Cheapest Train journey from Paddington to Plymouth ?

inspector_monkfish

Hi there

My family will be holidaying in Devon, near Plymouth in August and travelling down on Sat 3rd. Due to work commitments, I can't join them until Wednesday 6th August, after I finish work (catching a train from Paddington anytime from 5pm onwards)

When we were looking earlier in the year, before booking, you could travel from Padd to Plym for as little as 13quid, if you booked well in advance.

I've just gone to book it, and discovered that FirstGreatWestern have announced these cheaper tickets will no longer be available after 23rd July, and the cheapest on offer for my date is now 64quid !! GGrrrrrr.......!!!!!!

Clearly the old 'whack up the prices because its the school holidays' trick !!

Does anyone, anywhere out there, know of any way to get a cheaper ticket on this line, on that day and time?

Promotion code maybe??

By the way, I do have an Annual Gold Card that I use everyday to travel from Essex to Fench St, and thought that may allow me some kind of discount, but it doesn''t appear to make any difference when i select it.

Any suggestions welcome

Regards
Insp.Monkfish

alanrowell

FGW aren't booking for August yet, so the £64 you are seeing is the default price.

So give it a few days and keep checking

Alternatively try routing via Bristol using split tickets (ie book London to Bristol, then Bristol to Plymouth) - BUT

inspector_monkfish

alanrowell wrote: »

FGW aren't booking for August yet, so the £64 you are seeing is the default price.

So give it a few days and keep checking

Alternatively try routing via Bristol using split tickets (ie book London to Bristol, then Bristol to Plymouth) - BUT

i did wonder if that was the case, but it let me choose 6th aug, so assumed that was it.

there is however a link from the home page about saver journeys, stating that they end on 23rd july - so i'm not overly hopeful of getting it any cheaper!

tks anyway

robnye

as mentioned, try splitting the journey..... you may not actually have to get off the train

inspector_monkfish

robnye wrote: »

as mentioned, try splitting the journey..... you may not actually have to get off the train

cheers, i'll give it try and see what i find


may even look at flights or coaches

inspector_monkfish

just found airwest flights for £59, but i'd imagine there will be some airport tax to pay on that.

same(ish) price as train, and half the journey time, BUT train leaves at 6pm, and plane doesn't leave til 8pm, so i still end up in Plymouth at roughly the same time! DOH!!

VickyM_2

Or try Southwesttrains from Waterloo, rather than FGW from Paddington. The Waterloo line is a lot slower, but usually works out cheaper on that basis (and it's more scenic). But trains from 5 ish onwards are always going to be more expensive, because that's peak commuter time - you may find it cheaper to get the first train down the next morning.

Good luck!

inspector_monkfish

VickyM wrote: »

Or try Southwesttrains from Waterloo, rather than FGW from Paddington. The Waterloo line is a lot slower, but usually works out cheaper on that basis (and it's more scenic). But trains from 5 ish onwards are always going to be more expensive, because that's peak commuter time - you may find it cheaper to get the first train down the next morning.

Good luck!

very true about peak times, but also very annoying that up until 23rd july you can travel for 13quid, but 2wks later (school holidays) it becomes 64quid for the same journey, at the same time of day (6.03pm)

just checked SWT, and its 67quid for a longer journey!

nevermind, but tks very much for your advice anyway, i'll keep checking....

alanrowell

Why not try Megabus?

dzug

The only reason it's more expensive after 23 July is that the cheap tickets have not been released yet. Only the full fare tickets are on sale. When they are released there will be cheaper fares available - maybe not as cheap as £13 but definitely not as expensive as £64. My guess is around £20-£25

Be aware that if you split the tickets in Bristol, you will normally have to change trains there. Not because the rules say you must but. because most London to Plymouth trains don't go via Bristol. Typically you'd get a London-Bristol train and connect into a Birmingham-Plymouth train

inspector_monkfish

alanrowell wrote: »

Why not try Megabus?

Thanks
Just checked that out, and its 4quid!!

Whats the catch there then?