. Don't know why yet.

Have you considered the sleeper?
Dep 21Feb Euston 20:55, arr Aberdeen 07:35. Bargain Berth £49.00. .

I've done exactly that Keith and I'm pretty happy as I more or less get an extra day in London. I had been on a wild goose chase for a fare from London to Dundee which turned out not to exist. That was after booking my outward journey on the strength of getting the cheap return! Panic. I was looking at the prospect of spending over £100 for my return. For others doing similar, it might be a good idea, if there looks to be a good fare, to go through most of the process at least to the point of making the payment, just to make sure the fare really is available. Anyway, thanks again Keith, you've saved me about £30

Steve_xx

I booked a trip from Brighton to Wallasey (Wirral) with Southern Railway. The tickets arrived and the journeys are from Brighton to Waterloo, then Waterloo to Euston on London Underground, then from Euston to Liverpool, and finally on Merseyrail to Wallasey.

I felt a bit unsure about the Waterloo to Euston part of the journey and wondered how normal rail tickets could be fed into the automatic ticket barriers on London Underground. I emailed Southern Railways and asked them if the tickets were inclusive of the Waterloo to Euston leg. They emailed me back saying:

"Thank you for contacting Southern Web Support. The tickets which you have bought are advance tickets and as such do not include travelcards"

I can't see where travelcards come into the equation as I would not need a travelcard to cross London, I'd need some sort of London Underground ticket. Also, I'm not sure why an Advance ticket wouldn't include the cross London part of the journey.

Does this sound correct?

KeithP

Steve_xx wrote: »

I booked a trip from Brighton to Wallasey (Wirral) with Southern Railway. The tickets arrived and the journeys are from Brighton to Waterloo, then Waterloo to Euston on London Underground, then from Euston to Liverpool, and finally on Merseyrail to Wallasey.

I felt a bit unsure about the Waterloo to Euston part of the journey and wondered how normal rail tickets could be fed into the automatic ticket barriers on London Underground. I emailed Southern Railways and asked them if the tickets were inclusive of the Waterloo to Euston leg. They emailed me back saying:

"Thank you for contacting Southern Web Support. The tickets which you have bought are advance tickets and as such do not include travelcards"

I can't see where travelcards come into the equation as I would not need a travelcard to cross London, I'd need some sort of London Underground ticket. Also, I'm not sure why an Advance ticket wouldn't include the cross London part of the journey.

Does this sound correct?

What physical tickets have you got?

Have you a ticket for Brighton to London and another separate one from London to Wallasey? If so, then you will need to make your own way across London.

If you have one ticket for the complete journey from Brighton to Wallasey, it probably covers the cross London tube travel (unless the ticket has Route Not London on it, but that's another can of worms).

Worth noting that tickets that include cross London travel usually have a Maltese Cross (†) on them.

I am a bit puzzled by your mention of Waterloo. Do you have a ticket that mentions Waterloo specifically, or does it say the more usual London Terminals?
There are no direct trains from Brighton to Waterloo. Probably Victoria is the more appropriate station to aim for. Then get tube to Euston.

Steve_xx

KeithP wrote: »

What physical tickets have you got?

Have you a ticket for Brighton to London and another separate one from London to Wallasey? If so, then you will need to make your own way across London.

If you have one ticket for the complete journey from Brighton to Wallasey, it probably covers the cross London tube travel (unless the ticket has Route Not London on it, but that's another can of worms).

Worth noting that tickets that include cross London travel usually have a Maltese Cross (†) on them.

I am a bit puzzled by your mention of Waterloo. Do you have a ticket that mentions Waterloo specifically, or does it say the more usual London Terminals?
There are no direct trains from Brighton to Waterloo. Probably Victoria is the more appropriate station to aim for. Then get tube to Euston.

Just to clarify, it's London Victoria, as you said, not London Waterloo as I'd stated.

I have one ticket for the whole journey (Brighton to Wallasey Village) and another that specifies the seat number on the Euston to Liverpool leg.

Where it says "Route" on the ticket there is the Maltese Cross and after the cross it says "VWC & CONNECTIONS".

dzug1

Steve_xx wrote: »

Just to clarify, it's London Victoria, as you said, not London Waterloo as I'd stated.

I have one ticket for the whole journey (Brighton to Wallasey Village) and another that specifies the seat number on the Euston to Liverpool leg.

Where it says "Route" on the ticket there is the Maltese Cross and after the cross it says "VWC & CONNECTIONS".

In that case the rail ticket will work the underground barriers at Victoria and Euston.

Steve_xx

dzug1 wrote: »

In that case the rail ticket will work the underground barriers at Victoria and Euston.

Excellent, so I simply feed it in and the barrier machine wont gobble the ticket up?

What does the VWC stated on the tickets mean?

KeithP

Steve_xx wrote: »

Excellent, so I simply feed it in and the barrier machine wont gobble the ticket up?

Correct.

Steve_xx wrote: »

What does the VWC stated on the tickets mean?

Virgin West Coast.
It's part of Richard Branson's business empire.

Steve_xx

KeithP wrote: »

Correct.


Virgin West Coast.
It's part of Richard Branson's business empire.

Ah ok. Thanks for your help.

bigdic

Can anyone help me out please?

I'm traveling from Ayr to Chester on the 19/03/10 Morning, and returning on the 21/03/10 afternoon. There are around 8 people traveling.

The best (only) price I can find is £90.20 for the full journey. We don't have or qulify for any railcards I can find.

I don't use the train very often so I was wanting to make sure this was the best fare available.

Also I've seen that Virgin do a group discount for groups of over 10 (there may be additional people traveling), is it worth it to give them a call if numbers increase?

Thanks in advance if anyone can help.