Edinburgh airport to Inverness train logistics

There are several odd things here-
No train in the UK can be full/at capacity. All trains take walk up passengers, they may not get seats, but you can always board a train.

What I believe you are looking at is the number of Advance (Cheap) tickets. They are released in tranches, and not very many in each tranche. So the cheap tickets are nearly sold out, but the train isn't.

What date is this- I can't find an 0814 train from either Edinburgh Waverley or Haymarket?

From the airport you first need to catch a tram or bus to Haymarket or Edinburgh Waverley station, then the train. That is at least 30 minutes from the airport so a train at just after 8am would be very tight indeed, it would need collection of your luggage and immigration to work like clockwork from an on time flight.

Any fare (advance or otherwise) to Inverness Airport should be the same fare as to Inverness, If it is not then buy a separate Inverness to Inverness Airport Anytime Day Single fare for £5.90 each- so £14.75 for the three of you.

I would advice booking Anytime Day Singles for £142.50 for the 3 of you then you can use any train that day rather than train specific Advance Fares for £70.75. Book those and miss your train (even the 2nd train) and you have to buy new tickets at £142 anyway.

I think the £30 difference in fare arises from the fact that the 0930 from Edinburgh to Inverness Airport is routed via the longer route through Aberdeen so has a higher flexible price for the 3 of you of £172.25.

That train stops at Inverness Airport before Inverness.

It's 9 miles from Inverness to the airport so a taxi should cost around £20. Inverness is a big station- there are always taxis waiting on the rank.

I've worked out what is going on with these timings-

The 0814 'train' is the airport bus #100 to Haymarket station, then a 7 minute transfer time to the train to Inverness. In morning peak commuter traffic that feels very tight. BUT the airport bus runs every 10 minutes so 0734, 0744, 0754 etc.

The 0925 'train' is a tram from the airport to Edinburgh Park station (takes 8 minutes and runs every 8 minutes) then a train to Perth at 0950, change trains at Perth for Inverness.

There is a real fare anomaly here as the fare from EDI Airport (including bus or tram) to Inverness is £150.25 (rather than £142.50 from Waverley or Haymarket- so that is a good deal), BUT to INV Airport is £181.75- a very bad deal.

The reason for the anomaly is that the fare assumes that you are routing to Inverness Airport via the airport bus to Inverkeithing then train via Aberdeen.

So your best value option is to buy flexible tickets from Edinburgh Airport to Inverness (and just take the first available bus to Haymarket) then either separate Inverness to Inverness Airport tickets as above, or a taxi- very little difference there, the taxi should be a little bit faster.

If you miss the 0843 train from Haymarket and the 0950 from Edinburgh Park (on which you have seats booked) take a later train (1037 from Haymarket is the next one then 1139 and 1337), Haymarket station will be able to make new seat reservations for you if that happens.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I should have clarified that the trip starts with the bus or tram from the airport. Really the question I suppose is that if we book the 8:14am bus will we get though the airport in time. But it sounds like the transfer time at Haymarket is actually the bigger issue. Sounds like it might be a bit tight but that we can always take a later train same day. Hopefully we can get an earlier tram or bus pending getting through the airport.

And thanks for explaining the bookings - that makes sense that advance tickets and reduced fairs sell out but there is still availability. Sounds like we should go with the higher price to ensure flexibility.

I will take your advise and book to Inverness then take a taxi. Sounds like timing and cost won't be any worse and it will be easy enough.

This is the itinerary I am looking at:

Fri 19 Jul, 08:14-12:06
ScotRail
SR3584
Departs Edinburgh Airport (By Bus or Tram) - 08:14
22m
This bus is direct
Arrives Haymarket at 08:36

7m transfer time

ScotRail
SR0402
Departs Haymarket at 08:43
3h 23m
Arrives Inverness at 12:06

Yes, taxi is the answer, because at Inverness Airport it is about an 8 minute walk train station to rental car lot, in the open air, and that's at my pace with no luggage.
A taxi will drop you at their door, so worth the extra £5 or so.

By the way last Friday morning's 0814 bus, according to satellite tracking arrived at Haymarket at a few seconds past 0837- pretty good going at that time of day. If the flight is on time and the immigration e-gates are working you stand a fair chance of making the early train, but really want to be on the 0754 bus.
Thursday's bus ran 5 minutes early from the airport, and arrived at 0843 1/2, on Wednesday arrived at 0842, Tuesday at 0843 and Monday at 0845.
On Friday the 0802 tram arrived at Haymarket at 3 seconds before 0840, 0837:22 on Thursday and 0839:16 on Wednesday so there is little in at that time of day tram vs bus- bus slightly edging it.

Not the OP but I have a quick question. Would we need to pre-book the tram or bus to/from city center to the airport? We'll be in Edinburgh in mid-July and were planning on just purchasing the transport when we arrived. Bad idea or okay?

No need at all to pre-book. Buses and trams are just walk on. There are also machines at the airport and almost always staff on hand at the tram barriers by the machines (next to where the bus starts from as well).
You can pre-purchase through an app, but the easiest way is to use fare capping on the buses by tapping your credit card explained here- https://www.lothianbuses.com/fares-and-tickets/

Details of tram tickets are here- https://edinburghtrams.com/tickets/ticket-options

Note that the trams and the buses are separate systems. Apart from a one day ticket there is no integrated ticket which covers buses and trams.

The two exceptions to that rule are the one-ticket scheme (but that is not really worth it for a short term visitor, that is really a local's scheme)-https://www.one-ticket.co.uk/

and (if you have a train travel day eg to Stirling or St Andrews , or arrive or depart by train) the plus bus scheme- https://www.plusbus.info/edinburgh

This is buses and trams for that day for £4.50 (£2.95 for any National Railcard holder).

Simplest is just tap and cap on the bus (£22 for a week including the airport bus) and day or single fares on the tram as required.

Wow! So many helpful comments. Thanks all. It sounds like I might actually be best off just booking the train itself from Edinburgh City Centre and then getting whichever tram or bus is available first upon arrival at the airport. Am I right in thinking that if I purchase the bus pass as part of my Scot Rail ticket I cannot then switch to the tram without paying a fee?