MoneySavingExpert.com Cheapest Train Fares Article Discussion

useless

Hi - I'm looking to go to Liverpool from Basingstoke

on thursday 24 july, back on friday 25 july, off peak.

Can anyone give me any tips on how to better the £78 quoted on thetrainline.com ??

Unfortunately I'm not eligable for any young persons/old age railcards.

yorkie2

Try NXEC's site - it's easier to find the cheapest fare, I find.

Try different routes. e.g. specify 'via Birmingham' to get the XC fares. or 'via London' for the alternative route.

Also try splitting tickets at Birmingham, Stafford or Crewe. It is likely you will need to change places at at least one of those stations anyway.

Or try via Hartford (note the spelling, not to be confused with Hertford!) as it should then put you on a London Midland train rather than Virgin, and that may help with availability.

If you still get no joy, try here and can you also say what time you want to get to Liverpool by? and what time you are able to return?

dzug1

alih85 wrote: »

Hi

Can anyone help, I am looking for 2 return tickets or singles if thats cheaper from Newcastle to London on either the 25th July returning the 26th July or 1st August coming back on the 2nd of August. I would prefer to be in London before 12 and leave any time after 5.

The cheapest I can find is over £100 for 2 people.

Can anyone help????
Many thanks

Looks like you've found the cheapest available. (Advance singles in each direction by the look of it) If you can be more flexible on the times you might get it a bit cheaper.

And if you are not already looking there, use the NXEC site for a 10% discount on advance fares on their own trains

ticketcollector

yorkie2 wrote: »

Indeed it is incomplete.

There are route "GUILDFORD READING" and route "+LONDON" fares available, as well as the route "WARMSTER-SALISBRY" fares quoted.

yay thanks for finding the error from the online fares manual. Have now emailed that across to atoc.

gner_ex

ellie14 wrote: »

the cheap fares Manchesr London ie £9each way dont work out much cheaper for me because I have to get from Kirkham Preston to Manchester all in all costing about £32 each restricted times .With my railcard D/D myself can go booking Virgin £56 but at least no restrictions on leaving.Unless anyone can suggest another way round it to save money ,need to go between 25/6/ 27/06 giving us a couple of days in London ,

You can get cheap tickets from Preston itself, but possibly a saver from Kirkham to London may be the best bet for you (£66.40 return, flexible).

Murphys_Maw

Two weeks ago i was looking to book train tickets for Edinburgh - Cardiff, return, in august. It said i couldn't as it was more than 12 weeks away, so out of curiosity i tried comparable dates in July, it returned a result of Advance Saver at a cost of £13.50 each way.

Two weeks on, and 11 half weeks till travel, there is no such ticket available. The cheapest ticket was £110.00, big difference and kind of out of my price range. It would be cheaper to take the car!

Any advice appreciated

Maw x

P.S. I was trying to book on Virgintrains website.

alanrowell

Don't know where you are looking but I easily found fares of around £13 each way on random dates (5th-16th) in August.

Are you trying to book a return ticket when - as the websites keep pointing out - 2 singles may be cheaper?

WHEN are you travelling in August - if it's a weekend then prices will be higher due to school holidays / Edinburgh Festivals / Engineering works

And have you considered flying?

Murphys_Maw

I have looked on several sites but specifically on Virgin, once you fill in the details it gives you the fares and there is the option to select singles from £13.50. When you click that, there is a matrix of fares, but the cheapest one wat fare was around £100. There is no 'Standard Advance' tickets at all, the first one available on the matrix is 'Standard Open' @ £110.50

The dates i randomly chose is july would also be within schools holidays, as would the dates you tried.

I have looked at flying, again, cheap enough to put your bum in a seat but then the taxes are expensive.

Where did you find fares for £13??

I am travelling Edinburgh to Cardiff, 22nd Aug out & 24 Aug back.

Thanks

Maw x

Dicky2K

I dont understand all these train tickets.. Which one is the cheapest? Need 2 tickets from Northampton/Aberystwyth return if anyone can help..

alanrowell

Murphys_Maw wrote: »

Where did you find fares for £13??

By clicking on the line that says "CLICK HERE FOR EACH WAY FARES FROM ONLY £13.50" on the Virgintrains website

On the dates I gave earlier the 7:05 from Edinburgh was £13.50 & the 10:45 to Edinburgh was £13.50

As for the dates you want to travel - the cheap tickets haven't been released yet as it is likely there will be major engineering works on the West Coast Main Line as it's the August Bank Holiday weekend in England & Wales