Urgent help plse for 1st class train fares to Cornwall - what am I doing wrong?

littlewren

Sorry, but I'm posting again as I'm getting desperate now. Last year I booked First Class train tickets on August 1st at the cost of £207 for 2 people. This year, and further on in August, the cost is £331 !! Is this the standard price now for Advance tickets do you think or will there be a chance they will be cheaper?

There are two of us going, 2 adults, from Sandy to Falmouth Docks on October 12th to October 19th.

There are a few stipulations though. We don't want to split tickets and we need to travel on that day, because the accomodation starts on that day. (Someone suggested travelling the day after or before, but that's no good to us). Also, we need to travel at reasonable times of the day. We usually get the 10am (ish) train going and the 11am (ish) train coming back. We don't want to take the sleeper train either.

We want to go First Class as it's such a long journey from Paddington to Falmouth Docks.

Why is this so difficult to do at a reasonable price this year?

Please can someone help and tell me what I'm doing wrong and why I can't find cheaper tickets this year? I know they've gone up in price, but by over £100 for 2 people?

TIA, Carrie

jonrockb

Could be the case that the cheapest First class fares have already been sold/booked. There's only a limited amount of these fares available (in the case of the cheaper ones it can be as low as 1 seat per train)

littlewren

jonrockb wrote: »

Could be the case that the cheapest First class fares have already been sold/booked. There's only a limited amount of these fares available (in the case of the cheaper ones it can be as low as 1 seat per train)

I've been trying twice a day though since the end of July, so I don't see how I could have missed them?

spiro

You have picked what is likely to be the most expensive day and possibly time to travel for anyone wanting a weekend in the west country. Looks like the prices are reflecting that.

littlewren

spiro wrote: »

You have picked what is likely to be the most expensive day and possibly time to travel for anyone wanting a weekend in the west country. Looks like the prices are reflecting that.

We're going for a week, not a weekend. We've always travelled on a Friday and for the past couple of years have managed to find a reasonable price for First class.

spiro

littlewren wrote: »

We're going for a week, not a weekend. We've always travelled on a Friday and for the past couple of years have managed to find a reasonable price for First class.

I understand you are going for a week but Fridays are always more expensive. As an example if you did Weds/Weds at the same time of year you could pay £218 instead of £331 so I guess it is purely a case of supply and demand, more demand means higher prices.

littlewren

Thankyou, why has it gone up so much since last year though? We paid £124 less for both of us then, we've always gone on a Friday.

Quentin

The cheapest advance tix will have come on sale in July (around 3 months in advance), so you may have missed them.

They will just get more expensive the longer you leave it - or bite the bullet and go standard class, which will be well within your budget and not too painful!

littlewren

Quentin wrote: »

The cheapest advance tix will have come on sale in July (around 3 months in advance), so you may have missed them.

They will just get more expensive the longer you leave it - or bite the bullet and go standard class, which will be well within your budget and not too painful!

No we didn't want to go standard class for such a long journey, I had to go to A & E a couple of weeks ago for a suspected DVT and I still don't know why my leg has suddenly started aching & I'm being referred to hospital, so the thought of being squashed like we were before we started going First class is quite worrying for me. It was a bit of a nightmare last time, the girl opposite had some of her luggage by her feet and I couldn't stretch out.

spiro

littlewren wrote: »

It was a bit of a nightmare last time, the girl opposite had some of her luggage by her feet and I couldn't stretch out.

In that case get one of the airline style seats rather than ones with a table.

littlewren

spiro wrote: »

In that case get one of the airline style seats rather than ones with a table.

Yes but equally, on such a long journey you want to have some space in front of you to keep newspapers, food etc.