Poole or Bournemouth to Wrexham General

[47832]

Good afternoon I hope someone can help me.

Due to a family member being taken ill my grandfather has to travel from either Poole or Bournemouth to Wrexham. Leaving around 8am on Tuesday 9th August and starting off the return journey on Thursday 11th August around the same time. I am wondering what would be the cheapest fare that would be available and if splitting tickets would be of any help. My grandfather being nearly 82 would prefer not to travel via London but it is not totally out of the question. He doesn't hold any sort of railcard and will be travelling alone. Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[SS4]

I'd advise him to get a Senior Railcard - it'll pay for itself on this journey alone!
If he is willing to go via London and Chester then he stands to save £52.55 compared to going via Southampton and Birmingham since an off-peak ticket is available via London whereas it is not via Birmingham.

I don't think you'll beat that by splitting, especially given the flexibility it provides


edit: The Off-Peak return is £68.90 with railcard against £104.40 without.

edit 2: I looked at Poole.

 

[47832]

Thanks for your prompt reply. I have just looked on the Crosscountry website and have found:
09:45 BMH - 15:00 WRX £34.00
08:34 WRX - 14:10 BMH £41.00

Total £75:00 without railcard.

Edit: Think it is more expensive coming from Poole for some reason. So my grandfather can use his bus pass to get to Bournemouth as the buses from Poole to Bournemouth Station run around every 5 to 6 minutes.

 

[SS4]

Thanks for your prompt reply. I have just looked on the Crosscountry website and have found:
09:45 BMH - 15:00 WRX £34.00
08:34 WRX - 14:10 BMH £41.00

Total £75:00 without railcard.

Edit: Think it is more expensive coming from Poole for some reason. So my grandfather can use his bus pass to get to Bournemouth as the buses from Poole to Bournemouth Station run around every 5 to 6 minutes.

I suspect it's because Bournemouth is a "bigger" destination than Poole!

The 07:44 WRX - 13:10 BMH is £34 for an advance single, perhaps that would be a better bet than the 8:34?

The 9:45 is the best advance ticket going out but would that be too late for him to depart?

 

[yorkie]

I am wondering what would be the cheapest fare that would be available and if splitting tickets would be of any help..

The cheapest fare that exists is an Advance single with Virgin at £19.00 (from Poole) or £17.50 (from Bournemouth). This is quota controlled, so may not be available. To find it, use any booking site and specify via London Euston. Once the lowest price has sold out, the next level up is £25.00/£23.50, and so on.

The cheapest walk-on through fare is £99.10* return (Route Not London; valid after 0930) or £104.40 return (Route +London; valid any train to London, then valid between 0926 & 1500 and at or after 1845 from London Euston). (* 80p extra from Bournemouth).

Note that to leave at 0800 on the Not London routeing, the through fare is a rather ludicrous £184.00. This is because CrossCountry are a rip-off. To avoid this huge fare, either go via London, or purchase a combination of tickets.

Railcard discounts apply to all the above fares.

If a Railcard is held, the +London ticket is valid on any Virgin train to/from London Euston.

Splitting may help. Find an itinerary you are happy with, then look at where the train calls (WebTIS sites e.g. East Coast, London Midland, Southern are easiest for this) and then look at the fares splitting at whichever stations you feel may be worth splitting at. The train must call at any station you split at, on both outward and return journeys.

 

[47832]

I suspect it's because Bournemouth is a "bigger" destination than Poole!

The 07:44 WRX - 13:10 BMH is £34 for an advance single, perhaps that would be a better bet than the 8:34?

The 9:45 is the best advance ticket going out but would that be too late for him to depart?

Could well be, didn't see the 07:44 will tell him and he can decide, to be honest I don't think he is to bothered about times as long as he gets to Wrexham mid afternoon and back to Poole before 4pm.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Splitting may help. Find an itinerary you are happy with, then look at where the train calls (WebTIS sites e.g. East Coast, London Midland, Southern are easiest for this) and then look at the fares splitting at whichever stations you feel may be worth splitting at.

Thanks for the info Yorkie wasn't to sure how splitting works.

 

[John @ home]

my grandfather can use his bus pass to get to Bournemouth

Not necessarily at the early times you quote. The rules are quite complex.

National bus pass (concessionary travel)

What does the pass entitle you to?
Since 2006 you have been entitled to free local bus travel in Dorset from 9.30am to 11pm on Monday to Friday and at any time during weekends and public holidays - and this will continue. Since 1 April 2008 you are also entitled to free local bus travel in all other areas of England during these off-peak times.

Dorset County Council in addition to this statutory scheme will also allow all day free travel throughout the week for blind and partially sighted people. The council is offering free travel for companion pass holders from 9.30am to 11pm on weekdays and all day at weekends and public holidays.

Some rural areas of Dorset have less frequent public transport services and with this in mind Dorset County Council is offering pre 9.30am travel as an exception to the scheme where there is no other service or the next available service is 10.30am or later.

http://www.dorsetforyou.com/385045

 

[bb21]

Thanks for your prompt reply. I have just looked on the Crosscountry website and have found:
09:45 BMH - 15:00 WRX £34.00
08:34 WRX - 14:10 BMH £41.00

Total £75:00 without railcard.

Edit: Think it is more expensive coming from Poole for some reason. So my grandfather can use his bus pass to get to Bournemouth as the buses from Poole to Bournemouth Station run around every 5 to 6 minutes.

I guess (as I don't have Avantix on me at the moment) that the ticket is routed "XC & Connections", which means that if it is available for Bournemouth (BMH), then it should be available for Poole (POO) with a small supplement added, as the SWT leg is not reserved.

One of the reasons it is not showing up is that connection times coming in from POO onto the XC service is not usually that good. I think during the day an Up train to London Waterloo (WAT) arrives at BMH at xx15 and then there is no train in that direction until the XC departure at xx45. (The WAT service leaves after a few minutes and that's why the XC service is quite often prepared and pulled into Platform 2 by about xx38.) This could mean that it may well be quicker going into London and then out, hiding journeys using XC by default as they get overtaken.

I would try specifying "via OXF" on the XC website to see if these tickets pop up again with the correct pricing.

Not necessarily at the early times you quote. The rules are quite complex.

Borough of Poole is a unitary authority and has its own scheme. I can't see additional enhancements locally. Dorset County Council schemes don't apply.