London - Exeter overnight return in August.

[big_dirt]

I'm looking to do a trip down to the South West from London in the middle of August to go to the Beautiful Days festival, specifically 17th August - Tulse Hill (or West Norwood or even Clapham Junction) - Exeter, then check in to hotel, then Exeter to Feniton for the festival.

On Sunday we'll do Exeter to Feniton for the festival and then take the 4.45pm train from Feniton back to CLJ.

We will be 2 adults and a 3 year old. We have a Family & Friends Railcard so if it is cheaper to buy 2 adult and 1 child at Railcard price instead of 2 adults full price then we will do that.

So if anyone could help me with the following, I'll be grateful:

Is it possible to buy a ticket which we can alight at Exeter St Davids before heading on to Feniton later? I presume we have to do St D's with FGW as if we went with SWT we will go through Feniton and have to double back, which isn't permitted. Is this more hassle than just buying singles?

I have tried to look for Advance tickets 12 weeks in advance. It seems that they don't do them as cheaply for Saturdays. Is this always the case or do I need to get in sooner? 12 weeks from now is 6th August. If I get in early enough, will all the fares on brfares.com be available.

Finally, does anyone (such as soil ) have any good tips for choosing different starting stations, splitting points or any other tricks that a mere mortal such as me would not know.

I have tried to search for such answers online but can't get anything.

Thanks in advance.

BD.

 

[soil]

Hi.

I wouldn't expect hugely cheap Advances on a weekend in August on a route like this. There is obviously going to be decent demand. I would suggest that the fares you can see for 12 weeks out are likely the same, or higher, on your dates.

The saving on the railcard is 34% per ticket, so you save 0.68x, and then you buy one child ticket costing 0.2x (1/2*.4), so it is indeed cheaper to buy the unnecessary child ticket.

Do you want to take SWT to Exeter, or FGW?

An Exeter - Feniton ticket is relatively cheap, so no need to worry too much about that - walk-up tickets from Paddington via Exeter and from CLJ doubling back on SWT will cost about the same, maybe £5 cheaper with the SWT route.

 

[big_dirt]

Thanks Soil.

We live in Tulse Hill so it is easy enough for us to get to Clapham Junction so South West Trains tends to win from that perspective although I have no issue going to Paddington if the price is right. It is always nice to travel by HST.

I had thought that there would always be an allocation of every type of ticket on each train but as they sold out, you are left having to buy one of the more expensive ones. It would appear from your post that this is not the case, cheap advances are only on if demand is going to be low.

 

[soil]

They don't sell advances at all on say peak trains towards London. Here the trains will be full of season ticket holders and there is no justification for selling advances.

Looking at 27th July, morning Advance SWT fares from CLJ to EXD are £19.50. The 16:45 coming back is £24.50. That's £44. This is £21 cheaper than an Off Peak Return, so a reasonable saving.

Probably best to use Oyster to CLJ.

 

[maniacmartin]

That is correct, for Advance tickets

A TOC can set an initial quota that is very low or even zero for a certain day if they don't want to sell any. Or they could set a zero quota for the cheapest tier but still allow sale of the more expensive tiers.

 

[bb21]

SWT are not yet selling Advance fares for 6th August so the prices you see at the moment for the 6th would be normal walk-on fares. Same applies to FGW.

Walk-on fares from Tulse Hill to Exeter St Davids are as follows:

Off-Peak Return Route Honiton Not Ldn is £71.80 per adult undiscounted.
Super Off-Peak Return Route +Via Taunton is £82.50 per adult.

You might find it easier from Exeter Central or St Thomas depending on where your hotel is. The fare would be the same to any of the three stations.

If you wish to travel out via Taunton and back via Honiton, then you can buy the £71.80 ticket and excess one way for half the difference, ie. £5.35, each.

If you use walk-on tickets, you can break your return journey at Feniton to attend the festival, then continue back to London via Honiton and Salisbury after the festival. You do not require more than one ticket.

If you are happy to be tied to a specific train, then Advance fares are available between Tulse Hill and Exeter starting at £16 on SWT, or £14 on FGW, per person each way.

Railcard fares one third off all the above rates for adults.

 

[wibble]

Advance tickets are availble on SWT for travel until Sat 11 August but this isn't published on their website yet.

It's definitely worth using your Friends & Family Railcard and buying a ticket for the 3 year old. Buying SWT's Advance fare from Tulse Hill to Exeter SD would be from £24.15 (2x £10.55 + £3.05) for a single journey; or from £21.15 (2x £9.25 + £2.65) with FGW. This would save you at least £10.85 compared to two of the cheapest Advance fares for just the adults.