MoneySavingExpert.com Cheap Train Tickets Article Discussion
Comments
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There appears to be some confusion here. The change that has just occured harmonised conditions for advance purchase tickets, which are all given the same name, "Advance". The reality is that there are many price levels of Advance but as they all have pretty much the same conditions they are all called the same name.
Again we have confusion. Only Advance fares have been subject to ATOC's "simplification".
This is not the case. The new Fares Manual which came in in May was an opportunity for changes on other tickets, not just advance ones.
A biggie is that Cross Country have now banned Cheap Day Returns in the evening peak. This mostly hits formerly local journeys, like Birmingham-Nottingham and Newcastle-Durham. As these are also covered by other operators you can't just catch any train between these places, you have to pick and choose based on the time and the colour of the train (which operator it is).
Example: CrossCountry return trip from Nottingham to Birmingham, on a weekday, travelling in the evening peak:
Before: Cheap day return, £11.90
After: Standard open return, £23.50
Increase: 97%
There have been reports in other fora of walk-on simplifcations leading to increases. In one instance, Harrow and Wealdstone to Cambridge SDR went up from £26 to £40. Eventually FCC admitted a mistake and they are changing it, but there's still an increase being applied (to what we don't know).
For a more 'straightforward' route, try Cambridge-London Saver with railcard:
2007 price: £16.50
Jan-May 2008: £17.15 (up 3.9%)
May 2008 onwards: £17.80 (up 3.8% from Jan)
This is not a simple realignment of AP conditions - fares have gone up too.0 -
MSE MSE MSE!!
Whats wrong with you. I see you've updated the article regarding megatrains following my post, but you still didn't go quite far enough with your research.
"Also do note that on certain East Midlands and South West Trains routes, including Sheffield to Nottingham and London to Exeter, it's possible to get Megatrain fares for £1 if you book early enough. "
Wrong! Whilst im not going to try and find every possible combination, i can tell you that you can't book a fare as such. AFAIK they're only available for trains to/from London.0 -
First post, please bear with me. We go to see our daughter in Leeds, travelling from Swindon. Always use The Trainline for tickets, alwasy seem to get a different route!! Last two have been Swindon/Bristol Parkway/Leeds and then Swindon/Didcot/Oxford/Leeds. Anybody have any idea of doing that journey cheaper using splits? Any help would be gratefully received.0
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MSE MSE MSE MSE MSE!!
Why do i bother eh?
"Also do note that on certain East Midlands and South West Trains routes, including Sheffield to Derby and London to Exeter, it's possible to get Megatrain fares for £1"
You must be trying to wind me up. Even after I suggested a valid route, you still went on to suggest something you can't buy. Why don't you do some research!!0 -
This afternoon (24 June) e-tickets between London and Birmingham via Chiltern Railways were £2.60 single, but between London and Banbury (shorter distance, same train) were £4.60. The old conditions of issue allowed one to abandon one's journey en route, but I haven't been able to find the new Conditions of Issue. It is possible to avoid the ticket barrier at Banbury by using the lift.0
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New Megatrain routes are starting as from 14 July 2008. All on the following Virgin West Coast Voyager Trains:
04:58 Manchester Piccadilly - Glasgow Central
08:03 Birmingham New Street - Edinburgh Waverley
11:03 Birmingham New Street - Glasgow Central
21:03 Birmingham New Street - Preston
12:51 Edinburgh Waverley - Birmingham New Street
10:10 Glasgow Central - Birmingham New Street
20:10 Glasgow Central - Manchester Piccadilly
Initially there will be 40 seats on offer on each train per day. Prices will range from £1 to £9, plus 50p booking fee. Passengers can book upto 03:00 the day before departure.
If you go on www.megatrain.com and book for these services for travel on or after 14 July, the tickets should be available, until sold out.
[EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com?subject=Reporting post http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11994147"]
[/EMAIL] 0 -
There is , worryingly, some wrong information being given out on here. Firstly, Im rail staff and know my stuff!...Several people have said that ALL rail websites offer the same fares and same prices, THIS UNFORTUNATELY IS NOT THE CASE. It is stated that Nat Ex East Coast offers the best fares, this is not necessarily the case either, even, ridiculously, for its own fares! True, NXEC does give a 10% reduction on its site, but sometimes does not offer all available fares. My advice on this? Here goes, personally I do not like the NXEC site, although I have read others on here swear by it. Personally, I do not like the bubbles and boxes that pop up all over the place and find it irritating....Generally, when IM looking for prices for friends I use NXEC to compare fares then look at Arriva TrainsWales-which I find easy to use-...often fares are differently priced--even for the same ticket!..I could give you countless examples of this.....On certain websites there is an important...ADVANCED SEARCH option....dont be afraid to use this...For example London -Manchester advanced search put in route nottingham or sheffield and it will route you away from the direct Virgin trains which are almost always more expensive. Same goes for Leeds....NXEC will only list ITS tickets, ie direct......other sites using the advanced option vis sheffield will quote east midlands trains via Sheffield at lower prices.
Also dont be afraid to play around a bit. For example I was asked to find Newquay-Sheffield on a saturday in September. one site listed a fare to manchester for 11 pounds -advanced which was not shown on other sites..so there is nothing to stop you buying Newquay-Manchester then buying a separate ticket for about 7 pounds for the short extra hop to Sheffield. On the virgin website it quoted 110 pounds for Newquay-sheffield......with no advanced fares available..........Im happy to help anyone sort therough this nonesense , could I start a business doing this? lol
Of course, all this totally defeats the object of privatisation!..to improve customer choice which we all know is utter bxxllox.0 -
Just to make certain I am right. I have just played around with the following example.
LONDON -LEEDS TRIP SUNDAY 10 AUGUST......Type in London-LEEDS USING THE ADVANCED SEARCH via Leicester or Sheffield you are offered an advance for 10 quid with a change in Sheffield..
If you dont, you get a direct train with NXEC for 21!.......
Of course, Joe Public cannot be expected to know all this., and even though I spend half my time doing this, I still come across staggering nonesense!....
I think of cheap rail fares as shoals of fish..they are out there ...you just need to know where to look for them.....0 -
PS Though Im a newbie on here, I have already saved money on home insurance and annual travel insurance this week thanks to this website!, which has me hooked. Thanks to all for that. This is my way of paying you back for this!"....Cheers0
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Cross country trains are now offering 10% off their advance fares too, all you have to do is register!0
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