British Rail Pass
 

I will be in the UK in July into August. I will be travelling from Manchester to York area - to Edinburght- then to Northern Wales. I am hoping to do a side trip to the Cotswolds for a walking trip. All in all I will be there approx 14 days. My quetion is what twould be the best way to navigate the fares for the train? I looked into the passes. Any suggestions?

I used an 8 day Senior Flexi-Pass a couple of years ago. My impression was that it was a good deal. Train fares are expensive in the UK. Check out http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/ and phone them. Byron and Linda are experts and are very generous with their information.

There are many different opinions on this Forum about this dilemma. In 2008 we had a 4-day Flex BritPass and we LOVED it because of the full flexibility it gave us. We were based in London for 2 weeks and took day trips, so the flexibility of choosing the day we traveled at the last moment, and the times of traveling, and the times of returning, were worth every penny it cost us in choosing not to micro-manage our itinerary and pre-plan trips down to exact dates, times, and routes. However, if planning the traveling-city-to-city part means you have to get to certain places at certain times, then pre-booking in advance I have read will be cheaper. So it kinda comes down to do you want to plan an exact itinerary (and probably save some money) or do you want to have flexibility (and probably save some stress)? It could be that you might look into some combination of the two methods--pre-plan and book the trips from city to city but get a pass for using when you want day trips or some other flexibility.

"to Edinburght"

In August? You do realise that means FestivalS - in the plural.

Prices are high and availability is low. If you aren't interested in seeing a dozen shows a day you might want to give Edinburgh a miss.

Also the end of July into August is the school holidays throughout the UK, so choice may be limited

As for passes vs point to point, a lot depends on what you really want to do - for specific trips then booking several weeks in advance is invariably the best option, but if you want to hop on and off trains as the fancy takes you then a pass might be better

Only you can really answer the question.

Passes offer a considerable convenience - but very often at a considerable extra price. Though there's a myth that cheap point to point fares have to be booked months in advance, this isn't true for many relatively short journeys.

Ignore the outright lies about this put out by American travel agents (like Eurail), which operate "comparison" sites, in effect comparing last minute prices you'd never pay with passes that they sell.

Go to www.nationalrail.co.uk. Go to the maps section and sketch out youtr rough journey, which sounds like Manchester Airport-York- Edinburgh- Conway (the name used by its inhabitants in English for the town described on timetables as Conwy)-Moreton in Marsh via Worcester-Manchester Airport. Then calculate dummy tickets for tomorrow (playing with times) and for ten weeks' time. If you're 60 or over, remember that for £25, a Senior Railcard gives you 35% off practically all fares (but not these foreign travel agents'passes)

That'll give you an idea of the relative value for money.

Just some anecdotal data. Two years ago a fellow passenger on the York to London leg of my UK circuit told me that the walk-up price of a ticket was £300. He bought in advance for £90.

The current price of an 8 day Brit Flexi-Pass is $619. For 60+ geezers like me it is $525, a 15% discount.

It seems to me that even with severely discounted point-to-point tickets a Flexi-Pass is at least as good for the itinerary of the OP. Plus you can take any train and hop off and hop on again. For example, IMO a couple of hours at York Minster is good enough for York. The rail museum is interesting, if you are into that sort of thing. Catch York on the fly as you are going to or coming from Edinburgh.

"Two years ago a fellow passenger on the York to London leg of my UK circuit told me that the walk-up price of a ticket was £300. He bought in advance for £90. "

He was ripped off - prices start at £10.25 booked around 10-12 weeks in advance. But I can see prices as low as £39.15 for this Tuesday which for a "next day" price is pretty good

BTW he was wrong - the most expensive fare on this route is £157.50

"But I can see prices as low as £39.15 for this Tuesday which for a "next day" price is pretty good"

Which for spaarne would be £25.45.

As always: the plural of anecdote is not data. The poster should ignore silly trotting of inaccurate accounts of inaccurate stories and check the facts for him or herseld.

Thanks - I will do as flannuruk suggested and do a 'dummy' tour - and then add on for summer travel. All great points -thanks

<i>Which for spaarne would be £25.45. </i>
How do you do that math? Wouldn't I have to pay an additional £25 for a Senior Railcard? That would put the total more than the <i>prices as low as £39.15</i>.

<i>As always: the plural of anecdote is not data.</i>
I wrote anecdotal, an adjective. Data is the plural of datum and I had two datums (sic).

Apparently I was misinformed. The fellow may have been talking RT, which would not be far from the mark judging by the other prices quoted above. Next time I get anecdotal data I will ask the benefactor to sign and date it.

It's about time for the Super Bowl to start so I'll bid adieu and let you folks slug this out.

I would prefer if the slugging was left out of my question pls - I just would like some information. No worries - it is all ok!

Here's my take. An 8 day flex pass, second class will cost $415. Thats about $51.00 per day or pounds 30/35.

Thank you rogerdodger

"<i>I would prefer if the slugging was left out of my question pls - I just would like some information.</i>"

Unfortunately you don't get a vote :)

Slugging comes w/ the territory. And most of the sluggers are giving you good info . . .

Just trying to be zen-like










I might have to go elsewhere - too bad as I do appreciate the advise

"<i>I might have to go elsewhere - too bad as I do appreciate the advise</i>"

Don't go away -- the info/advice/help you can get here is better than on almost any other website. And your threads have been quite mild in the 'conflict department'. . .

and besides --- do you really want to get info from folks who have no passion for the subjects???

Yes, don't throw out the baby (all the good info) with the bathwater (the extraneous comments that don't help or get off topic). I can't imagine planning the trips we have the last 3 years without the valuable info on this forum. To get what I needed I had to ignore some stuff, but it was worth it.