Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

LexyBoy

danmmurphy wrote: »

I'll be commuting in to London from Didcot as of the end of the month and am trying to find the cheapest
...
I'll be travelling from Didcot to Farringdon so was hoping to get a season ticket from Didcot to Reading (the only stop between Didcot and Paddington) and then using an all zones Travelcard to cover my journey from Slough onwards.

I assume you mean buying a Slough-London Travelcard rather than using an existing Z1-6 Travelcard? Slough is not within the London Travelcard zones. The furthest out station within the Zones on the route to Didcot is Hayes & Harlington.

I don't really see the logic in what you're trying to do (as well as being illegal). Why bother having a season between Reading and Didcot at all? As pointed out by dzug1, you are likely to be Penalty Fared, which means twice the cost of a peak single when you are caught (which will be quite often). Alternatively, especially if the guard has caught you before, they may suspect deliberate fraud and refer you for prosecution.

wealdroam wrote: »

Even if you are asked for your ticket between Slough and Paddington, can you not see a problem?

"How did you get on this train at Slough, sir?"

And on the return leg... "How do you plan to alight at Slough, sir?"

Actually, with a single/return Reading to Slough, this would be OK. If you are splitting a season and a non-season ticket, the train does not have to stop at the station you're splitting at. So one could buy daily Slough-Reading tickets, but this would end up more expensive than a season.

One more thing (which may or may not be of use) is that a London-Didcot season (or normal day/month return for that matter) is exactly the same price as London-Oxford. So you can get the extra distance to Oxford for free! (And if you're living in Didcot, I guess you won't want to spend too much time there!).

Monthly prices:

Didcot - Hayes                    = £323.00
London Zones 1-6 only             = £182.80
Oxford/Didcot - London Terminals  = £372.50
[B]Oxford/Didcot - London Travelcard = £433.20[/B]
Reading - London Travelcard       = £386.70
Didcot - Reading                  = £136.80

So once you do the adding up, the cheapest way is to get an Oxford-London Travelcard, unless you can cycle or otherwise travel for <£3/day between Paddington and Farringdon. There's no way to split (as is usually the case for peak time travel to London).

It's best to either buy an annual if you can afford it or get a loan from your company, or to buy 5 weeks at a time from Monday to a Friday, so you're not paying for weekends. The ticket office can sell any period, not just strictly a month - just ask for your start and end dates. And arrange it so it runs out at the beginning of your holidays.

yorkie2

danmmurphy wrote: »

This means that my journey between Reading and Slough isn't covered by either ticket, but I'm working on the assumption that if I happen to get asked for my ticket between the two, I can just get a single from Reading to Slough - assuming this doesn't happen too often I should be better off financially.

Anyone see any glaring errors in my maths?

Slough isn't in the Travelcard zones.

You will be charged twice the single fare from Reading to your destination (or to the next stop, where you can alight and re-book if you wish), if the train didn't stop in the Travelcard Zones then that would be £36.00 Reading - Paddington, unless the guard had suspicions that you were intending to avoid the fare (e.g. if the guard saw you many times doing this or you attempted to show 2 x seasons and effectively all but admitted intent to avoid the fare) in which case they would complete an MG11 for prosecution for the offence of fare evasion, which could be a costly exercise.

wealdroam

LexyBoy wrote: »

wealdroam wrote: »

Even if you are asked for your ticket between Slough and Paddington, can you not see a problem?

"How did you get on this train at Slough, sir?"

And on the return leg... "How do you plan to alight at Slough, sir?"

Actually, with a single/return Reading to Slough, this would be OK. If you are splitting a season and a non-season ticket, the train does not have to stop at the station you're splitting at. So one could buy daily Slough-Reading tickets, but this would end up more expensive than a season.

