Split Ticketing
By Mike on Thursday, January 22 2009, 15:26
We're running a competition to find good examples of split ticketing. A lot is written about this but it's difficult to find examples where there is a significant saving.
We'll give you a free first class return journey on the best example that get's posted.
The Raileasy Team
Comments
I often use the split ticketing system to Leeds to visit my daughter at Leeds University and she noe follows suite if you book at the right time you can save at least £35 which makes the journey affordable.
Where from?
Travelling to Hereford from London it's possible to book tickets with a Network South East card as far as Worcester then have a Worcester to Hereford ticket at normal rates. Saving is worth about £11 on the usual London -Hereford return. The only drawback is tickets via Worcester can't be used on trains via Newport which are usually faster. But you can enjoy Cotswold scenery en route and the line from Worcester to Hereford via the Malvern Hills is scenic.
You can use the same dodge for trips to the West Country using the Network South East card to pay the reduced fare to Exeter via Salisbury.
manchester to ipswich:
manchester to leeds; leeds to ipswich
I live in Newcastle and often have to travel to Leeds or Manchester at short notice. Both journeys pass through (and often need to change at) York.
From experience i now always book 4 single split tickets to make my journey as cheap as possible. I buy a Newcastle to York, York to Leeds (or Manchester) and then Leeds (or Manchester) to York and finally York to Newcastle.
Although i end up with 4 tickets the savings are more than worth the effort in booking 4 seperate journeys.
Just remember to allow time to catch the connecting trains and don't book tickets for part 2 or part 4 of the total journey before you know the times of the first and third parts of the trip!!
Happy travelling and why not use the money saved on the Split Ticketing to treat yourself to a 1st Class upgrade once in a while.
I had an interview 200 miles from home, so needed to set out early. A "straight through" ticket cost was eye-watering, so I bought a peak-rate ticket to Peterborough, from where I was able to use the off-peak rate (after 9.30am)and save £38 on the original quote.
i have purchased tickets from this site often and have saved alot of money by split ticketing.
its a much easier and cheeper.
there are a few step to save alot of money by split ticketing.
step 1: try and buy your tickets 12 weeks in advance this helps save the most amount of money.
step two: instead of buying next day returns jst buy 2 single fares this works out cheeper.
step three: it is cheeper to travel via another station. for e.g. glasgow to edinburgh then transfer at edinburgh to newcastle. this works out a whole lot cheeper this is the route i always take when traveling to newcastle.
last time i traveled it only cost me £32 there and back rather than £64 and that is only one journey.
Hi Ashley,
Nice saving, well done! Your other points are spot on as well.
rgds,
Mike (Raileasy)
Travelling between London Marylebone and Birmingham Moor Street, I have on occasions managed to purchase tickets for £ 3.00 something one way paying £ 5-00 something for the other.
Good old Chiltern! Thanks for the tip. When checking prices from London to Birmingham, always check London Marylebone and then you'll get the good value Chiltern fares.
regards,
The Raileasy Team
Now that the train goes from South London to Watford, an easier way for south londoners to get to Crewe is via Watford.
So for travelling to Chester, I could get the train from Streatham Common direct to Watford, then either change at Milton Keynes or Crewe to get to Chester. It is a bit slower but it cuts out the need to travel through London which is a pain with a pram. I'm not sure of the price saving.
Hi Vicki,
I have had a look at the pricing and it's way cheaper to go via London but it's much harder with a pram. I got £36.50 return from Streatham Common to Chester via London for one adult but it was about double that travelling to Watford or Milton Keynes and then on to Chester. This must be because there are more discount tickets going into and out of London. I hope if you're travelling on the Underground with a pram on your own plenty of people offer to help you!
rgds,
Mike
First Class is a victorian anacronism that ought to have no place in 21st century. It wastes space and if we are told the rail system is close to capacity, (which I don't belive when there are so many 4 car trains around), we would increase capacity by 1/3 for every 1st class coach converted to standard. It is also elitist and perpetuates privilege for those with deep pockets.
Hi Wesley,
Sometimes 1st class can be cheaper than standard, that's why we check all fares. Weekend upgrades that you buy on the train can be good value @ £5.
rgds,
Mike
The example I am to do in Feb is a purchased ticket from Nuneaton - Newcastle 17th Feb 2009 returning 18th Feb
17/02 Nun - New Anytime single - (Via Tamworth 0719 hours)
18/02 New Nun 1st advance single - via Birmingham 1140 hours)
Fare £77.50 Return
Hi Garry,
Nice one - I'm getting £90.30 - so well done!
rgds,
Mike
Lichfield Staffs journey to London, I found it cheaper to train to Birmingham. walk to Snow Hill and then -having bought a £5 each way ticket on-line in advance, board the Chiltern railways train to Marylebone station, takes longer than Virgin, but saves aplenty!
Hi Mags,
Great idea. Chiltern offer really great value if you don't mind taking that bit longer. "Journey planners" like we use on Raileasy usually give the fastest services unless you specifically ask for "overtaken trains". So for Birmingham to London it's usually Virgin Trains that appear. You have to enter London Marylebone to Birmingham to get Chiltern services.
Thanks for this.
rgds,
Mike (Raileasy)
Travelling from Sheffield to Cornwall, we travelled to Torquay & enjoyed 2 days on the "Riviera" before travelling very cheaply from Torquay to Truro.
