Man>Bristol

clo2410

I need to make this journey afew times over the next few months, has anyone found a way to get it cheaper than £90?! I'm 32 so as far as I know there's no rail card I can apply for. 

yorkie2

I found a price of £40.26 looking at a random day and time for next week.

The key is to use a split ticket provider; if you book with CrossCountry directly the same trains would cost more money; this is because XC charge a premium for Manchester to Bristol, which is greater than the sum of the individual parts.

There is no reason to pay extra; if you get an e-ticket with a split ticket provider, you will get all tickets on one PDF and you will get a through itinerary, it's all one transaction/purchase, and you do not lose any rights compared to a through ticket.

See screenshot: https://ibb.co/ggnPfD7

tofu-eater_3

Megabus coach.It's got tickets from Manchester to Bristol as low as £14.96 ten days in advance.and £20.95 three days in advance

macman

Basics: what time of day, what day of the week?

jimbo6977

Man is greater than Bristol
Eh?

martindow

jimbo6977 said:

Man is greater than Bristol
Eh?

They are both lovely cities.  I think Man = Bristol !

landsberger64

Splitting the journey at Brum usually works well. I'm looking at Trainpal for a week from now and the cost is between £38 to £50 single with Cross Country

yorkie2

landsberger64 said:

Splitting the journey at Brum usually works well. I'm looking at Trainpal for a week from now and the cost is between £38 to £50 single with Cross Country

What date/time?

Problem with Trainpal is it only does one split; for this journey you need a booking site that allows for more than that, e.g. Trainsplit.

Voyager2002

I suggest sitting down and manually exploring possible splits, obviously at B'ham but also at Cheltenham and doubtless many other places. And the Megabus run between B'ham and Bristol is generally very affordable and not too long for comfort, beginning right outside the railway station.

yorkie2

Voyager2002 said:

I suggest sitting down and manually exploring possible splits, obviously at B'ham but also at Cheltenham and doubtless many other places.

that could take hours, and would you actually find cheaper splits than Trainsplit?

Voyager2002

yorkie2 said:

Voyager2002 said:

I suggest sitting down and manually exploring possible splits, obviously at B'ham but also at Cheltenham and doubtless many other places.

that could take hours, and would you actually find cheaper splits than Trainsplit?

If you are serious about saving money you need to spend time and effort doing so. And yes: trainsplit only splits once, yet there are at least two points on this route where a split could give you serious savings.