That is true, but Dan was proposing to travel between Reading and Slough with no ticket at all.

tescobootsmad

Hi,
Can anyone help me get a decent price for trains from Plymouth to Manchester Airport, travelling up on 22nd December and back on 26 / 27th December. There are 2 adults and 1 child so I would prob benefit from getting a family railcard.
TIA

wealdroam

tescobootsmad wrote: »

Hi,
Can anyone help me get a decent price for trains from Plymouth to Manchester Airport, travelling up on 22nd December and back on 26 / 27th December. There are 2 adults and 1 child so I would prob benefit from getting a family railcard.
TIA

What have you found, Tescobootsmad?

tescobootsmad

I have found this:

2 Adult(s) 1 Child(ren)
(Family And Friends Railcard)

Out:

15:23 (Wed 22 Dec) Plymouth (PLY) to Manchester Airport (MIA)
3 change(s)

Return:

07:00 (Mon 27 Dec) Manchester Airport (MIA) to Plymouth (PLY)
2 change(s)

Travel options

• ALL DAY TRAVELCARD £0.00
• £0.00
• Insurance Return £0.00
• PLUSBUS £0.00

[URL="javascript:showOverlay(0)"]More Details[/URL]
Total price £137.50

I would however prefer to travel earlier on the 22nd and either on 26th or later on 27th if possible and I understand you can get it cheaper by splitting the tickets but not sure how to do this.

TIA

/**/

rich_shot2003

tescobootsmad wrote: »

I have found this:

2 Adult(s) 1 Child(ren)
(Family And Friends Railcard)

Out:

15:23 (Wed 22 Dec) Plymouth (PLY) to Manchester Airport (MIA)
3 change(s)

Return:

07:00 (Mon 27 Dec) Manchester Airport (MIA) to Plymouth (PLY)
2 change(s)

Travel options

• ALL DAY TRAVELCARD £0.00
• £0.00
• Insurance Return £0.00
• PLUSBUS £0.00

[URL="javascript:showOverlay(0)"]More Details[/URL]
Total price £137.50

I would however prefer to travel earlier on the 22nd and either on 26th or later on 27th if possible and I understand you can get it cheaper by splitting the tickets but not sure how to do this.

TIA

/**/

You cant travel on the 26th Dec as its Boxing day and there are no Trains.

dzug1

tescobootsmad wrote: »

Total price £137.50

I would however prefer to travel earlier on the 22nd and either on 26th or later on 27th if possible and I understand you can get it cheaper by splitting the tickets but not sure how to do this.

TIA

Splitting tickets does not guarantee it to be cheaper - it often works out more. You choose a station at which your train stops, buy a ticket to there and then another on to your destaination.

In your case splits worth trying are any or all of Exeter Bristol Cheltenham and Birmingham.

Given that what you have found is a cheap advance ticket for the whole route, I seriously doubt that splitting will get you it any cheaper. It might, but the probability is low enough that I'm not going to look it up for you just in case. (tr - I'm a lazy old git)

And the ticket you have found WILL sell out - don't wait too long before booking it or you will be back to full price fares - where splitting probably will pay dividends.

Alice_R_2

What on earth is 'super off-peak return', i just booked one of these birmingham to euston for next weekend, it said return within one month and that i could only travel on certain times, fair enough but i figured since it was letting me go on saturday on the hour there had to be one coming back on the sunday at some point. However i can't find one train coming back on the sunday! Only ones seem to be on saturdays...how can saturday be super off peak but not sunday? Mad..anyway i stupidly booked it already so i'll have to buy another ticket to get home.

dzug1

Alice_R wrote: »

What on earth is 'super off-peak return', i just booked one of these birmingham to euston for next weekend, it said return within one month and that i could only travel on certain times, fair enough but i figured since it was letting me go on saturday on the hour there had to be one coming back on the sunday at some point. However i can't find one train coming back on the sunday! Only ones seem to be on saturdays...how can saturday be super off peak but not sunday? Mad..anyway i stupidly booked it already so i'll have to buy another ticket to get home.

No you won't - depending on which version you bought then you can either travel by any train from Marylebone on the Sunday or any London Midland train from Euston. The latter are xx50 starting at 1250, generally changing at Rugby. Last one 1950.

Why it's not showing up - no idea. Probably because it's overtaken by a Virgin train on which it's not valid.


You can buy superoff peak tickets on the day - no need to buy in advance