booking from the US advice

[dave ottney]

I hope I can get some advice here. I will be traveling to the UK from the US at the end of April and beginning of May this year with three others. I'm trying to book tickets from London (Euston or Kings Cross) to Edinburgh and back. Then we'll be taking the Eurostar (?) to Paris from London. Apparently I'm a bit too efficient and can't book this far in advance so I'm waiting a little while to get closer to our travel dates.
My question is will the railway (Virgin Trains East Coast) send the advanced purchased tickets to me here in the US via mail or via an email electronic ticket? I've emailed Virgin twice and gotten automated replies saying that my inquiry is being reviewed and they will get back to me.
I haven't even started looking into the Eurostar yet.
I tried to secure Railcards for us to get discounted tickets but the Railcard company sent me an email saying I have to have a residential address in the UK to send them to and use a UK bank issued credit card. Or we can get the cards at a station when we arrive. This kind of defeats booking tickets early so we are sure to have them. Needless to say getting the discount using a Railcard seems to be out of the question.
If anyone has any advice or tips for this hapless Yank, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Dave

 

[paddington]

You can book railcard discounted tickets without having a railcard at the time of booking. You only need the railcard at the time you travel, so if you don't have a UK address you will need to buy them at a station.

Train companies are not going to post tickets to the US. You can collect the tickets from a station when you arrive in the UK, or you can choose to print them out yourself (this option requires presenting ID).

Eurostar tickets can also be printed or even displayed on an electronic device (I think).

 

[Flying Snail]

For the Railcard you can download the forms and fill them out, then hand them in with standard passport sized photos at a staffed station and they will issue the railcard on the spot. https://www.twotogether-railcard.co.uk/using-your-railcard/where-to-buy/

For the train tickets, as above, collect in station with the credit card used to purchase or use print at home option.

 

[Merseysider]

As an aside, I would recommend travelling in First Class if it isn’t that much more expensive, at least on Virgin West Coast. The cheapest fare is normally about £30 (with railcard).

The lounge at Euston has showers and free refreshments, and for a 5 hour journey it may be worth considering.

 

[M28361M]

You don't say the exact dates you are travelling, however I have just looked for 30 April and advance fares appear to be available from London to Edinburgh on virgintrainseastcoast.com. Some booking engines only allow you to search 12 weeks ahead, however Virgin will allow you to look further than this. It might be worth searching there to secure the cheapest advance fares now.

 

[davetheguard]

And I've already booked tickets on Eurostar for travel in late May & the middle of June, so you should have no problems booking those early.

 

[Muzer]

You can book railcard discounted tickets without having a railcard at the time of booking. You only need the railcard at the time you travel, so if you don't have a UK address you will need to buy them at a station.

Train companies are not going to post tickets to the US. You can collect the tickets from a station when you arrive in the UK, or you can choose to print them out yourself (this option requires presenting ID).

Eurostar tickets can also be printed or even displayed on an electronic device (I think).

To elaborate on this, all major stations (and many smaller ones) have ticket vending machines. Collecting a ticket is a case of pressing the "collect tickets" button, inserting the card you used for payment, and typing your booking reference. Unless there's something wrong with the machines you are usually not permitted to collect tickets from a person at the ticket office. It's the way I'd usually go for, but that's because I'm not a huge fan of eTickets or print-at-home tickets.

 

[Romilly]

Virgin Trains East Coast run the trains from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh. On their website, you can currently book for all dates up to and including Sunday 29 April 2018, and for Mondays to Fridays (but not public holiday Mondays) up to early July. Tickets for the first weekend in May would normally go on sale at 10:00 hours UK time this coming Friday (2 February).

