We arrive in London on 7/1 and will take the train to Edinburgh on 7/2, returning to London on 7/9. How far out should I be thinking to purchase tickets? There will be 6 of us- 5 adults and 1 12 yr old. Thought I'd get the friends and Family pass and have my friend get another one to get the discount.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
49 posts
I would buy them now, better price and seat availability.
Posted by
Lake District, England
9418 posts
Friends and Family Railcard fares have to have at least one child travelling, and a maximum of 4 adults.
However LNER also do group save on Advance Tickets for groups of 3 or more, no railcard needed.
A price check this morning on the 1000 out and the 1300 back gives a group save return price of £679.25 return vs a railcard and one full price rate of £665.75 when you include the £35 railcard price.
So if that is your only journey there is only £13.50 difference in it.
Avanti from Euston on the 1038 out and the 1252 back are £370.10 return, railcard fares. A one hour longer journey each way but a lot nicer train and more likely to have more room to spread out especially if you get an 11 car set.
Posted by
San Francisco area
1968 posts
LNER runs most of the trains on that route. I used their website to book tickets. Very easy to use and I was able to pay using Apple Pay and I did not have any issues with payment. I did not notice if Google pay was an option. An additional nice feature is that I could load my tickets onto Apple wallet.
Enjoy your trip.
Posted by
London
1649 posts
I travelled on a Lumo service from Edinburgh to Kings Cross last week and thought it was definitely a step down from Avanti West Coast. Their on-board catering facilities were definitely lacking. All they offered was a trolley pushed around a couple of times. I get the feeling they run their trains with a member of staff or two fewer than Avanti West Coast. I also noticed how international the clientele was on that route compared to the west coast. Many more international visitors travelling that route to London.