Bekesbourne to Oban return

[fergusjbend]

Two friends of mine wish to travel from Bekesbourne (Kent) to Oban, out on 26 Jun, returning on 3 to 4 July.

1) What is the best price and route?

2) Can the journey be broken in each direction, and how many times?

3) One has a senior railcard, the other is a US citizen. Are foreign nationals entitled to buy a senior railcard?

Any help would be gratefully received.

Fergus

 

[30907]

Cost and break of journey will depend on the ticket options they use (and whether first or standard class!) - in general, booked-train-only Advance tickets may work out cheaper, but do not allow break of journey. That said, it's perfectly possible to book an Advance as far as an overnight stop, and another to continue.

As to routes, using the Javelin service from Faversham ( or perhaps Canterbury West) to St Pancras cuts out the cross London transfer.
North from London, the basic choice is between the West Coast route from Euston via Glasgow (changing stations) and the East Coast line from Kings Cross via Edinburgh (an extra change of train). Journey times are similar, and the whole journey is do-able in one long day.

A third, slower, option would be to use the East Coast route to Leeds (or York, perhaps) then take the Settle-Carlisle route to Glasgow - slower by a couple of hours, and Leeds-Carlisle in a regional train not an intercity type.

For a journey of that length they might, alternatively, wish to use the sleeper to Glasgow or Crianlarich (the latter is about an hour from and the connection is much better southbound; the train continues to Fort William).

Non-UK residents can buy railcards, but they can only be posted to a UK address (or bought at the station).

 

[fergusjbend]

Thanks very much - a great help.

 

[soil]

A fully-flexible ticket for the entire journey is £120.45 with railcard. The first permitted train is the 09:30 from Euston to Glasgow - you can take any train from Bekesbourne.

This is likely the best ticket, unless you want to take the sleeper, in which case it might not be. Sitting on the sleeper is the cheapest option overall.

Sleeper prices from London to Crianlarich one-way:

£26.40 seated
£62.70 standard berth
£82.50 first class berth

Bekesbourne - London is around £25 return

A First Class berth costs £75 one-way (No railcard discount I think) while holding a flexible return ticket.

Break of journey is not permitted outbound on the £120.45 ticket, but you can break your journey unlimited times when coming back.

 

[30907]

A fully-flexible ticket for the entire journey is £120.45 with railcard. The first permitted train is the 09:30 from Euston to Glasgow - you can take any train from Bekesbourne.

The ticket has the advantage of being valid by all the routes mentioned (and more).
There is an afternoon peak restriction from Kings Cross, though this is unlikely to matter!

Break of journey IS permitted outward, but only on the day of travel or overnight.
http://www.brfares.com/#faredetail?orig=BKS&dest=OBN&rlc=SRN&ldn=1&tkt=SVR

 

[OwlMan]

The ticket has the advantage of being valid by all
Break of journey IS permitted outward, but only on the day of travel or overnight.

Not on the restriction that you quoted

OUTWARD TRAVEL Not valid on trains timed to DEPART: London Euston after 0429 and before 0905; Watford junction after 0429 and before 0900; Milton Keynes Central after 0429 and before 0900. Break of journey not allowed, except to change trains.

 

[30907]

Not on the restriction that you quoted

Sorry. Missed that somewhere. It's a long standing BOJ restriction.

But interestingly, the 9F restriction which applies out of Kings Cross DOESN'T have a BOJ restriction unless I've missed something again.

And overnight BOJ is allowed irrespective of that, which might be useful to the OP's friends - though with the improved Oban service I would consider doing the journey in one day.