Cheap Train Fares guide discussion

dzug1

It might do - do the sums. It would save a bit more on later trains from Paddington if you thought it worth waiting to save around £3

lesshaste

dzug1 wrote: »

It might do - do the sums. It would save a bit more on later trains from Paddington if you thought it worth waiting to save around £3

Do you have to buy separate singles from london->didcot, didcot->bristol to be able to use the network railcard discount?

cosmojohnson

lesshaste wrote: »

Do you have to buy separate singles from london->didcot, didcot->bristol to be able to use the network railcard discount?

Yes - you won't get a discount on the through journey London-Bristol, as the latter is outside the Network area. Didcot is the last station on that line in the Network Railcard area so you'd have to split your tickets there.

dzug1

The 'best' way of doing it (but your times don't fit) would be to get an off peak day return (or travelcard) from Didcot to London

With regard to your earlier query, buying a single ticket from (outside London) to (zone 1 station) is generally around £3 extra on a ticket just to the London terminal. Oyster will be cheaper in this case. If you need to travel around - check how much the add on travelcard is - it does vary between stations.

lesshaste

Seems neither splitting the return part and getting a railcard nor getting a ticket directly to a tube station save any money. Maybe the three ticket solution really is the cheapest (split out, one ticket back)?

dzug1

If you stick to those trains it's highly likely

But for example out on the 0600 and back on the 1930 on a random Wednesday in March is £47 return (£23.50 each way). You may be able to replicate that if you know far enough ahead when you are travelling

thelawnet

If you make any other train travel apart from this monthly trip to London, then a season ticket for a small part of the journey that you also use for the other travel will allow you to use tickets that split at stations your train doesn't stop at; in this case it's a good idea to split at Cholsey, since Bristol - Cholsey is the same price as Bristol - Didcot, and Cholsey - London is cheaper than Didcot - London.

lesshaste

thelawnet wrote: »

If you make any other train travel apart from this monthly trip to London, then a season ticket for a small part of the journey that you also use for the other travel will allow you to use tickets that split at stations your train doesn't stop at; in this case it's a good idea to split at Cholsey, since Bristol - Cholsey is the same price as Bristol - Didcot, and Cholsey - London is cheaper than Didcot - London.

This sounds fiendish but I don't get it. Would you mind spelling it out in a bit more detail? Do you mean get a Didcot to Reading season ticket and then split the tickets at Cholsey using the Didcot to Reading season ticket to fill the gap?

mollygrub

Hello everyone, we are attempting to travel from Wellington, Shropshire to Bath on Sunday late morning to get to Bath sometime early afternoon and then return on Monday leaving Bath late morning.. i am struggling to find a cheap method of doing this.. can anyone give me any tips on splitting the travel or whatever we have to do as we cannot afford the prices i am finding on the normal sites... help.. thank you so much... :rotfl:

cosmojohnson

mollygrub wrote: »

Hello everyone, we are attempting to travel from Wellington, Shropshire to Bath on Sunday late morning to get to Bath sometime early afternoon and then return on Monday leaving Bath late morning.. i am struggling to find a cheap method of doing this.. can anyone give me any tips on splitting the travel or whatever we have to do as we cannot afford the prices i am finding on the normal sites... help.. thank you so much... :rotfl:

At this late notice most of the really cheap Advance tickets will have gone. I can see some for £40 (outward) and £32/£36 (return leg) that suit your times; so just under £80 (but you would be tied to specific trains).

Splitting at Didcot Parkway will probably save you around a tenner - make sure you book the same trains so you don't need to change on the Paddington-Bath leg.

A flexible ticket for the whole trip is £91.70. For a 180-odd mile journey you may or may not find this reasonable...