Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

wealdroam

star100 wrote: »

I need a return from Plymouth to Paddington on Mon 27th Aug. Looking at catching 06.55 there and 18.03 back as there were among cheapest and suit the times I need. But my query is the fares are changing every day - I didn't realise they did this. Had I booked the other day when I first looked it would have been £56 then went up to £80 on Fri, £70 yesterday and £75 today!!

Is this normal? Would I be wise to book now at £70 rather than risk it going up again or is it likely to come down again over the next week?

Thanks for any advice

Yes, that is the way it works with Advance Singles... the nearer to date of travel, the more expensive they become.

However, if you can be a bit more flexible with your times, it can still be done for £56.00...
Dep Plymouth 05:30, arr Paddington 09:41. Advance Single = £28.00.
Dep Paddington 20:35, arr Plymouth 00:11. Advance Single = £28:00.

Buy those tickets now... those prices will not last.

By the way... it's now £101 on your preferred trains if you were to buy Advance Singles.
But a Super Off Peak Return can be had for £85.50... valid on all trains on that Bank Holiday Monday. That ticket will still be that price if you buy on the day of travel.

Another option might be First Class Advance Singles. On you preferred trains they come to £102.50, but delaying your return to 19:45 it becomes £81.50.

hamsterholly

Thank you so much for the info on group save. That will save us a lot of money. Many thanks

Superly_Vince

Hi, can anyone advise what would be the best way to go about rail travel for multiple destinations within the space of a a fortnight.

My friend and I are going to the following places:

From London > Bridlington > Blackpool > Birmingham > Edinburgh

Will an open ticket from London work?? I have no idea...

Many thanks in advance

Jeff_Bridges_hair

No an open ticket from london wont work really for that.

If you want the ultimate flexibility then could I suggest an All line rover(14 days)

It is very expensive for those journeys BUT that is unlimited travel for 14 days on every TOC mentioned on the link and to be honest its well worth the money IMO.

The best thing though if thats too much is try and work out when you are going to be doing each leg of the journey and then you can probably work out which tickets will be best.

or post back on someone on here will

doctor40

hi, can anyone advise me on this? I need two tickets from Kirkcaldy - Chester (or Edin to Chester) on 12th Nov to return on 16th. Usually splitting makes it cheaper but it seems not. Its for my parents who are elderly so trying to avoid lots of train changes. Does anyone know the cheapest and/or most direct route? thanks

Livingthedream

Superly_Vince wrote: »

Hi, can anyone advise what would be the best way to go about rail travel for multiple destinations within the space of a a fortnight.

My friend and I are going to the following places:

From London > Bridlington > Blackpool > Birmingham > Edinburgh

Will an open ticket from London work?? I have no idea...

Many thanks in advance

That's one complicated journey, in fact it's giving me a headache trying to work it out. Would advice posting here as it would been seen as a challenge to some of the posters on that forum;
http://www.railforums.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=105

Livingthedream

doctor40 wrote: »

hi, can anyone advise me on this? I need two tickets from Kirkcaldy - Chester (or Edin to Chester) on 12th Nov to return on 16th. Usually splitting makes it cheaper but it seems not. Its for my parents who are elderly so trying to avoid lots of train changes. Does anyone know the cheapest and/or most direct route? thanks

Try Kirkcaldy to Manchester Piccadilly Advance singles plenty on those dates for £18 each (£36 there and back)
Then an Off Peak Return Manchester to Chester £16.10

Would advise when booking tickets to ask that your parents change at Waverley and not Haymarket as Platform 1 the usual platform for Fife services to Edinburgh has no lift and steep steps. And when they get to Manchester Piccadilly they normally arrive on platform 14 just go across to platform 13 (opposite) where normally the Arriva trains Wales services to LLandudno/Chester leave from.

It can be cheaper to change at Preston but this requires an additional change at Warrington BQ or Crewe.

Don't forget might be worth getting a senior railcard if future rail travel is planned will leave you to do the maths.

And the Advance singles you must travel on Booked trains.

doctor40

Livingthedream wrote: »

Try Kirkcaldy to Manchester Piccadilly Advance singles plenty on those dates for £18 each (£36 there and back)
Then an Off Peak Return Manchester to Chester £16.10

Would advise when booking tickets to ask that your parents change at Waverley and not Haymarket as Platform 1 the usual platform for Fife services to Edinburgh has no lift and steep steps. And when they get to Manchester Piccadilly they normally arrive on platform 14 just go across to platform 13 (opposite) where normally the Arriva trains Wales services to LLandudno/Chester leave from.

It can be cheaper to change at Preston but this requires an additional change at Warrington BQ or Crewe.

Don't forget might be worth getting a senior railcard if future rail travel is planned will leave you to do the maths.

And the Advance singles you must travel on Booked trains.

thanks so much for that -I was trying to go via Crewe and all sorts - never thought about Manchester. All done and booked - you are a star!

Superly_Vince

Jeff_Bridges_hair wrote: »

No an open ticket from london wont work really for that.

If you want the ultimate flexibility then could I suggest an All line rover(14 days)


It is very expensive for those journeys BUT that is unlimited travel for 14 days on every TOC mentioned on the link and to be honest its well worth the money IMO.

The best thing though if thats too much is try and work out when you are going to be doing each leg of the journey and then you can probably work out which tickets will be best.

or post back on someone on here will

Yikes, that's pretty expensive.... :eek: but thanks for the link though, worth knowing about!

There's are the dates, I need to be @ each location (I think we're flying from Birmingham to Edinburgh on 8th Nov though) :-

November 2: London
November 4: Bridlington
November 6: Blackpool
November 7: Birmingham
November 8: Edinburgh

Superly_Vince

Livingthedream wrote: »

That's one complicated journey, in fact it's giving me a headache trying to work it out. Would advice posting here as it would been seen as a challenge to some of the posters on that forum;
http://www.railforums.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=105

Many thanks for the link, I'll check it out!