UK - Need help with South West Trains & SouthEastern Trains
Jul 1st, 2011, 12:14 PM
#1
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UK - Need help with South West Trains & SouthEastern Trains
We'll be in London later in the Fall and we plan on doing a day trip. I know it's too early to buy tickets right now (our trip is >12 weeks from today), but I am looking at ticket prices to get an idea of the cost.
There will be 3 of us (adults) traveling together, so I know we'll qualify for GroupSave. We also plan on traveling during off-peak periods.
For our day trip, we are debating between:
Winchester (+/- Salisbury)
or
Canterbury
Let's say we want to go to Winchester + Salisbury. I know both are serviced by South West Trains. If we only go to Winchester, our tickets (off-peak same day return) will cost £58.20 for the 3 of us.
However, I can't figure out what the ticket will cost if we go:
London -> Winchester; Winchester -> Salisbury; Salisbury -> London (all in one day)
Is there some sort of off-peak day return we will qualify for, or do we have to buy single journey tickets for each individual journey (which will be substantially more).
In addition, I see that I can get cheap tickets (for Salisbury-> London) on SW trains via megatrain website. So if we have to buy single journey tickets for all 3 legs, it may be cheaper if we only buy SW tickets for London -> Winchester; Winchester -> Salisbury. And buy Salisbury->London via megatrain?
Our other day trip option: Canterbury, is served by SouthEastern Trains. I see that Canterbury West is on the high speed line. When I use National Rail website to look up schedule & price, I'm offered journeys that are only 1 hr and cost £59.85 for the 3 of us. However, when I click on "buy tickets," I am directed to SouthEastern Trains website but the journeys offered are all the slow service (2 hrs) that departs from London Bridge instead of St Pancras (even though I entered our departure station as St Pancras). What am I doing wrong?
There will be 3 of us (adults) traveling together, so I know we'll qualify for GroupSave. We also plan on traveling during off-peak periods.
For our day trip, we are debating between:
Winchester (+/- Salisbury)
or
Canterbury
Let's say we want to go to Winchester + Salisbury. I know both are serviced by South West Trains. If we only go to Winchester, our tickets (off-peak same day return) will cost £58.20 for the 3 of us.
However, I can't figure out what the ticket will cost if we go:
London -> Winchester; Winchester -> Salisbury; Salisbury -> London (all in one day)
Is there some sort of off-peak day return we will qualify for, or do we have to buy single journey tickets for each individual journey (which will be substantially more).
In addition, I see that I can get cheap tickets (for Salisbury-> London) on SW trains via megatrain website. So if we have to buy single journey tickets for all 3 legs, it may be cheaper if we only buy SW tickets for London -> Winchester; Winchester -> Salisbury. And buy Salisbury->London via megatrain?
Our other day trip option: Canterbury, is served by SouthEastern Trains. I see that Canterbury West is on the high speed line. When I use National Rail website to look up schedule & price, I'm offered journeys that are only 1 hr and cost £59.85 for the 3 of us. However, when I click on "buy tickets," I am directed to SouthEastern Trains website but the journeys offered are all the slow service (2 hrs) that departs from London Bridge instead of St Pancras (even though I entered our departure station as St Pancras). What am I doing wrong?
Jul 1st, 2011, 02:08 PM
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You can buy tickets from most train providers eg sw trains but some charge for credit cards. You can pick up the tickets from a machine at a station served by that train provider. You can also get day tickets which allow unlimited travel for the day. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_...nd_rovers.html
You also need to look at frequency of trains as you may find it difficult to complete a tour in a day. Sundays and some weekends are not good days to tour as the trains are replaced by buses. (engineering works). It is better to buy tickets a month or even a week earlier for cheapest fares. Off peak is usually after 9.30am but there can be restrictions on trains to and from London in the evening. Canterbury is fascinating and ancient. The same would apply there.
You also need to look at frequency of trains as you may find it difficult to complete a tour in a day. Sundays and some weekends are not good days to tour as the trains are replaced by buses. (engineering works). It is better to buy tickets a month or even a week earlier for cheapest fares. Off peak is usually after 9.30am but there can be restrictions on trains to and from London in the evening. Canterbury is fascinating and ancient. The same would apply there.
