Do these prices sound good for London - Edinburgh trip or should I wait?

[Wimbledonwomble]

Long weekend 19-22 October. Train tickets found today £171 return for 4 of us. 2 weeks ago same trip was £134, few days ago £190 so hard to say if will go up or down if I hang on?!?

Premier inn 3 nights city centre, family room £226, was £212 yesterday. Same dilemma as above! Book or wait?!? Arghhhhh.

All prices non refundable!

[Wimbledonwomble]

Shamelessly bumping as I really don't know what to do! I want to book now, DH wants to hang on in hope of a better deal (tight wad ) although I appreciate every £ saved is another £ to spend while we're there!

Since my last post I've learnt that, unlike most, this route goes on sale 24 weeks in advance if you travel weekdays (We are) so after deducting cost of a railcard the train tickets are £161. The premier inn (York Place) is still £226. But for how long?!?

Anyone have experience of booking such a trip?

[yearofthewoman]

Top tip, use the Fare Finder to find the cheapest tickets. www.thetrainline.com/farefinder/

The trainline seems to hide it, no idea why, it's a great tool!

BUT - it doesn't go to October as the cheap tickets haven't been released yet.

I think they're released about 12 weeks before the date. You would need to double check that though.

Also sign up for offers with Virgin Trains and East Coast. We've done London to Edinburgh for £80 first class return before, that was lovely!

[yearofthewoman]

Look at flights also.

[yearofthewoman]

Are those prices including 2 DC?

[yearofthewoman]

Oh, sorry, I missed your 24 weeks info!

[yearofthewoman]

If you book two singles (so train times not flexible) you can do it for £145

[yearofthewoman]

That's for all of you with a FF railcard.

[Wimbledonwomble]

Thank you but that's exactly what i've been doing. It's actually £175 when you add £30 cost of railcard. I've been looking at the 9am train & 12.30 back which is £131 + £30 railcard, so £161. Still there this morning - jump or wait, that is the question ?!

[MrsPatmore]

Hide your cookies for the Premier Inn or do private browsing. If you are searching for the same hotel and dates you leave a 'trail' which shows you are keen and the price gets hoiked up!

[Brown76]

That seems like a good price. I paid £200 booking 12 weeks before for last August (although that might have been as it was school holidays)

[foobio]

If the train fare is an advance fare for a fixed time ticket, then the fare will only go up.*

*If you can't see any advance tickets available for your train company then they might not have been released yet, they usually come out 12 weeks before travel but this does vary by company. The sooner you book these, the cheaper they will be.

If it is a flexible off peak / peak ticket (which may have a specific train noted for a seat reservation, but is still flexible) then the price will stay the same.

[whatashower]

I guess people are reluctant to come off the fence with this but hope you have booked this morning 😀 i would simply say that we travel up and down all the time and tend to have to book about a week before. We expect to pay around £50 single sometimes less, but often there is very limited availability at that price around the weekend. The current price is about £20 each way per person give or take the railcard cost. Its unlikely to get less than that if the cheapest seats have already been released which it sounds like they have given the trip cost less a fortnight ago. So I would book, its a fair deal, you are unlikely to save much more and it could end up costing you far more if you have to travel on specific dates. Enjoy your break!

[Wimbledonwomble]

All booked now - thank you all for your help 😊