Thetford to Scotland Return

[RustyG]

I'm looking to help my parents with some train tickets. They are in their 60s and don't have a Railcard but could get one if required.

They want to travel from Thetford to Oban on 10th June and return from Fort William to Thetford on 25th June.

Obvious changing points for the journey seem to be Peterborough, Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Queens Street.

When would be a good time to buy? My idea so far is to get returns from Thetford to Crianlarich which comes in at £135 per person (without Railcard). I'd then need to get them a single from Crianlarich to Oban (£10.30) to complete the outward journey and from Fort William to Crianlarich (£17) to start the return journey.

So, total cost is £162.30 per person without a Railcard. This seems dreadfully expensive. How can I reduce the cost for them? Is it possible to split the journey somehow or use a cheaper route?

Thanks, RustyG

 

[bb21]

See if you can get Advances first. According to NR Booking Horizon, East Coast Advances have been released for the dates you require and cost from £36.50 each way per person.

Alternatively Advances start from £15 with Cross Country trains or £14.50 with East Coast between Peterborough and Edinburgh. There are also Advances between Edinburgh and the Highlands.

Book through East Coast website for 10% off the cheapest East Coast Advances.
Book through Cross Country website for their Advances held at last year's rices.

Flexible tickets won't be cheaper if you can grab one of the cheapest Advances. There are numerous other permutations of splitting the journey that you can try.

34% off quoted prices for railcard holders.

 

[yorkie]

My idea so far is to get returns from Thetford to Crianlarich which comes in at £135 per person (without Railcard). I'd then need to get them a single from Crianlarich to Oban (£10.30) to complete the outward journey

But Thetford-Oban is £142.00 which is less than £135.00+ £10.30! So no need to 'split' at Crianlarich as that increases the cost! The return would then be started 'short' at Crianlarich.

Is it possible to split the journey somehow or use a cheaper route?

The tickets you quote are "Not London" and are valid via a wide range of routes, such as via York or Settle or Manchester. Probably fine via Nuneaton or even Birmingham but you'd need to check. Worth bearing in mind if they wish to visit friends or relatives en-route.

As for cheaper tickets, firstly it is worth considering whether you can benefit from the 'Club 55' deal. Someone else can advise on the details of that, so keep an eye out for a reply on that possibility.

Failing that, the savings by holding a Senior Railcard (34% off) will pay for the railcard with this trip alone, therefore I suggest buying one, and all the fares quoted below are with a Railcard discount.

Rather than have the flexibility of an 'Off Peak' fare (which can be bought on the day, from the ticket office or on board the train if the ticket office is closed; it's a "walk on" fare) you may wish to purchase Advance tickets, which are much cheaper but are valid on a specific train and are non-refundable. (Like low-cost plane tickets)

Thetford - Glasgow Stations Advance Single £30.25* each
Thetford 1024
Peterborough 1125

Peterborough 1215
Edinburgh 1617

Edinburgh 1630
Glasgow QS 1721

Glasgow Stations - Oban Anytime Day Single £13.45 each
Glasgow QS 1821
Oban 2126

* Price is for travel on 10 June 2011, and is correct at time of writing but that fare will sell out at some point, and the price will increase.

Fort William - Glasgow Stations Advance Single £8.00 each
Fort William 0742
Glasgow QS 1130

---or---

Fort William 1140
Glasgow QS 1530

Glasgow Stations - Thetford Advance Single £**
Glasgow QS 1245
Edinburgh 1335

Edinburgh 1400
Peterborough 1748

Peterborough 1845
Thetford 1947

--- or ---

Glasgow QS 1630
Edinburgh 1719

Edinburgh 1730
Peterborough 2119

Peterborough 2138
Thetford 2241

** Not yet available due to EMT not yet releasing their Advance tickets yet (see my problem below)
Alternatively both of these options (plus others) are available at £15.85 single each from Glasgow Stations to Peterborough (only). An additional ticket would need to be purchased from Peterborough to Thetford. I will check when these tickets go on sale and advise you when this occurs (I am hoping it will be soon!!!)

My advice would be to buy all tickets now, and wait for the Glasgow-Thetford tickets, you may be able to buy them later on today.

EMT are a pain. They don't release their Advance tickets as early as East Coast do, hence your problem, and mine!

EC have released dirt cheap tickets (about £6) York to Peterborough until 3 July, but I need to book tickets to Thetford. So it asks me for £6 to Peterborough or £100+ (for 2 people) to Thetford. It's only because I understand the system that I know what's happening. I have no idea when EMT will release tickets (though I hope they do on Friday), so I don't know if I am better off waiting for a through ticket (which will be cheaper at the lowest price) or if the EC cheap tickets will sell out before the EMT ones will go on sale.

