What's the secret of cheap train travel?

What's the secret of cheap train travel?

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Discussion

The Moose

Original Poster:

22,820 posts

208 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
I'd like to go to Totnes from Slough for a long weekend in 4 - 5 months time.

£88 return per adult seems bloody expensive for 4 of us to go for a long weekend (Fri to Sun).

Surely that can't be the cheapest ticket?

Sheepshanks

32,519 posts

118 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
Especially as on Sunday you'll likely be making much of the journey by bus(s).

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
check different routing. stick to one company, split journey up..off peak early is cheaper in week.

S11Steve

6,374 posts

183 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
Split tickets - instead of london to Manchester, try London to Stoke, and Stoke to Manchester - same train, same seat, different pricing structures - https://www.splitticketing.com/

(try to avoid using the plagiarised Martin Lewis Moneysavingexpert version of this site - he doesn't deserve any credit for stealing another persons idea!)

The Moose

Original Poster:

22,820 posts

208 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
The cheapest you can get (down to date and time of day) is £84.00.

It's pretty much a straight shot. Slough to Reading and then down to Totnes.

vescaegg

25,489 posts

166 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
Christ I read this as you were going for a long weekend in Slough! hehe

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
two early singles are sixty total so saved you twenty quid

or early and late cheaper.

vut that is in march might should be same in may june.



Edited by The Spruce goose on Wednesday 28th January 17:44

The Moose

Original Poster:

22,820 posts

208 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
The Spruce goose said:
two early singles are sixty total so saved you twenty quid

or early and late cheaper.

vut that is in march might should be same in may june.
Forgive me, but how/where did you find that?!

The Moose

Original Poster:

22,820 posts

208 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
vescaegg said:
Christ I read this as you were going for a long weekend in Slough! hehe
No no.

Even I'm classier than that hehe

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
The Moose said:
Forgive me, but how/where did you find that?!
am i doing this wrong, this is what i usually do two singles

go friday come back sunday.



The Moose

Original Poster:

22,820 posts

208 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
I see what you're doing now.

It seems the National Rail site has different results.

If I go on the 13th March on the 19:07 and come back on the 15th March on the 19:52, it'll be £56 total.

A bit better, but having said that, for 2 of us, it'd still be cheaper to drive.

Simpo Two

85,147 posts

264 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
Get a job with a TOC at a suitably high level - then you get free First Class travel on their lines and a good discount on others.

dvs_dave

8,581 posts

224 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
With a car full, surely driving is much cheaper than the 350 quid the train will cost, and much more convenient, especially as you'll be at the mercy of weekend timetables? 3 1/2 hrs, 200 miles each way.

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
dvs_dave said:
With a car full, surely driving is much cheaper than the 350 quid the train will cost, and much more convenient, especially as you'll be at the mercy of weekend timetables? 3 1/2 hrs, 200 miles each way.
this being ph the op could hire a nice car, 2 seater forget the passengers and have a nice run down..

bigandclever

13,750 posts

237 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
The Moose said:
£88 return per adult seems bloody expensive for 4 of us to go for a long weekend (Fri to Sun).
Not really a secret, they just make it a bd to actually find, but you'd qualify for a GroupSave discount ... 1/3 off.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/pr354fdc...

Good luck applying it on any website though, best to buy your tickets in person. And Friday afternoon services may not be applicable.

rs1952

5,247 posts

258 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
The secret of cheap train travel, OP, is to play the buggers at their own game.

Both Slough and Totnes are served by First Great Western. However, buying a ticket from one to the other right through doesn't necessarily mean that you can't get a cheaper fare, if you look around for it and can spare the time to dig deeply into their fare structure, which is basically based on a zoning principle (though they don't tell you that, and even if they call it something else, that is what they are doing)

Let me give you a f'rinstance to illustrate my point (at last year's prices, BTW). Chippenham and Henley on Thames are both served by FGW, and an off peak return between the two will cost you £40.60.

