ingy

I am flying into Newcastle on July 27, but need to take the train straight up to Glasgow. I want to book my train tickets ahead of time, so I don't have to wait in a lineup, but I am worried about missing the train. Will they let me take the next train without a penalty. And the answer to your question, why did I not fly into Glasgow; The tickets were 200 canadian dollars cheaper per flight. Got a great deal from Toronto to Newcastle!!

GeoffHamer

It depends what sort of ticket you buy. If you buy a cheap advance-purchase ticket, it may only be valid on a specific train, which is obviously not a good idea in your case. If you buy a standard ticket, you can catch any train you want, but there is no point in buying that sort of ticket in advance. I doubt whether buying a ticket at Newcastle station will ever take more than a few minutes - there are machines as well as a ticket office.

flanneruk

The walk-up saver return is £50. To get that, you can just turn up and buy it (most major stations have loads of self-serve credit card machines). If you prebook, you've got to go to the same credit card machine when you arrive here, as I understand it, to get the actual ticket.

There are some cheaper fares, going down as low as £10 each way, but they have very restricted availability and you have to book them in advance. You still have to go to the machine to get the ticket though. If you miss the train on the very cheapest £10 deal, you're - in theory - screwed. Go to the National Rail site, plug in your journey, lok at the fare options and then click through for conditions

Geordie charm will probably mean that if you do buy a £10er, miss the train and then put on your best Canadian accent the ticket inspectors will just turn a blind eye.

But you can't be sure. I'd just buy the £50 return.

PalQ

I'd buy a 10 pound ticket then if i miss it i'd be out about $19 only and then buy the 50 quid return at the station.
If you're worrying about getting a seat don't - there are two trains an hour to Edinburgh from Newcastle and more from there to Glasgow - not sure this is fastest route - perhaps going from Newcastle to Carlisle then to Glasgow would be quicker - but again so many trains - i wouldn't worry about getting on the train if that's the reason you want to buy ahead - besides saving money.

rkkwan

Since the difference in price is so huge between advanced and walk-up, you may want to just buy tickets on two trains and consider that as an insurance.

alanRow

Why would ingy have to buy a return ticket if he misses his train?

Even if he buys a cheap return ticket the return portion is still valid if he misses the Newcastle to Glasgow train.

So all he has to do is buy a single ticket if he misses his connection - or has been suggested buy another cheap single ticket for a later train ahead of time.

ingy

Thanks for all of the great suggestions. I will have to think about what I will do.

GeoffHamer

The £10 one-way fare is available on very few trains, even if you book in advance. On some trains, the cheapest one-way fare available is £48, so the £50 saver return looks like the most sensible option to me.