online vs on train

[sevenhills]

Hi

When I search online, I come up with a price for Leeds to Scarborough at around £26 for 1 adult and 2 children, its for tomorrow.
How do I find out if its the same price to buy at the station?

 

[jnjkerbin]

If the ticket is shown as being an "Advance" ticket, then it will only be available up to the day before travel, online or at the station. The advance fare becomes more expensive closer to the date of travel ie. had your booked an advance fare 2-3 months ago it would be cheaper than it is now. In short if the fare is shown as "Advance" it will not be available on the day of travel.

If however the fare is shown as being a (Super) Off-peak/anytime (day) return/single it will be available on the day (unless there is a web discount applied. Depending on which website you are using, it may be shown with a red asterisk if it has a web discount applied.)

EDIT: Looking at available fares, I presume you mean the £26.75 day return fare using a family railcard. If so, this is indeed a "walk-on" fare, and should be available to purchase on the day. However, if you are willing to tie yourselves to a particular train which you would have to get (ie. the ticket is not valid on other services) it is possible to get it down to between £22.90 and £25.00 depending on what train you catch using "Advance" fares, (ie. only available to buy today) by clicking the "2 singles from £22.90" tab on this page, and selecting the trains you wish to catch. However if you want flexibility, stick with the £26.75 fare.

 

[Haywain]

There are lots of ways you could find out, but the crucial thing in all of them will be giving the full information about what you want to do. For example, you haven't mentioned whether this is one way or return, and if it's return whether you plan on returning the same day or another day. These facts all make a difference.

 

[sevenhills]

There are lots of ways you could find out, but the crucial thing in all of them will be giving the full information about what you want to do. For example, you haven't mentioned whether this is one way or return, and if it's return whether you plan on returning the same day or another day. These facts all make a difference.

I was thinking about going today, but it now looks like it will be tomorrow.
I was reading that you can print your own tickets, but I dont think that Northern allow it. My local station, Morley, has no collection points, so printing the tickets would have been usefull.
Same day return, with ff card, I might prefer an open return; many thanks.

 

[John @ home]

National Rail Enquiries shows that Morley has no ticket office and no ticket machines. This makes Advance tickets unsuitable for travel tomorrow - you would incur additional cost in getting them. In these circumstances of no ticket office and no ticket machine, you are allowed to buy flexible tickets with Railcard discounts on the train from the conductor.

Morley - Scarborough fares are the same price as Leeds - Scarborough fares. If I wanted to travel from Morley - Scarborough and back tomorrow with 2 children, I would join the train at Morley and immediately seek out the conductor. With your Railcard, you can buy Off-Peak Day Return fares Morley - Scarborough for £16.95 for the adult and £4.90 for each child.

This is likely to be quicker than buying at Leeds station, where the queues on bank holidays can be lengthy.

 

[IanD]

I might prefer an open return; many thanks.

I wouldn't ask for one of those unless you were stopping over as you may be charged £25.55/adult and £7.35/child!

I'd most likely ask for one of these:

With your Railcard, you can buy Off-Peak Day Return fares Morley - Scarborough for £16.95 for the adult and £4.90 for each child.

or ask for the cheapest return ticket, returning the same day (which should yield the same result).