For a London-Edinburgh-London journey, tickets fall into two main categories. There are tickets called "Advance" tickets: these are valid only on the train you specify at the time of booking. Booked now for late April they are likely to be the cheapest option. A seat reservation is automatically included with these tickets. The other category consists of a range of flexible tickets. So you could buy a return ticket at three price levels (Anytime, offpeak or super-offpeak) depending on the time of day at which you wish to travel. So long as you observe the time restrictions for your chosen ticket, you can travel on any train on the date you specified for your London-Edinburgh journey. And so long as you observe the time restrictions for your ticket, you can travel back from Edinburgh to London on any train on any day within the month starting with your outward travel date. When you book these flexible tickets, you can specify particular trains in order to get seat reservations (this is worth doing on these long journeys) but you remain free to travel on a different train (within the chosen dates and permitted times) if you later change your plans.

If you are collecting tickets from a ticket vending machine at a UK station, the credit/debit card you use will need to be one that can be read electronically by the machine. I mention this as I am not sure whether all US cards have chip & PIN.

 

[Muzer]

If you are collecting tickets from a ticket vending machine at a UK station, the credit/debit card you use will need to be one that can be read electronically by the machine. I mention this as I am not sure whether all US cards have chip & PIN.

I think for this reason our TVMs support reading magstripes (hence some people when not having paid by card and being asked to present a card, have had luck using Nectar cards and other such things). I'm happy to be corrected on this point though. Perhaps it differs between machines.

 

[dave ottney]

Wow, thank you for all the replies. I'm going to reread them so I have everything straight and then proceed. You all have relieved me of a great burden.
Again thank you,
Dave

 

[Bletchleyite]

It may be worth avoiding this issue in part by buying online from one of the vendors who offer PayPal payment (e.g. Loco2, Virgin West Coast do as well - edited to confirm as I paid PayPal for VTWC tickets on Friday). Because of how this works (PayPal will never reveal the card details to the vendor - that's the whole point of it) these will always be "any card" collections.

Note Loco2 charge a booking fee but Virgin West Coast do not.

At some machines this may have to be a Chip & PIN card, but you may be able to ask someone else to assist in such a case. I'd help someone (an obvious tourist) out in that situation as I understand that it can't result in a charge to my card

 

[dave ottney]

I'm still just a bit confused. Two people mentioned Virgin West Coast. When I originally looked for the tickets I was directed to Virgin Trains East Coast. Are there two different railways going from London to Edinburgh?
Also the last expensive tickets I've found this morning on virgin east coast using the Railcard two together card is 105 pounds.
Again thanks for any help,
Dave

 

[Puffing Devil]

I'm still just a bit confused. Two people mentioned Virgin West Coast. When I originally looked for the tickets I was directed to Virgin Trains East Coast. Are there two different railways going from London to Edinburgh?
Also the last expensive tickets I've found this morning on virgin east coast using the Railcard two together card is 105 pounds.
Again thanks for any help,
Dave

Yes - both called Virgin! The more frequent and direct route is via the East Coast from Kings Cross, you can also catch a train from Euston up the West Coast. Sleepers are also available; they go up the West Coast route from Euston.

 

[Flying Snail]

I'm still just a bit confused. Two people mentioned Virgin West Coast. When I originally looked for the tickets I was directed to Virgin Trains East Coast. Are there two different railways going from London to Edinburgh?
Also the last expensive tickets I've found this morning on virgin east coast using the Railcard two together card is 105 pounds.
Again thanks for any help,
Dave

Yes, 2 routes offer direct trains and both are operated by separate companies called Virgin Trains. It is the East Coast route you want, it is around 2 hours quicker.

As others have suggested you should consider 1st class if it isn't a great deal more expensive, particularly on weekdays. Better seating with more room and usually less crowded as well as drinks and food included.

 

[_toommm_]

I'm still just a bit confused. Two people mentioned Virgin West Coast. When I originally looked for the tickets I was directed to Virgin Trains East Coast. Are there two different railways going from London to Edinburgh?
Also the last expensive tickets I've found this morning on virgin east coast using the Railcard two together card is 105 pounds.
Again thanks for any help,
Dave

One goes up a route called the ECML (East Coast Main Line) with the other going up the WCML (West Coast Main Line). While the WCML has newer trains, (arguably) the ECML trains are more enjoyable and more comfortable. Regardless, both lines have a max speed of 125mph.

