Advice on Luton- Glasgow options please

[sliver]

Hi

I am very much a novice rail user but have lurked around the forum for a while.

I need some guidance please on my options for Luton Station to Glasgow. I don't really know Glasgow so at this stage I am assuming Glasgow Central would be the required location.

I need to travel on the afternoon (ideally shortly before or after midday) of Monday 19th May (ideally arriving by 19:30 give or take)
I will be returning on Thursday 22nd and can't leave until 14:00 at the earliest and would like to be back in Luton no later than 22:00

Cheapest I can see on takethetrain is £127.20 but I think I prefer the look of the £140.50 virgin via euston option (that's not to say I'm averse from a longer journey if it makes a significant saving).
Are there any splits or other such options I should be investigating?

I'd be very grateful for any tips and advice, especially as I have a bit of a vague requirement. Thanks

PS No railcard.

 

[gordonthemoron]

don't appear to be any advance fares available yet, you can do Milton Keynes-Glasgow for £117.30 with an off peak return and get the 99 bus from Luton-Milton Keynes

*two weeks previous, you can get advance singles outbound from £37 and return from £24

 

[button_boxer]

This is probably heresy on a rail forum, but have you considered flying? EasyJet have flights from Luton to Glasgow at sensible times on your required dates for about £60 return which would get you home by about 18:30 on the 22nd...

 

[telstarbox]

Remember that on easyJet you have to pay for additional bags though.

 

[Deerfold]

don't appear to be any advance fares available yet, you can do Milton Keynes-Glasgow for £117.30 with an off peak return and get the 99 bus from Luton-Milton Keynes

*two weeks previous, you can get advance singles outbound from £37 and return from £24

There's a couple of threads about Virgin's pause in releasing advances a few weeks ago. In one of them someone suggested that it'd be a week or so into April before these were available. Can't seem to find that link though.

Another suggests the end of this month.

http://railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=97944

 

[CallySleeper]

Easyjet:
Monday 19th May
LTN 1345 GLA 1500 £32.49

Thursday 22nd May
GLA 1630 LTN 1740 £28.49
GLA 1950 LTN 2100 £30.49

Total - from £60.98 (not including baggage, etc.)

Virgin + connections: Advance tickets for your specified dates aren't available until 31st March but this is what I get for the week before your specified dates:

Monday 12th May
Luton 1218 London St Pancras 1252
Transfer to Euston
Euston 1330 Glasgow Central 1803
£49.50

Thursday 15th May
Glasgow Central 1540 Euston 2012
Transfer to St Pancras
St Pancras 2101 Luton 2122
£32

Total - £81.50

 

[hassaanhc]

If it was me making that journey I would go for the Easyjet flights even if the fares were swapped around and I had to pay for baggage with the flight, a 75 minute journey time on the plane which is still probably significantly less than the train when check in is included* makes it a no brainer really :P

*not sure how different check in is on a domestic flight compared to international

 

[sliver]

Thank you all for all of the responses.

Easyjet is an option but I wanted to explore the train option for a whole heap of reasons.

Being a novice I had assumed that advance tickets went on sale 12 weeks before. It seems that isn't the case and thanks for letting me know they are possibly available from 31st March.

Sorry if this is a silly question, but how do you tell when an Advance is due to become available (or equally when it has been available and is sold out?). I'm just about to read the link on the Virgin delay in releasing advances, so if it's answered in there, apologies. I think I'll hold off for a couple of days and see if the advance materialises and they weigh it up.

 

[bradders1983]

The plane might look cheaper but the last time I looked, Luton Airport wasnt in the centre of Luton and Glasgow Airport wasnt in the centre of Glasgow. Add on the transfer costs too, please.

 

[Hadders]

It depends on exactly where the OP is travelling from and too. If the OP lives in Luton then the chances are it'll cost no more for a taxi to the airport compared to a taxi to the station. In Glasgow it depends on the final destination, which may not be within walking distance of the station.

For someone living in Luton flying is likely to be a quicker and cheaper option overall. Of course there are also many other reasons why someone may choose the train over flying.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....If the OP lives in Luton then the chances are it'll cost no more for a taxi to the airport compared to a taxi to the station....

I doubt that, London Luton Airport is as far southeast as you can go in Luton, so it'd only be the same price if you lived somewhere around Capability Green or Stopsley (or somewhere in between). The majority of the town is northwest of Luton station.

 

[sliver]

Thanks for all of the input.

With the Vigin advance fares appearing over the last day or so I found the 12:18 from Luton arriving Glasgow at 18:01 for £24

I will most probably combine this with an easyjet return flight on the Thursday for approx £40 (not accounting for travel to and from obvioulsy).

All in all a good price I think and thanks to those who helped.