Brucey's Cheaper Train Travel Thread

[wallsendmag]

I work for East Coast . Don't all ask for advice at one though.

[cocko1]

Oracle

I am looking for tickets for 6 adults travelling from Middlesbrough to Hillington West, Glasgow at 0900 on 26/06/09 and returning at 12.00 on 27/06/09. No railcards owned and cheapest price found is Trainline £440.40.

Thanks for any help!

[Brucey]

Oracle

I am looking for tickets for 6 adults travelling from Middlesbrough to Hillington West, Glasgow at 0900 on 26/06/09 and returning at 12.00 on 27/06/09. No railcards owned and cheapest price found is Trainline £440.40.

Thanks for any help!

The price here all depends which route you take, I'll assume the following:
Northern Trains to Darlington
East Coast to Glasgow Central
First ScotRail to Hillington West

It is currently too early to book advance tickets (wait another 2 weeks or so), but I can find the following:
Middlesborough - Darlington £27.60 Single
Darlington - Glasgow Central Starts at £54 Single
Glasgow Central - Hillington West: You need to buy a "GroupSave 4" ticket for 4 people at £4.80, then a normal ticket for the other two for £4.80, Single.

Same prices for the return, so around £200 in total.

[cocko1]

Oracle

I am looking for tickets for 6 adults travelling from Middlesbrough to Hillington West, Glasgow at 0900 on 26/06/09 and returning at 12.00 on 27/06/09. No railcards owned and cheapest price found is Trainline £440.40.

Thanks for any help!

The price here all depends which route you take, I'll assume the following:
Northern Trains to Darlington
East Coast to Glasgow Central
First ScotRail to Hillington West

It is currently too early to book advance tickets (wait another 2 weeks or so), but I can find the following:
Middlesborough - Darlington £27.60 Single
Darlington - Glasgow Central Starts at £54 Single
Glasgow Central - Hillington West: You need to buy a "GroupSave 4" ticket for 4 people at £4.80, then a normal ticket for the other two for £4.80, Single.

Same prices for the return, so around £200 in total.

Brucey,

This is great and would save us a small fortune. I would probably even drop the party off at Darlington so making it that bit cheaper. I am a little confused by the advance ticket quote! Is this based on current prices? If so, where do I book? Thanks again - rated!

[Brucey]

Oracle

I am looking for tickets for 6 adults travelling from Middlesbrough to Hillington West, Glasgow at 0900 on 26/06/09 and returning at 12.00 on 27/06/09. No railcards owned and cheapest price found is Trainline £440.40.

Thanks for any help!

The price here all depends which route you take, I'll assume the following:
Northern Trains to Darlington
East Coast to Glasgow Central
First ScotRail to Hillington West

It is currently too early to book advance tickets (wait another 2 weeks or so), but I can find the following:
Middlesborough - Darlington £27.60 Single
Darlington - Glasgow Central Starts at £54 Single
Glasgow Central - Hillington West: You need to buy a "GroupSave 4" ticket for 4 people at £4.80, then a normal ticket for the other two for £4.80, Single.

Same prices for the return, so around £200 in total.

Brucey,

This is great and would save us a small fortune. I would probably even drop the party off at Darlington so making it that bit cheaper. I am a little confused by the advance ticket quote! Is this based on current prices? If so, where do I book? Thanks again - rated!

Advance tickets are only sold 3 months in advance - so you'll need to wait about a week and a half. They are sold on a quota system, with £54 being the cheapest available (as shown in the fares manual). You can book online at www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com which should give you a further discount.

Edit: Sorry, made a mistake. £54 is the starting Advance price for travelling between Darlington and Glasgow on CrossCountry. East Coast starts at £66.

[cocko1]

Brucey,

How does this work? I have done a search on the latest dates I can possibly do in advance on that website and it is coming up with the same price I had - £440. Am I missing something?

[Brucey]

Brucey,

How does this work? I have done a search on the latest dates I can possibly do in advance on that website and it is coming up with the same price I had - £440. Am I missing something?

For some reason, East Coast seem to have now restricted advance bookings to the next 8 weeks only

I've just tried 15th May and it comes up with the lower advance prices (cheapest on that day is £58.80).

[cocko1]

Brucey,

Just tried 29th May - 30th May and there are some advance cheap tickets available but not as many. Does this mean that they were all released but sold out or that they have not all been released yet? Also tried week after but no sign of any advance tickets. If I do wait for 4 weeks (ish) do I need to get in quick - is there a chance I will not get any tickets because if so, I cannot really take the risk!

Thanks very much for the advice.

[RudeKev]

There will always be tickets Mr Cock1 but
My understandin is
that they get dearer as time goes on
dependent on if they sell loads
Perhaps Brucey can confirm/deny this

[Brucey]

My understandin is
that they get dearer as time goes on
dependent on if they sell loads
Perhaps Brucey can confirm/deny this

TBH, I've heard differing opinions on this. Some people believe that the price only goes up whilst others think that the price goes up and down depending on demand. I've never seen the price go down.

What you need to remember is that 31st May is a bank holiday, so the trains will be much busier in the preceding week and therefore many tickets will have already been sold.

If I do wait for 4 weeks (ish) do I need to get in quick - is there a chance I will not get any tickets because if so, I cannot really take the risk!

The £440 ticket you've been offered by The Train Line is just a standard "walk-up" fare, i.e. it will be this price if you buy the ticket at the station on the day of travel. Also note that The Train Line will charge you a booking fee, whereas other sites (or the station) won't.