Train ticket prices

agnes

agnes

agnes

Soldato
Joined
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Amsterdam, NL
Hi guys,

I just wondered what site everyone uses to pre book train tickets. I never pre book as national rails website offers no advance booking benefits such as cheaper pricing. Or at least not that I have ever noticed.

Anyone know a site that can get you deals on pre booking?

For example I'm going to Kettering for a weekend soon. And I thought I would check out the prices. According to national rail, it's £38 for 2 single tickets. Or £60 for a return??? What stupid pricing is this, why is buying 2 single tickets £22 cheaper than buying a return?
 
Whereas I've always found it cheaper to advance book on the national rail site. Booking weeks in advance is notably cheaper for me.
 
I find that going to a booking office with a decent clerk in it is by far the best way to get a ticket. They tend to know all the tricks n pitfalls of a hugely convoluted system. Advance tickets, up to 12 weeks before are usually the cheapest but also have the smallest allocation so are hardest to get.
 
chameleon said:
I find that going to a booking office with a decent clerk in it is by far the best way to get a ticket. They tend to know all the tricks n pitfalls of a hugely convoluted system. Advance tickets, up to 12 weeks before are usually the cheapest but also have the smallest allocation so are hardest to get.
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This. Always try and book in advance.
 
And they wonder why people just drive. It's stupid how two people on the same train from and to the same places can pay massively diffrent prices.
 
For long journeys, look at flying, it's even more ridiculous how much the train is.

I need to go to Southampton from Newcastle with work.

I can either pay £91 and be able to leave Newcastle at 8:50 to make my meeting at 10:30ish or pay about £150 for about 5.5 hours of travelling each way + I have to make the trip the night before and get a hotel.
 
agnes said:
Hi guys,

I just wondered what site everyone uses to pre book train tickets. I never pre book as national rails website offers no advance booking benefits such as cheaper pricing. Or at least not that I have ever noticed.

Anyone know a site that can get you deals on pre booking?

For example I'm going to Kettering for a weekend soon. And I thought I would check out the prices. According to national rail, it's £38 for 2 single tickets. Or £60 for a return??? What stupid pricing is this, why is buying 2 single tickets £22 cheaper than buying a return?
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in order to understand why a return in more expensive you need to look at the T&C of what you are buying.

2 single tickets are only valid for the specified trains.

the return ticket is valid for any return train and allows stops and any other variations for as long as the ticket is valid. (a return is normally valid for 30days)
 
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agnes said:
I just wondered what site everyone uses to pre book train tickets. I never pre book as national rails website offers no advance booking benefits such as cheaper pricing. Or at least not that I have ever noticed.
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The National Rail website will not sell you tickets, only give you pricing information and redirect you to a TOC's website for ticket purchase.

There are cheaper tickets available in advance but these are not offered on all routes. For routes with Advance tickets, they tend to be cheaper than regular tickets but restrict you to your booked train. They are typically released 2.5 months before travel and as allocations sell out, the price of them will go up.

The other ticket types are all 'Walk-on fares' - this means that although you can prebook, the price remains the same whether you do or not.

Anyone know a site that can get you deals on pre booking?
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All ticket sites offer the same range of tickets at the same price - its part of the rules. The only exception to this is that sometimes the TOC's themselves can offer promotional discounts on routes they are responsible for pricing. For example, sometimes London Midland will offer discounted London Midland only tickets. Other than this, every price quoted should be the same irrespective of where you buy - ticket office, online, whatever.


For example I'm going to Kettering for a weekend soon. And I thought I would check out the prices. According to national rail, it's £38 for 2 single tickets. Or £60 for a return??? What stupid pricing is this, why is buying 2 single tickets £22 cheaper than buying a return?
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Because the 'two single' option is made up of two Advance fares tying you exactly to the trains you book. The return is a flexible ticket product, you can take any valid train with it and your return can be at any point within 30 days from the start of its validity. It is a much more flexible product and therefore costs more.
 
I am from plymouth and often travel up to the midlands becuase that where I live now and when I know I have going to go back home I often book a ticket in advance. I once got a one way ticket for £12. The best deal though was one I was talked into when I was in plymouth station they where doing some deal that would take you to bristol for £5 which was like a weekend thing but it had an open ended return ticket. The same deal was going on at bristol to birmingham so I got 2 return tickets from plymouth to birmingham for £10, the funny part was that my ticket from birmingham to stafford actually me about £7 and that was the shortest part of the journey.
 
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