best date to book train leeds-london 29 may return 1 june 2011

melb

hi there I know there is a "best time" to book advance tickets but can anyone advise what this is please for the above details. a couple of years ago i just struck lucky booking tickets in the october half term and got 2 adults and 2 kids return for £66 using a family and friends railcard and would love to do the same this time in may/june. i had a look on eastcoast trains that I used last time and the single fares for the 29th May were from £148 each so i hope i would be able to get them cheaper than that! thanks for any help

wealdroam

melb wrote: »

hi there I know there is a "best time" to book advance tickets but can anyone advise what this is please for the above details. a couple of years ago i just struck lucky booking tickets in the october half term and got 2 adults and 2 kids return for £66 using a family and friends railcard and would love to do the same this time in may/june. i had a look on eastcoast trains that I used last time and the single fares for the 29th May were from £148 each so i hope i would be able to get them cheaper than that! thanks for any help

When you looked on the East Coast website, did you see the box on the right of the screen that says tickets are available up to and including 28 May?

You are simply too early for the cheapest tickets.

Twelve weeks is the so called optimum period, but they are often late.

melb

hi no i didn't see that, but thanks. Maybe I'm too late rather than too early then as i think it's less that 12 weeks til 29 May?

Livingthedream

If you use the same website that wealdroam quotes and the box he refers to, then below it is the 'Get Alerts' click box. Click that, enter your journey details and East Coast Trains will email you when the cheap advance tickets are released for that route.

eslick

2 weeks ago I was looking for 4 of us over Easter Weekend, first class tickets were £264 for the four of us, really only checked first class as work had paid that for one ticket a couple of weeks before. Checked again this week and the price was now £350, also did find the train line cheaper than east coast oddly.

melb

I've just signed up for their cheap fares email and it said my dates had already been released so looks like I might have left it too late. thanks anyway

Livingthedream

eslick wrote: »

also did find the train line cheaper than east coast oddly.

:eek:

Shocking, but IMHO I've never notice any difference, but I'd still be weary of using the trainline, they have the worst customer services out of all the online ticket retailers and sorting out problems with your tickets/claiming delay repay can be a nightmare.

So unless their really really cheaper I wouldn't bother with the trainline, just use another Train Companies' website, there's loads to choose from.

wealdroam

melb wrote: »

I've just signed up for their cheap fares email and it said my dates had already been released so looks like I might have left it too late. thanks anyway

Well, clearly that thingy doesn't work too well.

The cheap tickets for your dates have definitely not yet been released.

If you look at similar days a week earlier, 22 and 25 May, you will see lots of cheap tickets.
e.g. lots of tickets to London at £19.60 out, and £10.25 for the return leg.

Keep looking every day for cheap tickets on your dates.
But being a bank holiday weekend, maybe even later before those tickets become available.

dzug1

melb wrote: »

hi no i didn't see that, but thanks. Maybe I'm too late rather than too early then as i think it's less that 12 weeks til 29 May?

It isn't EXACTLY 12 weeks - it varies quite considerably.* And at this distance out they are not going to be sold out already on every single train even if they have been released.

* I've known it be as little as one week ahead - but that was exceptional

melb

I forgot it was bank holiday weekend - I was just thinking of it in terms of the kids' half-term break. don't know whether to risk booking the hotel rooms as they're a really good price but don't want to be stuck with expensive train fares as it rather defeats the object.

terryw

I tend to use https://www.eastcoast.co.uk rather than the trainline. The cheapies are usually issued about noon each Thursday.