Overly complicated question about getting GWR return tickets from Bath Spa

The trains can not sell out.

Yes anytime tickets are a fixed price and can be bought until departure.

Take a punt on your return time, but if you change your mind later book another train through 'my account' on the GWR website- https://www.gwr.com/your-tickets/seat-reservations.

The app may be glitchy, but the website is not.

Sorry if I am a little dense.
So you are saying to buy an anytime ticket for the extra money or to hold off and just buy a return ticket when I want to leave?

Being a Saturday buy a Super Off Peak Return for £72.60 which is valid on all trains that day.

This is the same fare today as it is 2 minutes before the train leaves and is totally flexible. In the purchase process you will specify certain trains but that is just an indication no more. Travel on any train that day in each direction without penalty.

There is always at least one unreserved car. Unless there is a major event or football match on the trains are unlikely to be rammed full, so a seat reservation (if you change trains) is desirable, not essential. You can board without one and in most cases will find a seat.

If the train is full, and you have no reserved seat you stand.

Or upgrade to weekend first (pay on the train) for another £10 each way. You will get a light snack and free non alcoholic drinks, and more space.

Weekend first is now £20 one way between London and Bath. The GWR is rather silent on how this is calculated.

The GWR is rather silent on how this is calculated.

what the market will bear?

Travelling back at 8 in the evening is unlikely to be chocca

What I meant by that is that GWR used to have a zone map on their website which you could calculate the supplement from easily for travel between any station pair at a glance. This concept seems to have disappeared and only the vague "from £10" remains.

I just walked up to the ticket machine on my day of travel and ... bought a ticket. Don't sweat the small stuff, you're on vacation.

Here is a video of what to expect.

Thank you all.
I think I will get the Super anytime return ticket; that way, I am covered.
Can I reserve a seat on the app on the travel day when deciding what train to take after I buy the anytime ticket?
I rarely take trains, and I would want a window seat.

Do the prices go up on these tickets the closer you get to the travel day?
I plan to go on June 1st, and I would like to know the weather before making my choice.
If it turns out to be rainy and cold, I would rather find a warm spot in London, like a museum, but I will risk it if I can save a good amount.

Thanks again,
Mark

Mark

all the words in the name of the ticket are important and you will need to get them right when buying.

Don't mix up Anytime (the most expensive walk-up ticket) with Super Off-Peak (the cheapest walk-up ticket).

Single means one-way - the default; Return means round trip.

So what you are after is Super Off-Peak Return.....

as Stuart says, "buy a Super Off Peak Return for £72.60 which is valid on all trains that day."

All the trains are off peak on the weekend on that route. If you throw Anytime into the mix you are likely to get what you don't want. Anytime is a specific name for a ticket that is - what it says, but the ticket you want actually is valid all day on that day. OK?

To repeat the Super Off Peak ticket at £72.60 is the one you want on a Saturday as all Saturday trains are classified as off peak.

Buying any other more expensive ticket (like an anytime ticket) is a waste of money (in this case a massive difference in cost of well over £100). If buying on the day from a machine then I assume GWR's machines are like ours up north and will prompt you to only buy the Super Off Peak Ticket.
Our machines are specifically programmed to sell you the best value ticket.
Sure, if you have money to burn, you can over-ride the prompt but I don't understand why. Normally people on this forum are trying to save every possible dime on their travels, not spend more than they have to.

£72.60 is the price you will pay today or on 1 June, 2 minutes before travel or at any stage in the interim. That is a fixed rate.

It is Advanced (train specific) tickets which have dynamic pricing.

You can reserve seats until the train leaves it's origin station, so a train from Bath will normally have started from Bristol (10 to 20 minutes away). But no one can guarantee you a window seat booking just before departure- they may all have been taken- unlikely but could happen.

But if returning in mid evening then unless there are football crowds around the train is not likely to be busy. If you couldn't reserve a window seat (for some odd reason) then find the unreserved car and try your luck in there or, as I say, 1st class.

If the app plays up on you use the website instead.

On this kind of journey with this kind of timing, I personally would not go the effort of booking a seat if travelling on a flexible ticket. I would just take a chance. That strategy almost never lets me down.

