Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

azzy65

BBB wrote: »

Hello!

Housemate looking to travel from Leicester to Saltburn on either the 14th July/15th July returning on 18th July.

Any help?

thanks

Check your local train provider - each way. ie: Virgin or East coast.
I have just saved £65 by booking singles each way and breaking my journey.
Apex - aprox 10 days in advance - from national rail network is a real winner.
Hope this helps.

azzy65

May be more than 10 days. Basically, the earlier the better.

geordieracer

azzy65 wrote: »

Having missed a £10 each way apex last week for Littlehampton to Liverpool. I was forced to trawl the internet for deals. The best was £90 return with cheaptrains.com......rubbish !
Then I tried Rail network........£65 (return).
I had an idea !
Checked Southern Rail - my local provider. Single to Liverpool £10 !!!!!
Then, return journey I tried Virgin - £25 (including reserved seats @ no extra cost !)
There is no booking fee - if you pick up your tickets from the station.
You have to travel off-peak and on strictly designated times.
Breaking your journey and booking part-journey tickets can save you even more money.
Thank you Martin for giving me the idea to search.
For 30 minutes work you can save tens or hundreds of pounds.
Don't just believe the web hype from - supposedly - cheap deal sites.

We have always advocated on this board to never ever ever use third party websites when booking your tickets. Always use a TOCs own - you may even get some discounts further on some tickets.

dzug1

geordieracer wrote: »

We have always advocated on this board to never ever ever use third party websites when booking your tickets. Always use a TOCs own - you may even get some discounts further on some tickets.

And the other thing is that if you know how to manipulate them (a big IF admittedly) you should be able to find any fare on any site, TOC special offers and occasional glitches aside.

susi

looking for a single ticket Retford to Heathrow underground (terminal 3) for Friday 20th May, need to be there for 10.30 ish. Its for 1 person found one the other day on google for £25 but cant find it now they all seem to be around £50/£60

Livingthedream

susi wrote: »

looking for a single ticket Retford to Heathrow underground (terminal 3) for Friday 20th May for 1 person found one the other day on google for £25 but cant find it now they all seem to be around £50/£60

What time do you need to be at Heathrow for, there's a £32.95* Advance single Dep Retford 09:50 arr Heathrow Undergd 12:43

*Need to book through East Coast to get a 10% Online Discount.

susi

Sorry just edited it, he needs to be there fro approx 10.30

AirlieBird

azzy65 wrote: »

Having missed a £10 each way apex last week for Littlehampton to Liverpool. I was forced to trawl the internet for deals. The best was £90 return with cheaptrains.com......rubbish !
Then I tried Rail network........£65 (return).
I had an idea !
Checked Southern Rail - my local provider. Single to Liverpool £10 !!!!!
Then, return journey I tried Virgin - £25 (including reserved seats @ no extra cost !)
There is no booking fee - if you pick up your tickets from the station.
You have to travel off-peak and on strictly designated times.
Breaking your journey and booking part-journey tickets can save you even more money.
Thank you Martin for giving me the idea to search.
For 30 minutes work you can save tens or hundreds of pounds.
Don't just believe the web hype from - supposedly - cheap deal sites.

All the websites should offer the same fares for the same services with the exception of the TOCs own-ticket discounts as they all pull the information from the same database. Some websites present the fares slightly differently and some have a slightly different algorithm as to how to choose the services they offer you but otherwise they should all be the same. Of course, some decide to charge booking, payment and collection/delivery fees on top and those you should avoid.

Livingthedream

susi wrote: »

Sorry just edited it, he needs to be there fro approx 10.30

As he's travelling at Peak time it's going to cost him unfortunately but try this;

Retford to Peterborough dep 05:50 arr 06:38 Anytime Single £31.50
Peterborough to Heathrow Undergd dep 07:26 arr 09:40 Anytime Day Single £24.50 Via First Capital Connect trains Only.

Total: £56 but He must change trains at Peterborough onto a FCC train.

Or if he wants a later train for £4 extra then try this;
Retford to Heathrow Undergd dep 07:32 arr 10:32 Anytime Single £60 Via Hull Trains Only.

susi

Thanks for that :-)