Unable to find valid fare for Jan 2027 journey

[Santileur]

I am trying to book a ticket from Brighton to Wem on 03/01/2027 however I am getting the message 'We have been unable to find a valid fare. Please re-plan your journey'.

There is also no tickets showing for 1st or 2nd January, but as soon as you go to 31/12 tickets start appearing.

I have tried to find a reason or this such as planned works, but nothing appears. If I change the destination to Crewe, the route it would otherwise be, that message still appears except for the journeys going via London Victoria. Journeys from Crewe to Wem otherwise do show as bookable.

Can anyone find out where the issue lies, or should I just wait a few more days given this is at the extreme end of the advance booking?

 

[alistairlees]

I am trying to book a ticket from Brighton to Wem on 03/01/2027 however I am getting the message 'We have been unable to find a valid fare. Please re-plan your journey'.

There is also no tickets showing for 1st or 2nd January, but as soon as you go to 31/12 tickets start appearing.

I have tried to find a reason or this such as planned works, but nothing appears. If I change the destination to Crewe, the route it would otherwise be, that message still appears except for the journeys going via London Victoria. Journeys from Crewe to Wem otherwise do show as bookable.

Can anyone find out where the issue lies, or should I just wait a few more days given this is at the extreme end of the advance booking?

Hi. Welcome to the forum. Where are you trying to buy your ticket from?

 

[Santileur]

Hi. Welcome to the forum. Where are you trying to buy your ticket from?

Hello and thank you. Yes, I initially tried purchasing it through Transport for Wales but no fare would appear at all. I then went to the National Rail website where I then get given that message (and the option for one or two journeys at a much higher price via Victoria as I mentioned).

Sorry for missing out that information.

 

[Swedenorer]

Southern will sell me Brighton Crewe via Vic £65. What other route were you thinking of? There are no relevant Southern engineering works.

 

[Santileur]

Southern will sell me Brighton Crewe via Vic £65. What other route were you thinking of? There are no relevant Southern engineering works.

Although Brighton Crewe is available separately, my question is more why are no tickets as one booking from Brighton to Wem available.

Booking it as one journey is what I would prefer to do (this would be the return journey, with the outbound journey a few days after Christmas which is available).

 

[Dewedin]

TfW haven't released advance fares yet.

Advance Booking Dates | National Rail

Find out the farthest travel dates in the future it is possible to book Advance tickets and reserve seats today.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

 

[Swedenorer]

The point is you can't get any fares fro that journey on that date to Wem - you can to Crewe

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Southern will sell me Brighton Crewe via Vic £65.

The £65 ticket is likely to be an Off Peak Day Single (Route ✠SOUTHERN & WMT) and is only good as far as Crewe. From Crewe onwards to Wem, an Anytime Day Single would be an additional £12.90. As the OP is contemplating a return trip, there's always the possibility of buying a walk-up Off Peak Return between Wem and Brighton (or vice-versa as the case may be) at £133.50 (return) which is perhaps more flexible and could also be used on other operators to/from London Euston, such as Avanti.

What other route were you thinking of?

Is travel from Brighton to Wem (with the relevant part of the journey being made via Wolverhamoton, Telford Central and then Shrewsbury) possible on a "Route ✠ANY PERMITTED" ticket?

 

[Santileur]

TfW haven't released advance fares yet.

Advance Booking Dates | National Rail

Find out the farthest travel dates in the future it is possible to book Advance tickets and reserve seats today.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

I don’t think that is the reason, as for the outbound journey on 31st December advance tickets can be booked from Wem to Brighton, it is just the return journey on 3rd January which cannot be done.

The dates on that page would suggest with TfW it is around mid-December for the cut off currently.

Is travel from Brighton to Wem (with the relevant part of the journey being made via Wolverhamoton, Telford Central and then Shrewsbury) possible on a "Route ✠ANY PERMITTED" ticket?

Might that on an off peak return be my best option? Otherwise I had hoped to book advance tickets to reduce the cost. Unfortunately I’m ineligible railcard.

 

[Watershed]

I would wait until Advance tickets become available. At worst you will simply have to pay for an Off-Peak Return, but I would suggest there is a good chance you will pay less for Advance tickets in each direction.

Remember that Off-Peak tickets can't "sell out" so there is no rush to book. The only thing that can run out is the seat reservations for a particular train, but again it's highly unlikely that this would happen from one moment to the next. There are also plenty of unreserved seats on Avanti services, and indeed WMT services from London to Crewe are totally unreserved.

 

[Dewedin]

Avanti is actually the problem, not TfW. The fares you are seeing as available to Crewe are on LNWR trains. Avanti are 'reservations compulsory' but seem to not be allowing reservations at the moment, presumably their timetable may yet change.
If you want to book now, the forum's ticket site will let you book a through itinerary to Wem using LNWR from Euston to Crewe.

 

[Santileur]

Avanti is actually the problem, not TfW. The fares you are seeing as available to Crewe are on LNWR trains. Avanti are 'reservations compulsory' but seem to not be allowing reservations at the moment, presumably their timetable may yet change.
If you want to book now, the forum's ticket site will let you book a through itinerary to Wem using LNWR from Euston to Crewe.

Thank you, I have checked again and that is definitely it. Considering the prices I have decided to book the advance ticket for £40.50 for the outbound journey then either wait until advance tickets on 3rd January, or book the off-peak day return which doesn't change the price except for a few pence compared to the open return ticket.

 

[Willie Bee]

TfW haven't released advance fares yet.

Advance Booking Dates | National Rail

Find out the farthest travel dates in the future it is possible to book Advance tickets and reserve seats today.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

I assume this site gets updated on a regular basis.

I want to book a Sunday LNER ticket for 3rd Jan (which I posted about elsewhere) but see from this site that tickets are not available yet .. as I know now.

Funnily though, Scotrail states that 'Sunday' tickets are only available up until 13th December and TPE up until 20th December, but on my posting linked here I could book EDB to EDP with Scotrail if I was travelling with TPE or XCountry

 

[yorkie]

Thank you, I have checked again and that is definitely it. Considering the prices I have decided to book the advance ticket for £40.50 for the outbound journey then either wait until advance tickets on 3rd January, or book the off-peak day return which doesn't change the price except for a few pence compared to the open return ticket.

For future reference, and for anyone else in this position...

My advice would be that if your ideal itinerary isn't available yet, then wait until it is, and book one through itinerary.

A lot could change between now and the date of travel, and if you have separate bookings and trains get retimed such that the connections no longer work, it may cause issues.

The number of tickets doesn't matter (the forum's site will handle that!) but having a through itinerary is good evidence of an overall contract for the whole journey at the published times on the date of booking.