When you arrive at Paddington & your train comes up on the screen, I suggest that you make your way towards the front of the train. I say this because a lot of people can’t be bothered to walk that far and hence you are more likely to find more vacant seats. Some coaches are for unreserved passengers whilst others have many seats already reserved.

Late comers often pile in at the first coach they come to - something that you should do if late arriving at Paddington. Also note that the first 2 coaches of these trains at the London end are usually for 1st Class passengers.

When travelling to Bath, the southern side (left) of the train will be the sunny side. I suggest that you sit on the right hand side to avoid having the sun in your eyes. You will soon be accelerating away to 125mph for much of the journey. Look out for the river Thames on the right. After Chippenham, you will go through a long tunnel for the final bit into Bath - which is quite scenic.

Enjoy the experience.

I do know what ticket to get, but without the names in front of me, I often write the names wrong. Thanks for making that very clear.
I will also take your advice, including sitting on the right side.
I will be buying my ticket shortly.

Thanks again,
Mark

James makes a point worth repeating. You won't know what track your train will be on until several minutes before departure. Train vloggers always complain about this since obviously the station knows where they are going to put the train, but it's not posted. Join the crowd watching the monitors, generally outside the ticket office, and then move smartly towards the track when it's announced.

Quite bluntly any train vlogger complaining about platform allocations doesn't know what they are talking about.

Unless there is a late platform change due to service disruption then any competent blogger will be using the same app as I do (a website actually, not an app) which gives platform allocations hours if not days ahead of time for any station in the UK.

Even if there is a late platform change, then unless the rolling stock allocation also has to be altered they or I will know far ahead of the platform being advertised where the train is as the allocated unit is also known hours ahead of time, so I can physically search the station for that unit. Also I can trace the unit on it's inbound journey.

A very, very powerful tool. The thing is if you don't know what you are doing the volume of data is overwhelming. I made the mistake once of citing it on here- and just got the data being way over analysed back at me.

Actual train fans (not just frequent travellers like me) will be using a more sophisticated app which feeds straight from the signalboxes (mine on the whole feeds from GPS). This is the same system as is used by the ticket office staff. I have to say I have had several instances recently where my feed is better than the signalbox feed. That includes last Saturday where my feed showed a train stuck at Edinburgh. When I double checked with the signalbox feed it was showing in section miles down the line having just dropped in there from the sky. Someone must have manually input a wrong headcode!!

I have a different website (not app) to live GPS almost any bus service in the UK. So if I can get WiFi if a bus is late I know where on earth it is hiding at.

The following website shows you the trains at any particular place. If you click on a particular train on the day, a picture comes up of the train that will will be operating that service. During the trip, it will show you if the train is keeping to time or not. It will also show you in advance the platform that the train has been allocated at any particular station - although that could be altered at the last minute. For services to Bath, the London departure is Paddington - so put that in the location box and click search.https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/
(Those in faint type are freights).

If you click the next link, you will see a map showing the movement of most buses/coaches. I have set it to Bath but it can be moved to anywhere. https://bustimes.org/map#12.31/51.38281/-2.38735

It is really important to emphasize that you will NOT be allowed on to the train at Paddington, until it is publicly advertised on the screens.
The train doors will be locked against you while the staff do their jobs getting the train ready for your journey- cleaned, stocked with water and food etc, and sometimes the real priority passengers (those who are disabled etc) taken down in the golf carts which are used for that purpose. Real priority as opposed to those who just think they should be priority. All the cleaning and stocking jobs need cart/vehicle movements requiring the platform to be clear of people who don't need to be there.

Even if you do get access to the platform (and are not ordered back to the concourse for everyone's Health and Safety) that will do you no good if there is a very late platform change for some reason. It happens.

But even more to the point, even if you do know the platform ahead of time the information will not do you any much good, as the staff are not stupid. The ticket gates to the platform are very likely to be locked against you (in exit only mode), only to be released when the train is advertised. Nor do they want people clustering round the gates beforehand, creating a hazard and obstruction. You will be given ample time to board.