Looking for Bargain Sleepers in the UK

[stuartmoss]

Hi All,

Any advice on this, such as sites to check out and how far in advance is best to look, also times of year - are some better than others for bargains? I'm not bothered where it goes from or to, but would like to stay in Great Britain.

Also, are there buffet cars on sleepers where you can sit down and get something to eat?

Cheers!

Stu.

 

[34D]

Your two choices are London Euston to Scotland (various destinations) or London Paddington to the West Country (again, various destinations).

All sleepers are run by FirstGroup (those to Scotland by First Scotrail, and those to cornwall etc by First Great Western).

I will let others comment on the best times to get cheapest fares, but yes all sleepers have a buffet car with tables/chairs for snacks/breakfasts/etc.

 

[ainsworth74]

It's best to book as far in advance as possible for the Night Riviera (Cornish sleeper) with advance tickets going on sale from around 12 weeks before the date of travel at £49 one way London to Penzance (same price the other way). These are quota controlled so the cheapest tiers will sell out quickly and the price will go up.

For your money you get your own cabin, twins are available if you're travelling with someone but unlike the Scottish Sleepers there is no chance you'll have to share a cabin if travelling solo, access to the buffet car (2+1 first class seating) but it does get busy so I advise getting there quickly, a free hot drink from the buffet, breakfast in the morning (tea/coffee/juice and a bacon roll or croissant or ceral) and a toiletries bag. The single bed cabins also have Volo TV with a reasonable range of TV programs to watch. You'll also get a wake up call and breakfast brought to your cabin. The food selection from the buffet that can be bought is fairly limited but similar to what you'll find on HSTs, see here.

I highly recommend the Night Rivera, I've done it three times and each time it's been great fun and all the staff are very friendly.

You can find more details on the FGW page here and also The Man in Seat Sixty-One has a page (including photos) here.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

http://www.scotrail.co.uk/content/caledonian-sleeper-bargain-berths

The above link covers the bargain berths to and from Scotland.

 

[Goatboy]

You can find more details on the FGW page here and also The Man in Seat Sixty-One has a page (including photos) here.

Do they still pick up and drop off a coach at Plymouth?

 

[ainsworth74]

Do they still pick up and drop off a coach at Plymouth?

No that finished a good few years (five plus I'd say) ago there weren't enough people boarding/alighting at Plymouth (I've heard it was normally in single figures) to make the hassle of shunt moves worthwhile.

 

[IanXC]

Do they still pick up and drop off a coach at Plymouth?

Nope. I think this practice ended at that last franchise renewal, where FGW were looking for ways to make the service cheaper to operate, and passengers going to Plymouth in the drop coach were averaging 3/4 per night.

 

[stuartmoss]

Great advice, thanks everyone, ideally I'd like to do this in late April or early May, so will get looking - The Cornish one sounds particularly appealing, as it will be a good opportunity to get to Dawlish.

 

[VauxhallandI]

Does anyone know how long the beds are?

 

[ainsworth74]

Does anyone know how long the beds are?

I'm 6ft 2in and fit comfortably within the space available. The mattresses are a bit shorter than me and I find there's normally a gap at the head of bed between mattress and wall, if you move the mattress to close this gap and just have your feet hanging off the end it's perfectly long enough for someone of my height (and a bit more besides), the bedding is certainly long enough for someone who is very tall.

 

[VauxhallandI]

I'm 6ft 2in and fit comfortably within the space available. The mattresses are a bit shorter than me and I find there's normally a gap at the head of bed between mattress and wall, if you move the mattress to close this gap and just have your feet hanging off the end it's perfectly long enough for someone of my height (and a bit more besides), the bedding is certainly long enough for someone who is very tall.

Your talking to the man who has bad flights in buisness class :cry:

6'7"

 

[ainsworth74]

Ahh. Well there's definitely a fair bit of room between my feet and the wall, but I don't think it's five inches

 

[Mojo]

http://www.scotrail.co.uk/content/caledonian-sleeper-bargain-berths

The above link covers the bargain berths to and from Scotland.

How do you actually get the Bargain Berths? That link on their web page goes to their main Mixing Deck on which I can only see the Walk-on and their normal Sleeper Advance Fares. It used to be a separate booking site.

