Cheapest Fare - Truro to London Paddington?

[Spoon]

Hi all,

Joined today and have been looking around. I've just come across the concept of split tickets, so out of curiosity I wondered if anyone knew of a cheaper way to get between Truro and Paddington than a direct ticket?

Thanks in advance.

 

[bnm]

You'll not beat the best priced Advance Purchase fares available with split ticketing.

Difficult to answer your query without knowing specifics about a particular journey. Date? time? single? day or period return? adult or child? railcard held?

 

[Spoon]

Well I know that if I book far enough in advance I can get a single each way for somewhere between £10-15. I don't really expect to beat that.

However, on shorter notice (i.e. 8 weeks or less) I tend to pay £29.35 (after Y-P discount) each way, giving a total cost of around £60. I'm wondering if I can better that?

I tend to travel to London on the Friday and return on the Monday. I hold a Y-P railcard, I generally like to arrive into London before 4pm on the Friday, and leave between 10am and 12pm on the Monday.

 

[SS4]

Single or Return?
Railcard?
Advance (one train), Off Peak (not at busy times) or Anytime (self-explanatory)
Date and Time (both ways if applicable)

TRU - EXE = £16.40 Off Peak Day Return
EXE - RDG = £39 (selected advances, £58 off peak day return)
RDG - PAD = £15.50 Off Peak Day Return

Total = £70.90

A railcard would grant you 1/3 off that if you're entitled

 

[Paul Kelly]

However, on shorter notice (i.e. 8 weeks or less) I tend to pay £29.35 (after Y-P discount) each way, giving a total cost of around £60. I'm wondering if I can better that?

A Super Off-Peak return Truro to London Terminals with Y-P railcard discount is only £58.75. It gives you much more flexibility: valid on any train from Truro on a weekday from 07:20 onwards and any train departing Paddington between 10:03 and 15:10, or after 19:00. Valid any time in any direction at weekends and bank holidays - and the return journey can be made any time within a month. You can buy this ticket at any time, even on the day of travel. So if the only advances you're seeing are the £29.35 ones, for only 5p more it's not worth tying yourself to specific trains 8 weeks in advance IMHO...

 

[wibble]

Have picked Wednesday 18 May as a random date:

0926 Truro - Exeter SD: £6.00 Advance fare
1226 Exeter SD - Waterloo: £13.00 Advance fare
Zone 1 Oyster PAYG: £1.90
Total: £20.90

 

[LexyBoy]

It can sometimes be cheaper to buy Advance tickets beyond London (e.g. to Essex - try Chelmsford , Ingatestone, Colchester etc) and then only travel to Paddington.

However, I couldn't possibly recommend doing this as it's breaking the T&Cs of the ticket (Advance tickets do not allow break of journey). If caught you could face being excessed to a fare which would allow break of journey (probably Super Off-Peak).

The fact that you would be changing onto the Underground at Paddington and thus would never be 'caught' doesn't mean that I can condone doing this

But in general, as Indigo2 has said, the Super Off-Peak Return is £58.75 and can be bought on the day, so unless there's a significant saving (e.g. £40 or less return) I wouldn't recommend bothering with Advances.