Split Ticketing: Report successful routes here

rev_henry

I travel the above route fairly regularly. Hardly anyone's heard of arnside I imagine; but this info would also apply to anyone going from Barrow, Lancaster, Preston or Manchester etc. I usually find splitting at Manchester and Sheffield cuts the cost, but not by much and only if you can get the advance purchase tickets. I also find that I can often go 1st class for a substantial part of the route for only a little more (e.g. £1), and this often still works out cheaper than the full fare standard class ticket without splitting. Did any of that make any sense?

elliewelly_2

Hi,
I am taking my OH to London to see a show as a suprise in July. Obviously the price is going to mount up so I thought I was being really organised and set myself a reminder to buy tickets 12 weeks in advance of the date to get cheap train tickets.

But when I checked, tickets for Manchester to London going 26th July and returning 27th are approx £62 for the cheapest return ticket.

I thought that by booking in advance I would be able to get a discounted ticket.

Should I book now or wait? Does anyone know when the best time is to buy discounted tickets? Does anyone know a good split ticket route? Having read through this thread I just tried going via Sheffield and Stoke on Trent but neither made any difference.

Your help would really be appreciated.

Thanks

dzug

elliewelly wrote: »

Hi,
I am taking my OH to London to see a show as a suprise in July. Obviously the price is going to mount up so I thought I was being really organised and set myself a reminder to buy tickets 12 weeks in advance of the date to get cheap train tickets.

But when I checked, tickets for Manchester to London going 26th July and returning 27th are approx £62 for the cheapest return ticket.

I thought that by booking in advance I would be able to get a discounted ticket.

Should I book now or wait? Does anyone know when the best time is to buy discounted tickets? Does anyone know a good split ticket route? Having read through this thread I just tried going via Sheffield and Stoke on Trent but neither made any difference.

Your help would really be appreciated.

Thanks

Wait - if the only ticket available is a walk on saver you might just as well buy it on the day.

Cheap tickets - either direct or via Sheffield - have not been released yet. 12 weeks is a myth. Just be patient - you won't lose and you may gain.

You may still have a problem though - you are travelling on a Saturday and Sunday. There is engineering work of some sort on the West Coast mainline just about every weekend for the foreseeable future which will mean that cheap tickets will be few in number and released late. Keep an eye on the Sheffield route - it may turn out to be your best bet.

alanrowell

elliewelly wrote: »

But when I checked, tickets for Manchester to London going 26th July and returning 27th are approx £62 for the cheapest return ticket.

According to the NXEC website you can only book up to 25th July which is why youy are finding only the open tickets which have no restrictions on them

Give it a few days or even weeks BUT remember

a) it's the first weekend of the school holidays
b) there are going to be engineering works on the West Coast main line most weekends for the rest of the year.

Either of these would make it harder to get cheap tickets, both of them will probably mean having to book as soon as they become available - if at all

Nenen

My dh and I want to go to Edinburgh for a weekend, travelling on either a Friday evening (any time after 5pm) or Saturday morning, and returning Sunday evening. Nationalexpresseastcoast quotes £203.60 each :eek: for a saver return. I know the train stops at Peterborough (need to change there) York and Newcastle. However, I'm a complete newbie to this and I've not been able to find a way to get the price down and stay on the same trains! If anyone could help I'd be very grateful. :beer:

dzug

Nenen wrote: »

My dh and I want to go to Edinburgh for a weekend, travelling on either a Friday evening (any time after 5pm) or Saturday morning, and returning Sunday evening. Nationalexpresseastcoast quotes £203.60 each :eek: for a saver return. I know the train stops at Peterborough (need to change there) York and Newcastle. However, I'm a complete newbie to this and I've not been able to find a way to get the price down and stay on the same trains! If anyone could help I'd be very grateful. :beer:

A saver return is a walk on fare.

Have you looked at cheap singles? There are usually some available (as long as you are not trying to book too far ahead) but Friday evenings can be difficult.

costingbunny_2

dzug wrote: »

Yes - just be patient. You have been taken in by the 'exactly 12 weeks' myth. It is rarely if ever true. They aren't released yet and probably won't be for a few weeks.