On the return leg we travelled (again very cheaply) from Redruth to Plymouth where we enjoyed 2 nights on the Hoe & fantastic fresh fish on the Barbican before returning to Sheffield. On the outward journey we even went First Class & saved money on the price of a standard ticket from Sheffield to Truro!
Having time in Torquay & Plymouth added to the enjoyment of our holiday & also avoided the chance of missing our connection if we were delayed on the first leg of either journey
So my tip is when travelling from the North to Cornwall split the journey in Devon for a considerable saving!
Hi,
Thanks for this, we'll look at journey breaks in Devon. Sounds like you had a great time. In case you're interested we have a link to a site which lists B&Bs and guesthouses.
rgds
Mike
Try to be as flexible as possible when booking your ticket. It is best to start with your ideal travelling time, and then check out the earlier and later trains either side of your original time to find the best deal. I have done this a lot, and have definitely got the best price each time.
its easy really, just keep looking for the offers and only book when you are sure of the dates. so have dates ready and surf the net, input dates and search the options, there are great savings but patience is the key. We, the three of us travelled to London last January return for a total of £30 yes £30 pounds thats £5 pounds one way it was great and gave us extra spends
Thanks for this. Keep an eye open for the 12 week booking deadline. This is when the discounted fares are loaded. You can tell if they're not loaded yet, you will get a "walk on" fare eg (super) off peak or anytime
The Raileasy Team
I booked my son tickets as singles london to york and york to newcastle returning on different days to york sat then london mon I saved £50 he also used his railcard total cost £32
London-Penzance. By splitting you can save £207. Buy tickets London-Plymouth and Plymouth to Penzance,vice versa for return trip, total cost is only £50. You stay on the same train. This can be done on other routes providing the train you are travelling on is stopping at station you select to buy you continue ticket from.
I have travelled from Glasgow to Plymouth a few times. Taking the overnight sleeper to London is fantastic at £19. I agree with all said previously. Split tickets, doing single journeys & booking 12 weeks in advance is how I operate. I love the opportunity to book the quiet coach when travelling during the day. Take your own packed lunch as the buffet is quite expensive though the sandwiches are good.
You sound like you really enjoy your train trips, it's so much nicer than driving or flying isn't it. The sleeper is a great way to do the journey to London. Thanks for posting this. rgds The Raileasy team
My best trip was from Peterborough to Durham where my daughter and family live for £7.50! Its just 200 miles so you can see how much cheaper it was than driving! Admittedly it cost me £15 to come back but that is also a bargain. I am also booked to go for the day to Edinburgh to see a sick friend at a cost of under £20.
This illustrates how to do it; make your decision to travel well in advance and go online the day the booking opens. Try not to travel Friday, Sunday or early Monday or at Bank Holidays. Be flexible with times; remember what time the train leaves from its terminus and its time of arrival at its destination; these times may attract the business traveller so there will be fewer discounted seats available. If eligible invest in a rail card; it will soon pay for itself.
Great advice! Thanks. The Raileasy Team
I don't mind the elitist branding at all.
Try Cheshire to Euston using the new direct London midland direct service: Alsager or Kidsgrove ( about 6 miles north of Stoke on Trent) advance 1st class single with sen railcard £11.20 one way, £13.20 return.
Get a life!!
These two are good if you going and coming back the same day and travelling after 9.30am Manchester to Newcastle £62.10 rtrn,instead buy a Manchester to York return (£24.40) and a York to Newcastle day return(£23.30) saving nearly £15.It also works if you are staying up to a month but the saving is much less.Also Manchester to Birmingham £28.70return, save by booking Manchester to Stoke £11.10 and Stoke to B'ham £14.10,both day returns.Remember these are walk-up fares for those that can't always book in advance!
We often travel to the Lake District from SW-Taunton, but by booking weeks ahead and split ticketing we save over 50%
Taunton to Brimingham New Street £14 each way. then Birmingham New street to Oxenholme two singles total £23 equals total of £51. have to wait at New street for a while but hey we save £53 each thats £106 for the two of us.
Travelling frequently from Edinburgh to Chesterfield I always book two singles and just to Sheffield. There are plenty of trains from Sheffield to Chesterfiled and you don't therefore have to book a specific train.Booking right through is very expensive.I also look at several web sites: they vary enormously in cheap ticket availability. This takes time but it has saved me a good amount of money.
Not always able to book twelve weeks ahead. Always check price comparisons East Coat versus West Coast when I visit my brother in Scotland. Recently decided to get Magabus into London and then train Euston to Glasgow £42.50. Coming back on the Megatrain to Birmingham for £1 plus 50p booking fee!! Then train to Oxford where my son can pick me up.
I recently travelled from Coventry to Newcastle (31/01/09)
and found I saved around £15 by booking Birmingham to Newcastle, but buying a cheap day return from Cov to B'ham on the day. The journey was exactly the same route I would have taken anyway. By a stroke of luck raileasy gave me the chance to travel 1st class that day too.
Anybody got a good tip for getting from Huddersfield to Lisbon ( Portugal ) then to Tunes (Algarve) - one way only. Few changes as possible.
Worcester to Sheffield or Leeds.
Split tickets into Worcester to Derby and Derby to Sheffield or Leeds. Today to Sheffield with railcard is £30.85 or when split £23.15 both are return tickets.