Aberdeen to Chepstow Fare Advice Please

[Aberdeen Taff]

Hi guys,

Never seen this forum before but have been using MSE for a good few years and was advised by Geordie Racer to post here and see if anyone could help so have just gone for copy/paste and think it's all the info that would be needed.

Hi Folks,

Generally consider myself to be okay at finding decent deals for most things (even if my wife thinks I take too long researching these things!!) but not a regular train user at all and taking my 4 & 6 year olds from Aberdeen to Chepstow (10 hours ish so wish me luck!). It's just me and the 2 girls.

I think that my youngest goes free and, if I buy a Family and Friends railcard, I can get it for about £270 (plus railcard price). I've been looking at split ticketing but just confuse myself as I seem to need to use 3 or 4 different companies whichever way I go and don't know if my ticket would be valid should I miss a connection after buying seperately. I'm travelling on Friday 1 July and returning on Thur 7 July (any times really).

Bit of a ramble but any advice greatly received - other than drive or fly which aren't viable

 

[island]

As you expected, the 4-year old travels free. £270 is well above the right fare though; unless you're travelling before 5am in the morning it's £106.90 for you and £30.80 for the 6-year old, plus £28 for the railcard, total £165.70. That's a flexible ticket; if you're willing to be tied to specific trains it may be possible to get it cheaper.

And yes, it's 9 hours (or more)!

 

[dzug2]

An offpeak return for one adult and one child with an F&F railcard is £137.70, not including the cost of the railcard. There are few if any restrictions on this ticket.

Don't know where your price comes from unless you were looking at the anytime fare

Do you still want to split??

One obvious split is Birmingham New Street - on off peak returns saves you about a fiver, but with slightly less options as to what constitutes 'off peak'. If you did this there's no problem if you miss a connection - the ticket is valid on any off peak service

 

[island]

I can't find any worthwhile splits (defined as less than a tenner or so) for this. If the OP would specify his/her travel dates we may be able to assist finding advances.

 

[wintonian]

An offpeak return for one adult and one child with an F&F railcard is £137.70, not including the cost of the railcard. There are few if any restrictions on this ticket.

Don't know where your price comes from unless you were looking at the anytime fare

Do you still want to split??

One obvious split is Birmingham New Street - on off peak returns saves you about a fiver, but with slightly less options as to what constitutes 'off peak'. If you did this there's no problem if you miss a connection - the ticket is valid on any off peak service

The restrictions on that ticket only apply for journeys via London St Pancreas apart from not being able to leave Aberdeen before 05:00
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I can't find any worthwhile splits (defined as less than a tenner or so) for this. If the OP would specify his/her travel dates we may be able to assist finding advances.

I think that my youngest goes free and, if I buy a Family and Friends railcard, I can get it for about £270 (plus railcard price). I've been looking at split ticketing but just confuse myself as I seem to need to use 3 or 4 different companies whichever way I go and don't know if my ticket would be valid should I miss a connection after buying seperately. I'm travelling on Friday 1 July and returning on Thur 7 July (any times really).

Bit of a ramble but any advice greatly received - other than drive or fly which aren't viable

Does that help?

 

[Aberdeen Taff]

I can't find any worthwhile splits (defined as less than a tenner or so) for this. If the OP would specify his/her travel dates we may be able to assist finding advances.

I am travelling from Aberdeen to Chepstow on Friday 1 July and returning Chepstow to Aberdeen on Thursday 7 July. Would be happy to leave any time between 8-10 or thereabouts (short car trips either end).

Thanks very much for all your help. I was using trainline, EastCoast and various other 'cheap rail ticket' searches via Google. Where would I book trains at these prices?

I wouldn't be looking to split at those prices - thanks very much again. I have lots to learn about train fares

 

[wintonian]

Well don't use the Train Line and pay their booking fees.

All the train company’s websites (and everyone else) sell exactly the same tickets though some times 1 or 2 do offer a small discount on their Own ticket bought from them i.e. East Coast offer a 10% discount on East Coast advance tickets.

 

[MikeWh]

I was using trainline, EastCoast and various other 'cheap rail ticket' searches via Google. Where would I book trains at these prices?

I wouldn't be looking to split at those prices - thanks very much again. I have lots to learn about train fares

Definitely not the trainline or Raileasy - they charge booking fees and card fees. Some of the TOCs will offer discounts off their own fares when booked online, including East Coast. I'm not sure whether this fare would be applicable though. Redspottedhanky can be good, especially if you have Tesco vouchers to use.

 

[LexyBoy]

Where would I book trains at these prices?

At a station. You can do this in advance in order to reserve a seat, but the tickets described by island are available any time up to departure. Station ticket staff must sell you the cheapest ticket available to make the journey you describe. (They can't offer split tickets unprompted though).

