Cheapest Train Fares Discussion Area

wealdroam

loulou2702 wrote: »

I need to get my son home from Plymouth to London for Christmas. I have waited patiently for the 12 weeks window to open and now East Coast trains are selling train tickets for Mid December. However the cheapest fare is still £27.50 ( after 1/3 off using his 16 - 25 card ). But I know that they offer these tickets as low at £8 odd

Could anyone shed light on this - do these tickets get cheaper and if so, at what stage? Thanks very much

Have you considered Megatrain from Exeter?

Tickets are not yet available beyond mid November, but picking a random midweek date, 7 November, tickets are there on several trains from Exeter St Davids to Waterloo at £6.00.

Combine this with an Advance Single from Plymouth to Exeter St D at £2 or £3-ish, total could be less than £10.00.

A problem is that Megatrain tickets tend to be released later than ordinary Advance Singles. So waiting for the Megatrain tickets may mean losing ordinary Advance Singles.

batty222319

Hi there everyone.

Myself, my wife and 2 kids (5 & 8) years old are travelling to Wigan from Edinburgh on the 29th of December and having checked out train ticket prices (coming in at around (£145 return:eek:) i was wondering if any one knew of any better deals.

Thanks in advance and Kind Regards.

dzug1

batty222319 wrote: »

Hi there everyone.

Myself, my wife and 2 kids (5 & 8) years old are travelling to Wigan from Edinburgh on the 29th of December and having checked out train ticket prices (coming in at around (£145 return:eek:) i was wondering if any one knew of any better deals.

Thanks in advance and Kind Regards.

I assume you are coming back the same day? It's difficult to give complete advice without knowing the date of the return journey.

Anyway, a Family and Friends railcard should more than pay for itself on that journey

Assuming it is a day return then advance singles at roughly £66 total are available that day if you are flexible on times - plus the railcard and it's still well under £100.

If it's not the same day it depends on availability on the day you return - in principle the same deal (or even cheaper) could be available

RachyBaby

This is such a great idea!

I commute from Ewell West (nr Espom, Surrey) to Bank (Zone 1).

I can't fork out for an annual ticket and the monthly cost has gone up from £182.50 to £193.60.

So Step 1, I decided to walk from London Bridge to Bank (<15 mins!) which brings the cost down to £172.50 for not using the tube.

Then, I checked out all the split ticketing options - eg. splitting ticket at Clapham Junction, Wimbledon, etc. The best option comes out at Vauxhall:

Ewell West to Vauxhall = £111.40
Vauxhall to London Terminals (I can use the overground to London Bridge from Waterloo on this ticket)= £45.00
So £156.40 in total, a saving of £16.10 (£192.20 PER YEAR!)

And if I take into account using the London Terminals and walking rather than one stop on the Waterloo and City Line, I'll save £37.20 per month, which equates to a SAVING OF £446.40 PER YEAR!)

(So long as I don't get lazy and give up the walk!)

:T
So even us regular London users can benefit and beat the price hikes!!!

sam10

Hey all,

I'm planning a trip right at the end of March (leaving 29, 30 or 31st) from Totnes or Plymouth in Devon, to preferably Northallerton or Darlington, but Leeds or York could work too.

Staying for four or five days.

We're not regular train travellers, and as you can see we are flexible on a few things, so there are so many variables!

Hoping someone on here might have planned a similar journey before? Don't mind if the journey is a little longer than it needs to be - as long as we can make a saving on the full price tickets!

dzug1

sam10 wrote: »

Hey all,

I'm planning a trip right at the end of March (leaving 29, 30 or 31st) from Totnes or Plymouth in Devon, to preferably Northallerton or Darlington, but Leeds or York could work too.

Staying for four or five days.

We're not regular train travellers, and as you can see we are flexible on a few things, so there are so many variables!

Hoping someone on here might have planned a similar journey before? Don't mind if the journey is a little longer than it needs to be - as long as we can make a saving on the full price tickets!

Well Cross Country who run the through trains on your route are not normally very generous with cheap advance tickets these days - they do exist, but normally at such a rate that a single each way often works out at more than a walkon off peak return fare.

I'd suggest travelling via London - First Great Western (for the trip to London) and East Coast (for the trip on) do tend to have wider availability.

And a look at Grand Central Trains may be worth while

gavcradd

This might be useful for someone, I know people can search through these forums so I'll post what I've found.

Stoke to Bolton (Stoke station -> Machester Piccadilly -> Bolton Horwich Parkway) was £31 for an anytime same day return. However, by starting at Uttoxeter instead (Uttoxeter -> Stoke -> Manchester Piccadilly -> Boltn Horwich Parkway), the fare drops to £17. Bizarre.

I know that there's been some discussion of this being banned as "travelling short", but seeing as I'm supposed to change at Stoke anyway, I don't see how I can ever be found out.

Useful for someone I hope!

marialionza

does anyone know the best way to cut journey London-Liverpool(Lime St) and viceversa? Thanks

richardw

Try Stafford and Crewe.

marialionza

richardw wrote: »

Try Stafford and Crewe.

costs about £42