Southampton to Aberdeen - split ticketing

[fishter]

Hi,

I'm looking to explore the possiblity of split-ticketing on this rather long journey from Southampton to Aberdeen.

What are the most likely split points (avoiding London) to reduce the cost as much as possible?

I'm most likely to be making this journey out on a Friday afternoon and then back on a Sunday afternoon if this makes any difference.

Any advice, or pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[paul1609]

Hi,

I'm looking to explore the possiblity of split-ticketing on this rather long journey from Southampton to Aberdeen.

What are the most likely split points (avoiding London) to reduce the cost as much as possible?

I'm most likely to be making this journey out on a Friday afternoon and then back on a Sunday afternoon if this makes any difference.

Any advice, or pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks

Unless you can book weeks in advance the cheapest/ most practicable way of doing this journey would be an off peak return Southampton to Gatwick Airport then Easyjet to Aberdeen.
Cue posters saying rail is competitive from the South of England to scotland as you have to check in three weeks in advance of your flight in order to undergo three hours of security searches and you can work on the train (whilst standing in the vestibule next to the toilet for 10 hours)!

 

[SS4]

Flying has it's advantages but if the OP wants to travel by train then so be it.

You might be able to save money by splitting advances in Birmingham if your ticket means you'll be passing through in mid-afternoon (between 1630-1830).

Usually there are no significant savings to be made by splitting on advance tickets. A good (but time consuming method is to check all the calling points)

edit: do you have/are you eligible for a railcard?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I don't think you'll be able to do this journey in one day if you set off in the afternoon. What time are you looking at?

 

[sonic2009]

Avoiding London The Latest you could leave Southampton Central would be 1415 on the Friday Afternoon with a change at Wolverhampton, Carlisle & Haymarket arriving into Aberdeen at 0003 on the Saturday Morning.

Southampton Central dep 1415 > Wolverhampton arr 1714 dep 1737 > Carlisle arr 2001 dep 2013 > Haymarket arr 2131 dep 2144 > Aberdeen arr 0003

The Latest you could leave Aberdeen on the Sunday Afternoon would be 1350 with a change at Edinburgh, Birmingham New Street, Reading & Basingstoke arriving into Southampton Central at 0127 on the Monday Morning

Aberdeen dep 1350 > Edinburgh arr 1625 dep 1652 > Birmingham New Street arr 2050 dep 2104 > Reading arr 2245 dep 2337 > Basingstoke arr 0001 dep 0100 > Southampton Central arr 0127

This times I have given should be checked nearer your chosen date of travelling, due to changes due to engineering works that happen at Weekends.

 

[fishter]

Thanks for the advice folks.

It is a long trip, but for various reasons I'd rather avoid flying.

 

[yorkie]

Splitting a very long journey into shorter distance tickets is less likely to yield a saving when you are returning a different day, as CDRs are obviously no use. SVRs that are for medium distance journeys are less likely to be good value. Of course, if you are travelling at a 'peak' time it can be worth splitting at an appropriate station so that you only pay the peak rate for the part of the journey that is peak!

Splitting Advance tickets may help, for example if XCs through fares are expensive then you may find it cheaper to get an East Coast ticket between Aberdeen and York/Doncaster, and then other tickets from there.

Alternatively TPE may be an option between Aberdeen & Manchester (you can get TP & Connections between Aberdeen & Manchester - if you can find any quota for them).

I'm really not sure that splitting is going to reduce this journey, however good luck trying! If you have any questions about any splits you do find, feel free to ask.