Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

yorkie2

A_T wrote: »

I can't find any cheap singles on the route I'm looking for (Wrexham - London). I have checked up to the latest booking horizon. There used to be tickets for £12 but now there is nothing less than £25 and that's for trains either extremely late or early. What's happened to the cheap tickets?

A_T wrote: »

Not without getting on an Arriva Trains Wales train there isn't.

Well, this second statement is incorrect as there is a direct Virgin service, but ignoring that direct train, what relevance does having to get an ATW train have on the complaint that the prices are claimed to be too high? The fares to London are set by Virgin, not ATW, so ATW hardly have a "monopoly"!

Also, there's no reason at all why you can't take the approximate route that WSMR trains used, by taking an ATW train to Birmingham New Street, walking for about 5 minutes to Moor St (okay, this is less convenient, but it's still possible) and taking Chiltern Railways from Moor St to Marylebone (some services are operated by the exact same stock that WSMR used, and this service is run by the same parent company).

Another option is to take a train to Crewe, and use London Midland from there.

There are cheap tickets from Birmingham to London with Chiltern Railways, and also from Crewe to London with London Midland, which could be combined with a ticket from Wrexham to form a through journey with a change of trains.

Yes, it's not ideal, yes it's not as good as WSMR, but it's not true that ATW - or any other company - have a "monopoly" for Wrexham to London journeys.

terryw

I have the chance of an excellent hotel deal in London on 27, 28 and 29 December, but obviously the train booking date is not out yet. I live in Newcastle and use East Coast.

Will 27 Dec be classed as Boxing Day with no train services that day?

Thanks for any help.

Livingthedream

terryw wrote: »

I have the chance of an excellent hotel deal in London on 27, 28 and 29 December, but obviously the train booking date is not out yet. I live in Newcastle and use East Coast.

Will 27 Dec be classed as Boxing Day with no train services that day?

Thanks for any help.

To answer that question you need somebody with access to the correct working info, perhaps email East Coast or post on a more dedicated rail forum ie RailUK forum

bb21

terryw wrote: »

I have the chance of an excellent hotel deal in London on 27, 28 and 29 December, but obviously the train booking date is not out yet. I live in Newcastle and use East Coast.

Will 27 Dec be classed as Boxing Day with no train services that day?

Thanks for any help.

Generally speaking Christmas Day and Boxing Day are the only two days where the majority of TOCs operate no service. In the past few years 27th December have seen a reduced level service and whether any direct services operate will depend on how engineering works get on.

The plans are being finalised so I doubt that many people will be able to give a definitive answer at the moment.

miller

Network Railcard tip:

During the week a minimum fare of £13 applies. Someone travelling out from Southampton Central to Bournemouth on a Monday and returning on a Friday would get no benefit:

2 x Anytime Day Singles @£11.30 = £22.60

By extending the route to Poole, an Off-Peak return is offered which can be discounted
1 x Discounted Off-Peak Return = £15.65

The off-peak ticket is more restrictive so may not suit all circumstances. But the principle of extending shorter journeys to obtain a cheaper discounted return than 2 singles can be applied to lots of journeys.

miller

I have been using First Transpennine via Topcashback which offers 1% cashback for most journeys (more for certain First Transpennine fares). For me it has always been reliable and is good when train operators don't offer specific discounts (e.g. East Midlands Trains offer £1 off their advance fares via their website).

I have noticed that South West Trains offer a better 2.62% and Southern offer £2.52. The Southern one looks the most generous for smaller fares, but there have been negative reports about its tracking reliability.

joeemslie

Hello Guys,

Have been an avid reader of these forums for an AGE! Love the ethos going on here, I just have a quick question.

I am moving to Loughborough University and a friend is moving to Bristol. I have been looking and have found the cheapest return to be:

LOUGH > BRIS = £16.85

BRIS > LOUGH = £16.85

I have a 16-25 rail card, I am wondering would it be better to go through a different site (using National Rail) ?

Also as a student I have limited cash so any help would be FANTASTIC.

Ta very much.

Livingthedream

joeemslie wrote: »

Hello Guys,

Have been an avid reader of these forums for an AGE! Love the ethos going on here, I just have a quick question.

I am moving to Loughborough University and a friend is moving to Bristol. I have been looking and have found the cheapest return to be:

LOUGH > BRIS = £16.85

BRIS > LOUGH = £16.85

I have a 16-25 rail card, I am wondering would it be better to go through a different site (using National Rail) ?

Also as a student I have limited cash so any help would be FANTASTIC.

Ta very much.

With your railcard the price goes down to £10.90 each way but you do need to book well in advance.

Buy from any Train Companies website, would recommend Crosscountry trains as it's their advance singles you will be buying and they might have a promotion on. Just avoid the third party sellers who charge booking fees unless your using Redspottedhanky and Tesco clubcard vouchers.

miller

Livingthedream wrote: »

Buy from any Train Companies website, would recommend Crosscountry trains as it's their advance singles you will be buying

Which also gives you the luxury of picking your exact seat from their system.

miller

Livingthedream wrote: »

Just avoid the third party sellers who charge booking fees

For the avoidance of doubt, thats the lot who used to advertise with the sheep i.e. you're a sheep if you book with them.