Reading to Manchester - Tickets from Islip?

martindow

A few years ago you could buy tickets from Islip to Manchester to travel from Reading to Manchester via London which were a cheaper option.

Does this still work? And if so what tickets do I need to ask for?

martindow

Abi_J wrote: »

There are online sites for this now.

Thanks Abi - can you point me to some of these sites please?

marlot

Consider splitting the journey at Banbury

daveyjp

martindow wrote: »

Thanks Abi - can you point me to some of these sites please?

nationalrail shows a route via Oxford.

You could also split the ticket to save.

martindow

Some years ago you could buy a ticket from Islip to Manchester which was priced as if you were travelling north but was valid via London. You could use these tickets to get on at Reading and travel via Paddington and Euston. The cost was less than buying a ticket from Reading to Manchester either direct or via London.

I can't find it now so maybe this quirk is gone.

I've tried splitting tickets at Banbury and other stations on the direct train but have found minimal if any savings.

yorkie2

It is still there.

However it does not have the cross-London marker, so you won't get itineraries via London (except at times when the booking sites are told not to offer cross-London tube transfers)

I'd imagine the Euston gateline staff won't like it, and it won't be accepted by the ticket barriers.

So actually using it is likely to be problematical I wouldn't do it without a full understanding of how and why it is valid, and a plan of what you would do if the ticket is not accepted (at current prices, the excess of a non-discounted Off Peak Return in one direction would be £17.40).

martindow

Thanks yorkie2. It does sound something of a gamble without evidence that this ticket is valid via London.

Can you point me towards a link so that I could print out something which justifies this routing?