Bonkers Train Fare

[MossCommuter]

I think I'll take the £3.80 one because the £65 one involves a walk across Warrington Town centre from Central to Bank Quay.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

I can't see it properly, but yes, that would make sense.

I sometimes see the fares being asked for journeys, particularly first class ones, and I just have to wonder who on earth actually buys them??

 

[Hacienda71]

You could get a taxi from Irlam to Wigan for less than £65

 

[martint235]

Try to book a fare on Virgin on a Sunday from Preston to London and most of the time it is cheaper to travel first class than standard. That's bonkers pricing

 

[ohnovino]

I sometimes see the fares being asked for journeys, particularly first class ones, and I just have to wonder who on earth actually buys them??

People who can reclaim the cost on expenses, no questions asked.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Try to book a fare on Virgin on a Sunday from Preston to London and most of the time it is cheaper to travel first class than standard. That's bonkers pricing

The £15 First class upgrade? Yes, that is rather handy at times!

People who can reclaim the cost on expenses, no questions asked.

Thought so, but, still, it does make you wonder.

 

[subaqua]

The £15 First class upgrade? Yes, that is rather handy at times!



Thought so, but, still, it does make you wonder.

not even the £15 upgrade.

I have been able to travel from London to Chester( Return and not use the return journey) in 1st class for less than a single in cattle. just by booking a few weeks in advance. only because all the cheaprate cattle class tickets have been sold and people don't think 1st class is affordable.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

not even the £15 upgrade.

I have been able to travel from London to Chester( Return and not use the return journey) in 1st class for less than a single in cattle. just by booking a few weeks in advance. only because all the cheaprate cattle class tickets have been sold and people don't think 1st class is affordable.

Ah, I like your thinking!

 

[martint235]

Yep as subaqua says at the actual point of booking your ticket the Virgin website will show a price cheaper in first than in standard. For example, I'm travelling from Preston to London on the 10th June. First class = £50.50, Standard class that will be £77.90. These are the cheapest fares available in each category but there are obviously differences in that the First class fare is for that particular train.

 

[MontyVeda]

I often check train times on that website from Lancaster to Bentham in North Yorkshire... it's about £7 and the journey takes 40-50 minutes.. however at the bottom of the listings is often this route; Lancaster-Manchester, Manchester-Leeds, Leeds-Skipton, Skipton-Bentham, Duration: 13hrs, Cost, 60 odd quid... that's one hell of a trip to go 14 miles!!!

 

[philk56]

I'm going up to Chester for the day next week from London. Ended up booking a train the evening before and a decent hotel room for the night for less than the cost of a ticket in the morning. And I can lie in in the morning rather than have the privilege of getting up at 5 in the morning to make the train!

 

[Brains]

A few weeks ago I tried to book a return from London to Cornwall.
It's a regular trip and although you never get quoted the same price twice I know the range.
I tried on line, but it kept coming up with silly figures
So I eventually phoned up and spoke to a nice lad in a Scottish call centre who confirmed that the cost was indeed £280, which is slightly more than a pound a mile.
I advised him that at that price I could get a better deal from a black taxi cab.
We ended up driving down, and bought back 3 additional people who had also been put off by the cost of the rail fair.

My Sister being a student and having a bit more time also got told the same cost, she then turned up at Waterloo Station and booked a series of tickets from London to Reading to Bristol to Exeter to Plymouth to Bodmin and got the lot for £28! It was the same train all the way, and the one we would have been on.

The reason for the cost hike was that tickets are allocated in quotas, some for on line sale, some for station sale some for phone call sale. By booking individual tickets she got around the quota allocations.

 

[ufkacbln]

Also delete your cookies!

Some sites have (allegedly) used the cookies to "fix" the price and when you log back in retain these. You do not see reductions or offers.

 

[ColinJ]

Something odd was going on yesterday. I went on the National Rail Enquiries site and looked up the price of a single from Hebden Bridge to Coventry. I was quoted over £50, a price which I was not willing to pay. I went back on later and did the same search again and that time it came up with £23.10 so I then went to RedSpottedHanky and booked it for £20!

(That's me set up for totallyfixed's June 4th Rutland forum ride! I only needed a single ticket because I'm riding home over 2 days with an overnight stop at my niece's house in Nottingham.)

 

[ufkacbln]

I am off to Harrogate, and fares range from £80 (two singles) to over £300 depending upon the trains I catch!

I am so glad that fares were simplified form the bad old days when you used to have a standard fare for a route!