Choosing between Avanti Superfare Train and Plane from Glasgow to Brighton

[duncan788]

Hi, I am currently planning a trip to Scotland from Brighton next week. I've booked a flight from Gatwick to Glasgow with EasyJet but I can't decide on my return journey on 26th May. The only EasyJet ticket available that day was expensive and there was only one lower priced ticket left that my family couldn't take. I found Avanti West Coast Superfare to be much cheaper than EasyJet and there is no extra baggage fee. However, I'm still undecided and would appreciate some help in choosing whether to travel by train or plane. If I choose to take the train, I need to decide the departure time.



If I choose Avanti West Coast Superfare, I need to choose a specific travel time. I was hesitant to choose the 12:00-17:00 slot because Avanti would probably assign me a 12:00-14:00 ticket, leaving me with little time to travel that day. Instead, I'm considering the 17:00-23:00 period. After 17:00, there are only two trains to London at 17:30 and 18:40. It would be ideal if I could catch the 17:30 train, but I could also catch the 18:40 train. The problem is, if I choose the latter, I need to walk from London Euston to London St Pancras at 12:00 midnight and catch the last train to Brighton. I'm worried I'll miss the last train.



Can anyone share their experience with Avanti West Coast Superfare? Will Avanti always assign the last train to the person who bought the Superfare ticket? Which time period should I choose? Or should I choose to fly, even if it costs more?



Thank you!

 

[Gaelan]

Superfares are showing as "unavailable" on the 29th, so that might not be an option. They are available on the 30th. (Unless they become available later? Not sure how that works.)

If you don't mind sleeping in a (fairly nice, from what I've heard) seat, seated tickets on the Caledonian Sleeper are currently going for £52 with railcard (plus fare from Euston to Brighton), leaving Glasgow at 21:45 and getting you into Euston at 7:15am on the 30th. A little more than the superfare, but possibly an option.

The issue is that if I take the latter, I'll need to walk from London Euston to London St Pancras at midnight 12:00am and catch the last train to Brighton. I'm concerned that I might miss the last train.

That's in theory a valid connection (15 mins connection time at Euston, 15 mins to get to St Pancras, 15 mins connection time at St Pancras) so you'd be entitled to a taxi to Brighton or a hotel in London - but it's a weird enough combination of tickets that there's a risk staff would (mistakenly) deny you that right (or so I've heard from other threads here).

 

[Gaelan]

Again assuming you have a railcard, Trainsplit is showing £67 fares via ScotRail to Edinburgh, LNER to Kings Cross, Thameslink to Brighton, which is another fairly reasonable option.

 

[duncan788]

Superfares are showing as "unavailable" on the 29th, so that might not be an option. They are available on the 30th. (Unless they become available later? Not sure how that works.)

Sorry ,I wrote the incorrect date for my return. The correct return date is May 26th.

Again assuming you have a railcard, Trainsplit is showing £67 fares via ScotRail to Edinburgh then LNER from there, which is another fairly reasonable option.

However, it is still more expensive than the Super Fare, which only costs £30 to London.

 

[Gaelan]

Sorry ,I wrote the incorrect date for my return. The correct return date is May 26th.

However, it is still more expensive than the Super Fare, which only costs £30 to London.

Ah! In that case, Trainsplit has a £35 fare (again, assuming railcard) leaving at 15:57 and traveling via Crewe, Euston, tube to Victoria, and Hove, arriving 23:32. If you don't mind a ton of changes, that seems like the best option; it's early enough in the day that even if things went wrong you'd still get there eventually.

(Note that the fare only shows up if you select "cheapest" on the Trainsplit results screen.)