Jul 1st, 2011, 02:23 PM
#3
hi, yk,
you may also find www.thetrainline.com useful, as they enable you to compare return and single ticket options. but they do have a surcharge for using a credit card.
so far as savings are concerned, basically the earlier you can buy your tickets, the cheaper they should be. Definitely try to avoid sundays as services are both less frequent and more disrupted.
good luck and have a good trip!
you may also find www.thetrainline.com useful, as they enable you to compare return and single ticket options. but they do have a surcharge for using a credit card.
so far as savings are concerned, basically the earlier you can buy your tickets, the cheaper they should be. Definitely try to avoid sundays as services are both less frequent and more disrupted.
good luck and have a good trip!
Jul 1st, 2011, 10:41 PM
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To add to your confusion.
Your London – Winchester – Salisbury trip might well prove surprisingly expensive. You will probably want to start before off-peak tickets click in, and tickets through the Megatrain booking engine are very limited, and available on a very tiny proportion of SW trains between Salisbury and London. You almost certainly do have to buy three single tickets, and most of the time single tickets are only about 50 p cheaper than the corresponding day return.
This might be one of the very rare occasions when Britrail passes make sense. I understand there's a couple of days' pass for SE England that doesn't have peak hour restrictions and is valid on High Speed trains to Dover. Contrary to nature though this advice usually is, it's worth costing out in this case.
As almost always in Britain, there really is no alternative to labouriously costing out a number of options for the particular date and time you feel you need to travel. The more flexibility you can build in, the lower the fare. On your Winchester and Salisbury day, you have got very little scope for flexibility on most UK-bought tickets, since you're quite tight on time.
Your London – Winchester – Salisbury trip might well prove surprisingly expensive. You will probably want to start before off-peak tickets click in, and tickets through the Megatrain booking engine are very limited, and available on a very tiny proportion of SW trains between Salisbury and London. You almost certainly do have to buy three single tickets, and most of the time single tickets are only about 50 p cheaper than the corresponding day return.
This might be one of the very rare occasions when Britrail passes make sense. I understand there's a couple of days' pass for SE England that doesn't have peak hour restrictions and is valid on High Speed trains to Dover. Contrary to nature though this advice usually is, it's worth costing out in this case.
As almost always in Britain, there really is no alternative to labouriously costing out a number of options for the particular date and time you feel you need to travel. The more flexibility you can build in, the lower the fare. On your Winchester and Salisbury day, you have got very little scope for flexibility on most UK-bought tickets, since you're quite tight on time.
Jul 1st, 2011, 10:43 PM
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Sometimes buying single tickets can be cheaper.
Sometimes breaking up your trip into segments can work out cheaper. (An example: I often travel to Cardiff. A return journey Stroud-Cardiff with a change at Gloucester costs £28. However if I book a return Stroud-Gloucester and another return ticket Gloucester-Cardiff, this costs me in total £21.40)
Why booking like that should be so, I really have no idea, but to me it's worth the time and fiddling around to save slightly more than 20%.
Like annhig, I really like the trainline website for it's simplicity of use. And to book a train you are not redirected to the train providers website. Yes, you are charged a booking fee but it is just ONE POUND - £1 - regardless of how many journeys or tickets you book.
Sometimes breaking up your trip into segments can work out cheaper. (An example: I often travel to Cardiff. A return journey Stroud-Cardiff with a change at Gloucester costs £28. However if I book a return Stroud-Gloucester and another return ticket Gloucester-Cardiff, this costs me in total £21.40)
Why booking like that should be so, I really have no idea, but to me it's worth the time and fiddling around to save slightly more than 20%.
Like annhig, I really like the trainline website for it's simplicity of use. And to book a train you are not redirected to the train providers website. Yes, you are charged a booking fee but it is just ONE POUND - £1 - regardless of how many journeys or tickets you book.
Jul 2nd, 2011, 02:11 PM
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Thanks for all your input and suggestions.
The more I think about it, the less appealing is the idea of Winchester + Salisbury in one day. Not only the tickets will be a lot more expensive (as explained by flanner), I think we will be rather rushed. We also are traveling right after daylight savings time ends with sun setting around 4:30pm.
Now my question is: should we visit Winchester or Canterbury?
The more I think about it, the less appealing is the idea of Winchester + Salisbury in one day. Not only the tickets will be a lot more expensive (as explained by flanner), I think we will be rather rushed. We also are traveling right after daylight savings time ends with sun setting around 4:30pm.
Now my question is: should we visit Winchester or Canterbury?
