Cheap Train Fares guide discussion

chazzybiatch

I was wondering if anyone could help me find cheap tickets from Huddersfield to Basingstoke or Micheldever, on the 27th, I've had a quick look and just started to search from manchester pic, and the cheapest with my 16-25 railcard was £26 but any other savings would be a great help.

dzug1

There's a £15.50 fare for starters - on the 1355 departure from Manchester - through fare to Micheldever. And £23.10 on several other trains

miller

Rainbow Day at Eastleigh Train Station
Unlimited travel on the South West Trains network for £10 on Saturday, 20 April 2013.

Submit details and obtain voucher for redemption at Salisbury ticket office between Wednesday, 17 April and Saturday, 20 April.

Full details:
http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/rainbowday.aspx
a link to the terms and conditions is also on that page.

oliveoyl

Are there any rules about buying a longer journey ticket and joining the train at a station later than you are supposed to? Reason being, I want to go to Ipswich in a few weeks, but on the way I want to stop overnight at March. Now if I book from Cleethorpes to Ipswich it costs £12.70 advance, but Cleethorpes to March £21.00, and March to Ipswich is £20.40 advance.
So, can I book 2 x Cleethorpes to Ipswich, and just get off/on at March?

paulineb_2

If its an advance fare you may not be able to as far as I know. Id check that out before you buy the tickets.

oliveoyl

Thanks. Think I just found the answer on one of Martin's guides too.
Warning! Travelling short: cheap but banned

Cheap advance fares are often scarce on more popular routes, especially commuter ones. This means it's sometimes possible to buy a ticket for a longer journey that incorporates your route at a cheaper price and make some serious savings.
A popular one that was shut down, for example, was Chester to London. Peaktime cheap fares weren't usually available, but for some journeys starting in Wales, going via Chester, they were. This means that absurdly, it was actually substantially cheaper to travel further.
Many people still do this, on lots of different routes and it's known as travelling 'short'. Sadly, it's a no-go as it's against advance tickets' terms and conditions, and you can get fined.
Most other non-advance tickets allow you to get off early or break your journey - check the ticket’s terms and conditions or ask at the station.

dzug1

oliveoyl wrote: »

Are there any rules about buying a longer journey ticket and joining the train at a station later than you are supposed to? Reason being, I want to go to Ipswich in a few weeks, but on the way I want to stop overnight at March. Now if I book from Cleethorpes to Ipswich it costs £12.70 advance, but Cleethorpes to March £21.00, and March to Ipswich is £20.40 advance.
So, can I book 2 x Cleethorpes to Ipswich, and just get off/on at March?

There is such a rule that applies to 'advance' tickets - they can only be used for the precise journey specified on them on the booked trains only. So you can't get off at March and resume the journey.

The rule does not apply to off peak tickets (in the main) and never to anytime tickets.

Your £20.40 from March to Ipswich is not an 'advance' ticket BTW. It's an off peak day single

edrandall

What about the opposite, leaving the train before you are supposed to - I guess this is not allowed either. But what if you would be breaking the journey there anyway, for a connection?
For example right now I need to buy tickets from Staplehurst (Ashford Line, Kent) to Newcastle ... by "splitting" the fare, it seems the Staplehurst-London leg is the expensive part (no Advance prices on SouthEastern....) and nothing I do seems to lower the price of the that leg below £21.90; BUT I just found I can get tickets from Staplehurst-Birmingham for £13.90 (2 singles, with Senior railcard)
Really what's to stop me from using this to get across London and leave an empty seat on Virgin to Birmingham for some lucky person who might otherwise be standing?! The only spanner in the works is that I want Kings Cross not Euston, but you get an underground zone ticket, right?

terryw

For booking June 24 I am getting Staplehurst to London (London Bridge) for £9.55 with a senior railcard with SE.

Regards Euston to KX, these stations are very close (one tube stop or 3 bus-stops or a 5 minute walk) and you can use your senior bus pass (if you have one) free in London at all times.

edrandall

Sorry I should have said that I'm returning next day, day-returns are out for this one.

Can a ticket that says "London terrminals" be used to get from London Bridge to Kings Cross, or indeed any London mainline station of my choosing?
The Thameslink line should make sense, if I am allowed to use it.