 

[RustyG]

Thanks Yorkie - very helpful. A couple of questions from someone who knows very little about trains:

1) Is it ok to say you have a Railcard when you buy the tickets in advance and then buy the Railcard on the day of travel? There's no point buying it a couple of months before travelling. Or do you have to enter a Railcard number when booking?

2) When you buy the tickets online, do they post physical tickets out to your home address, or do you print an email, or do you colect tickets from the station of departure?

 

[LexyBoy]

Thanks Yorkie - very helpful. A couple of questions from someone who knows very little about trains:

1) Is it ok to say you have a Railcard when you buy the tickets in advance and then buy the Railcard on the day of travel? There's no point buying it a couple of months before travelling. Or do you have to enter a Railcard number when booking?

2) When you buy the tickets online, do they post physical tickets out to your home address, or do you print an email, or do you colect tickets from the station of departure?

1) Yes, you can book Railcard discounted tickets with no Railcard, but you absolutely must have a Railcard for the tickets to be valid. No Railcard = cough up for new (Anytime) tickets. I would get the Railcard at least a day or so before (you can apply online as well as at the station, but allow a couple of weeks if buying online)

2) Generally tickets are either posted or collected from the machine at the station before departure (you can choose which you prefer when booking - some site charge a fee, usually £1, for postage). Certain tickets are issued only as e-tickets (i.e. a printout) - these are only certain routes though (CrossCountry and Virgin do I know).

Oh, and I notice that no-one has yet mentioned that you should buy tickets from the Train Operating Companies, not sites like TheTrainLine who charge a booking fee. Some TOCs offer additional discounts for booking tickets on their trains through their site (EC and XC for instance).

 

[yorkie]

You can now get an Advance ticket all the way to Thetford, EMT released tickets this morning.

2) When you buy the tickets online, do they post physical tickets out to your home address, or do you print an email, or do you colect tickets from the station of departure?

I buy tickets issued from Poppleton, rather than York, where possible, to avoid the £1 fee for postage, this fee applies where adequate facilities to collect are deemed to exist. Where this is not possible, I select the option to collect from the machine. I generally aim to collect before the day of travel, in case of problems. However East Coast are very good at York and have plenty of machines and staff on hand if there are problems.

I have checked the situation at Thetford, and perhaps TOD is not available as the East Coast site gives the option of First Class Post: Free. So there is no charge to get the tickets posted to you, booking on the East Coast website, when you book from Thetford.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

As for cheaper tickets, firstly it is worth considering whether you can benefit from the 'Club 55' deal. Someone else can advise on the details of that, so keep an eye out for a reply on that possibility.

Sadly, no. The Scotrail 'Club 55' scheme offered any return journey within Scotland for £18 to Over 55's but ended on 31st March with the promise that the scheme will return (at some unspecified date in the future).

I fully agree with Yorkie's advice to buy a Senior Railcard for each passenger - the savings of 34% in this journey will cover the cost. See http://www.senior-railcard.co.uk/ for details.

At these prices, you may even want to consider booking them in First Class (the 34% discount applies to Standard and to First Class tickets) on the Peterborough - Edinburgh leg of the journeys; with the complimentary food and drink in first, they'll appreciate the difference.

 

[networkrail1]

I have checked the situation at Thetford, and perhaps TOD is not available as the East Coast site gives the option of First Class Post: Free. So there is no charge to get the tickets posted to you, booking on the East Coast website, when you book from Thetford.

There is no ticket machine at Thetford.

I change there most Saturday (when not at work) and there is only a ticket office, which shuts pretty early (my return is just after 6pm and the ticket office is locked up).

Hope that helps.

All the best.

Simon

 

[First class]

I have a voucher for "go anywhere in scotland for £15 off peak return" that was sent to me recently... you need to have an Advance membership card, but if anyone has been on the sleeper or travelled first class, you get them free.

Also got one for £99 return 1st Class on the sleeper London-Ftw/Inv/Abd/Glc/Edb

Let me know.

 

[RustyG]

We booked returns from Thetford to Glasgow return for £49.05 per person which sounds reasonable. This was on the East Coast website. They will buy Railcards nearer the time.

The triangular trip around Scotland still needs planning:

Glasgow - Oban
Oban - Fort William
Fort William to Glasgow

In some ways this is easier to organise because there's much less choice with train times and routes.

Anyway, thanks folks for your helpful responses.