York to London -- Fastest & Cheapest?

You don't say the date. Random future date of Oct 18 shows 74 GBP for 2, about $98 US for a 9:30 departure on London Northeastern. Does not seem outrageous to me. Ever look at Amtrak prices?

Look for Advance tickets – on sale about 12 weeks before your date of travel.

The website below will take you to the relevant train operator (LNER or Grand Central).

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

£131.50 is the anytime single standard class fare, which is roughly the figure you quote. But there is no need usually to pay that. If you saw a price actually in USD it would be some kind of middleman.

The cheapest walk-up fare is £55, valid weekdays for any train that arrives in London after 11:17.

The cheapest fare, booked in advance for a specific train is £10, but you would have to snap that up very quickly. However, Advances in the £25-£40 range are common.

However, consider not dumping the car at York. There are plenty of place worth visiting between York and London.

You don’t want to be driving in London. Drop the car at York. Although there are many places worth seeing between York and London, the direct route is a tedious drive, often prone to delays, as I discover on a regular basis!

Book weeks in advance and travel after 9.30-10am for the best rail fares.

To be clear I wasn't suggesting driving into London. But maybe it was just me wanting to counter the idea that there is nothing worth visiting south of York.

We took the train last month from York to Kings Cross in London and paid $26.00 for an advance ticket. What site are you using to book tickets and how soon is your trip?

Were you looking at fares through the RailEurope link, since you are quoting prices in dollars not pounds? Dont do that as it won't always show the cheapest fare. Use the National Rail site. The key is the advance purchase as mentioned. We got fares for £13 per person last year for this trip. But those low fares only show up during a certain window of time before the travel date.

Thanks all.... Our dates will be the beginning of June next year. I just googled and found a third party vendor that probably jacks up the prices. What is the "official" website for UK train tickets these days? I will follow the advice of booking 12 weeks out or so.
---- Here's a follow up question:
I've been reading Rick's travel books since 2001 and always loved his idea of getting to a train station late in the evening (11:00pm or so...and boarding a night train with a "Couchette Sleeper Car" reservation. I did this one time from Paris to Amsterdam years ago. Normally this trip is not very long, but during this special night schedule it slows down, allowing you to arrive at the break of dawn. Saves you from having to rent a room, and allows for "maximum sight seeing time"! Is there anything like this from the northern reaches to London that anyone has heard of, or experienced?

National Rail. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ They have an app too, but the individual companies have their own apps that are generally much better. But http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ in a web browser on a laptop or tablet is easiest and most comprehensive.

The only sleeper from North to South is the Caledonian Sleeper https://www.sleeper.scot/ which runs down the west coast line. Nowhere near York, I'm afraid. Nearest to York is either Edinburgh or Carlisle. Carlisle is at quarter to 2 in the morning. Carlisle is on the west coast border of England and Scotland.

London Northeastern and Grand Central are the 2 railway companies that operate this route.
https://www.lner.co.uk/
https://www.grandcentralrail.com/

When I look out to December 12 (about as far out as you can book), Grand Central has a price of 26.20 GBP for 2 for the 10:27 departure.

The trouble with sleepers these days is that, at least for a compartment, you end up paying the cost of a moderately priced hotel room for a tiny, noisy, shaking hotel room with bunk beds and bathroom down the hall. So money saving it is not. It only saves a bit of time if you are a sound sleeper.

Bart, "always loved his idea of getting to a train station late in the evening . . . . Is there anything like this from the northern reaches to London that anyone has heard of, or experienced?"

There is the Caledonian Sleeper between Scotland and London. Official website here: https://www.sleeper.scot/
This is one of only two remaining sleeper trains in the UK (the other one is to Cornwall). It is designed for people travelling between places north of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and London. Edinburgh to London is only 4½ hours by day train, and York to London is 2 hours, much too short for a night train.

Just so I am doing this correctly, I need to book a return trip to York from London departing on 10-23 and returning 10-25. The best price I am seeing is 131 pounds for 2 people. Is that correct? I prefer to travel between 10am and 2pm.

Depart London 13.06 £44

Depart York 14.02 £58

Total £102 for 2 adults on your dates is the cheapest I can see.

https://www.lner.co.uk/

Note that the cheapest Advances to York are often on the slowest services, rather than the non-stop ones. The extra time may or may not be important.