I'm pricing out our September trip to England. Should we just purchase ptp on the days of travel? Our train needs are very minimal since we'll have a car for part of the trip. Here's what we'll need on 5 different days: 1)Heathrow to Salisbury, 2)Salisbury to Portsmouth R/T same day, 3)Salisbury to Bath, 4)Colchester to London, 5)London to Canterbury R/T same day. According to the National Rail site, the only legs that offer advance fares (I know it's too early at this point and I'm not sure if I'll purchase anyway, to give us some flexibility) are Salisbury to Bath and Colchester to London. The flexi pass costs more than all these added up. Is there some other way to get discounted fares? Thanks for your help!
Posted by
dallas, tx, usa
1358 posts
I always like to be flexible; so I buy my p2p tickets the day before use or the morning of travel. Never had a problem in over 20 years and 50 countries.
Only once have I bought a rail pass. One week of travel in Switzerland; I bought the Swiss pass only to learn later from a Swiss resident that it would have been cheaper to buy p2p for my daily trips.
I know of no way to get discount tickets; perhaps your will receive an answer on this page.
You have done the comparison and you know the pass costs more; so your decision is easy.
Posted by
Tempe, AZ, USA
1265 posts
Char - There is a way to by discount ticket for train travel in Great Britian. Go to http://www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com/. The draw back is that the tickets are non-refundable and non transferable. The fares are quite a bit cheaper than buying p2p on the day of travel. You can book travel up to 3 months in advance. Go to the website put in some dates and check out the fares, and have some fun.
Posted by
OP
PNW
194 posts
Carl, thanks for your reply.
Joel, are these discounted tickets the same as advance purchase tickets? In other words, nonrefundable, nontransferable, and for specific dates and times of travel?
Posted by
Yorkshire
1209 posts
I find the railsaver.co.uk , a good fare finder.It checks for split tickets in its general search. The train fares here are nuts, Simon Calder did a article in the Independent,we have the mast expensive fares in europe........and the cheapest.The area passes you buy over there pretty much never seem a great deal unless you are doing travel everyday it seems to me.On the national rail site here check out the rail rover tickets, they can be searched by area.
Also megatrain run a limited service on some routes.
A forum which might be helpful is moneysaving expert, and the transport section.
Posted by
OP
PNW
194 posts
Richard, thanks. Great information! I went on railsaver.co.uk - first time I'd seen that site. Also interesting to go on the moneysavingexpert forum.
Posted by
Puyallup, WA, USA
881 posts
Hi, Char! Don't know about the other routes, but I used to live in Colchester, and tickets for Colchester-London ran about $35USD each way with day of purchase. The exchange rate then was $1.92, and as of today it's $1.42, so I'd expect the fair to be even a little lower! The bus from High Street or most anywhere in Colchester to the station runs about 1GBP, but honestly it' walkable (downhill.. LOL) - about a mile. The train into London arrives at London Liverpool Street, and takes about an hour. Hope that helps some!
If you have any Colchester questions, let me know. Oh! PS - If you buy the Colchster-London point to point tickets, you can also add on options for the Underground when you make that purchase, and avoid the big lines to buy them at Liverpool Street. Have a great trip!