Leamington spa to Heathrow.

[saracen43]

Can anyone tell me the cheapest ticket from Leamington spa to heathrow,2 adults 1 child, single price and return price. Doing this journey on 28th of may,and which is the best route,any information on this woud be much appreciated. Off to work now will pick up thread at approx 10.30pm.

 

[cuccir]

We need to know the following to advise properly, as the answer depends on:

* Do you have a family and friends railcard?
* Do you have/want an oyster card?
* What time you need to arrive?
* Are you prepared to use advance tickets (consider that these would be rendered invalid if your return flight was late, presuming you are flying)?

If you want the advance tickets (ie booked onto a train) then you'll have to wait till approx 12 weeks before travel to be able to book these: these could work out very cheap (eg with a friends and family railcard, and oyster cards each it could be as low as £12.45 one way), but as noted above this might not be the best option if flying.

There are also huge price variations between peak/off-peak costs, so we really need more info.

As a generalisation, however, you'll probably find the best fares travelling with Chiltern Railway via Banbury to London Marleybone, then taking the tube.

 

[Paul Kelly]

If you really wanted to avoid London, you could take a CrossCountry train from Leamington Spa to Reading, then change to a local First Great Western train towards London as far as Hayes & Harlington, and from there take the 140 bus which takes 10-15 minutes to get to Heathrow central bus station. Much cheaper than taking the Railair bus from Reading, which would be the other option when coming from that direction. Should be cheapest buying separate tickets from Leamington Spa to Banbury and from Banbury to Hayes & Harlington.

But going with Chiltern to Marylebone would be cheaper than going via Reading.

 

[LexyBoy]

I was about to predict that the RailAir coach from Reading would be best, but checked on National Rail and found it's £119.75 off-peak return (for the three), compared to £48.75 (plus tube) via Marylebone! What happened to avoiding London being cheaper?!

Time taken is similar (~2h30). I'd say the coach from Reading would be slightly more convenient/pleasant than the tube (you'd have to change tubes from Marylebone at Piccadilly Circus) but obviously the price is a lot more.

You could get the train to Oxford (£39.50) then X80 to Heathrow (£65)... but it's not much cheaper! Splitting at Banbury doesn't seem to help here.

I believe there is a National Express coach from Leamington to Heathrow, but I doubt it would beat the price of the Chiltern+tube route.

(These prices are all without F&F discount)

edit: I was too slow! Leamington->Banbury->H&H->Heathrow works out at £104 without railcard discounts using the local bus (I assume it's a TfL one) or £125.50 using the Heathrow Connect train. So yes, don't go via Reading!

 

[Jollycam]

I've done this route a few times and the cheapest non-advance train ticket I found was to travel to Hayes & Harlington via Reading (but travel short on a Leamington Spa to London Terminals ticket) and get the bus from the stop outside the station to Heathrow. This ticket price depends on when you'll travel, however, as a guide, a Super Off-Peak Return is £19.50 for 1 adult.

Also, National Express run a very direct coach from the near-by Warwick Parkway Railway Station to Heathrow and it normally takes 1h 35min, though this only runs approx every 3h. It does have the advantage of running through the night so is good for early morning flights.

 

[saracen43]

We need to know the following to advise properly, as the answer depends on:

* Do you have a family and friends railcard?
* Do you have/want an oyster card?
* What time you need to arrive?
* Are you prepared to use advance tickets (consider that these would be rendered invalid if your return flight was late, presuming you are flying)?

If you want the advance tickets (ie booked onto a train) then you'll have to wait till approx 12 weeks before travel to be able to book these: these could work out very cheap (eg with a friends and family railcard, and oyster cards each it could be as low as £12.45 one way), but as noted above this might not be the best option if flying.

There are also huge price variations between peak/off-peak costs, so we really need more info.

As a generalisation, however, you'll probably find the best fares travelling with Chiltern Railway via Banbury to London Marleybone, then taking the tube.

Have no cards but will be booking advance,but as it stands it looks like the chiltern to M/bone then tube will be the best option,thanks all for the usefull information.

 

[LexyBoy]

Have no cards but will be booking advance,but as it stands it looks like the chiltern to M/bone then tube will be the best option,thanks all for the usefull information.

If you could give up more details about the times of your journeys we could give more detailed advice. That said, I think that the Marylebone route is likely to be cheapest at any time.

