Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

yorkie2

Kite2010 wrote: »

Starting from Farnborough Main or Farnborough North?

Tickets are issued from Farnborough Stns to London Terminals.

Kite2010 wrote: »

Farnborough Main - Waterloo £13.65 off-peak return with Network Railcard leaving Farnborough at 10:00 on the dot,

Not quite. Out of interest, what website told you that?

An Off Peak Return (which is formerly known by the name DieselDragon refers to as "Saver", and retains the code SVR) is £19.30 not via Reading, and valid by trains arriving into London at or after 10:00, or £19.35 via any permitted route, and valid by trains departing after 09:30.

The price you quote, £13.65, matches that of an Off Peak Day Return (CDR), not valid via Reading, and is valid on trains timed to arrive into London at or after 10:00, so the first valid train is in fact the 09:16.

Kite2010 wrote: »

drops to £13 for super-off peak day return after 11am,

Valid on trains arriving into London at or after 12:00, so the first valid train is 11:16.

miller

I assume Kite2010 was taking into account the Network Railcard restriction of 1000 hrs Mon-Fri

On a separate note, the method of extending the route to get Off Peak Returns techno12 referred to can also be useful to get the full benefit of the Network Railcard discount during the week instead of buying 2 singles.

yorkie2

miller wrote: »

I assume Kite2010 was taking into account the Network Railcard restriction of 1000 hrs Mon-Fri

Yes, that's true if using a Network Railcard there is a 10:00 restriction Monday-Friday, which over-rules the ticket validity. There is no such restriction for a Gold Card. 16-25 Railcards are no issue here as the fare is over £12, while it's even more confusing for Senior and Family Railcards, where bizarrely the ticket is not valid until the Off Peak Day fare becomes valid, if the journey is wholly within the Network area (which is the case here). It's questionable whether many guards can remember, and therefore enforce, all these restrictions.

Without Railcards, ticketing is complex enough. Add in Railcards, and it becomes incredibly complex. The rail industry disagrees, and claims it's simple.

I can see how the confusion regarding the SVR and CDR came about: the old names were very different, but the new names are remarkably similar, yet they are very different products indeed!

Kite2010

miller wrote: »

I assume Kite2010 was taking into account the Network Railcard restriction of 1000 hrs Mon-Fri

On a separate note, the method of extending the route to get Off Peak Returns techno12 referred to can also be useful to get the full benefit of the Network Railcard discount during the week instead of buying 2 singles.

I was using the National Rail Enquires site, and using the network railcard which doesn't allow travel before 10am on weekdays (unless it's one of the easement services)

yorkie2

Kite2010 wrote: »

I was using the National Rail Enquires site, and using the network railcard which doesn't allow travel before 10am on weekdays (unless it's one of the easement services)

OK, I was looking at the request from DieselDragon for a fare returning a different day:

DieselDragon wrote: »

As I always travel off-peak (Normally toward London around 17:00, return following morning before 10:00) what I'd really like to get is an overnight valid ticket with similar conditions to the Super O/Peak day return for not much more than the equivalent day return fare. It's a real kick in the nuts that we don't still have the Network AwayBreak...

That rules out the (Super) Off Peak Day fares.

Effectively, what DieselDragon wants is a Super Off Peak Return, with similar restrictions to the Super Off Peak Day Return, but with the ability to return a different day.

Unfortunately, for this particular flow, that does not exist, so the fare is £19.30 with a Railcard.

The Railcard type wasn't mentioned in the post in question, but reading recent posts in this thread, you are right it is possible to deduce that is a Network Railcard. This particular Railcard introduces further restrictions to the ticket, unfortunately.

racheal244

Hi I was wondering if anyone can help I need to get a train to London from hull on the 10th of October and need help finding a cheap train ticket. I am due to fly to Australia from Heath row airport and need to be at the airport for 7pm the latest. Thanks. The cheapest I can find is nearly £100

Bogof_Babe

racheal244 wrote: »

Hi I was wondering if anyone can help I need to get a train to London from hull on the 10th of October and need help finding a cheap train ticket. I am due to fly to Australia from Heath row airport and need to be at the airport for 7pm the latest. Thanks. The cheapest I can find is nearly £100

Where are you looking? Try https://www.eastcoast.co.uk - there's fares from £12.70 if you don't mind arriving a couple of hours early. (I checked on Hull to London Paddington as I believe that's where you get the Heathrow Airport connection from - might be wrong on this).

thelawnet

racheal244 wrote: »

Hi I was wondering if anyone can help I need to get a train to London from hull on the 10th of October and need help finding a cheap train ticket. I am due to fly to Australia from Heath row airport and need to be at the airport for 7pm the latest. Thanks. The cheapest I can find is nearly £100

You need to check Hull - London Kings Cross.

Fares for £11.25 changing at Doncaster, or £16.50 direct.

If you check Hull - Heathrow you will get expensive fares.

Your train will arrive into Kings Cross, from there you take the tube directly to Heathrow (takes 1 hour). This costs £5.50 cash, slightly less with an Oyster card.

I'm not sure if you have luggage, but if you do you might want to head out a bit earlier to avoid the rush hour on the tube.

nokia1100

racheal244 wrote: »

Hi I was wondering if anyone can help I need to get a train to London from hull on the 10th of October and need help finding a cheap train ticket. I am due to fly to Australia from Heath row airport and need to be at the airport for 7pm the latest. Thanks. The cheapest I can find is nearly £100

Do you have a railcard? Would you mind using Megatrain?

wealdroam

nokia1100 wrote: »

Would you mind using Megatrain?

I don't think Megatrain serve any of the route the OP is travelling on.