Make that TRANSLATION, with an "s."

I am trying to search brit rail sites, including the National Rail Enquiries site--to get fares between some cities and then see if some sort of Brit Rail pass is or isn't a better deal.

Unfortunately, I don't speak English--well, at least not THAT English! Could someone help me with the differences among these terms. I do have basic Britail 101, and know single and return

saver return
open return
standard open return
cheap day return

Several of our plans involve day trips, so those would be day return tickets. One trip would be Manchester to York and back for airport and travel--so it is not a day trip.

Thanks for any help!

Return is round-trip;
open is any day/time;
standard is a class.

I don't know what cheap is with respect to England.

National Rail Enquiries is byzantine to put it nicely. If you want a day return ask for that first. It will be cheaper. If it isn't a day trip, ask what is the cheapest way to get from A to B for the dates you want. This might be a standard return but there may be something cheaper. An open return means no specified return date and will be more expensive. A Saver return will be cheaper because you will be limited to dates/times. If you ask ahead of time you might save a little something. I always do this in person when I'm there. If you want to risk online booking you might save a bit but is it worth the strain on your nerves trying to understand the system? National Express buses are much simpler.

If you plan to do day trips Monday to Friday then a cheap day return is valid after 9am (sometimes 9.30am), in other words during off peak times, once the commuters have cleared the seats for what the old British Rail marketing board termed 'merrymakers' i.e. anyone going on an excursion and not using the train as a means to get to work. Restrictions on Cheap Day Returns do not apply at weekends.

You don't need anyone on this board to translate for you. Indeed, it's best to avoid using us, since something will get lost in the translation.

On the National Rail site, when you get to the fare options, click on the brandname for the fare concerned. This will bring up a PRECISE definition of the restrictions for each fare.

Although the general principles previous posters have given are fine, restrictions vary by day, by direction of travel, by operating company and by the colour of the first cat the webmaster saw each morning.

The only way you'll know for certain whether the Supersaver Plus fare on Mercia Railways applies to your travel plans is to check that fare, that day, that way on that operator. And the nationalrail site makes that really quite easy - a great deal easier, actually, than any airline site I've ever used.

Be aware that sometimes two single fares can be cheaper than a return. Especially for longer trip i.e. London - Edinburgh. You can get signle adult fares in advance for £12.50 each way but the cheapest return ticket might be £60 without reservations!

Your best bet is to try the Trainline site - I find it quite easy to navigate. Be aware that some cheaper fares only appear a few weeks before the date you're travelling. They will post tickets to any UK address, but not overseas,. You can, however, book tickets and pick them up at certain stations which have "fast-ticket machines". More information on www.thetrainline.co.uk Hope this helps.

They are tickets with different rules & restrictions for their use.

Click on the ticket type for more information

Note BTW that both Nationalrail & thetrainline default to giving you the fastest routes between 2 points.

On the nationalrail site you can force this the "cheapest" by going to the bottom of the page at the stage where you see the train times.

thetrainline has something similar - but well hidden (when it displays the PRICES there is a link you can click at the top of the page) and it charges you extra to buy tickets.

Personally I find nationalrail easier to use (doesn't hide options, doesn't require you to be registered to swee prices...)

Final comment, on some routes (generally the shorter commuter ones) the only cheap tickets are the ones available for after 9:00am. These normally DON'T have to be prebooked and can be bought on the day

saver return
open return
standard open return
cheap day return

They mean that they have different restrictions on them.
Open Return - Full open ticket, you can travel when you want and is valid for a number of months (expensive)
Cheap day return - Tavel might be restricted to after rush hours. So you can not travel before 9.30 say.
Saver Return - again restrictions on travel and you might have to book this in advance.

Hope that this helps
J