train help please

[Matt_B]

The wife has a hen do in Bath next April and the coach seems very expensive. What is the best train deal leaving Leicester on 25th April in the morning and coming back on the Sunday evening please.

 

[Motown Fox]

They don't give out the tickets that far in advance. I think 6 months it is, so you can start looking into the options from about 20th October onwards or thereabouts

 

[Blue Maniac]

The coach is cheaper if you go via London.

Probably.

 

[Jeff]

They don't give out the tickets that far in advance. I think 6 months it is, so you can start looking into the options from about 20th October onwards or thereabouts

Cheap tickets are released 12 weeks in advance - sometimes less than that.

 

[bocadillo]

The coach is cheaper if you go via Hartlepool.

Almost certainly

 

[Jeff]

By splitting tickets the cheapest return would be £50 - that's without buying advance tickets, so the timing would be flexible, as long as it's not during the morning peak on the outward part. It might involve using an odd route though, or slower trains.

It may be a bit cheaper by buying advance tickets, but based on what's available 11 weeks from now I wouldn't count on being able to save much.

I thought Megatrain might be an option, as they do Leicester to London, and London to Bath, but it looks like they don't do tickets for those routes on Sundays, and the timings are wrong for the journey there. It might be possible to save by using Megatrain for part of the journey though.

 

[bocadillo]

The wife has a hen do in Bath next April and the coach seems very expensive. What is the best train deal leaving Leicester on 25th April in the morning and coming back on the Sunday evening please.

This isn't the kind of journey that will attract very cheap deals. Although the cheapest advance fare for the return trip is £40, if you were booking for a journey 12 weeks from now, it would cost you between £57 and £64. The walk-up off-peak ticket is £72.40; you may choose to pay the extra for the greater flexibility it gives. Don't forget that fares invariably increase each January.

The journey calls for changes at New Street and Bristol. Travelling via London is no quicker and probably no cheaper = and probably less convenient.

There is scope for 'splitting' tickets at New Street for a cheaper through journey - and possibly at other places, but it's not worth checking them out until the tickets are available. Come back at the end of January.

 

[bocadillo]

By splitting tickets the cheapest return would be £50 - that's without buying advance tickets, so the timing would be flexible, as long as it's not during the morning peak on the outward part. It might involve using an odd route though, or slower trains.

It may be a cheaper by buying advance tickets, but based on what's available 11 weeks from now I wouldn't count on being able to save much.

I thought Megatrain might be an option, as they do Leicester to London, and London to Bath, but it looks like they don't do tickets for those routes on Sundays, and the timings are wrong for the journey there. It might be possible to save by using Megatrain for part of the journey though.

Remember to add £8 tube fares for any London split-ticketing.

 

[Jeff]

Remember to add £8 tube fares for any London split-ticketing.

Or around half that much with an Oyster card.

 

[bocadillo]

I thought Megatrain might be an option, as they do Leicester to London, and London to Bath,

The Megatrain London to Bath service is not on the expected Paddington to Bristol First Great Western service. It utilises the SouthWestTrains Waterloo service which is quite a bit slower. The SWT Advance fares are in some cases cheaper than the Megatrain fares.

 

[bocadillo]

Or around half that much with an Oyster card.

Or around half that much again with an Oyster card on the bus.
:icon_bigg

 

[Jeff]

The train journey will be a lot cheaper if you use the points you've earned from the Wimbledon and F1 competitions on http://redspottedhanky.com/
That should give you around £30.

Then make up the balance by using Tesco Clubcard vouchers - you get £10 in Red Spotted Hanky vouchers for £5 of clubcard vouchers.

 

[SwedeFox]

Megabus.* £1 Leicester - London on a coach, walk from Victoria to Waterloo (yes yes, it's not that far), London - Bath Spa £1 train. £4 return.

* You may have to travel at what some people think are inconveient hours of the day and/or spend a night roaming the streets around Victoria (I witnessed a stabbing last time I did just that) but it will be cheap.

Ok, no trains on Sundays. Just wait until Monday then. Simples.

 

[Matt_B]

Lot to take in there, cheers one and all. I'll pass the information on.

 

[lazzer]

Not for me but some old boy in the local wants to go to Durham on train easiest and cheapest route appreciated.

 

[fitz]

Not for me but some old boy in the local wants to go to Durham on train easiest and cheapest route appreciated.

Is he not bothered which day or anything like that :icon_razz

 

[Jeff]

Not for me but some old boy in the local wants to go to Durham on train easiest and cheapest route appreciated.

If you want the best prices you'll have to tell us dates and times.

 

[lazzer]

Basically he hasn't got long left and he wants to see his home town before he turns his toes up so any day of the week and say in a fortnight

 

[Jeff]

Unless you book a lot further in advance you're looking at "cheap" advance fares for £42.50 each way, so £85. total. Or £90.50 for a flexible off peak return, which doesn't have to be booked in advance and is worth a fiver extra just in case you miss a train and need the extra flexibility.


By splitting tickets you can do it for £52.60 but it involves six different return tickets, on some very slow trains, on a very complicated route involving stations that have only a handful of trains a day, so I wouldn't recommend it unless your friend is BM.


A more sensible split of tickets is this (all off peak tickets that can be bought on the day of travel):
Leicester - Derby - £10.20 return
Derby - Sheffield - £10.80 return
Sheffield - York - £19 return.
York - Durham - £32.70 return.
Total £72.70

Although that uses four tickets, as long as you buy them all before starting the first journey there's only one change of trains required, at Sheffield.

 

[lazzer]

He wants go on weds 28th for a week he has concessions for disability