As said before by others, try to go First Class, particularly in the week as you'll be able to get breakfast or an evening meal on some trains. If you need any help with fares I'm sure we'll be able to punch in and help

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Maybe worth mentioning that most flexible tickets (ie not Advances) from London to Edinburgh allow you to go via either route and either company.
You can also buy most tickets on either web site, not restricted to the operator you are travelling with.
To be specific, select "Via York" if you only want an East Coast ticket, and "Via Preston" for West Coast.
There's a lot of merit in going out one way and back the other, as the scenery is quite different on the two routes (West is best, in my view).
The main West Coast services go to Glasgow and require a change at Carlisle to reach Edinburgh.
As an example the London-Edinburgh Super Off-Peak Return at £94.30 (with a 2-together railcard) allows you to flexibly use most trains on either route, as long as you don't want to start early (see time restrictions).
Advance tickets (one way only, fixed train) are not always cheaper than the Off-Peak flexible fares when you add the two-way costs together.

Finally, the first weekend of May is a holiday weekend (Sat/Sun/Mon 5/6/7 May), when services are often disrupted by engineering work.
If you plan a long-distance trip on those dates you should be able to check for any alterations in mid-February, on this site :
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/currentAndFuture.aspx.
The changes should also be reflected in the times offered in the journey planners.

 

[Muzer]

I'm still just a bit confused. Two people mentioned Virgin West Coast. When I originally looked for the tickets I was directed to Virgin Trains East Coast. Are there two different railways going from London to Edinburgh?
Also the last expensive tickets I've found this morning on virgin east coast using the Railcard two together card is 105 pounds.
Again thanks for any help,
Dave

1) Yes. The corporate structure of our railway network is quite overcomplicated. While you can buy tickets for any train from any operator, it tends to be better to buy from the one you're travelling on (in the case of Virgin East Coast, this lets you choose which seat you want, and gives you a code for free Wi-Fi). As others have said, the preferable route from London to Edinburgh is the East Coast Main Line, currently operated by Virgin Trains East Coast, from London King's Cross to Edinburgh.
2) While this might be right, £105 sounds a little expensive for so far in advance. Are these listed as "advance" tickets or off-peak/super off-peak ones? If the latter, you may have to wait a little longer, as the (much cheaper) advance tickets sometimes aren't released for sale straight away. As others have stated, advance is good if you are happy with no flexibility for the cheapest price; whereas off-peak/super off-peak tickets are good if you want to pay more for a lot more flexibility.

 

[cuccir]

Although there are lots of reasons to travel by train, we'd probably be doing you a disservice if we didn't note that flights may be cheaper if you're travelling without checked luggage. For example, it can be done as cheaply as £35 per-person flying out 2nd and coming back 4th May (as random dates!) from Stansted, though that is a little way out from London. From Gatwick it can be done for £63 per person and around £100 from either Heathrow or London City.

 

[gsnedders]

For the Railcard you can download the forms and fill them out, then hand them in with standard passport sized photos at a staffed station and they will issue the railcard on the spot. https://www.twotogether-railcard.co.uk/using-your-railcard/where-to-buy/

Note however standard European passport-sized photos are a different size to standard US passport-sized photos.

 

[Romilly]

As to whether £105 is unexpectedly expensive, it depends what that is the price for. If it is the total price for two people travelling together in standard class with a Two Together railcard from London to Edinburgh and then back again, then that's roughly the equivalent of four undiscounted single journeys at around £40 each. There are some £32.50 fares around for such a single journey (and some rare £25 ones), but £40 is a common price even for early booking, with £49 as the starting price for very early booking on the busiest trains. So if £105 is the total for a return trip for two people in standard class, that's what might be expected.

