Discount on ScotRail sleeper service?

VodkaSorbet

Hi,

Is it possible to get any discount on the fare for Euston - Fort William on the ScotRail sleeper service.

I need a one-way fare at the end of May and it is quoting as £150.

Thanks for any help!

thelawnet

Yes it is.

It's too early to book now.

Tickets go on sale about 12 weeks in advance.

Check here: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html

VodkaSorbet

great, thanks a lot.

never thought it would be too early to buy a train ticket

alanrowell

You should also look at the Bargain Berths

agrinnall

You might also find that Scottish newspapers could offer cheap fares with vouchers, but I'm not sure how you would easily find out about it unless you have frequent access to the papers.

redux

They seem to have altered how you look up Bargain Berths, and it's now integrated into the ordinary mixing deck search.

I found a fare of £36.40 in the second week of April, with only more expensive ones available for a couple of weeks later so far, so assume that the best fares for the end of May will be released in about a month's time or slightly more, but keep checking even before that.

Edit: it doesn't look too disastrous if you leave it a bit nearer the time. Wednesday night this week or Tuesday next week have fares from £66.10

I assume that Fridays and Sundays will be booked up more quickly or cost a bit more, so keep in mind going a day early, stuff like that.

dan-_3

I looked into this a couple of years ago when I needed to get from London to Inverness. By booking 12 weeks in advance, I managed to get two bargain berth tickets for £39 each.

When I enquired, I was told that tickets were released on Fridays, but I was unsure whether this meant 00:01 on Friday morning (Thursday night) or any other time during the day on Friday.

I just happened to check the booking site on Thursday evening to find that bargain tickets had already been released and the £19 ones were already gone. Unless the booking system has changed, I guess this means that bargain tickets go on sale sometime around close-of-business at the Scotrail office on Thursday, 12 weeks before travel.

If I was you, I would log on to the site on Thursday evening and Friday morning, either 13 or 12 weeks before your travel date (depending what day of the week you need to travel.