East Coast Trains website confusion

[bradders1983]

Trying to book tickets to go from Sheffield to Edinburgh on the morning of the 16th Nov, back again 17th (easy about at what time) and the East Coast website is truly awful for trying to book tickets.

It seems to suggest there are tickets available that day for £15.60 single (see screenshot at bottom of page) but the cheapest seems to be £19 on the Saturday. However that is via Manchester and is far too early so ignoring that it is actually £31.35.

And on the way back the cheapest is £40.65!

Whats going on? I will admit I dont book tickets that often

 

[DeeGee]

it's confusing, but that first single button shows the range of fares that could be available as Advance fares, and doesn't change dynamically. Evidently the really cheap ones have already sold.

 

[bradders1983]

it's confusing, but that first single button shows the range of fares that could be available as Advance fares, and doesn't change dynamically. Evidently the really cheap ones have already sold.

Ah right, so why dont they change it then? Very odd.

Can anyone do it any cheaper? The Sunday seems to be a nightmare as there are replacement buses on. I have no railcard.

 

[maniacmartin]

If you search Edinburgh to Doncaster on 17th Nov, the 09:44 departure arrives in Doncaster at 13:52 and there are currently APs for £29.40. Add an Anytime Day Single Doncaster - Sheffield for £4.50 makes £33.90 for the return leg (but you'd have to hang around in Doncaster for 44 minutes)

 

[LexyBoy]

Ah right, so why dont they change it then? Very odd.

Probably a bit tricky to program or time-intensive to run - it would have to query all possible trains that day (including those not usually shown as they're too slow etc) for Advance availability. As it is it shows the price range for Advance tickets available (i.e. in the database) for that flow.

There's a £24.50 Advance available (VWC & Connections) with a change at Warrington on the 1051 departure.

 

[maniacmartin]

Also there are currently APs Edinburgh to York for £26.45 (East Coast)
and APs York - Sheffield for £6.50 (Cross Country)
This would take the return cost down to £32.95 and the connection times at York aren't bad

Edit: Lexyboy's suggestion looks better
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Probably a bit tricky to program or time-intensive to run - it would have to query all possible trains that day (including those not usually shown as they're too slow etc) for Advance availability. As it is it shows the price range for Advance tickets available (i.e. in the database) for that flow.

Also, these prices would have to update and change as you scroll down in the box displayign the times and it loads more times and fares via Ajax. This would be confusing too, as the price ranges displayed could magically change if a later train had a cheaper or more expensive ticket.

 

[lemonic]

Also, these prices would have to update and change as you scroll down in the box displayign the times and it loads more times and fares via Ajax. This would be confusing too, as the price ranges displayed could magically change if a later train had a cheaper or more expensive ticket.

Actually this already happens on the FGW website.