glasgow to london - cheapest fare possible

[p.d87]

Hi all.

I am looking to find the cheapest fare available from Glasgow Central to London Euston. I am travelling on Tuesday 5th October and would like to be in London by 13:00 no later. I dont mind changing trains as splitting tickets would be my best option for value. I am also travelling back the following day leaving around 1pm. I was going to get the sleeper down but when I went to book the bargain berths were gone. If i booked a day earlier I would have got down and back for £58. Great value!! As i am on a budget my other option is the megabus for £11 each way but the overnight journey doesnt really appeal to me. Any help in finding the cheapest rail fare would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[sonic2009]

You would be pushing it trying to get a train from scotland to london for a 1pm arrival with cheap advance fares. I will have a look when i get home. As on phone currently.

 

[brompton rail]

£39:60 Each way. 06.50 ex Glasgow Central, arrive Kings Cross 12:42 on 5th October.
Return on 13:00 or 15:00 from Kings Cross next day.

Not sure if the fare includes the East Coast discount for booking on their website.

Check and book at East Coast.

 

[p.d87]

Thanks, The only thing I have came up with is travelling on the 07.10 TPE to Man Picc and changing there. I have an hours wait in Manchester before boarding the 11.35 train to London. The fares are £15.50 Glasgow to Manchester and then £16.00 for the Man-Eus leg all in £31.50 it gets me into london for 13:42. Although I wanted in before 13.00 im sureI could adjust my plans to accomodate this.

 

[sonic2009]

Thanks, The only thing I have came up with is travelling on the 07.10 TPE to Man Picc and changing there. I have an hours wait in Manchester before boarding the 11.35 train to London. The fares are £15.50 Glasgow to Manchester and then £16.00 for the Man-Eus leg all in £31.50 it gets me into london for 13:42. Although I wanted in before 13.00 im sureI could adjust my plans to accomodate this.

how far do you live from prestwick airport?

 

[paul1609]

Easyjet Glasgow to Gatwick 09.25 flight £24.99
Southern Daysave (must be booked 7 days in advance online) £10.00
Total £34.99 would be in central london before 12.00

 

[sonic2009]

Easyjet Glasgow to Gatwick 09.25 flight £24.99
Southern Daysave (must be booked 7 days in advance online) £10.00
Total £34.99 would be in central london before 12.00

remeber the card charges as well.

 

[Nightrider]

Easyjet Glasgow to Gatwick 09.25 flight £24.99
Southern Daysave (must be booked 7 days in advance online) £10.00
Total £34.99 would be in central london before 12.00

Is that a bag?
£18 thank you.

 

[John @ home]

Your starting point is available at East Coast only:
Tue 5 Oct: 0650 Glasgow C - London Kings X 1242 £39.60 (Railcard £26.15)
Wed 6 Oct: 1300 London Kings X - Glasgow C 1841 £39.60 (Railcard £26.15)
Total £79.20 (Railcard £52.30)
Walk to & from Euston if necessary.

If you do not have a Railcard, you may find that a one-third discount is available on East Coast Advance fares until midnight today only by using this link. The Terms & Conditions of the offer do not limit its use to the person who received the email.

 

[paul1609]

Is that a bag?
£18 thank you.

Its actually £9 online at the time of booking but how much luggage do you need if you are coming back the next day?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

remeber the card charges as well.

Electron free, debit card £3.95

 

[p.d87]

how far do you live from prestwick airport?

Im quiet a bit away. The only issue I have with flying is the transfer between airport and central london can be almost as much as, if not more than the flight!! But if thats what I have to do then so be it.

Im thinking of getting the train down then the overnight megabus back so that I can spend some time with family while im there. £11 for the journey. Has anyone experienced doing the megabus from London to Glasgow and want to share the experience?!?!

 

[Nightrider]

Has anyone experienced doing the megabus from London to Glasgow and want to share the experience?!?!

Complete last resort.
That,s why its £11.

Put any monies on you down your socks, just in case you do happen to fall asleep.

 

[p.d87]

Complete last resort.
That,s why its £11.

Put any monies on you down your socks, just in case you do happen to fall asleep.

Is it that bad? I have used the megabus before and thought that it was ok but not for as long as its taking to London. I think my best option would be to go with my initial idea of Glasgow-Manchester-London, splitting tickets as its working out the cheapest option so far. I looked earlier at splitting at Crewe onto a London Midland service to London but the Glasgow to Crewe leg was only £2 cheaper than the Advance fare from Glasgow-Euston!!

