London to Norwich, 6-8 Dec

[redbutton]

What's the best deal for a trip from London to Norwich on 6 Dec in the evening (departing ~1900) and back on 8 Dec arriving before 2000?

I'll be coming from work in the City and returning to Bromley, one will be coming from and returning to Bromley South, and one will be coming from and returning to Maidstone East.

None of us hold any railcards, so I'm thinking it would be best to buy three SVRs on GroupSave-3 for £95.10 from Liverpool Street. I'll walk there from work, and the other two can make their own way from Maidstone and Bromley. That would necessitate the following extra fares:

BMS to LST will be £4.70 each way on Oyster (x 3 = £14.10)
MDE to STP will be £25.50 on a SE Weekender +HS (plus £2.10 x 2 = £4.20 to get from STP to LST and back)
Then the intercity ticket LST to NRW x3 = £95.10 with GroupSave

Total is £138.90.

Can anyone do better? Nothing too esoteric, please- I'm travelling with my partner and her sister.

 

[maniacmartin]

Please introduce the stations.
BMS = Bromley South
LST = London Liverpool St
MDE = Maidstone East
STP = London St Pancras

 

[soil]

Obviously with the groupsave and not everyone travelling from the same place for groupsave validity, there's little you can do with the London - Norwich bit, so that just leaves Bromley - Liverpool Street and Maidstone - St Pancras.

Bromley - Liverpool Street is fairly inconsequential, so basically it's just Maidstone - LST SVR, and you need to beat £29.70.

One such ticket would be Maidstone Stations - Cambridge Heath SVR at £28.80 Any Permitted, saving a princely 90p.

 

[redbutton]

Please introduce the stations.
BMS = Bromley South
LST = London Liverpool St
MDE = Maidstone East
STP = London St Pancras

Didn't I? I think the only one I missed was St Pancras:

I'll be coming from work in the City and returning to Bromley, one will be coming from and returning to Bromley South, and one will be coming from and returning to Maidstone East.

None of us hold any railcards, so I'm thinking it would be best to buy three SVRs on GroupSave-3 for £95.10 from Liverpool Street.

Obviously with the groupsave and not everyone travelling from the same place for groupsave validity, there's little you can do with the London - Norwich bit, so that just leaves Bromley - Liverpool Street and Maidstone - St Pancras.

Thanks, that's pretty much what I thought.

 

[ainsworth74]

Didn't I? I think the only one I missed was St Pancras.

If you're going to be using three letter codes then generally we would ask that you define them clearly first. For instance:

I'm travelling from Longbeck (LGK) to York (YRK) via Darlington (DAR). How much is a LGK to YRK single and are there any cheaper routes avoiding DAR?

Really just writing the station names then launching into a code based discussion without any clear link between the stations and the codes should be avoided if possible

 

[redbutton]

Aha, got it. Thanks.

 

[Sleepy]

If you are travelling on the 1900 on a Friday make sure you reserve seats or aim to board by 1845 as this is the busiest service and is usually carrying up to 40 standing until Colchester.

 

[redbutton]

Tickets bought, seats reserved. Thanks everyone!