Birmingham to London best train site to use.

sidneyyoungblood

Can anyone recommend the cheapest Train booking site to use when travelling from Birmingham to central london on short notice for a day trip . 


Due to work / family commitments I cant really book in advance so need to be the day before or on the day.

Thc cheapest option I have found is by  coach which is around £12 each way but not really up for the 3 - 3.30hr travel time - the last time took nearly 4hrs due to the traffic .

 
Any help would be appreciated

martindow

There are lot of services to choose from so some competition.  The Chiltern service to Marylebone and the slower services to Euston tend to be cheaper than the faster Avanti trains.  You may be able to pick up advanced fares even the day before and split tickets can often give cheaper fares if you don't want to be tied to specific trains.

This site

https://tickets-beta.railforums.co.uk/

will give you a lot of options and is very good at finding split fares.  I suggest having a play in advance to get familiar with the options on there.

Robin9

/www.nationalrail.co.uk

drspouse

Several of the train booking sites do cashback with Quidco, and I just found out that LNER has cashback through the Amex credit card if you have one of those.

Savvy_Sue

I'm going to presume you're not eligible for any railcards, but as a general POI and because people don't always think of this, anyone who has a hearing aid can apply for a Disabled Rail Card, which has a couple of advantages over the Senior for those who are eligible for either - slightly cheaper, AND you can travel with a companion at the same fare, AND there are no time restrictions. 

Neil49

I generally use the TrainSplit app as it doesn't add a commission charge unlike Trainline.

We are going to London in a few weeks time and found the cheapest to be Chiltern. 

Wyndham

It depends on the train company, but I have bought advanced fairs around an hour before travel - so it may be worth checking.

MSE_James

For routes like Birmingham to London where there are multiple operators, it's worth being aware that most journey planners default to showing the fastest options, which are usually the most expensive.

So to see the cheaper London Northwestern fares it can be necessary to play around with the advanced options to specify travel via Northampton, or explicitly exclude Avanti from the results.

Likewise entering a via point of High Wycombe will ensure you see the Chiltern Railways options

jbrassy

I would recommend using the Trainpal app. It does not charge booking fees and it uses split ticketing to find you the cheapest route. The quickest and most expensive journey is from Euston, but you can get slower but cheaper trains from Marylebone.

Another option, if you have an Amex, I quite often see an option for 10% cashback on train tickets bought through LNER. You can book any train tickets you like through LNER (not just LNER services), so this might be a good option. Bear in mind, I don't think LNER does split ticketing.

Savvy_Sue

jbrassy said:

I would recommend using the Trainpal app. It does not charge booking fees and it uses split ticketing to find you the cheapest route. The quickest and most expensive journey is from Euston, but you can get slower but cheaper trains from Marylebone.

Another option, if you have an Amex, I quite often see an option for 10% cashback on train tickets bought through LNER. You can book any train tickets you like through LNER (not just LNER services), so this might be a good option. Bear in mind, I don't think LNER does split ticketing.

I confirm the LNER trick works, and you can do your own split ticketing once you know what 'works'. 

Also just making sure @sidneyyoungblood has spotted the option of a railcard if he's under 30, as flagged in most recent email!