 

[Nightrider]

Is it that bad? I have used the megabus before and thought that it was ok but not for as long as its taking to London.

In the good old days you could have hitched it.
Problem with that in the 21st century is getting somebody that can be bothered stopping for you.
Plus you,d get nicked by the coppers if you go anywhere near a motorway on foot or worse, run over.
As long as your not wearing an idiot-magnet you should be okay on the bus.
Hopefully you,ll not meet the chap i met on it many years ago who attempted to rob the rest of the passengers approaching Hamilton.
All good fun.

ps, should any would-be robbers be reading this, best if you give the two shady looking Glaswegians at the back of the bus a miss.

 

[p.d87]

I think I am either going to have to settle for the Glas-Manc-Euston option as im not gettin anythin cheaper. Is there anywhere else I could spit the tickets but perhaps stay on the same train in order to make a saving. My other option is flying to gatwick for £23.99 then a £9.40 single to Shepherds Bush using Southern. This gets me there by midday.

 

[rail-britain]

I think I am either going to have to settle for the Glas-Manc-Euston

That is quite often the best fare I can find
However I always travel First Class, and normally on the 04:28 Glasgow - Euston
That gets me a breakfast between Glasgow and Preston, and then another one on the last Manchester - Euston that serves breakfast

Glasgow - Euston Advance currently £60

Glasgow - Preston (Virgin Trains) Advance currently £11.50
Preston - Manchester Pic (FTPE) Advance currently £5.00
Manchester Pic - Euston (Virgin Trains) Advance currently £29.00

Glasgow - Manchester Pic (FTPE) Advance currently £15.50
Manchester Pic - Euston (Virgin Trains) Advance currently £29.00

 

[John @ home]

My other option is flying to gatwick for £23.99 then a £9.40 single to Shepherds Bush using Southern. This gets me there by midday.

You're cheaper with my £26.15 suggestion to Kings X in post #9 above. But only until midnight.

 

[p.d87]

You're cheaper with my £26.15 suggestion to Kings X in post #9 above. But only until midnight.

I am unable to book it tonight which is a pity as im still waiting to finalise the plans. I think that doing it via Manchester is the best option for me. I will be flying back up with ryanair as its only costin £5 from stansted. I will only be taking hand luggage so shouldnt have any additional charges. Unless anyone knows different. Im not sure if they charge extra for hand luggage or just baggage.

 

[dk1]

I personnally dont fly but there are some cheap deals to be had. Virgin must be doing something right & maybe selling really cheap APs early on as every Euston Glasgow i have used lately has been full to damn right heaving.

 

[route:oxford]

Tuesday 5th October...

10.00 Glasgow Central arrives Birmingham New Street - 13.56, £1 on "Megatrain"

14.55 Birmingham Moor Street, arrives Marylebone - 17.05, £5 on "Chiltern"

59 Minutes is a reasonable transfer time between the two stations.

Anyone beat £6.50?

 

[route101]

The Glasgow to London Advances must sell out quickly , the cheapest ive seen is £36 one way . Megabus aint bad , the new double deckers are quite quiet up top.

 

[p.d87]

Hi guys,

My plans have changed now and I am travelling down on Monday the 4th. I managed to get from Glasgow to Birmingham New Street for £3 with megatrain on the 1000 departure and then a £10 advance from New Street to Euston. I am a little confused as to how the megatrain works as I have only got my reservation number written down as proof of my purchase will the TM accept this written on paper or will I need something different in order to be allowed to travel? Also my connection time at New Street is 14 minutes will this be enough to transfer between trains? I have never been to Birmingham so dont know the layout of the station.

 

[bnm]

From the Megatrain FAQs:

Make sure that you obtain a reservation number for each journey you reserve. While not required, we do suggest you bring a printed copy of your payment confirmation page, reservation confirmation email or SMS message, as these will include your reservation number(s)

 

[John @ home]

I am a little confused as to how the megatrain works

Condition 12 of the Reservation terms and conditions states When your reservation has been completed we will issue you with a confirmation e-mail. I would print a copy of that confirmation email and take it with me.

my connection time at New Street is 14 minutes will this be enough to transfer between trains?

The minimum connection time at Birmigham New Street is 12 minutes.

I have never been to Birmingham so dont know the layout of the station.

The station plan is here. The 1000 from Glasgow Central is likely to arrive at 1356 on Platform 9. The 1410 to London Euston is likely to depart from Platform 2.

