BritRail pass and National Rail

Ok, why do you want a Britrail pass? Do you want to jump on any train, go wherever you want on a whim, and are happy to pay through the nose for that?

Or do you know when and where you want to go and would prefer to save money by purchasing Advance tickets online?

Trains from Paddington to Bath can be as little as £14 (they're direct but not non-stop). But if you're going to Bath from Heathrow it would make more sense to take the RailAir bus to Reading then a train from Reading to Bath, thereby avoiding London.

Oh and if you do get a BritRail pass seat reservations can only be made at trains stations in the UK. They really don't make a lot of sense.

BritRail passes are only available to visitors from outside the UK. They're not available for those of us who live here, and they're not a product of National Rail or any of the British rail companies.

They do have wide validity, I understand, and many US tourists seem to use them. But it's also possible to travel cheaply by pre-booking individual trains in advance.

For a good overview of the complex UK rail system and how to make it work for you, read the appropriate pages of the Man in Seat 61's website.

BritRail Passes fully cover all British trains, except for heritage steam railways, overnight sleeper reservations, and Eurostar to the Continent. So National Rail doesn't need to list any ticket price associated with that pass. If using a railpass travel day, the Heathrow Express to Paddington station and then any train from there to Bath are fully covered and you don't have to worry about making a particular connection (e.g., in case of flight delay). Seat reservations are optional and free to make in British train stations up to a day in advance; don't make them from the US and don't worry about having one from Paddington to Bath.

Beyond that, you have to pick the BritRail pass that best fits your territory (the whole island or a region) and number of train travel days. The link above also discusses the discount card options (not passes) that you probably saw referenced by National Rail.

If all you are doing is a single or return trip on the Hex and out to Bath then a Britrail pass is not going to be for you. Buy conventional point to point advance tickets.

If you want to travel from Heathrow to Bath you don't want to go into London anyway - wrong direction.

Trains to Bath Spa from London stop at Reading, Didcot (50%), Swindon, and Chippenham first. Best course is to take the Railair coach to reading for the train; alternatively direct coach. Reserve a seat on the train f you are travelling during commuting peak.

Will you next take a train from Bath to Edinburgh or did you choose to fly? And then any other post-tour stops or return to London by train? The BritRail pass for 3 travel days within a month (whole island) costs $235 in 2nd class; if you're 60 or older, then a new senior discount is expected in the next month or two.

Rather than fiddling around with going into London and back out upon my jet-lagged arrival at LHR last May, I took the National Express Coach directly from LHR to Bath. Very easy, cheap and convenient. I bought the ticket upon arrival at the airport, took the shuttle to the coach station, had coffee and a bite to eat, hit the toilets and waited until time for my coach to depart. The drive through the countryside and the little towns was fun. The coach station in Bath is next door to the train station. You can take the bus back to London or take the train, buying your ticket at the train station there or in advance online before you go. If that's the only train journey you're going to take, I wouldn't even consider a BritRail Pass.

For other train travel, search National Rail again. When you see a fare and journey you like, you can click on it and purchase the ticket online directly from the rail line. Depending on your age and how soon you book, you can get very good deals. I traveled all over England and Scotland for 6 weeks last May-June primarily by rail and the total cost was very low, about $250 -- including my senior railcard. I booked early, traveled at off-peak times and used my senior railcard which I couldn't buy until I got to Bath. I picked up all the tickets, and there were a lot of them, at the Bath train station. Only one journey allowed me to print the ticket at home before I left.

It didn't take me long to realize that with careful planning, it was much cheaper to do individual tickets than to get a BritRail GB senior pass including England and Scotland. My first rail journey was on 6 May and the last was on 5 June. There were a total of 9 of them spread over that time period including both England and Scotland. I kept getting an error at the .net website so this is another one that should give you an idea of potential costs for passes.

I'm trying to understand the advantage of making advance online rail ticket purchases from the USA before my May travel in England compared to purchasing a Senior Rail Card once I arrive in England this May.

Since the Senior card can only be purchased in Britain (showing a US passport to prove age), it seems that I could not somehow use the card in conjunction with advanced ticket purchases when I go to pick up tickets in England.

Is it possible to save money by making advance purchases from the US, arrive in England, buy a Senior card, and then save some additional money when I pick up my tickets. Sounds like that is asking too much.

Am I right in thinking that I either should make advance ticket purchases at home, OR wait until I arrive in England and then purchase a Senior card and purchase discount tickets (30% off with certain restrictions like off-peak travel times).

I hope this awkward question makes some sense. If I had the senior card now, could I use it with advance purchase? But since I will not have the card, are the two approaches exclusive to each other?

To clarify the points that Roy (above) is making:>

The BritRail Pass is not available for purchase in the UK. Most people think it is overpriced.

In Britain, you can purchase different types of Railcard - but check the small print as some won't let you use the trains before 9.30am.http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/46540.aspx

For longer distance trips - it is usually far cheaper to advance purchase for a specific train. You will find the cheapest fares usually about 11 weeks ahead - but, even pre booking the day before can save you money. Go to www.nationalrail.co.uk and play around with dates & times to see what happens. From the drop down menu, you can see that you could include a Railcard in the calculations - even though you don’t yet have one. So, even though you don’t yet have a Railcard, you could pre-book an advance purchase for a train assuming that you do have the Railcard - and get the discount. You then buy the Railcard at a manned British Rail station.

When you pre-order specific trains, the best thing to do is to do the booking via the train company for that particular route. You can even order tickets for multiple train company routes from the same place. Often, it is cheaper to split the ticket at the place where you

change train company. Click DETAILS on the national rail website to see what train companies are involved.

Ray, you don't need to have the senior railcard when you buy your tickets on line, just the intention to buy one. So you can claim the discount before you actually have the card in your hand.

Buy senior railcard when you get to the UK. The only time you'll need to show it is when your tickets are checked during (or sometimes immediately before or after) your train journey. At that point you'll need to have the railcard to show with your tickets.

So go ahead and buy discounted tickets - just select the railcard you plan to buy from the drop-down options list.

All tickets can be bought in advance, but Advance tickets are the cheaper ones.

Semantics are important.

Thanks very much for the help. I'll buy Advance tickets online here using the Senior discount, and then buy the card when I arrive. Will be mindful of restrictions.

I appreciate this discussion, since I had the same corundum as Roy. Now I understand that one can use the Railcard discount from the states and purchase the Railcard discount there. I have two further questions:

1. Do we need to provide the photos for the cards or will they take them there?

2. Is there any difference between using the Two Together card or the Senior cards? We qualify for both, and a few checks on price seemed to show no difference there. We don't expect to be using them other than our trip in June.

You need to provide a photo that meets their guidelines although it need not be taken by a professional passport-photo agency. Some train stations also have photo booths, but it would be easier to bring from home.

Aside from the photos, I think the main difference between the Rail Cards is just that you pay one 30-pound fee for the Two-Together Card instead of 30 per person for the Senior Cards.

Thanks for the information!

The other is that with the Two Together card you must at all times be together on your travels and with two Senior Railcards you can split up if you wish.

I think that the Senior Railcard is also valid on Anytime Tickets but the 2 Together Card is not valid on peak services = usually before 9.30am Monday to Friday.

There are some restrictions on the Senior Railcard around London and the South East of England in the morning peak - within the area covered by the Network Card.

Thanks all for the information. I didn't mean to steal the thread. We are still trying to decide how much of our trip to have a car for. I will post a new thread if I have further questions.