Cheap Train Fares guide discussion

Doc_N

topgazza wrote: »

I am always puzzled why, as a commuter, I have to pay for a 7 day ticket rather than a 5 day Mon-Fri ticket ? I don't want to travel into London on the weekend and the only reason for travel is for work, like 99.9% of fellow commuters. It defies any sensible logic why they don't offer a Mon-Fri season ticket on a one week, One month etc basis ?

It wouldn't cost you any less if they did - you'd just end up with a 5 day ticket costing the same as your present 7 day ticket.

It would make no business sense for them to offer a 5 day ticket at a lower price, if, as you say, 99.9% of commuters would buy it.

aleph_0

topgazza wrote: »

I am always puzzled why, as a commuter, I have to pay for a 7 day ticket rather than a 5 day Mon-Fri ticket ? I don't want to travel into London on the weekend and the only reason for travel is for work, like 99.9% of fellow commuters. It defies any sensible logic why they don't offer a Mon-Fri season ticket on a one week, One month etc basis ?

I Agree with Doc N's answer. A 7 day season is essentially a "5 days for the price of 3/4, plus weekends free".

topgazza, what you can do if you're not buying annuals, is buy season tickets for any period greater than a month on a pro-rata basis to the monthly season ticket. So you can buy e.g. a 32-day Monday-Friday ticket, and avoid paying for weekends, and time tickets to line up with your holidays (although often, of course, an annual is still cheaper)

miller

aleph_0 wrote: »

I Agree with Doc N's answer. A 7 day season is essentially a "5 days for the price of 3/4, plus weekends free"

Most of the time. There are some flows where 5 x Anytime Day Returns are cheaper (e.g. some SWT journeys away from London).

Jbirdsey

Hi everyone, I have been avidly reading all of the tips I can in order to plan for a wedding return trip London-Corbridge (past Newcastle) which happens to be just before Christmas.

My specifics are Friday 19th December-Sunday 21st December 2014. Flexible times, happy to look at any/all ways to make this trip as cost efficient as possible.

Whilst I completely understand the 12 week rule, I would like to ask if anyone has experience of the London-Newcastle route around Christmas and the sort of prices I might have to pay, or, any tips for maximising discounts around this time.

We could potentially have a group of people so we could use the east coast group saver online. However, I have also looked into the Two together railcard, as I really only need to worry about me and my husband getting there. FYI we also have a network railcard each (well, husbands is a SE gold card but I believe this is the equivalent in the NR Area)

Thank you in advance for anyone who might be able to help with this!

dzug1

The cheapest walkon return ticket on this route is £129 a head - so don't pay more than that


Buy the ticket from Kings Cross to Corbridge if you are going to travel by rail for the last leg - it's cheaper than buying separate tickets. (The fare above is to Corbridge)


If you are travelling by rail from somewhere in London to Kings Cross look at booking from there to Corbridge - sometimes it's cheaper


Book on the East Coast site (which may give a discount) as soon as the advance fares are released. If there are no advance fares at all - even at busy times like that - then they haven't been released. Popular trains may sell out fast but there will nearly always be some availability at stupid o'clock


The two together railcard will almost certainly be worthwhile. The Network cards won't, I'm pretty sure, help.

terryw

I have traveled Ncle/KX at Xmas time and always obtained the cheapest tickets (9.90 GPB each way with railcard). I feel fairly certain that if you are really flexible about times you may well achieve this.

On the day the tickets come out (usually about noon on Thursday) keep checking the East Coast site to get first dabs! Obviously get an email reminder from EC as well.

Best of luck

miller

If you do not have an account with East Coast, I'd set one up now and opt in to their marketing & East Coast rewards. I cannot remember when, but they have sent me 25% off codes/special links before.

Also, even though it is unlikely to be of use on this occasion as the advances are likely to be cheaper, bear in mind their 50% off super off peak singles when bought in conjunction with another ticket:
http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/superoffpeak
only works to/from London King's Cross

terryw is also right about the timing of advance tickets, when I've been booking Thursday has always been the day. The email reminder actually arrived about an hour after I found they had been released last time (so it could be 11 ish or earlier).

miller

Just another note about East Coast rewards, if you and your OH spend £100 then you will be able to get 2 x First Class Lounge passes @ 50 points each:
http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/joinrewards

historian1936

I don't think your article is correct regarding split tickets and delays. If the train for the first part of a journey is delayed so that you miss the second train, then provided you get the ticket signed by an official at the end of the first half, then you are normally able to travel on the next available train. I have often done that on Greater Anglia who's performance is the worst of any train company I have ever experienced. Also, the off peak ticket time restrictions apply to the scheduled arrival/departure, not the actual. So if the train is delayed and runs outside the off peak times then it does not matter, your ticket is still valid for that scheduled service. What you do have to watch is where a train is scheduled outside the off peak time, but runs late into the off peak time, you cannot use your off peak ticket because its scheduled time is still 'on peak'. You just have to let it go and wait for the next train scheduled as 'off peak'.

Doc_N

historian1936 wrote: »

I don't think your article is correct regarding split tickets and delays. If the train for the first part of a journey is delayed so that you miss the second train, then provided you get the ticket signed by an official at the end of the first half, then you are normally able to travel on the next available train.

Often wondered about that - and does it apply when there are different Train Operating Companies?

For example, if I buy a cheap, restricted, through ticket from A to C, via B, with the A-B section operated by one company and the B-C section operated by another company, will a delay on A-B enable me to catch a later train for the 2nd section of the journey?

Or would I have to buy another ticket?