Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

Livingthedream

Gurj73 wrote: »

Next one I need help with please

I need to be in Durham from Birmingham for about 10am on Sat 3rd Sept and return either late that evening, say 7pm or the following morning.

Cheapest tickets I can find are £23 each way which is v expensive - dont know if XCT will provide cheaper tickets ?

Unfortunately that's an Arriva Crosscountry route and they can be expensive with their advance tickets, however, if you buy now that £47 (2x£23.50 singles) is still cheap than a £87.90 Off Peak Return.

As to them releasing cheaper advance ticket, I doubt it, that looks like their release level.

Gurj73 wrote: »

Any one help - maybe there a way I can do it cheaper by breaking up the journey at all ?

You could try splitting at Derby,Chesterfield,Leeds,Darlington and get some Day Return tickets price comes in at £68 not cheaper but better flexibly, just make sure your train call at the stations, all XC trains do.

wealdroam

Gurj73 wrote: »

Next one I need help with please

I need to be in Durham from Birmingham for about 10am on Sat 3rd Sept and return either late that evening, say 7pm or the following morning.

Cheapest tickets I can find are £23 each way which is v expensive - dont know if XCT will provide cheaper tickets ?

Any one help - maybe there a way I can do it cheaper by breaking up the journey at all ?

You could split at York.
Advance Singles Birmingham to York are available at £13.50 each way at your times.
Advance Singles York to Durham are available at £7.50 each way coming back on Saturday at your times.

So that's £42.00 return... a few pounds off.

geordieracer

Gurj73 wrote: »

Next one I need help with please

I need to be in Durham from Birmingham for about 10am on Sat 3rd Sept and return either late that evening, say 7pm or the following morning.

Cheapest tickets I can find are £23 each way which is v expensive - dont know if XCT will provide cheaper tickets ?

Any one help - maybe there a way I can do it cheaper by breaking up the journey at all ?

You do realise how far Durham and Birmingham are apart dont you? £23 each way is a steal imo - . Also its worth noting that XC do not do any advance tickets on sundays anymore or something- I posted about this in the other thread somewhere

Livingthedream

geordieracer wrote: »

Also its worth noting that XC do not do any advance tickets on sundays anymore or something- I posted about this in the other thread somewhere

GR, just done a quick search and on Sunday 4th Sept, there's lots of XC advance tickets Durham to Birmingham.

So I think it might be the 'or something' you need to tell us about. :beer:

Timnbex

Hi,
We have a family of 2 adults and 2 children - both under 5s (the older child turns 5 in November 2011). We have seen several examples where it would be cheaper for us to purchase a child ticket for our 4-year-old (who could travel free) in addition to the discounted adult fare.

E.g.
Manchester to London on 19/07/11 departing 10:55 - 2 x adults and 2 under 5s travelling (i.e. free) = advance fare of £47.
Same journey having also bought a child's ticket and using a F & F railcard = £35.45.

If we purchased a railcard could we still use it with two under 5's - as long as there is a child in the group and a child ticket is bought and paid for?
Thanks.

wealdroam

Timnbex wrote: »

If we purchased a railcard could we still use it with two under 5's - as long as there is a child in the group and a child ticket is bought and paid for?
Thanks.

Yes you can. You only need to buy one child ticket.

From the Family and Friends Railcard website...

All kids under five travel free - and each adult may take up to two 'under fives' with them. However, if the only child in the group is under five, you'll need to purchase a discounted child ticket to qualify for the adult Railcard discount. All child fares are subject to a £1 minimum fare.

geordieracer

Livingthedream wrote: »

GR, just done a quick search and on Sunday 4th Sept, there's lots of XC advance tickets Durham to Birmingham.

So I think it might be the 'or something' you need to tell us about. :beer:

yes. check the other threads for what it was. And this came from the XC intranet too.

Livingthedream

geordieracer wrote: »

yes. check the other threads for what it was.

You've got over 1900 posts, that's a lot of checking :eek: I'll take your word for it.

geordieracer

Livingthedream wrote: »

You've got over 1900 posts, that's a lot of checking :eek: I'll take your word for it.

I was going to post a pic of the XC intranet that showed it but it has since been removed from source for some reason

yorkie2

geordieracer wrote: »

I was going to post a pic of the XC intranet that showed it but it has since been removed from source for some reason

Widely reported on Rail Forums, the uk.railway newsgroup, and available on this blog.

XC also have a blanket 0930 restriction on all short, medium and longer distance Off Peak fares that are priced by them (except very long distance flows) which can easily be by-passed by "splitting" the journey into a combination of tickets.

They're a truly awful company who attempt to rip us off. If I do York-Bristol I book separate Advance tickets with EC/FGW, and it's cheaper!