MoneySavingExpert.com Cheapest Train Fares Article Discussion

ccluedo

dzug wrote: »

Well has he looked for cheap single fares rather than a return on the train? I would guess yes, as the return train fare is not 'over £30 return' - it's either a lot less or a lot more, depending on whether it's peak hour or not. If he has, and there aren't any, he's stuck. If not try it.

There's also a business saver return at £24.10 which seems to have good availability - you have to add the airport bus to that though.

Yes dzug, I looked at two singles but it was much more expensive that way. The 06.31 train from Exeter St.Davids, arriving at Bristol Temple Meads and incl the regular Flyer bus to the Airport was £31.10 return online. Can anyone tell me - is National Express the only bus/coach company in that area?

dzug

National Express is the only long-distance bus operator in the area. There are local bus companies (eg Badgerline) but a series of them will take all morning for the journey

kernow1

Anyone noticed the increase in charges at thetrainline lately?
They now charge £1 for postage, 50p to collect your ticket at a machine, 50p to pay by debit card and £2.50 for credit card!
So either way you WILL PAY £1 over the price of the ticket.
Obviously they're trying to make more profit - but is there an alternative?

dzug

kernow1 wrote: »

Anyone noticed the increase in charges at thetrainline lately?
They now charge £1 for postage, 50p to collect your ticket at a machine, 50p to pay by debit card and £2.50 for credit card!
So either way you WILL PAY £1 over the price of the ticket.
Obviously they're trying to make more profit - but is there an alternative?

Yep - ANY of the TOC sites will sell you tickets at the same price as the trainline and won't charge you anything extra for normal postage or card usage. You do NOT have to use the TOC that runs your train - they all sell a full range of tickets.

dicknewson

Originally Posted by Diocletian
If you visit http://www.atoctravelagents.org/ and click on the "booking horizons" link on left hand side of page a new pop-up window should display:
TOC BOOKING HORIZONS- a list of the exact dates that advanced fares are currently available for each individual train company (each company has different release dates). This list updates every few days so it is worth checking a couple of times a week if you’re after a particular advanced fare that looks lie it will be shortly released.

Just tried this (20 March) and it was last updared 6 March - not much use if you want to leap on the cheapest advance fares the moment they're released.

kymie

Hi, can anyone help with the cheapest price for 1 adult and 3 children (5-15) travelling on 4th April? We want to do a day trip to london but cheapest I have found so far is £59 plus family railcard (£24). Would prefer to leave earlyish and be back around 8-9pm, but not too fussed if it is cheaper!! Any help greatfully received!

Money_Man_Steve

bunking_off wrote: »

With respect to the earlier comments about cc fees on trainline, I'd also advise using Virgin Trains' site. As I understand it, this actually uses the underlying trainline booking engine, but does not charge a cc fee.

Virgin credit card holders can also get 10% off Virgin Value Advance fares by using this link.

purplegrape

Not sure this has been raised before, but just wanted to add that booking tickets via different train companies instead of thetrainline.com can save you money.

I use First Great Western's website which is really good. It issues all operators tickets, but it doesn't charge for:
- delivery or pick-up from stations. (£1 and 50p respectively on trainline)
- Credit card or debit card use (£2.50 or 50p on trainline?! How else are you supposed to pay online?!)

Strangely, when my tickets arrive it looks suspiciously like they've been issued by thetrainline.com. Random!

Not that you should be paying in the first place, but this 'saves' me lots.

patrick0

re the cheap train fares article -- when thetrainline started charging a fee for credit card bookings, I just moved over to www.virgintrains.co.uk who use the same booking engine but don't charge a fee for credit card bookings.

Have just checked their website and they're still not charging a fee for credit card bookings.

caliston

Don't use RailEasy to save credit card fees, use National Express East Coast instead. Advantages:

* No CC fees or other fees for collection, post etc
* Easier to use cheap fare finder (show only the trains with the cheapest fares, or view the whole day's trains on a grid)
* 10% discount on National Express East Coast fares (the fares for every other operator are available at the normal prices).