when should I buy tickets

doningtonphil

Hello
traveling to London in may to see a concert at o2. We are equidistant from lockerbie and carlisle. Travel south on wed 27th may, return home sat 30th. When is the best time to book these tickets for the best price?

Many thanks

phil

wealdroam

doningtonphil wrote: »

Hello
traveling to London in may to see a concert at o2. We are equidistant from lockerbie and carlisle. Travel south on wed 27th may, return home sat 30th. When is the best time to book these tickets for the best price?

Many thanks

phil

The cheaper Advance Single tickets will not be available until at least twelve weeks before the date of travel.

But to give an idea of what might be available then, I have looked at Wed 21 Jan and Sat 24 Jan.
For example:
Leave Carlisle at 08:06, arrive Euston at 12:34, Advance Single = £16.50 each.
Leave Euston at 12:43, arrive Carlisle at 17:00, Advance Single = £16.50 each.

With Advance Singles you must travel on the booked trains.

doningtonphil

Thanks wealdroam.

i just looked at those trips but they show as £24 each for me. What website are you using to get £16 each?

dzug1

I'm seeing the same prices as Wealdroam (using the FGW website) - true there are £24 tickets but for different times

wealdroam

doningtonphil wrote: »

Thanks wealdroam.

i just looked at those trips but they show as £24 each for me. What website are you using to get £16 each?

I used Southern's website, and they are still showing that £16.50 fare on the trains I mentioned, and many others for the return leg.

You haven't told us which website you used though.

It is important to realise that Advance Singles are sold on a quota basis. This means that there is a finite number available at each level and the cheapest layers will sell out.

doningtonphil

I looked at the trainline initially.

Do tickets go on sale 12 weeks to the day before a travel date or do they get released in blocks ie tickets for may are released at beginning of feb or something .

will booking as soon as they become available guarantee me best price or might other offers come along later?

Thanks for your help

dzug1

Booking as soon as tickets go on sale guarantees you will pay top price - the cheap advance tickets usually follow a few days or even weeks later


http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/44703.aspx is a rough guide to what's available. It's not always updated as soon as tickets are released


Many of the rail companies release tickets a week at a time


As a general rule if there are no advance tickets on sale several months ahead they haven't been released

wealdroam

doningtonphil wrote: »

I looked at the trainline initially.

Nothing wrong with 'looking' at thetrainline... just avoid their fees by buying from a real train operator.

doningtonphil wrote: »

Do tickets go on sale 12 weeks to the day before a travel date or do they get released in blocks ie tickets for may are released at beginning of feb or something .

It's probably right to say that Advance Singles do not go on sale before twelve weeks before travel, but I nor anyone else can guarantee this.
Equally, they are often released after that twelve week point. Weekend tickets are sometimes released much later due to later planning around engineering works.

doningtonphil wrote: »

will booking as soon as they become available guarantee me best price or might other offers come along later?

It has been known for cheaper tickets to be released later, but that is somewhat unusual.

On your journey Carlisle-London, the current cheapest Advance Single ticket ever available is £16.50 (although that will rise in January).
If you spot tickets at that price (or whatever that becomes after the new year fare rises) then buy them as they will not go down in price.