We are going to be in England in May. There will be three of us. I was planning to buy advance train tickets from Victoria Station to Canterbury and back and perhaps some other day trip tickets. At least the ones from London to Canterbury are considerably cheaper when bought in advance.
But all the strikes worry me. What happens if I buy tickets and there is a strike?
In many cases you get your money back. We did (but we had to ask; it was not automatic).
In general, I've never really seen much advantage in purchasing train tickets much in advance (in Europe in general). It just seems to always cause more inflexibility than I want. I usually just purchase them a day or so before, but mainly so I can print out ahead and avoid the hassle of buying tickets at the station.
I don't have a specific answer about the strikes.... Presumably if lines weren't running then it would be refundable, but I don't know how it would work if everything is just heavily delayed or messed up. Personally I'd wait until just before, that way you can investigate other modes of transportation if it looks like it is going to be a mess. Canterbury isn't really that far, probably buses would be an alternative if necessary..
Good luck to you...
You will get your money back, on application, from wherever you bought the tickets from, without the normal admin fee. Also the tickets will automatically be valid the day before and two days after a strike. You don't have to change them.
These relaxations apply to all ticket types. I
National Express also run a regular bus service.
On recent occasions the strike plan has been to have each train company staff strike on a specific day over a 10 day or so period and those periods have been several weeks apart. That means disruption all over the country for a longish period whilst each striker only loses one day’s pay. So you would have to be seriously unlucky for South Eastern Trains to happen to be striking on the day you want to travel. And if you were it’s likely you would be able to travel either side of that date anyway.
In general, I've never really seen much advantage in purchasing train tickets much in advance (in Europe in general). It just seems to always cause more inflexibility than I want. I usually just purchase them a day or so before, but mainly so I can print out ahead and avoid the hassle of buying tickets at the station.
Steve, in England, if you buy your tickets a day or so before, you will pay a considerably larger amount than you would buy buying advance tickets. I'm talking anywhere from £50 to £150 more.
"In general, I've never really seen much advantage in purchasing train tickets much in advance (in Europe in general)."
For long distance trains in the UK, advance tickets are usually significantly cheaper, so yes there is an advantage. However for shorter routes not so much - London to Canterbury being one those.
So I decided to see how much savings there actually would be. We would be traveling to Canterbury on May 23. I was not even able to see trains running that day. I had thought you could buy tickets three months ahead of time but obviously I am wrong. I could see tickets for April.
How far ahead of time can you buy tickets?
And I thought about this some more and even if I don’t buy tickets very much in advance, I would like to have tickets for the day we arrive. I want to minimize the things I have to figure out jet lagged.
How far ahead are strikes announced? And is there an app you can download or better to use the website?
When we were trying to see how much all our train tickets would cost last year in order to determine whether or not to purchase a 2 together railcard, I would select the same day of the week as far out as the calendar went and the prices were comparable to what I ended up paying when I purchased advanced tickets for the actual day I wanted. So if you want to travel on a Tuesday in May, then choose the last Tuesday currently available on the calendar and that should give you an idea of how many trains will be traveling that day and what the ticket prices are.
Our Advance tickets from London to Canterbury were substantially cheaper than the walk-up ticket price on the day, and that was for travel after 9:30. I can't remember the exact difference, but an American lady a couple rows back was very chatty with the conductor when he was checking tickets and she mentioned the price and that it was higher than she expected. When the conductor got to us his comment was, "Oh, you know the secret!" about our advanced ticket purchase and the 2 Together Railcard.
I'm not sure how the strikes are running this year, but last summer 5 of our 7 train journeys ended up being affected by strikes. However we were always able to travel on the day planned and arrived within an hour or two of our originally stated arrival time. Usually the difficulty was not being able to have the seats we reserved since we were traveling on a later train than we had purchased tickets for.
" I was not even able to see trains running that day'
Which site are you using? I checked the Southeastern site and I can see tickets for 23rd May at £17.70 for an Advance single. Southeastern is the operator - you can book tickets on the site of any of the train operating companies, but the National Rail site is a good place to start as it directs you to the operator for the route in question..
Strikes must be announced with at least two weeks notice, but often you hear about them earlier.
https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/travel-information/industrial-action/
I don't know where £17.70 comes from, but as and from the 1010 train onwards Vic to Cant East they are £12.30 before any railcard discount on the hourly direct trains.
On the High Speed service from St Pancras to Cant West £14.80 on the half hourly trains after 1037 before railcard discount
Trains before those times are peak so priced accordingly- which means no advanced fares.
If you want to be there earlier take the National Express bus at 0730, arrive 0945- £7.40 advance fare, £11.60 turn up and go. Then back on the train if you want.
By law, strikes must be announced at least 14 days in advance.
May 23 is a Thursday. If memory service me right, Thursday is not a popular strike day.
where will you be before you go to the station to board the train?
