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Btline
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« on: August 03, 2011, 15:17:10 » |
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Actually - could someone please tell me whether split ticketing could work on this route? Feel free to start at Banbury and dump me at Darlington if it makes it a lot cheaper. [Also - mods: move to "Fare's fare if you want]
I have spent hours trying to look up fares so could do with some help. Never been any good at splitting.
The thing is, several late Friday night trains on XC▸ are actually quite quiet - i.e. to make 2nd class travel just about bearable. And yet no cheap advances are available on Fridays after noon. Madness. It ends up cheaper me getting a Saver, and then I can travel at 5pm (seat reserved, so it doesn't matter it's rush hour!).
The whacking up of XC 1st advances is worrying though - if this is the norm, I'll definitely be using less of XC! Even when the fares were cheap I often had a carriage to myself! (bar the guard and CH)
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ChrisB
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« Reply #1 on: August 03, 2011, 15:33:25 » |
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You need to give us a date....
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JayMac
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« Reply #2 on: August 03, 2011, 15:59:13 » |
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Btline. If you give us the dates you are travelling, out and back, a rough idea of the times of day you'd like to travel and whether you hold a railcard then I can endeavour to look up fares and provide you with some options.
Oh, and just to confirm, it is Oxford-Durham you are wanting advice on?
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"A clear conscience laughs at a false accusation."
"Treat everyone the same until you find out they're an idiot."
"Moral indignation is a technique used to endow the idiot with dignity."
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ChrisB
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« Reply #3 on: August 03, 2011, 16:12:43 » |
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Banbury - Durham, I think.
He needs to say whether he'll travel as long as it takes too....the cheapest way may very well take him via Chiltern, LM▸ & TPE▸ ?....but its a long way round
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Worcester_Passenger
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« Reply #4 on: August 03, 2011, 16:29:12 » |
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My experience (with Worcester - Newcastle) is that splitting doesn't give any gains on this route.
The one thing that is worth doing is to always book across Birmingham, so as to get the better validities. Birmingham - Newcastle is ^178 on an open Anytime Standard return, but ^92.70 on a Saver Offpeak Return - but the time restriction is for travel at 09:30 or later.
Meanwhile, the same prices for Worcester - Newcastle are ^202 and ^103.10 respectively. But the time restriction is 05:00 or later. Presumably the trains are very crowded before 05:00. Non-existent, but very crowded.
Moral - if you're travelling from Birmingham, book from further south. Same sort of thing probably applies coming from Oxford.
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ChrisB
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« Reply #5 on: August 03, 2011, 16:44:38 » |
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Indeed so - bevause they think you're commuting into Birmingham, but book through & you'd be a fool to commute that distance, therefore rules like that are more relaxed.
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Btline
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« Reply #6 on: August 03, 2011, 18:24:51 » |
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Sorry - I'll be more specific. Durham to Oxford: October 21 - travel after 5.30pm Oxford to Durham October 23 - travel anytime - but the earlier the better Have a railcard and Oyster▸ . Don't mind changing/walking. Will consider 1st Class if possible, as I'd like to be able to work. But price is key. Cheers - that was a remarkably calm post, seeing as I've been on the phone to BT...  |
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Mookiemoo
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« Reply #7 on: August 03, 2011, 18:57:22 » |
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Sorry - I'll be more specific. Durham to Oxford: October 21 - travel after 5.30pm Oxford to Durham October 23 - travel anytime - but the earlier the better Have a railcard and Oyster▸ . Don't mind changing/walking. Will consider 1st Class if possible, as I'd like to be able to work. But price is key. Cheers - that was a remarkably calm post, seeing as I've been on the phone to BT... Well since the advance tickets won't be released yet yoou are being a bit premature MODIFIED: Note to self ITS AUGUST ALREADY |
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Ditched former sig - now I need to think of something amusing - brain hurts -I'll steal from the master himself - Einstein:
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."
"Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love"
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ChrisB
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« Reply #8 on: August 03, 2011, 19:07:08 » |
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Actually, I think you are right - for instance, FGW▸ are only open for Advances to 19 October....wait a week or so....
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bobm
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« Reply #9 on: August 03, 2011, 20:23:07 » |
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It would be good if FGW▸ offered an email alert when new advance fares become available. There is a limit to how many times you can check the front page of the website a day....
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Btline
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« Reply #10 on: August 03, 2011, 23:50:50 » |
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Actually, I may look at going via London to try EC's new 1st class...
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JayMac
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« Reply #11 on: August 04, 2011, 00:37:06 » |
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AP fares from Oxford - London and London - Durham are yet to be released for the dates you require. CrossCountry are showing bookings available to 23rd October, but I'll bet that you can beat their fares by splitting at London. I'll keep an eye on the booking horizons and post what I think are the best options once APs becomes available for travel via London.
You can of course go ahead and book from Oxford - Durham with CrossCountry, but I'm fairly sure there'll be better fares (price and/or comfort) via London.
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"A clear conscience laughs at a false accusation."
"Treat everyone the same until you find out they're an idiot."
"Moral indignation is a technique used to endow the idiot with dignity."
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thetrout
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« Reply #12 on: August 04, 2011, 10:09:05 » |
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It would be good if FGW▸ offered an email alert when new advance fares become available. There is a limit to how many times you can check the front page of the website a day....
That could potentially be very annoying. Receiving an e-mail alert every day?! Perhaps every week would be better option. As someone who works in IT, sending out mass e-mails on a daily basis is an incredibly fast way to get your e-mail servers blacklisted... Very bad news!  |
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ChrisB
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« Reply #13 on: August 04, 2011, 10:10:20 » |
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That wouldn't happen - Advance sales are opened by the week - so generally you would get one a week.
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Btline
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« Reply #14 on: August 04, 2011, 16:39:29 » |
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On XC▸ I entered my dates and they emailed a few days ago. Perhaps if all TOCs▸ did this... AP fares from Oxford - London and London - Durham are yet to be released for the dates you require. CrossCountry are showing bookings available to 23rd October, but I'll bet that you can beat their fares by splitting at London. I'll keep an eye on the booking horizons and post what I think are the best options once APs becomes available for travel via London.
You can of course go ahead and book from Oxford - Durham with CrossCountry, but I'm fairly sure there'll be better fares (price and/or comfort) via London.
Cheers! Hopefully they'll still offer 10% off... |
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