ALR Advice

[Southern Beau]

Hi Everyone

I am planning a short notice rover in a couple of weeks. I would appreciate any help and advice. Some of the locations are to see new places, but also to visit childhood memories !

Anyway, here is my planned routes, I would love some feedback if you have time to comment

Thanks


Thursday
KX - Newcastle - Carlisle - Barrow - Lancaster - Edinburgh


Friday
Edinburgh - Inverness - Kyle of Lochalsh - Inverness

Saturday
Inverness - Wick - Thurso

Sunday
Thurso - Inverness

Monday
Inverness - Aberdeen - Edinburgh

Tuesday
Edinburgh - Carlisle - Settle - Leeds - Skegness

Wednesday
Skegness - Norwich - Lowestoft - London

 

[Gizmogle]

Looks good. I'm also doing a rover trip around Scotland very soon.

Have you planned time to look around the places that you're going? Or is it just a big bashing trip?

 

[class 313]

Looks good. I'm also doing a rover trip around Scotland very soon.

Have you planned time to look around the places that you're going? Or is it just a big bashing trip?

How much will that set you back

 

[Gizmogle]

Couple hundred £

 

[rail-britain]

Couple hundred £

I wouldn't use a ALR for the above...
Providing you book in advance for the FC Advances, loads to have had for "free"

Thu : KX - Edin, FC Advance single
Fri : Purchase a Four Day Freedom Of Scotland, £105, sadly FC not available
Tue : Edin - Carlisle, megatrain.com ticket

I would only consider a ALR if you are travelling continuously by train each day

 

[Gizmogle]

Not sure why you quoted me there...

Either way, I completely agree with you. The only problem with advance tickets is if you end up missing connections and have to take different routes, etc.

 

[mrcheek]

yeah, I was gonna say the same as everyone else, an ALR is expensive, and you seem to be mainly in Scotland, so it might be cheaper to buy a few singles and a Scottish rover. If youre doing an ALR, you need to hit the south a bit more!

 

[rail-britain]

Not sure why you quoted me there...

A couple of hundred seems extreme
With careful planning could do all of that for under £100, including some by First Class

Either way, I completely agree with you. The only problem with advance tickets is if you end up missing connections and have to take different routes, etc.

Given the itenerary posted, each day has one trip only
Not much risk of missing connections there!
Even if you do miss connections, providing they are advertised connections and it is ONE ticket then you can travel on the next train
Happens quite often where people travel from Glasgow QS to Edinburgh, get delayed and have to travel on a later service out of Edinburgh
Just make sure you get approval BEFORE you board the train!

 

[Gizmogle]

Well, my couple hundred includes accommodation and two sleeper trips.

 

[laseandre]

An ALR is suited more to Southern England, whereas you can get a Scottish Rover quite cheaply compared to an ALR.

 

[Gizmogle]

Yes, definately. Freedom of Scotland is brilliant! That's what LittleRedTrain will be doing our bash on. Then just the sleeper tickets to get us there and back.

 

[EE Type 3]

Have you found where Scotland is yet Shauna?

 

[yorkie]

A few thoughts:

1) I wouldn;t do an ALR for a rigid plan - I'd do AP singles for that. Rovers are good for haulage bashing as you can pick and choose services based on gen but they are not good for track bashing to a set timetable. ALRs are no use if travelling on sleepers. Book far in advance and get a Bargain Berth (berth + travel) for £19 or £29. With an ALR it's £36 supplement just for the berth!

2) Scottish rovers are excellent value! Far more so than ALRs

3) There's very little traction worth doing an ALR for these days. The prices of FC ALRs in countries that have excellent traction (e.g. Czech republic) is extremely low in comparison. So it may be worth considering that.

 

[Mintona]

I don't think ALRs are pointless. Just coz you don't rate anything on the mainline, they are still very flexible tickets, and you can go a long way on them..

 

[rail-britain]

Each option has their pros and cons

With an ALR, you can turn up and go
With a little planning you can book all your seat reservations (most are free) up to the day before
The only supplement I am aware of would be for the sleeper, that works out cheaper than some hotels, and also means you can cut some time off some journeys which otherwise would have to be made the following day
Providing you are travelling for about 8 hours each day then this is the best option, which is why UK tourists (that can't get the europe rail tickets) choose this option

With a AP you are restricted to choices, but can make some obvious savings
As already mentioned ideal if you need to get to a specific area, to then start a regional rover, like the Scottish ones as you can quite easily spend 3 or 4 days trying to cover the main Scottish routes

 

[me123]

I have to agree about the Freedom of Scotland: an absolutely fantastic deal! Also, because you can get 3 in 7 days, you can explore Scotland, take a day off... it's certainly a fantastic ticket.

 

[yorkie]

I don't think ALRs are pointless. Just coz you don't rate anything on the mainline, they are still very flexible tickets, and you can go a long way on them..

Oh come on! It's alright for people on PRIV, but for the rest of us they cost an absolute fortune! The amount you pay per day is very high. I often see people doing ALRs where they go to a particular area, spend a day doing the branch lines there, then go to another area and do the same - and they could save a fortune by getting local rovers + BBs.

The ALR is very overpriced as an enthusiast/explorer's ticket. The fact that Britrails cost a fraction of the price demonstrates that point. The reason they are so expensive is to not undermine the cost of many season tickets (although it is cheaper than some!), so the only way to get good value out of it is to get loads of peak time long distance services. Any time spending branch lines or routes with cheap fares and you are not getting the full (hideously expensive) value out of it.

Obviously on a PRIV the ALR is a fantastic deal!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I have to agree about the Freedom of Scotland: an absolutely fantastic deal! Also, because you can get 3 in 7 days, you can explore Scotland, take a day off... it's certainly a fantastic ticket.

4 in 8 or 8 in 15.

The 8 in 15 is brilliant, it's about 1/4 of the cost of an ALR but valid for longer and, as you say, you can take a break between days. Also it can be good to base yourself in the same location for a few days at a time so no need to carry a weeks worth of luggage every day with you.

A group of us did one this Summer, the aim being to get Valentas mostly, and it was such great value. Before doing the rover we got AP tickets to Penzance and back, which were incredibly cheap, and did the Penzance-Dundee, so it had a bit of an ALR-feel to it but without the ching!

 

[mrcheek]

Oh come on! It's alright for people on PRIV, but for the rest of us they cost an absolute fortune! The amount you pay per day is very high. I often see people doing ALRs where they go to a particular area, spend a day doing the branch lines there, then go to another area and do the same - and they could save a fortune by getting local rovers + BBs.

ALRs are for people who want to be in Glasgow one day and Penzance the next. which is what I did. £860 for a 2 week ALR FC is a lot of money, but hey, its not the sort of thing youre gonna do often. I did one in September 2007, hope to do one again in 2009, but who knows.

 

[rail-britain]

Another advantage to the ALR is if you really need to cover different areas and change your travel plans accordingly
I know of a company that issues them to employees, 7 days FC, so that they can cover national events
It works out marginally cheaper than FC walk-on fares

 

[me123]

Indeed. My father's work once bought him an ALR simply because the AP fares weren't available. (He needed to travel around the country at the last minute).

 

[yorkie]

I suspect that the biggest market for ALRs is actually for business, not enthusiasts. In fact I'd be shocked if it wasn't the case, although I am sure that's not intentional.

In contrast, I suspect none of the other rovers are used for business passengers!

 

[rail-britain]

The Freedom of Scotland rover used to be very popular with Scottish businesses
It worked out cheaper for people commuting between Glasgow and Aberdeen
As a result the other ScotRail multijourney tickets that have now become available are now more popular

 

[Mintona]

Oh come on! It's alright for people on PRIV, but for the rest of us they cost an absolute fortune! The amount you pay per day is very high. I often see people doing ALRs where they go to a particular area, spend a day doing the branch lines there, then go to another area and do the same - and they could save a fortune by getting local rovers + BBs.

Obviously on a PRIV the ALR is a fantastic deal!

I didn't even know you could get PRIV discount on an ALR So cheers for that, might save me some money in the future.

I meant that it is good value coz you can be one place one day, and somewhere completely different the next day. When I did my ALR (with YP discount) I think it was much cheaper than buying advances and regional rovers. Plus, we had a tight plan, and didn't always manage to stick to it, so the ALR was useful coz we could just hop on any train and go where we liked.

 

[me123]

In contrast, I suspect none of the other rovers are used for business passengers!

Lancashire Day Ranger? Another one my dad's used and another one that's good value. He had to visit Manchester and Liverpool in a day and return to Glasgow as part of his work. CDR GLC-PRE plus this ticket saved quite a bundle.

I don't really know why he goes for cheap tickets as his work would apparently pay for walk up FC fares :?

 

[rail-britain]

I don't really know why he goes for cheap tickets as his work would apparently pay for walk up FC fares

Depends on employer and expenses method
Some employers provide a float or credit card, others pay expenses AFTER you've made them
The employer may pay for "what it costs" but if you ain't got that money to start with then you may look for the cheapest option and then reclaim that

There are also tax advantages in expense claims, again depends on if the employer provides the payments or not

 

[Southern Beau]

Hi Everyone

Thanks for the advice. I've got a Freedom of Scotalnd ticket now, I was aware of the Highlands rover but was not sure about the FOS ticket. Also got some AP as well so thanks again.

With the Freedom of Scotland ticket (4 out of 8), does it need to be validated at the start of each day ?

Thanks

 

[me123]

Depends on employer and expenses method
Some employers provide a float or credit card, others pay expenses AFTER you've made them
The employer may pay for "what it costs" but if you ain't got that money to start with then you may look for the cheapest option and then reclaim that

There are also tax advantages in expense claims, again depends on if the employer provides the payments or not

Work pays directly; they have an account on thetrainline for each office apparently, so the confirmation goes to the office as do the tickets. But they allow FC travel on the grounds that it lets people get on with their work.

 

[rail-britain]

With the Freedom of Scotland ticket (4 out of 8), does it need to be validated at the start of each day?

You're supposed to mark the ticket for each day as you use it
Some staff check, some don't
Just be an ordinary daft passenger and say you forgot if they do check

I've known people to travel for all 8 days on them!
When they get to the fifth day, then they mark the first box