 

[dave ottney]

Ok thanks again. I have to go back and look some more. All of you have given me a lot of helpful information. I really appreciate the suggestions. Hopefully I won't have to ask for more help.
Dave

 

[gazthomas]

Ok thanks again. I have to go back and look some more. All of you have given me a lot of helpful information. I really appreciate the suggestions. Hopefully I won't have to ask for more help.
Dave

As you can see, us Brits are a welcoming bunch and we really hope you have a great time. Are railways are actually really good!

 

[telstarbox]

Please keep asking if you need to, plenty of people happy to help on here

 

[paddington]

I seem to recall that Chip & Signature cards will work just as well for collecting tickets from machines, but have not tested this myself as all my UK cards are Chip & PIN and I have no reason to use any of my non-UK cards to buy tickets.

 

[dave ottney]

Taking you at your word telstarbox... I just went on the Virgin Trains East site and entered London Kings Cross to Edinburgh, 29 April after 09:30 with return on 4 May after 9:30. No rail cards, nothing about age, 1 person. The result showed a couple trains each way at 40pounds. Pretty good.
Now I adjusted the same booking to 4 people and the result came at 118.40pounds with a note in the box for the train that it is discounted. When I click on the specific boxes I get this at the bottom of the page. (I hope this graphic comes through.)



Can I assume that these two prices are for the 4 tickets each way with a total of 236.80? The Advanced Single notation with 118.40 pounds is confusing.
If the price for each trip for the 4 of us is 118.40 I'm going to book right away. This is less than 30 pounds each way for each person!
Now I just have to find out if I will get some sort of electronic tickets.
Thanks one more time for any help. Honestly I'm really not dumb, the rail system and the website are just a bit confusing to someone who has never used either.
Dave

 

[SEClass375]

In this situation, a return to Edinburgh from London conists of 2 Advance* Single Tickets; one to Edinburgh from London and one to London from Edinburgh. If you say the above is for 4 people with railcard discount. Thats £29.60 for a single for one person or £59.20 for a return for one person, thats probably the cheapest you are going to get.

* Advance tickets are basically non-flexible tickets bought only in advance and can only be issued as singles, this means you can only get on the train that you are booked to go on and cannot go on any other train. Buying 2 Advance tickets to make a return journey where available is often cheaper than getting a return ticket for that same journey.

 

[M28361M]

I just went on the Virgin Trains East site and entered London Kings Cross to Edinburgh, 29 April after 09:30 with return on 4 May after 9:30. No rail cards, nothing about age, 1 person. The result showed a couple trains each way at 40pounds. Pretty good.
Now I adjusted the same booking to 4 people and the result came at 118.40pounds with a note in the box for the train that it is discounted.

Your total fare for the group of 4 for the return journey is £236.80, correct. The "discounted" note is because the VTEC website has automatically applied the "small group discount" as described at https://www.virgintrainseastcoast.com/special-offers/travel-savings/savings-for-small-groups/

If you’re travelling with a group of 3-9 people, prepare to become their hero. With our small group savings, you can get all of them 25% off Virgin Trains East Coast Advance tickets.

• You can only book our special low cost group fares online through this site for groups of 3-9 people.
• Choose your tickets as normal then look for the little piggy bank symbol next to the fare.
• The offer is applicable to all Virgin Trains East Coast Advance fares in both Standard and First Class – so you can make an even bigger saving.

No railcards required for this offer, so if you're happy with the price quoted, go ahead and book!

 

[Muzer]

Ah sorry, I didn't realise there were 4 people involved. This sounds good to me, probably the cheapest you're going to get. Dunno if a couple of railcards might be slightly cheaper, having said that (I haven't done the maths), but even if it is, it's possibly not worth the extra hassle.

 

[M28361M]

With railcards, you get a 34% discount instead of the small group 25%, so the tickets would be £211.20. But then you need to add on £60 for 2 Two Together cards. So it would be more expensive overall.

 

[dave ottney]

As the email from Virgin Trains said in the opening line Wahey! The journey is booked and I have downloaded the ticket pdf. I can't thank everyone enough for all the help.
Yes M28361M I think I have gotten the best deal possible.
You guys have really been great. Now we just have to patiently wait for the trip!
Dave