Rail travel in UK

We have traveled the UK by train quite a bit, and have found the most economical plan is a Two Together Railcard (not a rail pass) plus finding Advance fares.

I use National Rail.uk for routes, schedules, and prices.

https://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/personal/home/search

The Advance fares are released weeks ahead of the travel date and are limited. They start low and progress upward. They are train-specific (not flexible), but worth it for the low price.

An example for tickets I just bought from London to the Lake District for mid-September:

Full walk-up fare for Off Peak travel in standard class was £186 per person. The Advance fares, which were released 6 weeks ahead of the travel date ( today for Sept. 19) started at £34. I actually paid £46 for ours to get a better travel time ( morning rather than afternoon). But still a great deal.

A Two Together Railcard costs £30 and will give you 30% off the fares, even off the low Advance fares. You can buy online and get a digital one, or purchase at a railway station on arrival. You need not have it in hand at the time you buy online tickets, but you must have it to show when you travel.

https://www.twotogether-railcard.co.uk/

The card is valid for a whole year, which is nice if you are traveling to the UK more than once within a year, as we plan to.

Can you clarify what you have already purchased? Part of your post reads as if you have purchased passes and part of it does not.

Rail passes- allow for riding trains in a specific geographical area over a set period of time.

Rail cards- provide a discount on tickets you purchase. There are several types of rail cards, but for two people following the same itinerary, the two together is the best deal.

You should probably price out the tickets point to point as advance purchase, point to point with advance purchase and rail card, and the cost of a rail pass. Compare these three approaches and you will have a good idea of the savings offered by each approach.

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

As mentioned above, you can purchase tickets with the “two together” railcard prior to purchasing the railcard. Simply go to manned ticket booth at the first station when you arrive. They will sell you the railcard and print out pre-purchased tickets for you.

Lola,
Thank you for the information. I do have set dates so I can plan in advance for some trips. Is the 2 together rail card €30 per person? That is what the seniors rail card is and both get 30% off fares. I think one has different restrictions, I will need to check. Thank you again for your response.

Carol,
We have not purchased anything for train travel yet. Sorry I get the pass vs card mixed up. I am looking to figure out which is most economical for us and if we should do “2 together vs Seniors”.
Thank you for your input helps for me to discuss with someone before I make the final plan, especially someone who has traveled this route before.
Suzanne

To clarify: If you buy the senior rail cards, you will each need to purchase one. (Two total). If you buy the two together card, you buy just one railcard for both of you. This saves you on the original purchase cost of the railcard.

There are occasions particularly in the morning peak where the Two Together card is more restricted in use than the Senior one, but unless your starts are very early you may not encounter this.

as Marco says, unless you are travelling very early in the day midweek the Two Together restriction won't get you. £30 covers both of you. You do need each to provide passport size photos, and tickets with the Railcard are not valid unless both of you are together (hence the name).

Sounds like a good trip.

If you are in Edinburgh in August do you know about the Fringe festival (and all the activities and all the people it attracts)?

Yes, one Two Together card for 2 people, so it is half the cost of 2 Senior Railcards. A restriction beyond the early morning travel time limitation is that the two people named on the card must travel together whenever the card discount is used. One person cannot use it to travel separately..

If you get the digital Two Together card online, you can take your own photos with your phone.

Marco,
Thank you for your information, 2 together is probably a better deal I do not see us leave until after peak hours. We are vacation! Not a fan of early starts 9:30-10:00 works fine!

Nigel,
The reason we are going to Edinburgh is to see the Scottish Military Tattoo. Not sure what day of the week we will go but due to the late hours we will need a room for the night. On Saturday they have an earlier show but I do not think the trains run back to York that late. The Tattoo starts at 6pm for first show and 9 pm for second. Not sure how long it last., so we will need lodging for whatever night ewe can arrange tickets for next August 2023. What all does the fringe festival entail?
Suzanne

Lola,
Thank you again, like the idea of doing it on the phone.
Suzanne

The Fringe is a really major event, the world's largest arts festival, (wikipedia says "in 2018 spanned 25 days and featured more than 55,000 performances of 3,548 different shows in 317 venues"), every August, with performances all over town, and in conjunction with the original Festival and several others is a very significant presence in Edinburgh.

I mentioned it because I wondered if you would have a chance to take in any of the acts while you were there.

The consequence of the Fringe et al. is that hotel rooms are rare and pricey, and there are a lot of people about.

It has been the topic of recent discussion here on the Forums, but in the Scotland Forum.

https://www.edfringe.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EdinburghFestivalFringe

Nigel,
Thank you for the information. Our whole purpose of the trip to Edinburgh is the Scottish Military Tattoo. Hopefully we will be able to find a hotel for one night mid week or get into the Saturday 6pm performance and we can catch a train out of town to at least Newcastle and stay there for the night then back to York where we plan to use as a home base for our trip. I am trying to plan this for next August around the 11th to the 18th so it is hit or miss!
Thank you again
Suzanne

Don’t take TransPennine if you have a tight schedule. Might be fine, might not be.