We’ve just entered the window for advance purchase fares and I want to compare those with using a “Two Together” card – which I won’t be able to get and use until I’m in-country 2+ months from now.
To estimate what fares might be then, I’ve looked at current fares for the same days of the week we’ll be taking longer trips in September. It turns out for our itinerary, current week advance fares using the Two Together card (and its cost) price out just slightly more than if I were to purchase now using September advance fares. Waiting and using the railcard would give us more flexibility, to include the possibility of going first class – which is showing as considerably less than first class at September advance purchase rates. Plus, the railcard would save on shorter day return trips we may take, so it might be a breakeven moneywise.
Question: Is this a reasonable approach? Specifically, are July same-day-of-the-week advance purchase fares a good predictor of what they might be in September? This is important because Off-Peak fares using the railcard (the default if there are no advance fare possibilities meeting our needs in September) are about twice what purchasing advance fares now would be.
Next question: Were I to wait and use the railcard are seat reservations possible as they would be purchasing now?