When do off-peak returns go on sale?

[90sWereBetter]

Hello all

I'm about to book a journey between Ipswich and Stratford London, as part of a rather insane trip I'm doing next week (I'll post a preview in the Trip Planning forum shortly :P). From experience, I know doing a split ticket tends to be more flexible for my needs (so booking Ipswich-Manningtree return, and Manningree-Stratford return separately). However, when I tried to book tickets through the Abellio Greater Anglia website earlier today, off-peak and super off-peak returns are not yet available. Does anyone know when these tickets tend to go on sale?

For reference, I'm gonna leave Ipswich at around 10:30-12:00 ish on Friday January 15th, and return some time in the afternoon on the 16th, depending when I decide I've had enough traveling. This is the reason why I don't want to book advance singles, cheaper though they may be, as I don't want to confine myself to a certain train there and back home.

 

[Bletchleyite]

They are always on sale if they exist. If they aren't on sale, they don't and will never (in this fare period) exist.

 

[cuccir]

They're on sale several months before travel, usually around 3 months.A quick search on a different retailer (VTEC) finds them.

I suspect you'll need to clear your cache or some such and re-search for the tickets - they should then appear; if not, try a different booking site!

 

[najaB]

They're on sale several months before travel, usually around 3 months.A quick search on a different retailer (VTEC) finds them.

That is true for Advance tickets but walk-up tickets have no booking window. You can purchase them up to one year in advance of the date of travel.

 

[Bletchleyite]

They're on sale several months before travel, usually around 3 months.A quick search on a different retailer (VTEC) finds them.

Eh? There are no Off Peak or Super Off Peak Returns for (edit: the first of) those flows. Only Day Returns.

 

[cuccir]

That might solve the mystery a little; I only looked for the Ipswich - Stratford through ticket (for which there is an Off-Peak Return).

 

[maniacmartin]

You can buy them up to a year in advance in a ticket office.

For booking online the booking engines insist on making an itinerary before showing the tickets, even if you don't want to reserve a seat. As timetables are subject to change, the online engines don't let you book too far in the future.