MoneySavingExpert.com Cheapest Train Fares Article Discussion

sheppy26

Hello, there do not appear to have been any posts on this one for a while - unless I'm reading it wrong!

I travel a fair bit by train and have found that the First Great Western website is good for booking tickets, and they do not charge a fee for using credit cards or American Express. And it is even suggests on the website that 2 singles might be cheaper, and it can be used for any journeys, not just FGW ones. This has worked out for me to be true on several occassions for instance a saver return from Bristol to London Paddington is £49. But I have just booked a single up for next saturday for £13.50 and the return journey for £17.00 making a return trip only £30.50.

But I think the best saving was a trip recently from Bristol Temple Meads to Birmingham International. I was originally quoted over £60 for a standard ticket, but by buying singles to/from Bristol Temple Meads and Birmingham New Street I was able to get £18 plus another £3 or so for a cheap day return to Birmingham International.

I hope this is useful to someone!

Dave2012_2

Agreed Munchkin: because they charge booking fees at all by deafult Raileasy/TheTrainline will always be more expensive than booking directly, so why doesn't the article just advise to go via the train companies' websites and ignore the others completely?

alanrowell

MSE_Martin wrote: »

We're currently looking at some big developments in cheap trains and just wanted to put a quick update note about raileasy as a new alternative to the trainline.

If you use the website of the train operating company that operates the trains you want to book then you may find that there are offers that DON'T appear on other booking websites - eg 10% on NXEC, 4for2 on Gatwick Express, combined train/travelcard tickets on Southern, day tickets for all the routes the company operates...

sampt

Hi All,
With regards to travelling short can you clarify the following please.

Im proposing to go to Manchester via train. Some of us are getting on at stafford and some maybe getting on at stoke.

The tickets are cheaper travelling from stafford (The stop before stoke?)

If we purchased all the tickets travelling from stafford as its cheaper, would those that got on at stoke have trouble with the conductor as its technically a stop after what they have paid for...

dzug

sampt wrote: »

Hi All,
With regards to travelling short can you clarify the following please.

Im proposing to go to Manchester via train. Some of us are getting on at stafford and some maybe getting on at stoke.

The tickets are cheaper travelling from stafford (The stop before stoke?)

If we purchased all the tickets travelling from stafford as its cheaper, would those that got on at stoke have trouble with the conductor as its technically a stop after what they have paid for...

What sort of tickets are you referring to?

sampt

Dzug,
Its a standard return ticket, going one day comin back the other. Being brought via raileasy/railsaver if the bloody website ever works¬

I spoke to someone at raileasy who didnt think it would be a problem doing that, as the stop is after the start stop.

AndyB82

Hi,

I'm trying to get a train ticket for Birmingham to Leeds for the 18th July, returning 20th July. I've been waiting for a while for the gap to become 12 weeks to book these and got a £10.50 single for the outward journey on Friday. Thought I might as well get this cheap one now, then wait until Sunday for the Sunday advance fares to be released. Sunday came, no advance fares on Virgin, trainline or raileasy?! And there still aren't any - will they have been released yet for the Sunday? Or have I just wasted £10.50 and am going to be forced to buy the £45.20 return fare?

Another strange thing was that the £10.50 single on the Friday was booked through thetrainline, but did not come up on either raileasy (they said it was too far in the future) and Virgin (who I'll be travelling with!!).

Any ideas anyone?!

dzug

sampt wrote: »

Dzug,
Its a standard return ticket, going one day comin back the other. Being brought via raileasy/railsaver if the bloody website ever works¬

But the fare from Stoke (£12.90 return) is cheaper than from Stafford (£17.40) so I can't see the basis of your original query. In any case these are available on the day - no point in advance booking.

If you are actually buying advance purchase singles each way rather than a standard return then whether what you are doing is legitimate or not is a grey area.** Why not buy them from Stoke for the Stoke passengers? They are available from there as well, probably from the same allocation.

And why pay raileasy's fee? Buy from a train company website - any one will do.

** At the moment. Under the 'simplification of fares' the rules are clarified to make it clear that joining en route/stopping short with certain ticket types is definitely forbidden.

dzug

AndyB82 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm trying to get a train ticket for Birmingham to Leeds for the 18th July, returning 20th July. I've been waiting for a while for the gap to become 12 weeks to book these and got a £10.50 single for the outward journey on Friday. Thought I might as well get this cheap one now, then wait until Sunday for the Sunday advance fares to be released. Sunday came, no advance fares on Virgin, trainline or raileasy?! And there still aren't any - will they have been released yet for the Sunday? Or have I just wasted £10.50 and am going to be forced to buy the £45.20 return fare?

Another strange thing was that the £10.50 single on the Friday was booked through thetrainline, but did not come up on either raileasy (they said it was too far in the future) and Virgin (who I'll be travelling with!!).

Any ideas anyone?!

Well whatever happens you won't have to pay £45.20 return fare. Just buy a standard single to come back on the day at £38.

Looking at the websites, I'm fairly confident that the Sunday tickets have not been released yet. There are no cheap tickets of any description showing on that route. If they had been released they would show with no availability rather than not being shown at all.

As to when - anyone's guess. A day or two maybe. If there is engineering work that weekend maybe weeks. The 12 weeks is a myth that is only occasionally true.
Next Friday would be my own guess - but that's what it is - just a guess.

And you will NOT be travelling with Virgin - they don't run that route any more. They lost the franchise at the end of last year. Now Arriva XC.

And DON'T book through the trainline or raileasy - they charge fees, the others don't. Availability is identical (or should be - evidently you encountered a glitch, probably while the tickets were in the course of release)

Try http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/ for example. The interface is easier than Virgin's.

mooseshapedfrog

Hi,

My first post here! Was passed this link by a friend (http://www.bargaintrains.co.uk). It's promising something very good for train fares (I've signed up to the newsletter with baited breath)

Does anyone use trainline.com anymore? Is there any reason to use it?

Thanks!
David