A cheap, backup return ticket from Glasgow to London

[newguy]

I currently have a trip planned to London for Thursday 28th May returning to Glasgow on Sunday 31st May 2026. I've got flights booked with British Airways from Glasgow to London City. Given, the situation in the Middle East, I've been thinking about getting a backup train ticket in case there are any issues with aviation fuel. The plan was to find a cheap fare that I could cancel the day before if it's not required.

A quick look at Avanti website suggests that the cost would be £411 for an AnyTime return leaving Glasgow at 05.33 and returning to Glasgow on the 1812 (although this train is taking 6 hours for some reason).

I am missing something? Is there a cheaper way to do this?

Thank you

 

[jfollows]

The 18:12 down service goes via Stockport & Manchester

 

[sot]

If eligible there are some cheap advances with blue light perkbox uni days etc listed under 'partner offer' on brfares to check the minimum price.for the station pairing.

 

[lfc84]

The middle east situation won't affect the ba embraer London city fleet.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Would an Off Peak Return Glasgow Cen/QST to London Terminals at £186.90 not be perfectly valid on the 0533 from Glasgow Central on a Thursday? This is a walk-up ticket that could be bought on the day if actually needed. No need to book in advance.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I don't think you should buy another ticket.

If BA cancel your flight- and it doesn't matter why they cancel your flight- then they are responsible for getting you to your destination. If they can't fly you, you would be well within your rights to go to Glasgow Central, buy a train ticket for walk-up travel, and then submit the receipt to BA for reimbursement.

If you buy a train ticket in advance then you must cancel this before the day of travel in order to receive a refund. However, you may not know on the day in advance whether BA have cancelled your flight.

You won't find cheap refundable tickets; the cheapest fares are Advance tickets. These are non-refundable.

 

[Starmill]

If eligible there are some cheap advances with blue light perkbox uni days etc listed under 'partner offer' on brfares to check the minimum price.for the station pairing.

As these wouldn't be refundable I would strongly suggest not making an alternative booking until the day of travel in these circumstances. I'd say there's a 99% chance the ticket isn't going to be used. Fuel in Glasgow or London City airports is very, very unlikely to have run out in two months.

 

[tram21]

And in the incredibly unlikely event there were any issues, it'd probably just be you being moved onto an alternative flight, or BA paying for your train on the day. So there's no need to worry- you are protected through consumer law!!

 

[newguy]

Thanks everybody for your helpful comments.

My trip to London is for a weekend seminar. It was rather expensive, hence why I was looking for a backup option.

I think it’s very unlikely that BA will cancel all flights. My thinking was that if costs got to high, they might reduce the number of flights available and rebook people on alternatives that might cause me issues.

I should have known that there was no cheap refundable type rail ticket available.

I think you’re probably all right and I should just deal with it if something happens.

Thanks all

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Mar 2026 ==

Would an Off Peak Return Glasgow Cen/QST to London Terminals at £186.90 not be perfectly valid on the 0533 from Glasgow Central on a Thursday? This is a walk-up ticket that could be bought on the day if actually needed. No need to book in advance.

Thanks MCR Warrior. The avanti website does suggest that the 0533 is off peak. Although when reading their website on off peak page it suggests the opposite.

 

[jfollows]

It’s fine, restriction code 3A:

Notes​
Return Travel​
Outward Travel​
Restriction Code: 3A Restricted Days: Mondays to Fridays​
Not valid on trains timed to arrive: London Euston after 04:29 and before 10:05;(Restrictions do not apply on Fridays) Watford Junction after 04:29 and before 10:20;(Restrictions do not apply on Fridays) Milton Keynes Central after 04:29 and before 10:20.(Restrictions do not apply on Fridays) Valid on all Caledonian Sleeper services (with supplement).
Not valid on trains timed to depart: London Euston after 04:29 and before 09:05;(Restrictions do not apply on Fridays) Watford Junction after 04:29 and before 09:00;(Restrictions do not apply on Fridays) Milton Keynes Central after 04:29 and before 09:00.(Restrictions do not apply on Fridays) Valid on all Caledonian Sleeper services (with supplement).
Break of journey is not permitted on the Outward journey, except to change trains.

The 05:33 from Glasgow is due to arrive in London at 10:14.

 

[newguy]

Thank you

 

[Starmill]

A more minor change to BA schedules is certainly a risk, but not a very big one. You could ask to be rebooked to an earlier departure as well as a later one if your flight were cancelled, unless you're already on the first one of the day. Either way passengers have on occasions been rebooked by train in the past by BA so even that suggestion is probably going not going to be something novel to them, they know which of their routes have trains available.

 

[yorkie]

As others have said, it's best not to book anything, but...

A quick look at Avanti website suggests that the cost would be £411 for an AnyTime return leaving Glasgow at 05.33 and returning to Glasgow on the 1812 (although this train is taking 6 hours for some reason).

The 1812 goes via Stockport; it's quicker to go via LNER.

I am missing something? Is there a cheaper way to do this?

Thank you

Our website charges a lot less than £411 for this journey:

Ticket Information | RailUK Tickets

TrainSplit is a free service that makes it easy to find the cheapest train tickets for your journey.

tickets.railforums.co.uk

We also offer a seat selector, so there is no advantage to paying the premium Avanti charge to book directly with them.

But the chances are your flights will run just fine, and so you won't need to book a train journey.

 

[newguy]

Thanks Yorkie, very much appreciated. I think the £411 was because I was looking for a ticket that I could refund the day before. I've decided to leave things for the time being and hope the flight's OK. If not, I'll use the forums booking engine.

Thank you

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The 18:12 down service goes via Stockport & Manchester

Looks like all Euston-Glasgow trains do that on May 31.
Crewe-Preston direct must be closed (no trains via Warrington BQ).

 

[yorkie]

Thanks Yorkie, very much appreciated. I think the £411 was because I was looking for a ticket that I could refund the day before

If you choose filters 'flexible tickets only' and 'only show fastest trains', we would then show refundable fares for quick journeys, at lower prices than Avanti

Of course slower options can massively reduce the price but for your journey that sounds like it isn't feasible

. I've decided to leave things for the time being and hope the flight's OK. If not, I'll use the forums booking engine.

Thank you

Yes, good plan.