 

[p.d87]

Thanks very much you have helped me out. Just a couple of things Im looking to find out before I go. Does anyone know what the loadings are like on the 1000 GLC-BHM? As Im travelling on a Monday Im not expecting it to be too busy. Reason I ask is that is because i am using megatrain I dont get allocated a seat although I wont mind standing for part of the journey because of the price of the ticket. Also say my train is late into New Street and I miss my connection what would happen about my Advance ticket due to it being for a specific train. Even though I have allowed the minimum connection time?

 

[MCR247]

You would be ok to travel on the next service if the train was late.

Also, if you didn't have a megatrain ticket, I would recommend getting off at Wolverhampton and getting the Virgin from there, but I don't think thats valid...

 

[yorkie]

Today the XC departed late from WVH at 1445 (platform 4). The Virgin service was delayed as a result and departed 1448 (platform 2). Had the XC been a minute or more later, the Virgin train would probably have gone ahead (I know, I've witnessed this for myself at Wolves).

The XC got to BHM at 1405 (platform 4 also), and the Virgin train arrived 1407 and departed on time 1410 (platform 2B).

So you would have made it today - just!

I agree with MCR247, I believe that the combination of tickets is valid for one journey, which means you are valid, although I know some staff will deny this, especially given that the first ticket is a Megatrain ticket. So, good luck, and print the relevant parts of the NCoC to bring with you to support your case in the event of a problem.

Again, I agree with MCR247 regarding Wolverhampton, not strictly speaking valid to bail early on a Megatrain ticket (as discussed on previous topics!). The fare is the same from Wolves as it is from Birmingham on Virgin. But given that XC don't call at Sandwell & Dudley, and Virgin are booked to stand for 5 mins at BHM, I'd go for changing at BHM as both these factors should add a few minutes. Changing platforms at Wolves isn't always easy, and once I missed a Virgin train from there as the platform was altered at short notice to one that wasn't accessible from the footbridge that I was nearby (I've never seen anything like it - totally bizarre), so I had to get the delayed XC instead, although it didn't affect me as it delayed me by only 2 minutes as I was only going to Birmingham New St anyway.

 

[route:oxford]

Thanks very much you have helped me out. Just a couple of things Im looking to find out before I go. Does anyone know what the loadings are like on the 1000 GLC-BHM? As Im travelling on a Monday Im not expecting it to be too busy. Reason I ask is that is because i am using megatrain I dont get allocated a seat although I wont mind standing for part of the journey because of the price of the ticket. Also say my train is late into New Street and I miss my connection what would happen about my Advance ticket due to it being for a specific train. Even though I have allowed the minimum connection time?

You'll have no problems as you are boarding at Glasgow. The 10.00am departure will have plenty of unreserved seats and usually boards from around 9.40am, I use megatrain very regularily from Glasgow.

Take a printed note of the reservation number, maybe keep a note on your phone too. You'll need to carry the card that you booked the ticket with for verification.

If it's looking like that the train will be late into Brum, speak to the on-train staff on the Glasgow Train and see if they'll jot a note onto your print-out for verification. Seek-out the train manager before you board the alternative service - it's pure courtesy. There is rarely a problem with missed connections on same-brand services (megatrain is operated by stagecoach/virgin).

 

[bengolding]

Hi guys,

My plans have changed now and I am travelling down on Monday the 4th. I managed to get from Glasgow to Birmingham New Street for £3 with megatrain on the 1000 departure and then a £10 advance from New Street to Euston. I am a little confused as to how the megatrain works as I have only got my reservation number written down as proof of my purchase will the TM accept this written on paper or will I need something different in order to be allowed to travel? Also my connection time at New Street is 14 minutes will this be enough to transfer between trains? I have never been to Birmingham so dont know the layout of the station.

I really think you're pushing it with this. You have an Advance on the 14:10 which forms the 13:45 from Wolverhampton. It only takes a 14 min delay for your train to run behind the Euston train, and so miss it. However, the 10:00 does have slack between Penrith-Preston and Warrington-Crewe, so hopefully you should be ok. If you do miss it, speak to the Virgin TM on board and explain the situation, who probably will endorse your second ticket onto the 14:30!

I understand that if/when VT get more Pendolinos on the Birmingham-Scotland trains (as during the summer), they plan to run them direct to/from Euston which will open up more direct journey opportunities.

 

[MCR247]

I

I understand that if/when VT get more Pendolinos on the Birmingham-Scotland trains (as during the summer), they plan to run them direct to/from Euston which will open up more direct journey opportunities.

I think you were right with if, because if it happens I doubt it will happen under Virgin