igorek

I am trying to clarify how to purchase train tickets in UK:

1. If I make an online booking, what do I receive ? A refernce number ? Or paper tickets will me mailed to me ? Or I need to get them from the booking office before departure ?

2. In which cases purchasing Britrail would make sense ?

3. How to find online the train fare that I'll see if I buy tickets at the train station before departure ?

Any info will be highly appreciated.

PalenQ

Purchasing from BritRail in the States or Canada (where BritRail is based) makes no sense for point to point tickets as you'll pay top dollar - much more than on nationalrail.co.uk or individual rail franchise sites

But a BritRail Pass or England railpass or Days Out of London Pass can indeed be a great deal - especially if wanting flexibility to hop any train any time
- which typically costs an arm and a leg in the U.K. - but deeply discounted tickets are available online (earlier the better as they are limited in number often) so if you can do a certain train on a certain day at a certain time and not need to change it then investigate that option. But for fully flexible travel to just hop on any ole train anytime then strongly look at a pass (which Britons cannot use and thus are not sold at stations in the U.K.)
So what are your train travel plans? Then i and others can tell whether a pass is even in the mix. For lots about train travel in Britain and the various passes i always refer two fine sources that give lots of objective info and not just the usual pass prices and an add to cart button. www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - on this site you can download their free European Planning & Rail Guide, a great primer to using european trains with a whole chapter on U.K. rail. www.britrail.com is the official BritRail site (ACP Rail of Quebec) - many agents are in turn agents for BritRail, who sets pass prices that all agents must sell them for (i believe)

So please give your tentative train plans to see whether you should even consider a pass or not

ron

You will receive a reference number. Insert the credit card you used to buy the ticket in the Fastticket machine at the train station, key in your number, the machine will print and spit out the tickets, seat reservation cards and a receipt.

BritRail pass makes sense if you are making so many train trips that it is cheaper than buying individual tickets or if you want maximum flexibility to change your mind about where you want to travel to or when you want to travel.

Go to the journey planner at www.nationalrail.co.uk. It will display all available fares for the date of travel chosen. The higher fares will be the unrestriced day of purchase tickets, the lower fares will be the restricted tickets withh advance purchase requirements. When you decide to purchase, click through to the National Express East Coast site. It is the friendliest with respect to non-UK addresses.

igorek

My travel plans are quite simple:

1. A day trip from London to Bath. I am also considering a bus from Heathrow to Bath, and then return by train to London, but it is hard to find the bus schedule and fares.

2. Trip from London to Edinburh and back for 4-5 days, spending 1 day in the city, and then driving thru the Scottish countruside.

3. Potentially a day trip to Windsor.

ron

>> I am also considering a bus from Heathrow to Bath, and then return by train to London, but it is hard to find the bus schedule and fares.<<

Try http://www.nationalexpress.com/coach/index.cfm

TimS

1. London-Bath: As low as £9.50 by train each way if booked well in advance at www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com.

2. London-Edinburgh: As low as £14 by day train each way if booked well in advance at www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com. Booked well in advance, Bargain Berths on the First ScotRail Caledonian Sleeper can be as low as £19. See here: http://tinyurl.com/6ygxwf.

London-Windsor: Buy your ticket (£7.70 each way) when you get to London.

azzure

bookmarking - thanks

janisj

If you are now thinking of going straight to Bath from LHR you can either take the coach ron linked - or you can take a bust to Reading and catch a train from there to Bath.

If it was me - I'd take the express coach.

alanRow

<<< Buy your ticket (£7.70 each way) when you get to London. >>>

Cheap day return (ie leave London after 9:30am weekdays, all day weekends & public holidays) is either £8.10 or £8.20 depending on if you take the quick (but have to change at Slough) route or the slower (but no changes to worry about) route. You can buy the tickets on the day so no need to make a special trip to Paddington (or any other London station) to get them

See www.nationalrail.co.uk

For everything else - see the other postings

TimS

Thanks, Alan! I forgot to look for cheap day returns.

igorek

Does it mean I cannot buy a day return ticket for an early train (like 7am) ?

Related question: what is the earliest train I can take from
A. London Paddington (to Bath)
B. London King's Cross (to Edinburgh)
so that I can connect to them by other public transportation ?
In the same venue - what is the latest return train when I can still use buses and subway to connect ?

alanRow

<<< Does it mean I cannot buy a day return ticket for an early train (like 7am) ? >>>

No it means you can't buy a CHEAP day return ticket on WEEKDAYS for an early train

Just follow the links given earlier and plug in your dates of travel - if they are less than 12 weeks in the future.

If they are more than that then plug in the latest date for the same day of week to get some idea of fares, routes & travel times - but watch weekends as travel times (and routes) can and do vary as they like to maintain the track at weekends

igorek

Thanks Alan. As I indicated in my previous reply, I am not sure what is the EARLIEST train I can take (and the latest to return) so that the public transportaion in London will be already working. When London subway starts and ends running on weekdays ?

ron

First & last tube, http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/1129.aspx

igorek

Thanks Ron. Looks like, with a safety margin, we can ussume that tube is running 8-22, only some stations from 6:15. What would be "alternative" ways of connecting to early and late trains ? I hope it is not taxi...

TimS

igorek,

Have you booked a hotel? If so, give us the name and address and we'll advise you how to get from there to Paddington or King's Cross before the Tube starts running and back to your hotel after the Tube stops running.

alanRow

<<< What would be "alternative" ways of connecting to early and late trains >>>

You can assume that the Tube runs between 6:00am and midnight unless you are staying outside zone 1 & 2, though at weekends early morning Tubes will be less frequent

as for alternatives

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk

janisj

igorek: There are lots of options = tube, buses, night buses, short cab rides, walking etc. But as TimS says, we need to know <u>where</u> you are staying so we can give the best options for early morning/late night travel.

PalenQ

To get those 14 quid each way London to Edinburgh tickets seems to yes require a long way in advance and then times to fit your schedule

a quick search of some days yielded 75 pounds as the cheapest on several trains and a 40 pound and 32 pound on selected trains at hours later than i would want to leave - one left around 6pm - so as soon as possible try to book your tickets and then compare what you have to a BritRail Pass - if the difference is not much go for the pass which is nice in that you can just show up and hop any train anytime - no restrictions on time of day, train lines, etc. But it's easy to compare but the 14 pound tickets may be very hard to find if my quick check is any harbinger

PalenQ

A longtime Fodorite from edinburgh posted not long ago that she had been trying to get a cheap ticket that would fit her plans and never could - so i do wonder how available these tickets are? From 14 pounds sounds great - i guess the thing is to be flexible on dates and time of day and really book early.