Again, I'd be wary against using Advance tickets for an airport trip (unless you plan in a generous gap for the return, perhaps pencilling in something which could be abandoned if your flight was delayed). If you miss your booked train you may have to buy new single tickets, which would be similar in price to a return ticket.

You can of course book a super off-peak return or whatever is appropriate to your your journey in advance, though there is no financial advantage in doing so.

If you're likely to be travelling with children again then a Family and Friends Railcard could save you quite a bit- 1/3 on each person travelling together - up to 4 adults and 4 children (I think?) on 1 card for £25 a year.
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I've done this route a few times and the cheapest non-advance train ticket I found was to travel to Hayes & Harlington via Reading (but travel short on a Leamington Spa to London Terminals ticket) and get the bus from the stop outside the station to Heathrow. This ticket price depends on when you'll travel, however, as a guide, a Super Off-Peak Return is £19.50 for 1 adult.

Surely this is a Route:High Wycombe ticket? The valid ticket would be cheaper to H&H rather than than London.

 

[Paul Kelly]

I've done this route a few times and the cheapest non-advance train ticket I found was to travel to Hayes & Harlington via Reading (but travel short on a Leamington Spa to London Terminals ticket) and get the bus from the stop outside the station to Heathrow. This ticket price depends on when you'll travel, however, as a guide, a Super Off-Peak Return is £19.50 for 1 adult.

Surely this is a Route:High Wycombe ticket? The valid ticket would be cheaper to H&H rather than than London.

No, the ticket is routed Banbury, break of journey is allowed and going via Reading is a permitted route to London. What a good idea! That £19.50 Super Off-Peak Return (or indeed the more expensive £30.00 Off-Peak Return) easily undercuts the Leamington Spa to Reading Off-Peak Return at £36.50, let alone that to Hayes & Harlington which is £43.20. I think travelling to Hayes & Harlington via Reading on this ticket and then changing to the 140 bus is likely to be the quickest and best route then. As Jollycam says, the bus stop is right outside the station - on the same side of the road. With a Family & Friends Railcard - a very good investment - it will be only £29.40 plus the bus fares - although at that price the following restrictions apply to the return journey:

JOURNEYS VIA READING

RETURN TRAVEL
MONDAY TO FRIDAY

By any train from Reading
timed to depart from 1059 to
1530, and from 2030.

SATURDAYS, SUNDAYS AND BANK
HOLIDAYS.

By any train.

If you get the more expensive off-peak return, with railcard it would be £45.30 plus the bus fares, to which the following restriction for the return journey applies:

RETURN TRAVEL:
By any train except those
timed to depart Mondays -
Fridays before 0930 if
travelling via London. Valid
on any Chiltern Railways
service from London Marylebone

which IMHO may mean the return journey is not actually restricted at all, since the ticket is from London, not *via* London.

 

[OwlMan]

Surely this is a Route:High Wycombe ticket? The valid ticket would be cheaper to H&H rather than than London.

Thee are no "Route High Wycombe" walk up tickets from Leamington Spa.
The only choices are "Route Banbury" (priced by Chiltern) and any permitted (priced by Virgin). The "any permitted" is valid via Coventry.
The £19-50 Super Saver is "Route Banbury"
Peter

 

[LexyBoy]

No, the ticket is routed Banbury, break of journey is allowed and going via Reading is a permitted route to London. What a good idea! That £19.50 Super Off-Peak Return (or indeed the more expensive £30.00 Off-Peak Return) easily undercuts the Leamington Spa to Reading Off-Peak Return at £36.50, let alone that to Hayes & Harlington which is £43.20. I think travelling to Hayes & Harlington via Reading on this ticket and then changing to the 140 bus is likely to be the quickest and best route then. As Jollycam says, the bus stop is right outside the station - on the same side of the road. With a Family & Friends Railcard - a very good investment - it will be only £29.40 plus the bus fares - although at that price the following restrictions apply to the return journey:

That's me eating my words then!

An excellent find and going in the memory banks for next time I need to head Brum-wards - had previously been splitting RDG-BAN but I'll know better for next time!

 

[cuccir]

Yes, the ticket is route Banbury. Route Banbury off-peak return to London is £48.75 for all of you without the railcard, which is pretty good value really! I agree that if your travel can fit into the off-peak then you're best following Jollycam's advice above and buying tickets to London via Banbury, and using these to travel to Hayes and Harlington.

It is £29.40 with a F&F railcard, or £19.35 cheaper. Use this discount code to get a railcard for just £19.50 and you need make only one more journey on it over the year for it to save you money.