Great Western Railway Ticket Sale is now on - 300,000 cheap tickets available

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From my e-mail, from Great Western Railway:

Hi Chris,   

The Great Western Railway Sale is now on. So, whether you're travelling to London, Devon, Bristol or anywhere across the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) network, make sure you get the best deal going.
 
We're offering a huge discount on 300,000* tickets, meaning you can go further with fares from just ^5*. Book before 29 April 2016 for travel between 10 May and 8 July 2016*.

* Terms and Conditions

The 300,000 total seats for the promotion is valid as of the beginning of the sale at 00:00 on 13 April 2016.

[JayMac]

Took 'advantage' of this offer thinking 2 adult Seat Sale fares of ^10 each, each way, Bristol TM^▸ (Train Manager, or Ticket Machine, or Temple Meads (Bristol), depending on context) to Paddington would be the best deal for my nephew and I to get to England v Portugal at Wembley on June 2nd, returning June 3rd.

Turns out I would have been better off booking one adult with my Railcard and one child.

Ho hum. Even a fares 'expert' gets it wrong sometimes. 

[Thatcham Crossing]

I needed to get the 2 younger (albeit adult fare) members of my household home by rail from a family holiday in West Cornwall at the upcoming May half-term.

Got them single St.Erth to Thatcham (via Reading turnback) for ^23 each, reduced with Railcard to around ^15 ....good value.

[Surrey 455]

I've taken advantage of this offer. ^18 each way Paddington to Penzance in May. It's my first time there and my first visit to Cornwall since I was a child in the 70's. I have a vague memory of going to Newquay by Merrymaker train, sitting on the beach and opening the wicker basket full of homing pigeons that we'd brought with us. Only a few hours later it was time to go back to the station. I think all or all but one of the pigeons arrived back in my dads uncles pigeon loft.

I remember reading some time ago that the HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units))'s had power sockets I could use. Are they still there and individual to each seat? I know my tablet will run out of charge on a 5 hour+ journey.

[JayMac]

At tables of four there are double sockets but they are close to the table so some chargers (particularly Apple) wont plug in. In 1st Class the sockets have been rotated through 90 degrees to obviate this problem.



In the airline seats in Standard Class there is a single socket between the seat backs in front of you, down at shin level. This one should take most all plugs.

[Surrey 455]

In the airline seats in Standard Class there is a single socket between the seat backs in front of you, down at shin level. This one should take most all plugs.

So one socket between 2 people eh? I'll just have to hope whoever sits next to me doesn't want to use it as well. Oh well sleep is also an option.

[JayMac]

Take along a two way adapter and share!

[ChrisB]

Or you can get a 6way USB adapter & charge items to youir hearts content....one plug, 6 USB sockets!

[Brucey]

Or you can get a 6way USB adapter & charge items to youir hearts content....one plug, 6 USB sockets!

But only for items that can charge off a USB cable, unlike the MacBook charger in bignosemac's earlier photo.

The MacBook charger alignment issue isn't just a problem on trains.  I had the same issue earlier this year while teaching a class in Glasgow: the plug socket was too close to the desk underneath!  Just managed to get through the presentation before the battery ran out.  I now carry the full length cable, which has a "normal" plug attached to a wire.