Cost reduction for Bournemouth to Waterloo?

[faringdon]

Hi,
I wish to go to London Waterloo on the 05:12hrs Monday (£52.80)
Then return on the 20:35hrs on the following Friday. (£18.60)

Will do this every week.

Is there any "trick" to reduce the £52.80 leg?

I mean...isnt there something like "Bournemouth to Basingstoke then Basingstoke to Waterloo" (or whatever?)
that can be done to reduce it?

 

[Watershed]

Do you have any Railcards?

Do you have to travel on those exact services? If not, would travelling via Gatwick be acceptable? It is quite a lot slower but may be cheaper.

How far in advance are you looking to book?

 

[FuzzyDuck]

The cheapest I could find based on that departure was £50.08, by splitting the journey at Woking.

 

[JonathanH]

If not, would travelling via Gatwick be acceptable? It is quite a lot slower but may be cheaper.

That would be terrible for the reason that, other than the 0637 from Southampton Central, connecting from the 0553 from Bournemouth, it involves a 20 minute change on the South Coast. This is, in effect, the first arrival from Bournemouth at Victoria, at 0915, somewhat later than the 0726 arrival in London of the 0512 from Bournemouth.

There is a 0440 National Express coach from Bournemouth to London which arrives in Basingstoke at 0550 and nominally at Victoria at 0720, which would offer a considerable saving, but I suspect the original poster wants to use the 0512 train direct to Waterloo.

The coach stops right by Basingstoke station, non stop from Bournemouth, so at least in theory offers a connection into the 0554 to Waterloo for an 0642 arrival, with a small saving relative to the through train. At that time of day, the journey time is quite competitive between Bournemouth and Basingstoke relative to the train, and better for a sleep.

Is there any "trick" to reduce the £52.80 leg?

Seems to me it is just one of those where the booking needs to be far enough in advance to catch the cheapest available tier of advance tickets, as currently by mid-November the fare on the 0512 appears to be £35.60.

 

[James H]

You could look at Seatfrog Secret Fares for the return leg (£10) if you can be flexible on the timing. In my experience an evening Secret Fare on a Friday on that route tends to get you on the 21:35

As well as National Express, Flixbus is also in competition on the London to Bournemouth route.

 

[JonathanH]

As well as National Express, Flixbus is also in competition on the London to Bournemouth route.

They are, but don't offer as early an arrival time in London as National Express do.

 

[Titfield]

As someone who travels this route regularly but not frequently I have noticed how "volatile" advance fares are on the early morning trains from Bournemouth. They seem to show a tendency to rise sharply within 2 weeks of travel.

You say every week but it is noticeable that fares booking 4 weeks plus out are at the cheaper end of the scale.

I have caught the Bournemouth to London Victoria coach early in the morning on a few occasions. The coach makes good progress towards London but often gets caught in very heavy traffic from Sunbury onwards. Depending on your ultimate destination I would consider getting off at Earls Court and using the tube from there on.

 

[fandroid]

A Railcard would help at lot, if the OP is eligible. Both 16-25 and 26-30 Railcards will get a (roughly) 30% discount on both legs of the journey.

As it's a weekly journey, the suggested National Express/SWR split at Basingstoke sounds both bearable and feasible.

If this pattern of travel is predictable over a series of weeks, then buying Advances as early as possible looks like a great way of saving money. Remember, that even if a ticket has already been bought, but becomes unnecessary for any reason, it's absolutely possible to change the ticket for an identical journey on a later date (up until the original departure time). Others can advise on the best ticket sellers to use to allow this to be done with no extra charge.

 

[Joe Paxton]

[...]
If this pattern of travel is predictable over a series of weeks, then buying Advances as early as possible looks like a great way of saving money. Remember, that even if a ticket has already been bought, but becomes unnecessary for any reason, it's absolutely possible to change the ticket for an identical journey on a later date (up until the original departure time). Others can advise on the best ticket sellers to use to allow this to be done with no extra charge.

I think Crosscountry offers this with the least faff.
www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/tickets-savings/offers-discounts/change-advance-train-ticket