Flabbergasted at cost of train tickets from London to Manchester!

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

Is there some sort of trick? I need to be in Manchester for about 11am on a weekday. Didn't realise I'd have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it .

Have a look here OP - Trainline prices for the end of March.

Fly from Southend - only £30 I think. Assuming they still run that route....

or try something like getting a ticket to Stoke or crewe then getting another ticket for the ongoing journey. I've travelled to Crewe for as little as £9.

If you do fly it's straightforward to get into Manchester the metrolink goes to the centre from airport cost of 4.80 after 9.30 or 7.00 before. If it is Manchester university your visiting it's a short walk from centre. If it's Salford the train goes straight there get off at Salford crescent.

One of the Manchester Universities (Metropolitan I think) is a couple of minutes walk from Oxford Road station.

Also, I think if you get a train ticket to 'Manchester' you can change at any of the city centre stations if the train from London doesn't take you to the right one, all on the same ticket.

The trick is booking in advance, they usually release train timetables 3 months in advance, you want to be buying your ticket for 7+ weeks away.

This - or at least some point in advance the sonner the better.

I finally got through to DH when even with family railcard turning up on the day to get from us to his parents was over £300.

If you are going in the week
uk.megabus.com/ might be worth a look.

try splitting it. London to Stoke - Stoke to Manchester. Different combinations along those lines can often be cheaper if you're willing to spend half an hour playing around.

Cambridge to London by train one day travel card with all zones underground and buses is over £35 off peak. Might be a bit less for Liverpool St but it takes an eternity to get there.

It's the London effect as 50 min journey in opp direction to Kings Lynn is about £12

@mnahmnah we travel 2 adults 2 kids to London from an hour or so north from Manchester. Booking in advance with a family and friends railcard it's around £115. Sometimes less than 100.

You can set reminders on trainline for tickets going on sale 13 weeks prior to travel when they are at their cheapest.

I've done a quick search for a weekend in May and can find tickets from Warrington to London return for 2 adults and 2 children for 99.00

Not that that helps the OP

If you are going in the week
uk.megabus.com/ might be worth a look.
I got the mega bus to London a couple of years ago and it was the worst travel experience I've had.
I would rather walk from Preston than do that again!!
Admittedly it was cheap but my God, never again, and I'm used to roughing it!

None of the Megabuses run at the time that the OP needs though - there's one that goes through the night, or one that gets there early afternoon, both take 5-6 hours.

National Express might be slightly quicker/more comfortable/better timings.

We regularly travel London to Stoke and often it works out cheaper to split the ticket at Milton Keynes. DD has a Young Persons Railcard and the rest of us have Family & Friends though. There is also a Two Together Railcard.

Your problem will be the time of day you are travelling. It mioght even be worth getting a cheap Travelodge and travelling up the night before in off peak.

It's often cheaper to book a package of a hotel and rail and sometimes a show thrown in.

26th march, go up evening, spend the night in a hotel, go to the uni/college then train home - £120 - 150pp

The trainline give a day return for about £160

www.superbreak.com/BasketBooking/AccoRail/SearchResults/Sort?Page=1&search=1&sortBy=Price&includeRail=

I got a great deal a fair while ago using a ticket splitting website. It is often cheaper to buy a ticket from A=>B and then B=>C than it is A=>C. I didn't have to change train at all (sat in the same seat the whole way), simply had two tickets to cover my whole journey instead of one.

Definitely worth looking at, as are railcards. There's one that gives a discount for two people travelling together. They can be a saving even on one rail fare.