From: RAK on

"Brian" <test(a)nospam.com> wrote in message
news:28CdnbDpZe3SZEHYnZ2dnUVZ_uqvnZ2d(a)adelphia.com...
>I am a US traveler on vacation in May in Great Britain. I was hoping to
>travel by train from Edinburgh to London and enjoy the English countryside
>on a Sunday afternoon with my parents. I was hoping the advance ticket
>purchase would allow me to find a good discount.
>
>
>
> On The GNER site I can purchase the following tickets for a Sunday
> afternoon trip:
>
>
>
> SAVER SINGLE (Standard) for GBP 97 each or GBP 291.60 total
>
> GNER 1ST OPEN SINGLE for GBP 157 each or GBP 472.50 total
>
>
>
> Questions:
>
>
>
> Is this a normal fare?
>
> What is the best web site to get train tickets?
>
> Is there a time frame when train ticket discounts appear, like airfare
> tickets.
>
>
>
>
> BTW, I can purchase a airplane ticket for a$80 each.
>
>
>
> Am I crazy to travel by train?
>
>

I would go by train but there are much better advance fares than you found.

I am also planning to go London-Edinburgh so just checked for May.
I checked the Virgin site.
Single fares are the cheapest. The cheapest are �14.05 but these were not
available on the dates I picked (or maybe they are only on the east cloast
GNER line).
The cheapest I could find on Virgin were �24.50 one way, plenty of choice of
trains. The class was "GNER STD ADVANCE2" - maybe that is on a GNER train
though I was on the Virgin website - it's all rather mysterious.
www.virgintrainsfares.co.uk
The cheapest return I saw online was �98.20.

Check the GNER site too. www.gner.co.uk In the past I found they sometimes
had the best prices even on some lines they do not operate.
I bought London-Wales with them last year as they were cheapest. No I do not
understand why :)
I just checked for Lon-Edin and they had fares from �12.50 o/w in May.

Tickets are generally sold up to about 12 weeks ahead. Cheapest seats seem
to be put online according to some weird lottery system

You may have to register on the sites to get the fares, but it is free.
Ticket delivery may be a problem for you if post is not an option.
You may be able to use the FastTicket machines at major stations such as
London Euston etc - you get a reference number online then pickup the ticket
from the machine using that number.

I would probably go on the west coast one way, east coast the other way just
for a change of scenery.
The north of England sections of both lines both have good scenery,
especially the far north on the east coast where it goes by the sea some of
the way.
The middle part of the west coast route is not so nice, often through
industrial zones.

I would definitely go by train rather than air. Far more relaxed city centre
to centre. And just about as quick for me as I can get to the stations much
quicker than to the airports, and there are no check-in delays.

The UK train fares are very complex and a mystery even to the ticket office
staff. It is worth checking online, by phone and if you are in the UK by
going to a major ticket office - you may get different fares each time.

By the way on some trains you can upgrade to 1st class cheaply at weekends,
�5-10 per trip. I don't know if that is available on the Edinburgh run.



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

From: d4g4hd on
RAK <raknews(a)gmail.com> wrote:

> "Brian" <test(a)nospam.com> wrote in message
> news:28CdnbDpZe3SZEHYnZ2dnUVZ_uqvnZ2d(a)adelphia.com...
> >I am a US traveler on vacation in May in Great Britain. I was hoping to
> >travel by train from Edinburgh to London and enjoy the English countryside
> >on a Sunday afternoon with my parents. I was hoping the advance ticket
> >purchase would allow me to find a good discount.
> >
> >
> >
> > On The GNER site I can purchase the following tickets for a Sunday
> > afternoon trip:
> >
> >
> >
> > SAVER SINGLE (Standard) for GBP 97 each or GBP 291.60 total
> >
> > GNER 1ST OPEN SINGLE for GBP 157 each or GBP 472.50 total
> >
> >
> >
> > Questions:
> >
> >
> >
> > Is this a normal fare?
> >
> > What is the best web site to get train tickets?
> >
> > Is there a time frame when train ticket discounts appear, like airfare
> > tickets.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > BTW, I can purchase a airplane ticket for a$80 each.
> >
> >
> >
> > Am I crazy to travel by train?
> >
> >
>
> I would go by train but there are much better advance fares than you found.

As I said in my post, the fares haven't all been released yet for May.
Already, I can see good prices for, say, Sunday 13 May, that weren't
available earlier today.

> I am also planning to go London-Edinburgh so just checked for May.
> I checked the Virgin site.
> Single fares are the cheapest. The cheapest are �14.05 but these were not
> available on the dates I picked (or maybe they are only on the east cloast
> GNER line).
> The cheapest I could find on Virgin were �24.50 one way, plenty of choice of
> trains. The class was "GNER STD ADVANCE2" - maybe that is on a GNER train

That's correct.

> though I was on the Virgin website - it's all rather mysterious.
> www.virgintrainsfares.co.uk

They all use the same search engine. I think it's actually owned by
Virgin!

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
(don't email yahoo address) usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
From: RAK on
Sorry about the multiple posts.
The first 2 did not show for hours so I assumed they were lost.
Then all 3 come along together, just like London buses.

Anyone know a better newsgroup server than teranews?!



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

From: Mary Pegg on
RAK wrote:

> You may have to register on the sites to get the fares, but it is free.

With GNER's site, you do.

I've written to them pointing out that nobody in their right mind
would use a shop where you had to give your name and address to the
shopkeeper before he would deign to tell you how much things cost...

--
"Checking identity papers is a complete waste of time. If anyone can
be counted on to have valid papers, it will be the terrorists".
From: Brian on
All,

Thank for your help. I notice that tickets a weekend earlier the ticket
were available at 39 pounds instead of 97 pounds. I have been watching
daily for the cheaper tickets to become available on the Sunday I need to
travel.

The GNER site requires the postal code and only UK postal codes are allowed
so I used the postal code of the hotel.

Since I am planning on using the fast ticket service to pick up the tickets
in the Edinburgh terminal; should I have any problems?


"Mary Pegg" <invalid(a)invalid.com> wrote in message
news:gMHDh.7221$Fg4.1485(a)newsfe5-win.ntli.net...
> RAK wrote:
>
>> You may have to register on the sites to get the fares, but it is free.
>
> With GNER's site, you do.
>
> I've written to them pointing out that nobody in their right mind
> would use a shop where you had to give your name and address to the
> shopkeeper before he would deign to tell you how much things cost...
>
> --
> "Checking identity papers is a complete waste of time. If anyone can
> be counted on to have valid papers, it will be the terrorists".