Advanced vs Anytime conundrum

loobs40

I am planning to get a train to Nottingham from Luton Parkway at peak time on 18th Dec.

Looking at the fare options it will cost considerably more to buy a ticket from Luton than it will to buy a ticket from St Pancras, the starting point for the train. It seems that I can buy an Advanced ticket from St Pancras but only have the option of an Anytime ticket from Luton !!


Can I board the train at Luton with a ticket that has St Pancras as the starting point?

dzug1

loobs40 wrote: »

I am planning to get a train to Nottingham from Luton Parkway at peak time on 18th Dec.

Looking at the fare options it will cost considerably more to buy a ticket from Luton than it will to buy a ticket from St Pancras, the starting point for the train. It seems that I can buy an Advanced ticket from St Pancras but only have the option of an Anytime ticket from Luton !!


Can I board the train at Luton with a ticket that has St Pancras as the starting point?

No you can't, not with the advance ticket. With the anytime you could


You MAY get away with it but will have to buy a full priced ticket if you get caught


Safer to book a later train

loobs40

Grrrr :mad:

Ticket is actually for my daughter who is attending an interview at the university. She has no choice on train times other than to go earlier which is not logistically possible for her

yorkie2

I will assume you are referring to either the 0713 or 0749 departures from Luton Airport Parkway (LTN), which arrive at Nottingham 0831 and 0917, respectively.

If so, I agree it is more expensive from LTN, as these trains cost £63 for an Advance from St Pancras, compared to £73 for an Anytime from LTN.

A friend of mine made a website which identifies cheap "splits". I am not permitted to link to the website under MSE's rules, but I can reveal that it has identified the following tickets which will reduce the cost to only £48.70, a saving of approx £25.

• £8.70: LUTON AIRPORT PW to BEDFORD STATIONS, ANYTIME DAY S route ANY PERMITTED
• £12.70: BEDFORD STATIONS to KETTERING., ANYTIME DAY S route ANY PERMITTED
• £15.80: KETTERING. to LEICESTER., ANYTIME DAY S route ANY PERMITTED
• £11.50: LEICESTER. to NOTTINGHAM., ANYTIME DAY S route ANY PERMITTED

Note that this assumes travel on the 0749 Luton Airport Parkway to Nottingham service, as the train must call at Bedford, Kettering and Leicester, which this service does.

I am happy to provide such advice here, but I don't log in so often so may miss the thread or post too late. I am involved with a forum where we are happy to advise promptly, but obviously I am not allowed to link to that site either.

I would recommend purchasing the tickets in advance, as it may take the ticket clerk some time to issue all 4 tickets, though if plenty of time is allowed prior to departure, they can be bought on the day. A through reservation for the train, from origin to destination, can also be obtained free of charge when you purchase the tickets.

The prices shown above assume no Railcard is held.

Hope that helps!

loobs40

My daughter has a young persons railcard and I have managed to get down to £39.50 so far.....

I assume there is no problem buying these tickets online and collecting from our nearest station ?

wealdroam

loobs40 wrote: »

I assume there is no problem buying these tickets online and collecting from our nearest station ?

That's right... assuming your local station has a machine that allows that.

dzug1

wealdroam wrote: »

That's right... assuming your local station has a machine that allows that.

You'll need the card used to pay for the tickets as well

yorkie2

loobs40 wrote: »

My daughter has a young persons railcard and I have managed to get down to £39.50 so far.....

The above tickets would cost approx £32 with a Railcard.

loobs40 wrote: »

I assume there is no problem buying these tickets online and collecting from our nearest station ?

No problem doing that.

wealdroam

yorkie2 wrote: »

The above tickets would cost approx £32 with a Railcard.

At the time the OP wants to travel?

Is the £12 minimum fare applicable to some of those before 10am?