Birmingham New Street - Gatwick

[willc789]

Afternoon everyone!

Would really appreciate any help over a journey I'm making next month. Travel details are as follows:

Birmingham New Street - Gatwick Airport
Sunday 24th March
Need to arrive BEFORE 2.30pm.

Gatwick Airport - Birmingham New Street
Wednesday 27th March
Depart after 1.30pm.

I have a 16-25 railcard but the cheapest offering on advance tickets is over £35 currently.

Happy to go through or around London or further afield. Just need it as cheap as possible (typical student !).

Thanks for all your help in advance!

 

[yorkie]

Do you have to depart from New Street? If you can take Chiltern from Birmingham Moor St [[stn]BMO[/stn]] perhaps a "via High Wycombe" Super Off Peak Return (OPR) would meet your needs?

Or, if you'd prefer to depart from New Street and can change onto Southern at Watford Junction, then perhaps a "via Kensington Olympia" Off Peak Return (SVR) would meet your needs? (You have 5 minutes to change at Watford Jn, and a further change is required at Clapham Junction).

Note there are evening restrictions, based on the time of departure from Marylebone (if going via High Wycombe on Chiltern), or the time the train departs Kensington Olympia (if going that route on Southern), these restrictions apply to your return leg only, and shouldn't be a problem if you depart promptly after 1330.

 

[LexyBoy]

The cheapest route by rail is probably using Advance tickets routed Southern &LonMid. This can be done for a total of £13.20 at present (£6.60 each way on all departures). To show these fares use a WebTIS-based search engine such as LM, East Coast, FGW etc, and after searching for your journey select "Southern & London Midland" under "routes" on the bar on the left, then select the "£6.60 to £35 single" button.

The cheapest through walk-on fares are quite reasonable with an Off Peak Return routed Via Kensington Olympia (i.e. LM or Virgin to Milton Keynes or Watford Junction, then Southern to Gatwick), and a Super Off Peak Return +Via High Wycombe at £28.05 (Chiltern to Marylebone then across London and to Gatwick from Victoria, London Bridge or St Pancras. If you specifically want to leave from New Street you can use CrossCountry and change at Leamington or Banbury for a Marylebone train.)

Bear in mind that with Advance tickets you must take the booked train(s), so you'll need a new ticket if your flight is late and you miss the train - of course you can book a train giving yourself plenty of safety time as long as you don't mind a potentially long wait.