Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

pompeyrich

Ultracheap, you missed out one little word out "FROM", you have to book quite early to get the £9:50 ones. There seems to be more availability to and from Peterborough rather than London but I haven't managed to work out a chaep way of getting from London-P'boro so not much good really !!

macbee1972

Apex and other cheap advance fares are generally available 6-8 weeks before the date of the journey.The earlier you book the cheaper your fare can be.

macbee1972

Megabus are even cheaper than National Express.If you book well in advance (seats released 45 days before date of departure) you can get some really cheap seats-fares start from £1.Had a look today and you could travel from London to Inverness for £6 single and London to Newcastle for £1 on Friday 29th Sept.(subject to availability at time of booking).They also run a service called Megatrain which has train fares starting from £1 too.Today they have fares from Edinburgh to Manchester,London to Portsmouth etc.. travelling on Fri 29th Sept for £1 single..(subject to availability at time of booking). 50p booking fee per transaction.

macbee1972

If you travel from Bristol Parkway to Waterloo instead of Paddington and choose a train which changes at Salisbury and either Bristol Temple Meads or Filton Abbey Wood the fares are £24.30 for a cheap day return, £33.00 for a saver return or £38.80 for an open return.I know it's a lot of hassle to have to change trains but the saving is quite substantial. Train leaving Bristol Parkway at 07.08 would get into Waterloo at 10.49 (15 min tube journey to Paddington)

starlite_2

macbee1972 wrote:

Megabus are even cheaper than National Express.If you book well in advance (seats released 45 days before date of departure) you can get some really cheap seats-fares start from £1.Had a look today and you could travel from London to Inverness for £6 single and London to Newcastle for £1 on Friday 29th Sept.(subject to availability at time of booking).They also run a service called Megatrain which has train fares starting from £1 too.Today they have fares from Edinburgh to Manchester,London to Portsmouth etc.. travelling on Fri 29th Sept for £1 single..(subject to availability at time of booking). 50p booking fee per transaction.

Megabus is only for the megapatient though! Especially for such a long journey as London - newcastle.
They to tend divert off track to stop at random places and some services take twice as long as national express. They're terribly uncomfortable too.
I'd personally rather pay a bit more for the train and retain my sanity!lol.

jenny_f

anyone advise on the letchworth to reading journey?

starlite_2

Do you mean letchworth nr. Luton?
If so you'll almost certainly have to travel to luton (maybe cheap local bus?) then london then reading.
The Luton - London can be booked fairly cheaply on thameslink or first capital connect. No idea about London - reading
But make sure you check if booking two seperate legs is cheaper than booking as a whole journey, it almost certainly will be. iyswim.

jenny_f

meaning letchworth garden city, which is near hitchin, baldock, ashwell etc

starlite_2

yep, same place, tbh rail is cheaper from luton or stevenage to London than direct from letchworth. so it'd be best to look into that.

devesh254

Hey there...could someone please help me with the following:

1 adult,with a Young Persons Railcard Travelling on Sunday September 17 morning (arriving no later than 2pm) from London to Manchester.

I am then returning on the same day September 17 evening (departing no earlier than 8pm) from Manchester to London.

Don't mind travelling by train or coach. However coach does take extremely long so train will be much preferred!

I am having a very hard time finding cheap fares for this route, so all and any help will be much appreciated! The cheapest I can do now is London to Manchester by Megabus (£4) and the return leg by Train for £35.50!!!!!

The last time I booked this trip I used a scotrail half price link...is there any similar link available now? Or are there are promotional codes for virgin or the trainline? I am aware that Quidco offers 30p cashback for Nat Express and 1% off £25 tickets at the trainline...but still I am finding the price for the return leg too expensive!

Thanks :-)