Haddenham to London

[Bristol Rover]

Need to travel from Haddenham to London on Friday 22nd July, with the return journey on the 23rd.

Off Peak return (railcard) is £16.50.

I need to be in London by 13:00 on the 22nd, and leave about 21:30 on the 23rd.

Advance single on the 22nd is £3.30, but there are no advance tickets on the Saturday? Anyone know why not? Do Chiltern not do advance fares at weekends? Anytime Day Single is £11.10, so total cost £14.40 return.

However - an Advance Single (with railcard) from Chippenham (!) to Haddenham is £7.25, bringing the total to £10.55.

Can anyone find a cheaper Advance Single to Haddenham, station of origin irrelevant, just needs to end at Haddenham. Bonus points if Kings Cross or St Pancras are needed, otherwise I'll have to pay for a Zone 1 Single with an Oyster card from KX to Marylebone.

This doubtless seems like penny pinching, but an interesting exercise if nothing else?! I find it frustrating that I know exactly what train I will take on the 23rd yet am being forced to pay the full anytime fare.

 

[Metrailway]

Engineering works will take place on the 23rd so thats why there are no advance tickets available

 

[swt_passenger]

Advance single on the 22nd is £3.30, but there are no advance tickets on the Saturday? Anyone know why not? Do Chiltern not do advance fares at weekends?

Chiltern cannot offer Advance fares at weekends until the engineering work (for Evergreen 3 alterations) is finalised. There is supposed to be 12 weeks notice, but the National Rail site:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html

...clearly shows as of the 25th Chiltern were not offering weekend Advance fares beyond the next couple of weeks. I think although that page is only updated weekly, things can change day by day, which is probably why your weekday fares have come up OK...

PS if you look up the webpage you'll see that Chiltern are really the only TOC in this position...

 

[Metrailway]

If you get:
Anytime Day Single London - High Wycombe = 7.25
Anytime Day Single High Wycombe - Haddenham & Thame Parkway = 2.50
Total = 9.75
A saving of £1.35

 

[Bristol Rover]

Why does engineering work preclude the sale of Advance tickets? Is the timetable still subject to alteration?

If so, will advance tickets become available nearer the date?

Think I'll book the outward leg now, and wait and see if anything better appears nearer the time.

Strange that you can book advance tickets with another operator that require a Chiltern train (i.e. my Chippenham-Hdm example), but not advance tickets solely on Chiltern.

 

[dzug2]

Why does engineering work preclude the sale of Advance tickets? Is the timetable still subject to alteration?

If so, will advance tickets become available nearer the date?

Think I'll book the outward leg now, and wait and see if anything better appears nearer the time.

Strange that you can book advance tickets with another operator that require a Chiltern train (i.e. my Chippenham-Hdm example), but not advance tickets solely on Chiltern.

There don't appear to be any advance singles for the weekend dates Chiltern have supposedly released tickets for so I wouldn't count on it.

Met's split looks like a good fallback anyway if you don't want to go for the Chippenham ticket now while it's still there.