Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

Gurj73

Sorry, I wrote that e-mail very poorly - what I meant was that I had checked the Virgin train site for that date and I couldnt tell if they were offering the Ad vance Singles yet.

dzug1

Gurj73 wrote: »

Sorry, I wrote that e-mail very poorly - what I meant was that I had checked the Virgin train site for that date and I couldnt tell if they were offering the Ad vance Singles yet.

They ARE there - though not at £10.50 until later in the day than you want

Livingthedream

Gurj73 wrote: »

Sorry, I wrote that e-mail very poorly - what I meant was that I had checked the Virgin train site for that date and I couldnt tell if they were offering the Ad vance Singles yet.

Totally confused me as well, but using the Virgin Best fare finder;
http://www.farefinder.virgintrains.co.uk/BestFares.aspx?orig=BHM&dest=EUS&out=20110908

It's says the £10.50 fare gets into London at 12:54. If you want to get into London for the times you stated then do a normal search on the Virgin Trains website and it's the 10:50 arr London 12:14 advance single £19

If you could afford a longer journey then perhaps look at travelling via London Midland or Chiltern railways, both are normally a lot cheaper that Virgin.

Gurj73

Thanks guys.....

Yeah I can get the £10.50 fare but with that likely to arrive at 12.54, its going to make me late unfortunately.

So at the moment it looks like paying the £19 fare.

Didnt realise that London Midland or Chiltern trains are normally a lot cheaper......that sounds promising. I dont mind catching train from Birmingham at 9am and it taking 3 hours if it works out cheaper.

The Chiltern and LM advance tickets are not on sale for that date for some time tho......so I either risk waiting or just biting the bullett and paying the £19 Virgin train fare.

dzug1

Well looking on a Friday about a month ahead, the first really cheap Chiltern fare is £10 at 0955 from Moor Street arriving at 1155 at Marylebone. Whilst there's no guarantees, you should get that fare if you book soon after release

As a fallback London Midland's walkon fare is £25.

Gurj73

Yeah having gone on Chiltern Railways and typed in the last advance tkt date you can get right now ( Fri July 15th ) I have found two trains ( London Midland by looks of it ) for just £6 that get to London Euston before the times i need, Ok they take hour longer than Virgin Train becuase they call in at many more stations but thats not a problem.

Looks like waiting for Chiltern.....thanks dzug1.

Livingthedream

Gurj73 wrote: »

The Chiltern and LM advance tickets are not on sale for that date for some time tho......so I either risk waiting or just biting the bullett and paying the £19 Virgin train fare.

Choices, choices, one that only you can make. The only advice I can give is Chiltern (2hrs) Advance tickets don't normally sell out that quick, in fact on the 12th July theirs still some £10 and £7.50 advance tickets available getting into London for your stated times, also they normally start from £5.

London Midland (2hr 24min) are just as cheap and also don't sell out as quick, in fact on 3rd Sept getting to London for your stated time costs you £6.

Don't forget Chiltern goes from Moor St or Snow Hill stations in Birmingham.

Edit: Late again, Oh well at least you've made a decision.

Gurj73

Cheers Livingthedream......I think with yours and dzug1's advice I will deffo get the London Midland ( 2hr 24min ) train or the Chiltern (2hr) trains. Just have to be ready when advance tickets go on sale. London Midland ones should only be a week away so I will be keeping a close eye next friday.

Travelling from Snow Hill or Moor Street is actually easier for me as I will be coming via Rowley Regis which feeds into those stations rather than Brum NS.

mandi

Hi Guys is anyone available for some advice please ,

I am looking for 3 adult tickets from Carlisle -London Euston .

Leaving before 10 am on 10th Aug and returning on 12th mid afternoon /early evening .

The cheapest I can find are with Virgin at £59.00 return which is pretty good , but as we are talking money saving could I get them cheaper elsewhere ?

Thank you .

Livingthedream

mandi wrote: »

The cheapest I can find are with Virgin at £59.00 return which is pretty good , but as we are talking money saving could I get them cheaper elsewhere ?

Thank you .

The timings for the £29.50 each Singles ain't the best, then the prices ramp up to around £63 each singles for other trains.

Another option to get better timings is in your Train Website search engine, I use East Coast enter your journey details then click 'more options' and enter 'Via Newcastle' takes a little bit longer and you arrive at London Kings Cross instead of Euston. But it has better timings and some very reasonable prices with a 10% online discount.

Or you could have a mixture of both, down the West Coast direct to Euston and back via Kings Cross up the East Coast to Newcastle and across from there or vice versa.