Aberystwyth, Wolverhampton

[Ian99]

Hi

I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on efficient fare purchase of the following please?

Travelling from Gomshall to Aberystwyth this Thursday to arrive 1930hrs ish. Ideally passing through Wolverhampton (if not, then Shrewsbury) to "pick up" partner there for her and mine onward journey to Aberystwyth.

Both of us returning to London on Sunday 11 April evening - ideally around 6pm.

I did have a look at the Virgin site but the Welsh bit seems disproportionately expensive....

Lastly, for one last indulgence, is it worth paying extra for first class on the return or possibly the Wolverhampton - Aberystwyth leg?

No rail cards apart from a Network Southeast card (if they're still called that...)

Thanks in anticipation!

Ian

PS One final thing - any thoughts in the pronunciation of Aberystwyth?!

 

[mickey]

No time to search for fares right now (maybe later!) but a couple of initial comments...

Lastly, for one last indulgence, is it worth paying extra for first class on the return

If you can swing it so you get the WSMR for the Shrewsbury-London leg (probably the easiest anyway) yes it probably is if you're looking to treat yourself.

or possibly the Wolverhampton - Aberystwyth leg?

No.

PS One final thing - any thoughts in the pronunciation of Aberystwyth?!

As it's written.

 

[Mojo]

A through ticket London Terminals (1072) to Aberystwyth (AYW) is £61.60, ticket route "Birmingham" so no problem for the journey you're trying to do.

If you're happy with a slower journey, LM have 'Web-only' returns valid only on their trains priced at £10 which you can use Euston (EUS) to Wolverhampton (WVH), changing at Birmingham N St (BHM).

A good journey for the times you're looking at would be:

EUS 1254
BHM 1516
BHM 1536
WVH 1553
WVH 1643
AYW 1925

You'd need to buy a £10 London Midland 'Web-only' return, only available from www.londonmidland.com and then an WVH-AYW Off-peak return at £32.30. Total £42.30 plus the leg from Gomshall to 1072.

On the way out at least using WSMR isn't an option due to the bad timings, unless you're happy to leave earlier/arrive later or wait ages at Shrewsbury.

It is not worth paying extra for first class WVH-AYW as there is no First class on these trains!

 

[button_boxer]

PS One final thing - any thoughts in the pronunciation of Aberystwyth?!

Abber-rust-with (the 'th' being pronounced as in 'thing' rather than 'that').

 

[mickey]

OK, some more ideas. If you're looking for the cheapest option, get the LM-only ticket mentioned above for the whole journey London-Shrewsbury (£10), then buy a normal return Shrewsbury-Aberystwyth for £22.20. You call at Wolverhampton as required. It's not worth upgrading to First on any of these trains.

Mojo's solution is a good combination if you want a cheap-ish run that doesn't sacrifice quite as much travelling time.

Alternatively, use the nice WSMR service between London and Shrewsbury. A train leaves Marylebone at 11.20. Advance fares are available for around £15 each way or for flexibility you can get the £61.60 through ticket covering both trains. Obviously this same ticket is valid on the quicker Virgin services if you prefer.

From Gomshall you can route through Reading rather than London if you prefer, but if you're going back to London it's probably better to start there too.

 

[Mojo]

I looked for LM only fares between 1072 and Shrewsbury and couldn't find any, which is why I suggested WVH.

 

[ChrisTheRef]

Ah-bear-wrist-with

 

[mickey]

I looked for LM only fares between 1072 and Shrewsbury and couldn't find any, which is why I suggested WVH.

LM runs an hourly service between Birmingham, Telford and Shrewsbury. If the fares don't show up in the booking engine it may be necessary to ring the customer support team, as detailed in the offer's FAQ page. I don't see any reason why they wouldn't be able to make it available, however, given that you'd effectively be following the 'normal' route anyway.

EDIT: Scratch that. Well, partly. The reason it isn't available to the OP is that the LM service doesn't run on a Sunday so he can't use it to get back. It's still marginally cheaper (by £3 ish) to buy a LM return to Shrewsbury and an additional single SHR to WVH, though as the LM offer isn't available online for that route (as above) it's probably not worth the extra effort required.

 

[Mojo]

LM runs an hourly service between Birmingham, Telford and Shrewsbury. If the fares don't show up in the booking engine it may be necessary to ring the customer support team, as detailed in the offer's FAQ page. I don't see any reason why they wouldn't be able to make it available, however, given that you'd effectively be following the 'normal' route anyway.

EDIT: Scratch that. Well, partly. The reason it isn't available to the OP is that the LM service doesn't run on a Sunday so he can't use it to get back. It's still marginally cheaper (by £3 ish) to buy a LM return to Shrewsbury and an additional single SHR to WVH, though as the LM offer isn't available online for that route (as above) it's probably not worth the extra effort required.

No, as said by 'London_Midland' on the forum, these tickets do not exist on flows that do not have a LM-priced flow, so even if you put in weekdays you would not get the offer.

 

[Ian99]

Hi

Thanks, Mojo, Mickey, Button boxer and Chris the ref. All useful stuff.

Looks like I'll go

Gomshall to London Bridge for £10.10
Oyster card on tube to Euston (estimate) £2
Virgin EUS to Shrewsbury £23.50
Return ticket SHW to Aberystwyth £23.50
Sunday:
Single WSMR SHW to London Marylebone £18

Total round journey cost £77.10


The only slightly irksome cost is a single Wolverhampton to SHR that will be required for girlfriend that will cost £7.70.

First class on WSMR looks like being £55 rather than £18 so no freshly cooked meal for us - maybe fish & chips in Shrewsbury.........

Thanks again for your help

Ian

 

[mickey]

Looks like I'll go

Gomshall to London Bridge for £10.10
Oyster card on tube to Euston (estimate) £2
Virgin EUS to Shrewsbury £23.50
Return ticket SHW to Aberystwyth £23.50
Sunday:
Single WSMR SHW to London Marylebone £18

Total round journey cost £77.10

If those are the trains you want you're probably better off getting the normal off-peak return fare London Terminals-Aberystwyth priced at £61.60. It's valid on the bottom three connections in your list and in your case provides additional flexibility at a lower cost. (Obviously the Gomshall and tube legs are still extra.)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

No, as said by 'London_Midland' on the forum, these tickets do not exist on flows that do not have a LM-priced flow, so even if you put in weekdays you would not get the offer.

Terms and conditions
The Great Easter Rail Sale fares may not apply on a few journeys where London Midland does not set the normal fare for a journey. Passengers should contact London Midland Customer Relations on 0121 634 2040 in such instances.

I assume from this that the CR team would try to find a workaround in such circumstances. Obviously it may not be possible, but why otherwise would they tell people to bother ringing them up if they were only going to be disappointed? Reading back the comments from 'London Midland' on the other thread I see nothing to disprove this theory; indeed, 'David' himself said,

There are no doubt others, and we'll try to find a solution where we can.

I may of course be wrong, but if it were me I'd try it.