London to Manchester, 18th December

[toppington]

I'm looking to buy a single ticket on this date from London to Manchester but can see that there are no cheaper "advance" tickets available on trains until the 13.17 departure from Euston. I have been looking every few days to see if the situation has changed on prices for morning trains since tickets for this date were released, however no cheaper fares are available.

Does anyone know why this might be at all, or the likelihood of cheaper fares being released? Many thanks in advance!

 

[roversfan2001]

If all the Advance quota that has been made available on that train has been taken then I don't think any more are released after that unfortunately.

 

[toppington]

If all the Advance quota that has been made available on that train has been taken then I don't think any more are released after that unfortunately.

Sorry, I wasn't too clear on this: all departures on Sunday morning, since tickets were released, have been at the highest advance price - there look to have been no cheaper tickets released at all!

 

[trainophile]

Just had a look, and I noticed that there are plenty of morning 1st Class Advances for £74, while Standard class on the same trains is £82. I know it's still more than you wanted to pay, but why not treat yourself? It is Christmas!

 

[deltic]

I think Man City are playing Arsenal that day which presumably is the reason there are no advances

 

[Ianno87]

Sorry, I wasn't too clear on this: all departures on Sunday morning, since tickets were released, have been at the highest advance price - there look to have been no cheaper tickets released at all!

Quite a few people might take the whole week off at the start of the Christmas holidays, and WCML can be busy-ish on a Sunday morning anyway as the frequency is reduced until 1200 by two track operation south of Hanslope.

Perhaps Virgin are expecting trains to be particularly popular anyway and have simply decided not to do any advances due to the high demand being there in the run up to Christmas. And there'll be people returning from Christmas parties and weekends in London.

There aren't also any major London<>Manchester sporting fixtures that day as well, by any chance?

 

[bb21]

What time are you looking to arrive?

There is a £24 Advance fare in Standard Class on the 0930 from St Pancras, changing at Chesterfield, arriving Piccadilly at 1337 or Oxford Road at 1341, on 18th December.

To get this fare, go to eastmidlandstrains.co.uk, and ask for London St Pancras to Manchester, specify your time, and search.

When the results are first up, ignore them and click on "Change journey", then "More options" when a new dialogue box opens. You can then specify "Go Via", and fill in "Sheffield".

That should bring the £24 fare up.

 

[deltic]

There are also cheaper fares going via Warrington but you have to change stations there

 

[Merseysider]

Do you have to use Virgin? There are currently advances on London Midland at £10 and £12 for Euston - Stoke/Crewe depending on departure time. Then all you'd need is a £3 Northern advance (or if from Stoke, XC/Virgin are also available for a couple quid more) for the following train thence up to Manchester.

 

[Hadders]

If travelling at an Off Peak time you could purchase a web only Off Peak Single costing £41.20.

This fare has to be booked through Virgin's website and has to be purchased as part of a return journey. Simply look for the cheapest fare possible for the return which I think is £17. The date and time of this dosen't matter as you won't actually use it! It's just a way to get the web only single.

This way you can make the single journey for less than £60 - not cheap but better than paying £82 and the web only Off Peak Single is a flexible fare.

 

[Howardh]

There's got to be cheaper fares if you don't mind changing. I would also look at the airline fares - although if there was any saving, the cost of the tube to Heathrow (and train from Man Airport to the center) wouldn't make it worthwhile!

 

[deltic]

Having a spare 30 mins I wondered how many ways there are travelling between London and Manchester on 18 Dec, at various prices - sure I have missed loads and have not really used split ticketing options - but even got a cheaper fare and faster route than BB21!

London Kings + 09.30 via Doncaster arr Picc 13.03 £26.50
London Kings + 08.45 via York arr Picc 12.06 £34.50
London Kings + 10.10 via Leeds arr Vic 13.35 £42.20
London St Pan 09.30 via Chesterfield arr Picc 13.37 £24.00
London Eus 08.15 via Stafford, Crewe arr Picc 11.53 £25.50
London Eus 08.45 via Warrington Central and Bank Quay arr Pic 12.09 £31.80
London Eus 08.45 via Wigan arr Vic 12.12 £29.80
London Eus 08.15 via Liverpool arr Pic 12.09 £22.00
London Eus 08.15 via Crewe arr Pic 11.53 £27.60
London Mary 08.15 via Moor St and New St arr Picc 12.41 £47
London Eus 07.52 via Birm (Lond Midland) arr Picc 12.41 £23.90
London Eus 09.54 via Stoke arr Picc 13.38 £17.50
London Padd 08.27 via Gloucester & Birm arr Picc 13.29 £45.60

Are there any other city pairs with so many fare options?

 

[Merseysider]

There is of course the Megabus

Currently £6.50 for 0800 from Vic arriving Manc 1250.

 

[najaB]

There is of course the Megabus

Plus National Express and Eurolines, while you're at it. Plenty of options.

 

[Paul Kelly]

Having a spare 30 mins I wondered how many ways there are travelling between London and Manchester on 18 Dec, at various prices - sure I have missed loads and have not really used split ticketing options - but even got a cheaper fare and faster route than BB21!

London Kings + 09.30 via Doncaster arr Picc 13.03 £26.50
London Kings + 08.45 via York arr Picc 12.06 £34.50
London Kings + 10.10 via Leeds arr Vic 13.35 £42.20
London St Pan 09.30 via Chesterfield arr Picc 13.37 £24.00
London Eus 08.15 via Stafford, Crewe arr Picc 11.53 £25.50
London Eus 08.45 via Warrington Central and Bank Quay arr Pic 12.09 £31.80
London Eus 08.45 via Wigan arr Vic 12.12 £29.80
London Eus 08.15 via Liverpool arr Pic 12.09 £22.00
London Eus 08.15 via Crewe arr Pic 11.53 £27.60
London Mary 08.15 via Moor St and New St arr Picc 12.41 £47
London Eus 07.52 via Birm (Lond Midland) arr Picc 12.41 £23.90
London Eus 09.54 via Stoke arr Picc 13.38 £17.50
London Padd 08.27 via Gloucester & Birm arr Picc 13.29 £45.60

Are there any other city pairs with so many fare options?

That's an impressive bit of research! Must have taken a while. It would be interesting to explicitly note the journey time too, and maybe calculate some kind of measure of the time penalty, e.g. how many extra minutes of journey time you need to put up with for every pound you save over the through Virgin Trains fare, or something like that...

 

[Merseysider]

That's an impressive bit of research! Must have taken a while. It would be interesting to explicitly note the journey time too, and maybe calculate some kind of measure of the time penalty, e.g. how many extra minutes of journey time you need to put up with for every pound you save over the through Virgin Trains fare, or something like that...

I suspect it would be around £1 a minute.

 

[najaB]

That's an impressive bit of research! Must have taken a while. It would be interesting to explicitly note the journey time too, and maybe calculate some kind of measure of the time penalty, e.g. how many extra minutes of journey time you need to put up with for every pound you save over the through Virgin Trains fare, or something like that...

It doesn't format well, but if you cut and past into a spreadsheet here's the start of what you suggested:

Starting Station	Departure Time	Arrival Time	Cost	Duration	Price per minute	Cost Difference	Time Difference	Cost Per Minute Difference
KGX	09:30:00	13:03:00	£26.50	213	0.12	£55.50	85	0.52
KGX	08:45:00	12:06:00	£34.50	201	0.17	£47.50	73	0.47
KGX	10:10:00	13:35:00	£42.20	205	0.21	£39.80	77	0.43
STP	09:30:00	13:37:00	£24.00	247	0.10	£58.00	119	0.54
EUS	08:15:00	11:53:00	£25.50	218	0.12	£56.50	90	0.52
EUS	08:45:00	12:09:00	£31.80	204	0.16	£50.20	76	0.48
EUS	08:45:00	12:12:00	£29.80	207	0.14	£52.20	79	0.50
EUS	08:15:00	12:09:00	£22.00	234	0.09	£60.00	106	0.55
EUS	08:15:00	11:53:00	£27.60	218	0.13	£54.40	90	0.51
MBY	08:15:00	12:41:00	£47	266	0.18	£35.00	138	0.46
EUS	07:52:00	12:41:00	£23.90	289	0.08	£58.10	161	0.56
EUS	09:54:00	13:38:00	£17.50	224	0.08	£64.50	96	0.56
PAD	08:27:00	13:29:00	£45.60	302	0.15	£36.40	174	0.49

Think I got the maths right.

Edit: I didn't get the maths right.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I suspect it would be around £1 a minute.

Looks like it's closer to 50p a minute, give or take.