If you are near Victoria then going to Victoria to pick up the slower, clunkier train makes sense.
If you are not, then you may find that since you have to travel to a station anyway the high speed Javelin service from St Pancras International station will be much faster and smoother.
All,
I must have been on a different website last night because this morning I was able to find fares for May.
The fare for the 15:40 train are only a pound more next week so not a lot of savings for buying in advance, at least for that time, as several of you said. That is the cheapest time by far so savings may depend on time of departure. Now the fares next week still say advance (and five tickets left) so I am thinking there may be a different price in May because advance tickets may be more likely to sell out.
And yes, traveling trains economically in the UK does seem like a fine art!
I do know that Victoria is not the best place to catch the train to Canterbury. The reason we are going from there is that by a weird coincidence my son and his fiance are flying to London Heathrow the same day, into the same terminal, and within 30 minutes of us. They are going to Victoria area so we are going to go together, have lunch, and then we are taking a train to Canterbury.
Stuart, thanks for that recommendation to take the National Express for an earlier trip to Canterbury. We will want to head out early on either a Saturday or Monday (any reason to choose one over the other?). I presume we go to Victoria Station to catch the coach.
Is there anything like a two together for the National Express? We might take that from the airport, too.
Yes, from Victoria Coach Station.
No there is no Two Together card. There is a Senior Card which gives you 1/3 off all but the lowest fares.
Or £15 flat fare maximum single or return on Tuesday to Thursday with a few blackout weeks.
I am just mentioning it here as the question was asked, not implying you are over 60. That is £17 for the year. It either has to be ordered by mail or bought at a staffed coach station like Victoria. Of course Heathrow is now unstaffed at the ticket counter. Not actually unstaffed.
I don't think the average visitor wou!d take £50 worth of trips to make it pay
Canterbury Bus Station is within the city walls, so is very central, better in that respect than either rail station.
I see on this forum about museums supposedly being closed on Monday. I simply don't know how or if that affects Canterbury. The traffic would be lighter on a Saturday but the town itself busier. Personally I dont think.which day makes a dea! of difference overall
I'm not anti coach - I rely on National Express for stock income so am very pro - but I think for tourists on a route served by both coach and train, even the Victoria station service, the view out the window of the train is so much better than the view of the motorway from the coach. Good enough, but I'd much prefer the train in this case... oh and the toilets on the train and ability to move around ...
and I understand why Victoria. However, should you change your mind Victoria to Kings Cross St Pancras is only 5 stops on the Victoria Line Underground.
hi there. i have couple of questions similar to what was first asked.
is there a price break to buying train tickets in advance or day-off when traveling in the UK?
also, is there a price break to buying return tickets rather than one-ways?
also, specifically for the UK, is it better to buy tickets from national rail or other apps like trainline etc?
i plan to travel to london next week and would like to take train from heathrow to exeter. the national rail website gives you option of going from heathrow to paddington and then to exeter. any tips would be appreciated. thank you.
The question of whether to route on the rail air bus to Paddington, or changing at Hayes/Reading or at Paddington is a vexed one.
There is no simple answer. It is one totally of personal preference. There is usually very little time difference in the Hayes and Reading change to the Paddington change, because the Hayes to Reading train stops at all stations. Coming off a long haul flight the easier the better IMO.
Yes, even at this late stage for next week there are advance tickets available and will be until midnight the day before travel. But that is a fixed time ticket for a specific train. Thus it is a gamble, whether your flight is on time.
Returns are cheaper than two singles, but not by a huge amount on the Exeter route. My advice would be to book a flexible single out from Heathrow and an advance on the way back. Check it out for your trains, but it is likely to be the cheapest combination.
Also on the way back look at trains from Exeter to London Waterloo on South West Trains. They are slower but massively cheaper on advance fares. To many people, myself included, far more comfortable trains and a much more scenic route. For Heathrow you can change at Basingstoke for the rai air bus, rather than going via London.
The even easier route is National Express bus- several departures a day Heathrow to Exeter.
The stop is right in Exeter City Centre.
Just get on at Heathrow and snooze your way. Most only have 1 or 2 stops.
vanyc
if you start your own question you can get answers specifically addressed to you and won't get confused by people answering the original question or missing your question completely. You can also get notified whenever you get an answer - right now those notifications are going to the Original Poster.
Welcome, by the way
Thank you, Stuart. I had noticed that the coach station is very close to the cathedral, a consideration if we are able to do evensong before heading back to London.
Thank you, Nigel, for the additional perspective. We will be staying at the Premier Inn County Hall. It looks as if there is at least one change on the tube to St. Pancras. When I was checking the coach route last night, it appeared we would have minimal walking taking a bus to Victoria Station for not much difference in time. We talked about walking the 33 minutes all the way in the morning before heading out. The coach rates looked to be under 15 for both of us each way, which would not be a great loss if something happened to screw up our plans (e.g. sick in the hotel at the end of our trip).
