While booking earlier will normally get you tickets at a lower price, it is sometimes the case that you can book too early. If the train company can sell tickets well in advance at high prices to American tourists, why should they lower the price too soon to fill the train?

I suggest that you keep checking the fares for the next few weeks, and see if the cheaper internet fares become available.

Jennifer, we're going to York June 16th and on to Edinburgh the next day.

Palenque, I appreciate the advice on the pass. But we're doing one way tickets as we're flying from Edinburgh to Dublin (which is where we're starting our trip because my daughter is getting married in Ireland) and then back home the same day.

Not sure why, but I find this train stuff very confusing!

Chartley - thanks. I may just do that. When I checked prices to Loughborough for next week they were the same as for around the May holiday, so am I correct in thinking that at the very least, they shouldn't go up too much in the next few weeks? (We'll definitely not wait till the last minute.)

CAPH52 - I know, it does seem confusing when you're in the midst of it! But I've done it before. It's really not so bad. If you're not looking for flexibility, just focus on the advance tickets and make sure you have the right dates! And picking up the tickets at the FastTicket machines is incredibly simple (I think you asked about that on your thread?). Sounds like you'll be there a bit after I will. Congratulations on the wedding!

CAPH -one way - no way if i had known that - thot you were going up and back. Sorry.

jent103 - If you leave at 16:25, you can't get a super off-peak fare; but you can still get a slightly higher off-peak fare. If you leave at 17:00, you'll pay full fare.

I just reserved our tickets today for May 12 going from London to Edinburgh because the price has gone up 2x since I've began looking in February.

Does anyone know how to change seat reservations? We asked for window seats but both got aisle seat. Do you think they would have been full already for May? I'm not sure what number to call from states.

TimS - I see the fares you were talking about on nationalrail.co.uk. I think we'll probably go for the 16:25 train and really, really hope that our flight isn't delayed!

Sue878 - I assume you will be traveling on a National Express East Coast train. If so, you can make a phone call and ask to change your seat reservations. Dial your country's international access code + 44 (UK country code) + (0)8457 225 333. Omit the zero in parentheses. It is only used for calls originating in the UK.

TimS: Thanks - I'm in US so I would use 011 + 44 but do I need a city code after the 44 (before the number)?
I must be doing something wrong, I keep getting a recording saying the call can't be completed as dialed.

The London-Loughborough fare of £49 or £61 is an "off-peak" fare and can be bought at any time right up to the train's departure (though if you buy at the last minute, you won't have a reserved seat). The ticket is not tied to a specific train, but can only be used within a certain period: the £49 fare seems to be valid on any train leaving London from 1030 to 1500, the £61 fare between 1500 and 1630, and the £49 fare after 1900. These tickets do not need to be bought in advance.

The telephone prefix 08457 can only be used within the UK, I believe.

Thanks for the Congrats, Jennifer! And for your kind words about my confusion. Which only seems to be getting worse! Good luck with your train tickets!

Oh, when you do buy them, assuming you're doing so on line, could you post back and let us know whether you had any problems? penel523 reported problems due to softwear issues every time she tried to order tickets online. I'm hoping that's been cleared up.

Geoff - thanks for that information! I assumed (badly) that anything cheap had to be bought in advance, whether advance fares or off peak. But if I'm understanding you correctly, the off peak fare is the off peak fare regardless of whether you buy it weeks or minutes in advance. Right? Are all weekends considered off peak?

(OK, now this is crazy - since this morning, a fare has appeared for the exact same trains/trips for £50!)

CAPH - I'll give an update just for you. :) I wonder how exactly penel523 was trying to buy them? The National Rail site sends you to the vendor (there are several different companies that run different routes), so I'm guessing it was a specific vendor, or perhaps the Trainline site, that he or she was having trouble with.

Sue878 - You could try sending a FAX: 44 (0)191 227 5986.

The off peak fare can be bought at any time and can be used on any train during the off-peak periods. Weekends are usually off peak. The price does not depend on when you buy the ticket.
Advance tickets go on sale a few weeks in advance, and are probably not on sale yet for June. If I put in a date in April, there is a £32 advance ticket on the 1630 train.

jennifer - I had some trouble last year when booking my ticket from London-> Bath and Bath->Salisbury; which are opearted by first Great Western. I tried using National Express East Coast website but it didn't show all the train times. I looked at thetrainline but it charges an extra fee. Finally I figured out how to order directly from First Great Western. You can read the details here:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...omment-1935008

I can't remember if you're going alone or with someone else. If there's more than 1 of you, don't forget about the 2-for-1 special at Bath which you can use with a valid rail ticket.
http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=3023

Thanks, yk! Bath would be by myself - I'll be in London a few days after the rest of the group goes back to the US. Still trying to figure out what all I want to do.

Geoff - thanks for the explanation. I'll keep checking out fares for a few weeks, then.

Just wanted to report back to say that my tickets finally started showing the lower prices. I ordered them today and had no problems with the credit card. I got tickets for two adults London/York, York/Edinburgh for 42.80 GBP.

Now I'm wondering why I was so nervous about the whole thing!

Oh, good! See, it's really not too bad. ;) Hopefully ours will be lower soon - that £50 fare disappeared pretty quickly!

mark