Should I purchase rail tickets in advance?

Posted by homeby51 on 01/12/19 06:34 PM

Hey guys...
Many of you all have helped my wife and immensely with out itinerary. Now I need a little more advice:

We are catching a train from Edinburgh to York sometime in the morning of May 14th (a Tuesday). Then we will catch another train from York to London (Paddington).
Do you save a lot of money by buying them in advance from a third party like www.nationalrail.co.uk? Or would it be OK to simply walk up to the window and buy a train ticket directly from the train company when we are ready to go? I like the flexibility of this option but I don't know if these trains get sold out in advance or the price jumps significantly.

Thanks guys.

Posted by ramblin' on

Royaume-Uni nul points, pas plus

01/12/19 06:55 PM

2510 posts

National Rail isn’t a third party and you don’t buy tickets from there. It simply directs you to the relevant train company (e.g. LNER) from where you buy the tickets. There are many train companies, but they all sell each other’s tickets for the same price. So just stick with one website.

Trains don’t sell out and you can buy tickets at the station if you want flexibility. But, and it’s a big but, walk up tickets can be much more expensive than the cheaper Advance tickets. If you want to know the price of walk up tickets look for Anytime or Off-Peak tickets.

Trains from York terminate at Kings Cross. You’ll need to make your own way to Paddington either by Tube, bus, taxi or Shanks’s pony.

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

01/12/19 06:57 PM

27122 posts

The fare difference for those two tickets could approach 100 pounds per person, I think, if you pay the walk-up price. I like to be flexible, too, but that comes at a painfully high cost in the UK if you are taking long train journeys.

Posted by homeby51 OP

01/12/19 08:15 PM

71 posts

Ok....that settles it then. I will buy my tickets well in advance. Thanks again for you all's help!!!

Posted by Lola

Seattle, WA

01/12/19 08:47 PM

16287 posts

Look for Advance tickets (with a capital A as that is their actual name) 11-12 weeks ahead of your travel date on the National Rail.uk site.

Posted by Nigel

Northamptonshire, England

01/12/19 08:56 PM

32767 posts

Is the stop at York an overnight or two or just a stop and look around and continue stop?

It will make a significant difference in the ticketing options.

There can be additional savings. Is Paddington a typo or your actual destination?

Will you be taking any other train on the journey?

Posted by homeby51 OP

01/12/19 09:43 PM

71 posts

Staying in York for two nights. Our final destination is Royal Oak station (I realize that it's not a train station)