If instead you bought an off peak return from Chippenham to Swindon it would cost you £6.70, and then an off peak return from Swindon to Henley which would cost you £26.10, then the total bill would be £32.80, a saving of £7.80 on the "through" ticket.

If you bought an off peak return from Chippenham to Didcot it would cost you £14.60, and then an off peak return from Didcot to Henley which would cost you £8.90, then the total bill would then be £23.50, a saving of £15.10 on the "through" ticket. In other words, over a third of the advertised through ticket price .

You can swan in to any of their staffed stations and and ask the person behind the counter for a return from A to B, and then a return from B to C. You can also do it online, and specify that you want to pick the tickets up from your local station. You can't of course do it with automatic ticket machines as they only sell you tickets from the station you are at to the place you want to go.

If I wanted to go from Slough to Totnes I'd be looking at prices to and from such places as Reading, Newbury, Pewsey, Castle Cary, Taunton, Tiverton Junction, Exeter and Newton Abbott, and then start adding up the totals on the various permutations.

One word of warning though. Whilst this is perfectly legal and above board (and the TOCs despise you for doing it, which makes it even more fun wink ) you must make sure that the train(s) you are on actually stop at the stations that you've bought tickets to and from. The Revenue Protection lads and ladesses really enjoy catching people with tickets to an from Aldermaston or wherever when the train doesn't stop there...

Happy hunting smile

V8Ford

2,675 posts

165 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
Another way to reduce your rail fares is to move to a country with a nationalised railway and use the trains there.

Chrisgr31

13,440 posts

254 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
Might be worth buying a 2 for 1 railcard or whatever its called. Basically gives discounts to people travelling together.

The Moose

Original Poster:

22,820 posts

208 months

Thursday 29th January 2015
quotequote all
V8Ford said:
Another way to reduce your rail fares is to move to a country with a nationalised railway and use the trains there.
Might struggle to get from Slough to Totnes however hehe

The Moose

Original Poster:

22,820 posts

208 months

Thursday 29th January 2015
quotequote all
rs1952 said:
The secret of cheap train travel, OP, is to play the buggers at their own game.

Both Slough and Totnes are served by First Great Western. However, buying a ticket from one to the other right through doesn't necessarily mean that you can't get a cheaper fare, if you look around for it and can spare the time to dig deeply into their fare structure, which is basically based on a zoning principle (though they don't tell you that, and even if they call it something else, that is what they are doing)

Let me give you a f'rinstance to illustrate my point (at last year's prices, BTW). Chippenham and Henley on Thames are both served by FGW, and an off peak return between the two will cost you £40.60.

If instead you bought an off peak return from Chippenham to Swindon it would cost you £6.70, and then an off peak return from Swindon to Henley which would cost you £26.10, then the total bill would be £32.80, a saving of £7.80 on the "through" ticket.

If you bought an off peak return from Chippenham to Didcot it would cost you £14.60, and then an off peak return from Didcot to Henley which would cost you £8.90, then the total bill would then be £23.50, a saving of £15.10 on the "through" ticket. In other words, over a third of the advertised through ticket price .

You can swan in to any of their staffed stations and and ask the person behind the counter for a return from A to B, and then a return from B to C. You can also do it online, and specify that you want to pick the tickets up from your local station. You can't of course do it with automatic ticket machines as they only sell you tickets from the station you are at to the place you want to go.

If I wanted to go from Slough to Totnes I'd be looking at prices to and from such places as Reading, Newbury, Pewsey, Castle Cary, Taunton, Tiverton Junction, Exeter and Newton Abbott, and then start adding up the totals on the various permutations.

One word of warning though. Whilst this is perfectly legal and above board (and the TOCs despise you for doing it, which makes it even more fun wink ) you must make sure that the train(s) you are on actually stop at the stations that you've bought tickets to and from. The Revenue Protection lads and ladesses really enjoy catching people with tickets to an from Aldermaston or wherever when the train doesn't stop there...

Happy hunting smile
Thank you for that. MUch appreciated.

Out of interest, how can one find out the FGW zones?

Is this likely a pointless task as I'll end up on the bloody buses anyway?!