MoneySavingExpert.com Cheap Train Tickets Article Discussion

resident

Hi everyone,newbie here!.Okay so that is the introduction over with now for the question!,I will be traveling by train from London Euston to Rhyl, North Wales in July does anyone know of the cheapest way to do this?.Is spilt ticketing the way to go or just a straight through return booking.

Thanks in advance.

dzug1

resident wrote: »

Hi everyone,newbie here!.Okay so that is the introduction over with now for the question!,I will be traveling by train from London Euston to Rhyl, North Wales in July does anyone know of the cheapest way to do this?.Is spilt ticketing the way to go or just a straight through return booking.

Thanks in advance.

Neither.

If you can get them advance purchase single tickets each way for the full journey are usually (not always) the cheapest.

You can check on this site: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html
to see if the cheap fares have been released.

If you can't get the cheap singles look at the price of an off-peak return (you can buy this on the day of travel so don't rush to buy it if it's all that's on offer) and then try split ticketing to see if you can beat it.

One split that MIGHT work is to get a London Midland off peak return to Crewe then normal tickets. This will be a slow journey - stopping at all stations (well almost..) to Crewe but can be very cheap.

notwithit??

hi all!
am wanting to travel on the 8 jul wilmslow to euston and returning on the 9th. cheapest fare out is £62 and return is £8 to stockport then whatever back to wilmslow, my question is do i book the return now and wait to get a cheaper outbound one? (as i notice virgin trains do £1 fares like a week before) there are 3 of us and although i have a family railcard am i right in thinking i cant use it unless i have a child travelling with me?

thanks:money:

Livingthedream

notwithit?? wrote: »

hi all!
am wanting to travel on the 8 jul wilmslow to euston and returning on the 9th. cheapest fare out is £62 and return is £8 to stockport then whatever back to wilmslow, my question is do i book the return now and wait to get a cheaper outbound one? (as i notice virgin trains do £1 fares like a week before) there are 3 of us and although i have a family railcard am i right in thinking i cant use it unless i have a child travelling with me?

thanks:money:

For some reason Virgin Trains havn't released their cheap Advance singles for the 8th of July, but they have for the 9th, were you can get advance singles for £8 per person. I would say keep checking over the next few days and hopefully they will be soon released.The £62, is the walk on fare and will be the same now and on the day of travel. Also, I wouldn't try and use your family railcard without a child, as train managers are use to this type of scam and will charge you each a new full price single ticket.

poddle_2

This is a warning to all whose travel plans are not set in stone!

I thought I had saved over 5o% by booking as soon as the advance tickets became available (my advance ticket was just under £60).

My travel plans changed - as well they might, within the 12-week window - and the small print states that refunds are not available, with exceptions such as the service not running / long delays.

Now I have lost my money and cannot legally resell my ticket. This is easy money for the train operating company (TOC).

Surely if the train company took my ticket back it could resell the seat at the standard fare?

If anyone has found a way around this, please could you post a reply?

dzug1

poddle wrote: »

Surely if the train company took my ticket back it could resell the seat at the standard fare?

Well maybe it could maybe it couldn't - that's the risk it would take. It keeps the money you paid it to cover the cost of that risk.

Academic anyway - that isn't what happens.

Whilst your advance ticket is not refundable, it is changeable provided it's done before the time of the journey booked. You get the value of the ticket creditted against the new trip, less a £10 admin fee.

poddle_2

Thanks from this newbie!

Are you saying I could alter the trip details completely? Is it comparable to a credit note perhaps?

Frankly, keeping the whole ticket price is a real shocker. To draw a parallel: if I buy a garment and it is unsuitable, most companies would offer a refund (albeit above its statutary obligations).

I could argue that it is not a fair reflection of the TOC's risk to take my entire £58 because I am organised enough to book early - which is to the advantage of the TOC too - but unable to predict a problem that occurs within those three months that prevents travel.

A £10 admin fee would be far fairer.

I have found ticket resale sites, but acknowledge resale is illegal. The chances of finding a match are somewhat slender in any case...

dzug1

poddle wrote: »

Thanks from this newbie!

Are you saying I could alter the trip details completely? Is it comparable to a credit note perhaps?

Frankly, keeping the whole ticket price is a real shocker. To draw a parallel: if I buy a garment and it is unsuitable, most companies would offer a refund (albeit above its statutary obligations).

I could argue that it is not a fair reflection of the TOC's risk to take my entire £58 because I am organised enough to book early - which is to the advantage of the TOC too - but unable to predict a problem that occurs within those three months that prevents travel.

A £10 admin fee would be far fairer.

I have found ticket resale sites, but acknowledge resale is illegal. The chances of finding a match are somewhat slender in any case...

I understand the rebooked trip has to be for the same journey.

You can argue the pros and cons as much as you like but it would be a waste of time. I suppose an analogy with a shop is where they say sale goods are not returnable unless faulty. You do have the choice of paying the appropriate fare on the day of travel.

Air fares are much the same

bobmccluckie

I notice Virgin have stopped the Mobitix service.

Kashter

Hi, I was hoping someone could help me.

I want to travel from either Preston or Manchester (Preferably Preston) to London. There will be two of us travelling along with a toddler.

I tried split ticketing from Preston to Leigh and then Leigh to London Euston, but the second leg was still very expensive. Virgin seem to have stopped their offer from manchester to london.

Any advice?