I received much wonderful information from many of you on the advantages of taking trains in England (instead of getting a rental car as we have always done). We will be traveling to England the last week in August and want to take our first train trip from London to York on September 1. I was told by a couple of you that I should get an "anytime" ticket which sounded like a good idea to me. I went into the National Rail site to check it out (think it's too early for me to purchase tickets for that timeframe yet). I can't figure out how to get Anytime tickets - I only saw places to put in dates and times.....but I'm totally new at this. Can you tell me what I'm doing wrong. Thanks!
Posted by
Royaume-Uni nul points, pas plus
2508 posts
Are you sure you want an Anytime ticket? You can buy these on the day at the station, hand over your money, get a shock at the price and wish you'd bought an Advance ticket instead.
Posted by
UK
1015 posts
If you know the day and time you're travelling, get an Advance ticket. Comes with seat reservations.
You can also select an Anytime ticket online - you always start by entering your day of travel but when choosing which ticket to buy, select one that says Anytime.
However if you already know when you're making the journey, it's like throwing money down the drain.
You could also look at buying an Off-Peak ticket - allows you to travel any day but at limited times.
All the train booking sites will ask you to enter your travel dates - the type of ticket you choose to buy may or may not limit you to travelling on that day.
Posted by
Oxford, United Kingdom
5326 posts
An anytime single from London to York is £122.00.
Advance tickets start from £12.80.
Posted by
2408 posts
The cheap advance fares for specific trains on Sept. 1st have not yet been loaded to the system. I note that Sept. 1st in a Friday. Fridays are the busiest days on the trains and fares can be higher. If you can switch to another day, you might well find cheaper fares. (Avoid Sundays if possible due to engineering sometimes affecting journeys). You can play around with the system and compare prices over time. 11 weeks ahead you can expect the cheaper advance fares to be loaded.
www.nationalrail.co.uk tells you the fares for all the trains between any two stations in Great Britain. When you select a journey, it will will then switch you through to the train company that runs the service to make the booking. You will be asked for your debit card number and you will be given a booking number. When you arrive at the station, go to a ticket machine and follow the instructions. You will need to insert the booking number for each trip and the SAME DEBIT card on which the booking was made. (You should be able to do this at any station with the machines rather than at the last minute prior to catching the train). Be sure to pick up ALL the tickets for each leg. You may also be able to get the tickets from a staffed station but try and do this at a quiet time.
Your journey will be KGX > YRK. You will find that 3 companies have trains on this route but the one one with the most trains is Virgin East Coast. All of the companies operate trains that do 125mph on this route. This video will show you what to expect:> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVoWSTHcnmo
Posted by
Columbus, OH, USA
2026 posts
You might consider the Two Together rail card. It saved us some decent money. We arrived with their downloaded and completed application form and passport photos from home (the agent cut them down to fit) Combined with advance ticket purchases, we did pretty good. We tried to buy tickets way early and during a bank holiday time period when some weekend travel routes were still blacked out; one journey became available through Trainline before it appeared on National Rail...we may have paid an extra pound but I was glad to just get it all done.
Posted by
Virginia
631 posts
For London (Kings Cross) to York, I'd suggest buying your tickets direct from Virgin East Coast -- https://www.virgintrainseastcoast.com
Virgin East Coast already has tickets available for September 1st and the cheapest fare -- as I write this -- is £16.00 for the 9:08am, 11:08am & 1:08pm trains to York.
Most train operating companies start selling tickets 12 weeks out from date of travel, however, Virgin East Coast begins to offer tickets and the cheapest fares as early as 24 weeks out.
Posted by
2408 posts
If getting a Railcard, you can purchase once you have arrived in Britain but you can make the reservation in advance on the assumption that you will have the Railcard for the trip. Please note that the 2 Together Railcard is not valid on trains before 9.30am on weekdays.https://www.railcard.co.uk
Posted by
OP
Santa Rosa, CA, USA
1446 posts
Well, it's obvious I don't want an Anytime ticket - I was told to get that so I would have flexibility, but it's not worth the extra cost! I can determine what time I want to take the train and be there with no problem.
Posted by
205 posts
I was told to get that so I would have flexibility....
You will have flexibility. At a price. That's the point.