Also look at Megatrain - these will not be released until mid-June though.

What is that £175 fare? A walk on saver return, buy on the day, is less than £60 each so I can't see how you arrived at nearly 3 times that price.

i think I am really dumb but i am confused. Took the advice to wait and decided to check online today. Checked on trainline (i know they charge extra but i just used for convenience) and the return fare was still £175?? then checked the singles and I saw them for a total of £36 (going out on 1 Aug at 8.40am and back on same day at 19.55). went back to book these and no longer there, the singles ended up totalled about £60??????????? help, what am I doing wrong, i can't find the cheap singles again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:mad:

dzug1

costingbunny wrote: »

i think I am really dumb but i am confused. Took the advice to wait and decided to check online today. Checked on trainline (i know they charge extra but i just used for convenience) and the return fare was still £175?? then checked the singles and I saw them for a total of £36 (going out on 1 Aug at 8.40am and back on same day at 19.55). went back to book these and no longer there, the singles ended up totalled about £60??????????? help, what am I doing wrong, i can't find the cheap singles again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:mad:

Well they are there - just checked. No idea what you are doing wrong, unless you are putting several passengers in (3 maybe?) and assuming that the price that comes up is per passenger - it's not, it's for all of you.


It is Chesterfield isn't it?? Have lost track.

A walk on return is £58.80 each.

Advance singles on the trains you have said are (each) £18 out and £21 back (or £18 if you wait another half hour).

costingbunny_2

dzug1 wrote: »

Well they are there - just checked. No idea what you are doing wrong, unless you are putting several passengers in (3 maybe?) and assuming that the price that comes up is per passenger - it's not, it's for all of you.


It is Chesterfield isn't it?? Have lost track.

A walk on return is £58.80 each.

Advance singles on the trains you have said are (each) £18 out and £21 back (or £18 if you wait another half hour).

God help me-i have been putting in 3 passengers! thank you so much for sticking with me on this one - i will book them now i think. don 't want to panic you but i work numbers for a living - cripes!!

ticketcollector

Be aware that as of 18th May, a lot of Saver Returns priced by Cross Country (Ex Central Trains) will be abolished and changed to Day Returns.
Also the old rule where you could travel on a saver at any time with a railcard has now been abolished on Cross Country Trains.

From 18 May, there will be important changes to the CrossCountry fares structure. These changes include:

• Delivering a simpler, more transparent and fairer system for advanced travel through a structure based on up to five levels of ticket, with many fares significantly cheaper than their current equivalent.
• Providing clarity for customers, employees and retailers on when walk-up tickets can be used, by removing 13 different restrictions for Cheap Day tickets and eight restrictions for Savers.
• Aligning fare conditions with those used by other TOCs by adopting standard time restrictions for Saver and Cheap Day tickets.
  
• Reducing opportunities for the misuse of return ticket portions on most short distance flows. Monthly return tickets for short distance journeys have produced problems for revenue protection and are replaced by day issue tickets of similar prices.
• Implementing the same First Class season ticket multiplier as other Intercity TOCs to remove anomalies, and introducing a new First Saver Return on most flows to generate off-peak travel.
• Prices of Group travel products and the Weekend Upgrade have remained unaltered.
  
  
• Please also note that Saver Half tickets have been withdrawn on all CrossCountry priced flows, except flows in the North West, which should be priced by Virgin (West Coast). Finally the railcard exemption from Saver restrictions no longer applies to any CrossCountry priced flow or journey. Customers holding railcards will have the Saver restriction applied to their journey and therefore can no longer travel during periods when Saver tickets are not valid for travel.
  
• From May 2008, period return fares have been removed from most flows with a distance of less than 50 miles, to prevent repeated use of tickets. Where no Standard Day Return fare previously existed, as the Saver fare was
  unrestricted we have introduced an Standard Day Return fare at the same rate as the Saver, and have also introduced Cheap Day Return fares where these did not previously exist.