Cheapest Train Fares Discussion Area

nial

Thanks evesham. When are these fares usually released?

lellie

theleek wrote:

Word of warning for anybody booking GNER tickets online...Complete nightmare!

Booked up for a journey from Edinburgh to Morpeth on 11/2/07 then immediately realised i had booked wrong time.Contacted them immediately to find that they would grant me a refund..Excellent i thought...Then after three days no refund.

Recontacted the number again and got told so many different tales it was unbelievable.

Finally rebooked in person at Newcastle for same price.

The online team are based "offshore" and are a private company,if you make a genuine mistake please be very very wary of their incompitence.

do you know edinburgh to morpeth is on the megatrain route - you can get tickets for a £1!!

whambamboo

This article has been reprinted in The Guardian today:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1982239,00.html

p1an0player

from the previous Guardian link:

"The most stylish and ridiculously brilliant fare-saving tactic, however, is this: do you travel around the country reasonably regularly after 10am but don't qualify for any discount cards? Wherever you live, march into your nearest station and demand a season ticket for the three-minute journey from Ryde St Johns Road to Ryde Esplanade on the Isle of Wight.

This, the cheapest season ticket in the UK, will set you back £116. Buying a season ticket automatically gives you a "Gold Card" - which entitles you to a third off almost all off-peak UK fares. "

Has the Guardian got this wrong?!
Does the Gold Card really give discounts nationwide or does it just work in the South East?! Tried to check on the article on MSE but the bit about the Ryde travel card seems to have been removed.

p1an0player

I can answer my own question. The Gold Card discount is not nationwide.

http://www.thetrainline.com/season/info/st_gold_card_benefits.asp

Discounted tickets are only available for travel wholly within the area bounded by the following stations:-
Weymouth, Exeter St Davids (via Honiton), Bedwyn, Didcot Parkway, Worcester Foregate Street (via Evesham), Banbury, Bicester Town, Long Buckby, Bedford, Huntingdon, Cambridge, Manningtree, Harwich and also all stations Cambridge to Kings Lynn, Dorchester West to Yeovil Pen Mill, and Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin. Discounts also available to/from the Isle of Wight on through rail/sea journeys on:-
Red Funnel ships and Red Jet services between Southampton and East or West Cowes,
and Wightlink ships between Portsmouth Harbour and Ryde Pier Head, and between Lymington Pier and Yarmouth.
(Note special higher prices apply for accompanied children on these services).

jimbob2

am i crap or too late.trying to find a good price for 2 adults traveling to london(not sure where)going to hyde park area.from leeds on the 13th january ..6 or 7 in the morning. returning nextt day at about 2 ish in the afternon.i seem to be getting silly prices and would rather drive if the prices aint cheap enough..thanks

debjones25

Can anyone help travelling from northampton to euston on 20/01 about 1pm returning 21/01 about 3pm can anyone tell me the cheapest fare also need to travel on the underground/buses thanks

evesham1988la

jimbob2 wrote:

am i crap or too late.trying to find a good price for 2 adults traveling to london(not sure where)going to hyde park area.from leeds on the 13th january ..6 or 7 in the morning. returning nextt day at about 2 ish in the afternon.i seem to be getting silly prices and would rather drive if the prices aint cheap enough..thanks

Cheap tickets seem to have sold out...

13/01 - 07.19 dep; 10.46 arr - £30 (First Class)
14/01 - 13.30 dep; 17.03 arr - £24.50 (but with replacement bus between Grantham & Newark)

Not too much luck with Megabus either -
13/01 - 05.50 dep; 10.30 arr. - £8
14/01 - 15.00 dep; 19.30 arr. - £14

evesham1988la

debjones25 wrote:

Can anyone help travelling from northampton to euston on 20/01 about 1pm returning 21/01 about 3pm can anyone tell me the cheapest fare also need to travel on the underground/buses thanks

A rather expensive £24 return with no possible discounts - unless you are travelling in a group of four when it is half price and kids are £1?!?

For travel in London, pick up an Oyster Card with £10 top-up which will be sufficient for the two days - as long as its used correctly (always touching in and out). Anything left over will be refunded when you return the card.

andytaylor

If you use the split ticket trick and hold a season ticket that covers part of the journey, then you do not have to travel on a train that stops at the split points. This is in the Conditions of carriage:

19. Using a combination of tickets
You may use two or more tickets for one journey as long as together they cover
the entire journey and one of the following applies:
(a) they are both Zonal Tickets (unless special conditions prohibit their use);
(b) the train you are in calls at the station where you change from one ticket to
another; or
(c) one of the tickets is a Season Ticket (which for this purpose does not include Season
Tickets or travel passes issued on behalf of a passenger transport executive or
local authority) or a leisure travel pass, and the other ticket(s) is/are not.

I must admit to not having tried this yet, but will be doing so on my next trip to Swindon, as I hold an Annual Gold Card, so can get a discounted ticket as far as Didcot and then a standard one for the remainder of the journey. An annual card is not required for the split ticket trick, any season ticket will do.