Change to travel plans

[andrewkeith5]

Hi all,

I have already booked tickets from Kings Cross (KGX) to Edinburgh (EDB), going up on a Tuesday afternoon and returning Friday afternoon (this is w/c28th Oct).

However, it looks like now I will have to return via either Newcastle or (more likely) Liverpool (LIV) - so my travel plans would look like (ignoring Newcastle for now):
Tuesday afternoon: KGX-EDB
Friday afternoon: EDB-LIV
Sunday evening: LIV-EUS

As I have already booked KGX-EDB-KGX on Advance First tickets, am I correct in understanding that I can't change the destination of my Advance tickets, only the date/time?

If so, can anyone advise the cheapest (and best if the two are compatible!) way for me to complete the last 2 parts of my journey? At the moment it's looking like it will cost ~£60/70 which is something of a bitter pill if I'm going to have to dump a £50 first class ticket

Any help more than welcome! Thanks

 

[LexyBoy]

You are correct that the origin and destination cannot be changed when amending an Advance ticket.

The cheapest option - but definitely not the best - would be to use your return ticket to London, and use a LM Only Super Off Peak Return (£29.00) to do the journey Euston-Liverpool. Besides taking ages, this may not be an option depending on your arrival time in London.

Another option would be to amend both your Advance tickets to a walk-up return fare (the cheapest being the Super Off Peak Return at £126.70). This would cost £126.70 less the price paid for both tickets, minus a £10 admin fee. You could then use the return portion to travel down the West Coast, breaking your journey at Wigan or Warrington and continuing to and from Liverpool with new single tickets. You would lose the first class travel with this though (the cheapest walk-up 1st return is over £300).

 

[bb21]

Another option would be to amend both your Advance tickets to a walk-up return fare (the cheapest being the Super Off Peak Return at £126.70). This would cost £126.70 less the price paid for both tickets, minus a £10 admin fee. You could then use the return portion to travel down the West Coast, breaking your journey at Wigan or Warrington and continuing to and from Liverpool with new single tickets. You would lose the first class travel with this though (the cheapest walk-up 1st return is over £300).

If excessing both portions into one return ticket, £20 admin fee will be charged rather than £10.

 

[Haywain]

You are correct that the origin and destination cannot be changed when amending an Advance ticket.

The cheapest option - but definitely not the best - would be to use your return ticket to London, and use a LM Only Super Off Peak Return (£29.00) to do the journey Euston-Liverpool. Besides taking ages, this may not be an option depending on your arrival time in London.

Another option would be to amend both your Advance tickets to a walk-up return fare (the cheapest being the Super Off Peak Return at £126.70). This would cost £126.70 less the price paid for both tickets, minus a £10 admin fee. You could then use the return portion to travel down the West Coast, breaking your journey at Wigan or Warrington and continuing to and from Liverpool with new single tickets. You would lose the first class travel with this though (the cheapest walk-up 1st return is over £300).

You couldn't use the tickets that way as amending the tickets does not extend to changing the routeing. It's in the Terms & Conditions: "The origin, destination and Train Company or route shown on the ticket(s) must remain the same". As they are going to be East Coast only or East Coast & Connections, the best you'd be able to do would be break the journey at York or Doncaster, and travel across to Liverpool and back the same way. This may make the Euston to Liverpool option look more attractive. If I were you I'd be hoping you need to go to Newcastle!

 

[LexyBoy]

Well spotted guys - that's not a goer then.

If travelling back to Edinburgh in the near future, you could either amend your return Advance to that future date, or excess it to a (Super) Off Peak Return, using the outward to travel to York and thence across to Liverpool, and the return portion to form one leg of a trip back to Edinburgh (or Newcastle etc) up to a month later.

 

[andrewkeith5]

Thanks for your advice and help everyone

It seems like if Liverpool is the choice my best option is to just go straight there from Edinburgh via some sort of Transpennine combination of routes, then down to Euston and I'll just have to pay up!

Still hoping for Newcastle