If you want to buy online, use one of the Train Operating Company websites - preferably the one you're travelling with as it'll make it easier in the unlikely event of something going wrong, and some offer discounts on certain tickets for their own services. Any TOC will sell any ticket though (although some such as Virgin can make it hard to find other operator's services).

 

[dzug2]

You could buy that ticket at Aberdeen station on the day. Only snag is you would'nt get seat reservations. Or pop in there a few days before.

The First Great Western site may be laid out less confusingly - it's where I priced them

 

[John @ home]

Where would I book trains at these prices?

East Coast or ScotRail will offer you:

Aberdeen - Chepstow Off-Peak Return
1 Adult @ £106.90
1 Child @ £30.80
Family & Friends Railcard
Total £137.70.

In addition, you need the Railcard. The £28 price is discounted by 10% to £25.20 if you buy online.

Suggested trains:

Friday 1 July
0820 Aberdeen - Haymarket 1052
1057 Haymarket - Birmingham New St 1455
1530 Birmingham New St - Chepstow 1652

Thursday 7 July
1018 Chepstow 1652 - Birmingham New St 1145
1220 Birmingham New St - Haymarket 1617
1633 Haymarket - Aberdeen 1900.

These are flexible tickts. You don't have to use these services.

If you want the tickets delivered by post, use ScotRail. East Coast charge £1 postage for tickets from Aberdeen. ScotRail don't.

 

[Aberdeen Taff]

Thanks very much guys - that's a very tidy saving

My train to edinburgh Haymarket is in at 1052 and departs at 1057. does the off peak mean I could a later train if there was a delay? *Touches wood*

 

[LexyBoy]

Thanks very much guys - that's a very tidy saving

My train to edinburgh Haymarket is in at 1052 and departs at 1057. does the off peak mean I could a later train if there was a delay? *Touches wood*

Yes, you can use any train.

 

[dzug2]

One minor(?) point - your 4YO won't get a seat reservation, and possibly no seat at all if there are no empty ones near you. You could buy him/her/it a child ticket for another £30.80 if you think it worth the money

 

[rail-britain]

Suggested trains:

Friday 1 July
0820 Aberdeen - Haymarket 1052
1057 Haymarket - Birmingham New St 1455
1530 Birmingham New St - Chepstow 1652

Personally, the 5 minutes at Haymarket is too tight
If you miss the 10:57, then you are looking at either a longer journey leaving at 11:11 or waiting nearly two hours for the 12:57

I appreciate the above reduces your journey time, but you could actually stay on the 08:20 service all the way to Cheltenham Spa, then travel on the 17:52 Cheltenham Spa to Chepstow
Therefore if the 08:20 service is more than 20 minutes, just stay on to avoid the two hour wait

 

[John @ home]

My train to edinburgh Haymarket is in at 1052 and departs at 1057. does the off peak mean I could a later train if there was a delay?

Yes, you can use any train.

Agreed, and if you do miss the connection due to the late running of the train from Aberdeen then pages 10-13 of CrossCountry's Passenger Charter may interest you.

 

[Aberdeen Taff]

Personally, the 5 minutes at Haymarket is too tight
If you miss the 10:57, then you are looking at either a longer journey leaving at 11:11 or waiting nearly two hours for the 12:57

I appreciate the above reduces your journey time, but you could actually stay on the 08:20 service all the way to Cheltenham Spa, then travel on the 17:52 Cheltenham Spa to Chepstow
Therefore if the 08:20 service is more than 20 minutes, just stay on to avoid the two hour wait

Thanks very much - you've all been really helpful.

 

[rail-britain]

Agreed, and if you do miss the connection due to the late running of the train from Aberdeen then pages 10-13 of CrossCountry's Passenger Charter may interest you.

Only helpful after the event
If the connection was missed at haymarket then have just 10 minutes to be advised to travel on the next service to Newcastle for the onward connection, or the next after that is the two hour wait

Personally, if the 08:20 Aberdeen arrives more than 20 minutes late at Haymarket then claim accordingly, as the final destination will be reached late no matter what

 

[animationmilo]

They do have a

10:49 Chepstow to Cheltenham Spa arrives at 11:35
12:12 Cheltenham Spa to Aberdeen arriving 20:43. Thats direct

Less connections with 2 kids and bags.

 

[Aberdeen Taff]

They do have a

10:49 Chepstow to Cheltenham Spa arrives at 11:35
12:12 Cheltenham Spa to Aberdeen arriving 20:43. Thats direct

Less connections with 2 kids and bags.

Cheers - mine don't wait until midnight to become gremlins if they are kept up late though!!!
:roll: