Rail Tickets

The trainline.com kept trying to send me from Stockport to Reading via Euston and Paddington - admittedly no slower than the stopping train via Oxford, but the hassle of changing stations would make it a real pain in the neck for me. Instead I use either www.redspottedhanky.com or www.raileasy.com - with a slight preference for the former because they don't charge postage for sending the tickets first class.

I get updates from East Coast all the time when they issue their new offers, they have offers up to Easter at the moment.

www.eastcoast.co.uk

Other websites to try are www.qjump.co.uk or railsaver.co.uk - but I agree the rail fare system is an impenetrable nightmare to navigate and I have no idea how it works. I just do my best to get a cheap ticket.

And then in trying for best price we often end up short changed in other ways - like the time I had a ticket for 'that train only' and having managed to get away a bit earlier, had the frustrating experience of seeing another train from the same rail service on the platform ready to go to London and I can't board it (unless I paid an exorbitant amount for a new ticket).

Another time I was on a train and a woman passenger had a right old tantrum because she had booked and paid for First Class - and there was no First Class carriage on that train! How?

We did go to the station Jess.

Last time i tried to book ahead I ended up swearing and going to the station. Where the ticket worked out about £5 cheaper!
Thetrainline.com drives me insane.

Going to back to post of November last , earlier today we went to book tickets to go to Bournville .

This time believe it or it going to cost £31 . At this rate they will be ^ paying^ us to travel .

Result or what , cannot really believe it !

[happy]

A senior rail card is certainly cost effective if you make regular long train journeys. Our Council gives us a discount on the railcard which makes it even better.

It annoys me when I see cheap fares advertised for longer journeys than mine, usually starting in London. Why can`t we all get cheap fares, wherever we`re travelling from?

sorry!
Some journeys it is cheaper to get an inclusive ferry ticket than just rail, apparently!

Don"t think £60 for two people to travel return to B"Ham huge .

In fact , an absolute steal, when you consider the cost of fuel nowadays , plus wear and tear on car

Jess - I think you are confusing your Mishaps with your Maniacs!

The whole train ticketing system is totally bonkers and you need a degree to find the cheapest way to travel - and even then it is hugely expensive and you will probably finish up standing!!

Glam. craziness eh!

Nonu when I was working full time every few months we where sent to Bournmouth for training 2/3 days at a time,I used to get four tickets sent to me from the companies travel office one from Lpool to B'mingham New St.then one from B'mingham to Bournmouth Central the cost was over £30.00 less than a direct ticket and the stupid thing was I never had to get off the train,same applied going home.

The company we are using is Greater Anglia . They are Dutch , only been going about 6 months .

Certainly showing British Rail a thing or two . Another thing we notice is how much friendlier and helpful they are . [brew ] going to have another now with my lunch .

Which highlights the madness Mishap - how does one know where to theoretically break a journey?

I use Red Spotted Hanky - they don't charge for the postage if you opt to have the tickets sent. However, I am questioning my judgement since I discovered that RSH is an offshoot of the infamous Atos.

It's also cheaper to book as split journey -even if you are not going to change trains.e.g Nailsea toCheltenham -Cheltenham to Birmingham.

Excellent Nonu ! I always do a quick look on the FGW site for the cheap options, but I think there is one called Red Spotted Hanky that is good too.