Travel plans for the northern FNRttC

[Aperitif]

Don't break your tickets Stu - you made a postman work hard to get those to your front door at great expense.

 

[StuAff]

Don't break your tickets Stu - you made a postman work hard to get those to your front door at great expense.

Same to you

 

[mcshroom]

How do you book bikes onto trains? I'm looking at coming up from Rotherham on the Friday for this ride but Cross country say I need to book a bike reservation and I can't see how

 

[Aperitif]

There should be a drop down box somewhere 'along the line' mcshroom...try going through the booking process - just pull out if you can't see a bike reservation check box / circle.

 

[mcshroom]

Thanks Aperitif.

I couldn't find any on the crosscountry site, but East Coast site one was very obvious.I've never booked onto a train before (no booking on my line anyway) I was worried I'd have to go to the station. Trying to explain to the ticket desk in Whitehaven that I wanted ticket from Rotherham to York would be a little tricky )

 

[mike e]

Don't forget all, you can book any journey with any operator, as someone on here has already mentioned I think (using Southern to book London to York?)

East Coast is very good and allows you to book your bike at the same time as your rail ticket, it can be a bit slow and suffers from a few crashes from time to time but bear with it and you should be ok.

Some points to note:-

1) Book a return journey as 2 singles will work out a lot cheaper
2) Opt for fastrack ticket collection were you collect your tickets from the machine at most UK stations, I once waited for some posted tickets which never turned up and ended up not making the journey and been unable to claim as the refund cost would have gazumped the ticket cost.

Hull Trains are also very good but you will have to speak to someone in their sales office to book your bike so you might as well book rail travel and bike at the same time. Their office is in Plymouth, Devon by the way and not Bangalore, which is nice...(as you can understand them)

www.eastcoast.co.uk
www.hulltrains.co.uk

Some people have asked about the return journey and looking online tonight there are plenty of trains leaving Cleethorpes Sat 19th June to Kings Cross, usually with one change at Doncaster - 8 trains between 05:18 and 11:13 single fares between £16.45 and £22.45, alternatively why not prolong the enjoyment / agony of your stay oop north and ride 35 miles back across the Humber Bridge and enjoy a personal guided tour of the mighty city of Hull by yours truly before catching a train home in the afternoon. Approx 3 trains an hour Hull to London (most change Doncaster as well) single fares from £10.00 to £18.70...

 

[theclaud]

Ignore what I just said!

 

[theclaud]

Right - hot tip (correct at this attempt) from a train nerd. Often you can get cheaper tickets by booking for a longer journey and travelling short. This is because they don't generally give good discounts on the sort of journeys people might do as a day return. I shall be going back to York on the Saturday (any takers for a York booze-up?). If I try to book a Cleethorpes to York ticket, the cheapest option is a £26.50 single. If, however, I pretend I'm going all the way to Darlington, the price (barmily) drops to £11 for an internet advance. Travelling short is (absurdly) technically against the rules, but there we are. The one proviso, of course, is that you have to make sure that the train actually stops at your real as well as your ostensible destination - it's easy via East Coast as they give final destinations and there's also a check-box to reveal all the stops en route...

 

[Aperitif]

any takers for a York booze-up?

Would love to but I have to be 'at work' in the late afternoon for a couple of hours. I've heard a lot about york ie bars...

 

[redjedi]

Another jaunt up north should really mean another visit to see the family in Lincoln.

Not sure which way round to do it. Stop on the way up, or perhaps ride down to Lincoln from Cleethorpes, have a bite to eat and a dozen coffees before catching the train home.

Or skip it all together and go the direct route both ways, but they won't be pleased if they find out I've been oop north without visiting

 

[Aperitif]

You'll probably have found another 'birthday' or some other excuse by then Luke...

 

[rich p]

Some points to note:-

1) Book a return journey as 2 singles will work out a lot cheaper
QUOTE]

Does that make sense?

 

[StuAff]

Some points to note:-

1) Book a return journey as 2 singles will work out a lot cheaper
QUOTE]

Does that make sense?

In the genius system that is rail pricing, yes. Cheaper advance fares are only available on singles. If you're buying at shorter notice and want/need flexibility you're often better off going for a regular return ticket. But for absolute lowest fares long distance, two advance singles. The whole system is nuts- a day return to London from Pompey is about 10p more than the single. If I was willing/able to go the long way round and use only Southern services, I could save a fiver a time on the regular South West Trains fare. And for FNRs to Southend and Whitstable it's cheaper for me to buy a return all the way there and 'waste' part of the ticket than other options.

 

[Arch]

Some points to note:-

1) Book a return journey as 2 singles will work out a lot cheaper
QUOTE]

Does that make sense?

More sense than your quote attempt...

Yes, I always get two singles when I go to my sister's, often a few quid cheaper...

I can confirm that York has bars, although in York, a Bar is the gateway in the walls. 'Gates' like Coppergate, confusingly, are streets.

But we have do pubs and restaurants galore...

 

[rich p]

Okay!

Apropos of nothing, today at Wickes. I needed a small amount of white eggshell.
750ml was £8.99 and 2.5lt was £9.99.