Train Travel - Endinburgh to London
in [Europe]
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From: Brian on 21 Feb 2007 21:05 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?
From: d4g4hd on 22 Feb 2007 00:32 Brian <test(a)nospam.com> wrote: > 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? The saver single is the maximum you'd have to pay for a Sunday in standard class (it can be used on most trains, it's an offpeak ticket)- the 1st open fare can be used in first class (in my opinion not worth it) on any train. > What is the best web site to get train tickets? The trainline.com is what I use, but it doesn't actually matter. GNER's website is using the same engine as the trainline, and shows the same fares. > Is there a time frame when train ticket discounts appear, like airfare > tickets. Not with that kind of ticket. > BTW, I can purchase a airplane ticket for a$80 each. > > Am I crazy to travel by train? No, but wait a couple of weeks. I see plenty of cheap tickets for the first Sunday in May, but not for the rest, or any other day. I suspect this means those cheaper tickets haven't been released yet. Sunday is a busy day for train travel in the UK. You're advance ticket will include a free reservation, so that's not an issue, but you might want to consider a weekday afternoon instead (not a Friday), if you've got some flexibility. -- (*) ... 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: FredBear on 22 Feb 2007 05:46 1. Train travel in UK is expensive. It is a cunning plan by the Government to force people off public transport into their own cars so that they can reap a fortune in congestion charges. 2. Go GNER rather than Virgin, it is much nicer. 3. This is the definitive site, if you can understand it. I believe they are starting Evening Classes on how to understand their price structure. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ 4. I don't know if you are eligible for a 'Railcard', in its various guises, which costs sterling 20.00, but if you are it will give you a discount of about 30%. 5. I'm going down to London from Edinburgh next week and the best I can get 1st Class is sterling 73.00 down and sterling 102.00 back. it depend a bit on which day you go. e.g. Fridays are a bit dearer. 6. 2nd Class is much cheaper and is OK if you don't pick a busy period. I'm going 1st Class because my wife gets it free from her work and I don't want to sit at the other end of the train from her. (\__/) (='.'=) (")_(") "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? > >
From: RAK on 22 Feb 2007 11:51 "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: RAK on 22 Feb 2007 06:58 "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
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