But the thought of better scenery...hmm. The coaches do have toilets, don't they? I like the ability to walk around, but on second thought, perhaps I'll be so tired I'll be taking a nap...
Yes, the Coaches have toilets. And you actually spend a lot of the time on the dual carriageway of the A2 before the M2 starts near Rochester. It's quite an interesting journey largely on the segregated dual carriageway, as South East London slowly and visibly opens out into Kent, and the road gradually gets faster.
A very different perspective to either train route.
Yes all National Express buses have toilets. The Kent services are contracted out to a company called The King's Highway who used (I think still do, now to Canary Wharf) to run high quality commuter services from Kent into London, competing with the train. If you get one of the KH liveried coaches as I did last summer, rather than a NE white liveried one I think they are even better spec than the normal NatEx buses, except for a lack of WiFi.
I was actually bound that day for the Anglo-Saxon landing beach (and the start of the Kent Camino to Canterbury ) near Ramsgate and so enjoyed the different journey and different scenery of the bus, before coming back into London on HS1. It is is so many years since I've been through Canterbury by road that I had forgotten that you almost circumnavigate the city walls before entering the city- almost a free sightseeing tour.
Is it just chance whether or not you get the KH coaches or is there a way to know when booking?
Just total chance. It totally depends what the company turns out from the depot that morning. I was actually on that 0730 bus looking back at my diary.
When I looked the other day I didn't see the 7:00 am bus. We may decide to take that one in order to get to Canterbury even earlier. We are early morning folks (well, since retirement last year I've not been quite so much...) though maybe luck would be on the 7:20. I wondered if one to Ramsgate had a better chance of being the good one..
Cheryl,
Pretty much all buses to Canterbury extend to either Ramsgate or Dover. Very few terminate at Canterbury unless they are running duplicates.
These are the ones to Ramsgate- https://timetables.nationalexpress.com/routes/NX/022/London-Ramsgate/O/pdf
and these the ones to Dover - https://timetables.nationalexpress.com/routes/NX/007/London-Dover_Town_Centre/O/pdf
Looking back at the GPS tracker for that route the 0730 to Ramsgate has been a standard NEx liveried vehicle Mon to Thursday- this week (the same one each day)- https://www.flickr.com/photos/182824229@N02/53343409449/in/photolist-2pvu3BG-2pgLVb2-2pdLYfy-2p1YoHw-2p2YMLd-2pdFmXA-2oQuGe8-2oJwoZr-2otnFd7-2obBSKU-2o8mbBH-2o26H7C-2o1jEsq-2nMvYaj-2nG1vnc-2nCcP9j-2nAehgx-2nHFDX8-2nytmF2-2nE8uQ4-2npMS94-2nu7ELm-2pmYEiu-2ncT3LQ-2ncwGeb-2n9jfPH-2mLGr5g-2mLGr7k-2mLQd8c-2mLQd9V-2mLRigh-2mEgNzS-2mnsLky-2miGxHN-2mr56P1-2mridVU-2mrnf77-2mrnf3p-2mromfE-2mrrYbd-2mrus43-2mrie1U-2mrie3c-2mrie4V-2mf3fcT-2mdQwNN-2mdRF76-2mdRFaN-2mdRFcw
and Thursday to Today- a special liveried standard NatEx service (liveried for the recently cancelled Heathrow to Canterbury direct overnight bus)- this vehicle- https://www.flickr.com/photos/thanetbeast_/52579681872/in/photolist-2pj8ZK6-2ptt4vK-2oQK1uS-2oFFhkf-2pihKzP-2ouTGeq-2oD3cUm-2oiFYsW-2oaGABb-2oeVSFX-2oeXnEQ-2oeY6V2-2oaAJnu-2or7nwE-2o9gpnF-2o9iVLg-2oboNTn-2obtEfo-2oboC4b-2o7G7JQ-2o7G7Kw-2o7hBzb
I never use the Historical GPS data, but I have just seen that I can in theory track back any bus (citybus or National Express) in the Country to January 2023, to get second by second running and the vehicle used. That backs up a conversation I had with a driver recently on a quiet night on the bus from Penzance to Mousehole where he was saying that their ticket machines tell and warn them if they are early or late. On a Citybus (not long distance express route) the Traffic Commissioners randomly look at the same data set as I have just done. If they find someone passing a timing point early the driver gets a verbal warning the first time, a written warning the second time, and is fired the third time (and the route removed from that company and allocated to another company). That is the level of regulation to UK bus services unseen to the normal bus user.
I sometimes use the GPS live when a bus is running late, and I need to know where it is.
"I presume we go to Victoria Station to catch the coach." National Express coaches to Canterbury make a stop at Elephant & Castle after 20 minutes. This would be easier to get to from the Waterloo area than Victoria..
