Cheap travel to manchester

burbs_2

Hi

Can someone give me a hand please - I need to get from Plymouth to manchester on saturday the 2nd of July (for around 12 noon) and return on the sunday. i want to go as cheap as possible, there are 4 adults travelling in total. I have scoured the net and cheapest train tickets i can find is £411 and cheapest air fare is £400. can anyone advise me on cheaper fares than this or where to get cheaper fares as i have only looked at the main places ie. virgin train.

I dont really want to drive but will probably end up doing just that.

any advice would be brilliant

slinks

it's usually cheaper to "Buy Virgin Value" tickets on their site by booking at least 14 days in advance. however, i just had a look and it was at least £80 each and you'd have to travel at a certain time of day

national express are cheaper at £53 each return and if you enter the promotional code CSSCFIFTEEN you get 15% off that too! but... it takes hours and there's none that get there before late afternoon unless you travel the night before *gulp*

good luck burbs!!

sockospice

slinks wrote:

it's usually cheaper to "Buy Virgin Value" tickets on their site by booking at least 14 days in advance. however, i just had a look and it was at least £80 each and you'd have to travel at a certain time of day

national express are cheaper at £53 each return and if you enter the promotional code CSSCFIFTEEN you get 15% off that too! but... it takes hours and there's none that get there before late afternoon unless you travel the night before *gulp*

good luck burbs!!

I just checked and the 14 day advance ticket was £80 for 4 people (ie £20 each)

Thats a bargain if you ask me, but yes, you are limited to travelling on that specific train.

slinks

sockospice wrote:

I just checked and the 14 day advance ticket was £80 for 4 people (ie £20 each)

Thats a bargain if you ask me, but yes, you are limited to travelling on that specific train.

there's a fault on their site that it comes up for me at £80 each but yep you're right, it is only £20 each at certain times - the trainline doesn't come up with that fault!

but... that's just for a single so a return journey is at least £40. can't seem to find a return though at the moment burbs... stooopid virgin site :mad:

sockospice

I went through thetrainline.com , as Virgin's website is rubbish. Don't know how far it is to your nearest airport but have you looked into flying - there may be some cheap flights out there somewhere

burbs_2

thanks everyone. spoke to Virgin on the phone - a return for £40 if i book at least 14 days in advance and specify trains and also subject to avaliablitly. This is a bargain i think. I cannot seem to find the same prices on the internet though for some reason

student100

Hmm... not of any great help to you, but this is a bit weird:

Plymouth - Manchester Saver Return £102.90

or

Plymouth - Bristol Parkway Saver Return £40.40
Bristol Parkway - Manchester Saver Return £55.20
(total cost: £95.60)

You don't even need to change trains in Bristol, it's exactly the same train, same ticket restrictions etc...


I don't know if you can save more by buying different tickets for other parts of the route, whether you can save more by changing tickets somewhere else etc...
(now there's an idea for a website that pieces together the cheapest set of tickets spanning the same route...)

slinks

burbs wrote:

thanks everyone. spoke to Virgin on the phone - a return for £40 if i book at least 14 days in advance and specify trains and also subject to avaliablitly. This is a bargain i think. I cannot seem to find the same prices on the internet though for some reason

click here for the trainline website...

fill in the details of your journey on the left on the main page. try an early time such as 6am...

at the bottom of the next page click on "check availability and prices"...

look for the dark blue font that says "single fares from £20" and click on "click here for single fares" for your outward journey first...

i found a 7.20am journey gets you to manchester at 12.54 and costs £21 for that leg of the journey...

however! i couldn't find a fare cheaper than £82 on the 3rd!! nightmare!! :eek:

* actually, if you're willing to spend 6 hours in the middle of the night in newport, you can get that leg of the journey for £19!!! :eek: leaves manchester at 8.46pm and arrives in plymouth at 9.21am :rotfl: *

philsu

Have you looked on Midland Mainline site, we managed to get tickets called "twosomes" - Manchester to London return just £36 for both. You would have to change trains though, we have to change at Sheffield but think it's worth it for such cheap tickets.