UKC

In June we're travelling to London from North Wales for a dinner at one of the Inns of Court.

As Mrs is forgoing a holiday this year whilst I go and do the TMB I thought I'd lay on a bit of a treat by way of travelling first class. Having been through the various websites(Trainline etc) the cheapest I seem to be able to get(with railcards) is about £450for the two of us(return).

Does anyone know any (legitimate) tricks for getting it cheaper.

Thanks

In reply to mypyrex:

It is sometimes worth looking at buying split tickets, rather than a single ticket for your entire journey.

In reply to mypyrex:
Book a section Milton Keynes London and then a further one for the rest of your journey.

Surprised you can't get it cheaper at the moment, given how far away it is.

In reply to mypyrex:

3 months in advance. Sign on to Trainline for alerts as to price deals.

In reply to mypyrex:

For that price you can probably get chauffeured!

In reply to mypyrex:

Cant answer your question but two thoughts;
- will there even be a first class carriage for the north wales leg of the journey. there are plenty of trains without first class
- if you're traveling at the weekend, it used to be cheap to upgrade on the day / on the train because first class was so empty.

In reply to mypyrex:

If it's more than 3 months away they won't have advance tickets available.

If it is within 3 months and on a weekday, try split tickets - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/split-cheap-train-tickets/ - you have to be on specific trains, but it can be very cheap - we used to do Leeds to Brum for less than a standard ticket pretty much every week.

If it's at weekend you can upgrade on the train for between a tenner and £25 each way (per sector, I think) - look for weekend first on the train company's website.

In reply to mypyrex:

Go to your local (manned) station and ask them to work out a price for you. I do this now for all long distance travel and they've come up with prices way below what's quoted on line. My local ticket office staff are very obliging and genuinely want to get the best deal for you.

In reply to mypyrex:


Number one way to save money on train tickets: don't buy through Trainline. They charge commission, and fees for credit cards, that the Train Operating Companies (TOCs) don't - in fact they actually aren't allowed to. By all means use Trainline to research routes, times & ticket prices if you must, but once you've made your choice you will never be worse off buying through one of the TOC web sites, and you will usually pay less. (Any TOC can sell you any ticket on any route, though not all do. When choosing a TOC to buy from you may prefer to use one which awards Nectar points or other loyalty perks).

The National Rail Enquiries web site is the horse's mouth when it comes to querying the ATOC's motherlode of route & ticketing information that all vendors of train tickets actually rely on. Contrary to what Trainline's advertising tries to imply, they do not have access to cheaper fares than anyone else. Given that they charge commission, they can never be cheaper than going through a TOC.

Apart from the above, other advice here is valid: wait for the cheap advance tickets to come available (and yes, you can use Trainline to get alerts without buying through them), and look at split ticketing. One warning with split ticketing: you are quite likely to end up with different seat reservations on the different legs of the journey. Depending on whether someone wants to take up their seat reservation on the second leg, you may find yourselves having to change seats or even coaches, which may undermine the "luxury" of travelling first class somewhat.

In reply to Martin W: fair point on seat reservations with split tickets - but in a year and a half of travel between Leeds and Brum we never failed to find an unreserved seat in first. Even on xc trains with only one first class carriage.

In reply to All: Thanks for comments and suggestions. Research is ongoing

In reply to mypyrex:

For £450 we got a minibus from Swansea to Gatwick and back again a week later.
Surely similar money could get you chauffeured there and back in something reasonably nice.
First class rail is crap anyhow.

In reply to mypyrex:

in case you haven't found it already.

http://www.splitticketing.co.uk

In reply to mypyrex:

£450 return seems a lot, how long a journey is that? Many connections?

Do a bit of research to see whether it's actually worth the money as it varies quite a bit depending on the operator and the times you'll be travelling. Even with the most generous you won't get much beyond a hot drink and a biscuit outside of meal times, or if part of the journey is on a smaller/local train you're unlikely to get hot food.

Also, the best offers are usually only available through the train operators own websites. The Trainline offer nothing unique, their business relies on misleading advertising (comparing advance to walk up tickets) to make people believe that they are the only option.

I've not had any luck split ticketing the last few years.

In reply to beh:

Splitting is less likely to work in 1st because there are relatively few walk-up off-peak First Class tickets - it's these that are typically the root of splits working.

trainsplit.com can be worth a go though.

Also is it on a weekend? Often you can upgrade to Weekend First from Standard for not very much. The online sales sites will often not tell you this.

And yes, *don't* use the Trainline. They charge fees and they don't sell anything the train company doesn't sell direct.

In reply to mypyrex:

I do the Bangor – Euston – Bangor trip on a regular basis in First. A senior railcard saves 33%, significant on an expensive ticket. £70 for three years, just need to be 60+. Timing of the train is significant, the “Gentleman’s train” that leaves Bangor around 08.00 is much cheaper than the early 06.18 train and the mid-afternoon train the cheapest of all. Similar with the return trains.

Another factor is the food, nothing special these days (I remember when it was a full silver service…..) but the breakfast is worth having. After I think 19.00 out of Euston you only get a snack not a meal. Bottomless G&T though….

Make sure it’s a through Virgin service not shared with Arriva or you’ll be in the “bus on rails” to / from Chester. Free Wi-Fi in First that works pretty well. You can also use the lounge at Euston, good snacks / drinks and also free Wi-Fi
Overall I think the Virgin First experience is pretty good and you arrive in London ready for whatever you have to do. The return can be very relaxing as after Crewe / Chester you usually have the carriage to yourself.

In reply to mypyrex:

Virgin seat sale, book the virgin part separately on their website, then fill in the other parts of the journey. We're doing Manchester to London 1st class for £56 each return.

In reply to mypyrex:


What's that?