O/T Rail Travel Help

[USA Shrimp]

I have been living in the US for 12 years now and the railways have all changed since my day. Me and Mrs. USA are planning a big trip round the country for August 2009 and looking into prices / rail passes is terribly confusing. For example, Lancaster to Edinburgh for seven quid - dunt sound right, but I have heard there are bargains to be had for advance travel.

We are hoping to hit up London, Morecambe, Leeds, Edinburgh, and travel around the Highlands / Cairngorms in Scotland for a week or so.

Any ideas folks ?

Cheers.

[Plain Peter]

Try

http://www.seat61.com/UKtravel.htm

[DeeBee]

There are some simple rules to follow:
1. Booking three months in advance gets the cheapest fares
2. Always check the cost of two singles rather than just a return
3. Don’t assume First Class will be more expensive than Standard
4. If using more than one train company on a journey check the separate fares for each part of the journey
5. Cheap advanced tickets will normally be for designated trains, if you are not sure which train you will be travelling on book the more expensive open tickets
6. Normally cheap advanced tickets are not refundable but can usually be moved to a different day/time for a £10 charge depending upon availability

I normally book all my tickets through one Train Company – I use Virgin as I find them reasonable to deal with and their web site easy to use.

As an example, I’ve just checked www.virgintrains.co.uk for a journey from Lancaster to Edinburgh on the 17th March after 8:00am returning 19th March after 18:00pm.

The cheapest Standard off-peak return fare travelling up on the 8:40am train and back on the 18:11pm is £47.60. The cheapest single fares are £12.50 going and £7.00 coming back. The £12.50 is for a First Class ticket which is £1.50 cheaper that the £14.00 Standard ticket and that’s a discount of £100 off the normal Open First Class fare.

Hope this helps.

[Christies Child]

Spot on DeeBee

It pays to do a bit of research before travelling.

My daughter used to travel to and from Uni in Carlisle to Oxenholme every weekend....until she decided to opt out of Uni until September when she will start a different course at Lancaster.

By doing some research and using designated trains she could save at least £10 on the 45 minute journey

[Phoenix]

The only caution with buying multiple tickets for one journey is the train must stop at the station for which you have a ticket. E.g. Lancaster to London - IF it were cheaper to get a ticket lancaster to crewe then another crewe to london, the train you travel on must stop at crewe otherwise you would have to buy a full price ticket on the train.

The alternative is to travel first class for free with DeeBee at weekends

[Christies Child]

The only caution with buying multiple tickets for one journey is the train must stop at the station for which you have a ticket. E.g. Lancaster to London - IF it were cheaper to get a ticket lancaster to crewe then another crewe to london, the train you travel on must stop at crewe otherwise you would have to buy a full price ticket on the train.

The alternative is to travel first class for free with DeeBee at weekends

Renamed by a select few as 'The DeeBee Travel Club'.....Saga Tours can't even come close to this

[DeeBee]

Corrected by even more select few to 'Shrimps Trainers'

[Christies Child]

Corrected by even more select few to 'Shrimps Trainers'

....and soon to be sponsored by Richard Branson and re-named 'The Tribal Virgins'

[Wild Bill]

I have been living in the US for 12 years now and the railways have all changed since my day. Me and Mrs. USA are planning a big trip round the country for August 2009 and looking into prices / rail passes is terribly confusing. For example, Lancaster to Edinburgh for seven quid - dunt sound right, but I have heard there are bargains to be had for advance travel.

We are hoping to hit up London, Morecambe, Leeds, Edinburgh, and travel around the Highlands / Cairngorms in Scotland for a week or so.

Any ideas folks ?

Cheers.

Look at all the cheapest options on the trainline.com and be prepared to fix your times on trains to get the cheapest fares. Don't buy them though as they have lots of hidden charges. Write down your itinerary then get someone to pop to a train station and buy all your tickets as far in advance as you can. If you cant get advance tickets it is better just to buy your ticket on the day as you might change your plans and changing a date will involve a charge.

There are 3 types of tickets in standard class.

Advance - 3 or more different prices with the same rules. Must travel on a specific train and are non-refundable and expensive to change time/date. Usually dirt cheap though.

Off peak - Rules are different for virtually every journey with some having no restrictions. Usually can't travel before a certain time though. Prices vary from pretty cheap to pretty expensive

Anytime - Does pretty much what it says on the tin. Often cheaper to fly than to buy one of these!

If you have kids, are under 26 or are some kind of student get a rail card. 34% off most of your tickets (including advance) and also lifts lots of the off-peak restrictions.

Can you tell I sell rail tickets?

[marky]

Personally I use http://www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com to book my tickets. Be aware that train companies don't always release advance fares 3 months before travel. Generally speaking 10 - 7 weeks before gets the best deals.

[ezz]

Everytime i get a train to or from London something always goes wrong!! Heard a small plan crashed into a main train line just outside london the other day as well. I swear people are out to sabotage it.

[USA Shrimp]

Thanks very much, folks ! I can start making a little more sense of this rather convoluted system.

Cheers.