Cheapest Train Fares Discussion Area

ImFrugal

p1an0player wrote:

from the previous Guardian link:

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.

I would also like an answer to why it has been removed. As far as I know the Gold Card trick is still valid.

See my other post:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=345345

12am

Can anyone suggest the cheapest way for 2 adults & 2 children (ones 16?) to effect a day return to London from Bristol travelling on Sunday 14th January. We might be able to make use of a family railcard if that helps with any advice. I've tried some of the sites, but just can't seem to get anything reasonable

tigger_and_george

Sorry to disappoint you if you're really keen to go by train........but you can do the same journey by National Express coach for nearly half the price!

I went onto their website (https://www.nationalexpress.co.uk) and found a total price of £60-55 for the 4 of you (3 adults and 1 child - 16yrs and over is classed as an adult on both train and coach I'm afraid!). Cheapest total train fare was looking like being over £100! Total journey time (bar traffic jams of course!) is about 2.5 hrs by coach, and only 10-15 mins less by train. Coaches run approx. every 30 mins, but it's best to book in advance. At time of looking just now, seats were available on 0750am departure from Bristol and 6.30pm departure from London (Victoria Coach Station - which is more centrally located than Paddington train station).

For Central London travel info, best to look at https://www.tfl.gov.uk.

Good luck!!

Dreaming_2

Hey.

I just noticed something when trying to buy tickets for myself from York to Leicester (I'm a uni student so go home frequently). I bought myself a student railcard for £20, and am not elligible for the very cheap £11 advanced super saver singles, so instead have been buying a saver return for £25. I'd looked on single fares, but if I have elected to buy with my railcard (on https://www.thetrainline.com) they are all apparently sold out except for the £24.30 saver single.

So if you have a railcard, always check without as you may save yourself a bundle too, I didn't realise until today (had to buy a single because I left my railcard at home!) that it's cheaper to travel without it.

With Railcard: 1 x SAVER RETURN @ £24.95
Without Railcard: 1 x VALUE ADVANCE SINGLE A @ £11.50 + 1 x VALUE ADVANCE SINGLE C @ £8.50 = £20.00

I suspect it may be a con, as if you go on 'buy singles' with your railcard selected, the single fares come up at cheaper rates (for example, value advance single a is £7.60) but it's mysteriously become unavailable. Perhaps it's buried in their T&C somewhere that you can't book advanced tickets with a railcard, still seems a bit fishy to me as it's advertised that if you travel frequently you can use it to save on all journeys.

JohnR

ImFrugal wrote:

I would also like an answer to why it has been removed. As far as I know the Gold Card trick is still valid.

See my other post:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=345345

The Gold card benefit (its not really a trick, as its part of the T&C's of the Gold card) only ever applied to the former Network South East area.

mountainofdebt

Dreaming wrote:

So if you have a railcard, always check without as you may save yourself a bundle too,.

I agree with this..tickets for mum cost the same without the senior rail card (which she would have had to buy) as they did with, so she was well chuffed

jobbingmusician

Another tipoff to get discounted cards is to check whether you are eligible for a disabled person's railcard. ANYONE WITH AN NHS HEARING AID is now eligible - you don't have to be registered as deaf.

This probably affects only a minority of people, but I'm gobsmacked to think of myself as disabled due to a slight hearing problem in one ear........:D

rubuhoeikanaika

Will this work or am I missing something? Thursday 18th, Llanelli- Oxford return same day, leave around 10am.

Return ticket price with railcard is about £38. But ...


llanelli->swansea standard day rtn £2.50 arriva 10.28-10.45
swansea->cardiff cheap day rtn £3.30 fgw 11.30-12.22
cardiff->swindon cheap day rtn £9.65 fgw 12.25-13.27
swindon->ox cheap day rtn £5.30 fgw 14.11-15.01

I think I must be missing something - their pricing structure can't be *that* idiotic, can it?

I used to live in Japan, where the system was much simpler: a flat rate per km, no matter when you book, plus a surcharge depending on the type of train it is.

eg
Fukui->Tokyo
Local trains £35 quid, about 10 hours
Express and limited express trains £50 about 6-7 hours
Bullet train £65 3.5 hours

So it would have been nice to have some advance purchase discounts, but at least it was simple and transparent!

lellie

The llanelli - oxford looks fine.

sandy2_2

square-eyes wrote: »

I use Southern Trains Day saver to travel from Gatwick to Southampton for £10. The saver is available from Southern Trains online a minimum of 7 days in advance. It is off-peak and can be used for multiple trips on the day specified only. You can travel as a group of up to 4 people for £20. Children travel for £1.
I use it for a one way trip from Gatwick to Southampton because ther are no train changes. It is also cheaper than a single. If you want to return on another day just order another for that date. The two day saver tickets are cheaper than an open return and if you return on the same day it is far cheaper than a return.
A great idea from Southern Trains and you can travel all the way from Portsmouth to London and back.
N.B. You can't use Virgin or GW trains on this ticket only Southern.

http://www.southernrailway.com

Thank you so much for this link, so much cheaper and quicker than coach link. Just the thing we need to get to southampton in october when flying over to gatwick from Spain. Have set a reminder to book in September