 

[bb21]

How do you actually get the Bargain Berths? That link on their web page goes to their main Mixing Deck on which I can only see the Walk-on and their normal Sleeper Advance Fares. It used to be a separate booking site.

They are now incorporated into the mixing deck, so if not shown then not available.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

It is harder to find them now but you bearing in mind that they never used to have any on Fridays or Sundays and very few on Mondays and Thursdays. They are there though just a lot more searching is required to find them.

 

[mailbyrail]

Trying to find bargain berths to Scotland seems impossible.
All of my previous trips I've been able to check just what cheap sleeper fares were available and plan my trip accordingly. It doesn't usually matter when I head North or return, an extra day or two based on flexible outward travel has enabled some excellent trips. Now I can't see how i can find out a combination of out and back value trips based on a totally flexible start date.
On the other hand, EasyJet from Luton gives all that info - why has Scotrail stopped what was a really useful display? Does Scotrail want my business?

 

[Butts]

It's best to book as far in advance as possible for the Night Riviera (Cornish sleeper) with advance tickets going on sale from around 12 weeks before the date of travel at £49 one way London to Penzance (same price the other way). These are quota controlled so the cheapest tiers will sell out quickly and the price will go up.

For your money you get your own cabin, twins are available if you're travelling with someone but unlike the Scottish Sleepers there is no chance you'll have to share a cabin if travelling solo, access to the buffet car (2+1 first class seating) but it does get busy so I advise getting there quickly, a free hot drink from the buffet, breakfast in the morning (tea/coffee/juice and a bacon roll or croissant or ceral) and a toiletries bag. The single bed cabins also have Volo TV with a reasonable range of TV programs to watch. You'll also get a wake up call and breakfast brought to your cabin. The food selection from the buffet that can be bought is fairly limited but similar to what you'll find on HSTs, see here.

I highly recommend the Night Rivera, I've done it three times and each time it's been great fun and all the staff are very friendly.

You can find more details on the FGW page here and also The Man in Seat Sixty-One has a page (including photos) here.

Why the disparity between getting a "twin" to yourself on the FGW operation but not on the Scotrail one ?

Is the Scottish service a lot busier ? Or do they not have Standard Singles ?

 

[hantsman1205]

Why the disparity between getting a "twin" to yourself on the FGW operation but not on the Scotrail one ?

Is the Scottish service a lot busier ? Or do they not have Standard Singles ?

FGW rules don't allow sharing, SR does and it appears there are not problems. I have used a BB on Scotrail. You can have a single berth on SR you just pay extra, same compartment just top bunk is folded up.

 

[valedave]

Last year I managed to pick up one of the two 19 quid London-Fort William bargain berths available each week. They were always available for travel on Tuesday night, and available to purchase on the Friday morning twelve weeks before date of travel.

I did a few dry runs over previous weeks to make sure I had my tactics nailed down. On that Friday at work I set up a small window and got a widget to automatically refresh it every 10 seconds. Sure enough, they came up for sale and within 20 seconds were in my inbox


Sounds like those days are over if the bargain berths are now part of the normal ticket interface.

 

[Solent&Wessex]

Trying to find bargain berths to Scotland seems impossible.
All of my previous trips I've been able to check just what cheap sleeper fares were available and plan my trip accordingly. It doesn't usually matter when I head North or return, an extra day or two based on flexible outward travel has enabled some excellent trips. Now I can't see how i can find out a combination of out and back value trips based on a totally flexible start date.
On the other hand, EasyJet from Luton gives all that info - why has Scotrail stopped what was a really useful display? Does Scotrail want my business?

I have just spent at least an hour trying to find a bargain berth from London to any destination on any day that is currently open for bookings.

I can find none.

There are "Sleeper Advance" fares available, but these are all more expensive than the advertised Bargain Berth fares. In addition on the mixing deck it shows ALL fares, and fares that are not available are greyed out with the message "the chosen fare is not available for this service". The Bargain Berth fares do not feature anywhere, not even greyed out as being not available. There is simply no evidence of them even existing.

It was often the case in the past that Bargain Berth fares were not available to Fort William or other popular places, but if you searched for a random shack such as Roy Bridge or Corrour they would pop up - not even that works.