Train between London and York

[FredAstaireAteMyHamSandwich]

I want to go and see a friend who lives in York, and I live in London. Haven’t been on a long distance train journey in years. I will be travelling In early October, midweek as I imagine it will be cheaper. My times are completely flexible, maybe leaving and returning around lunchTime. Staying for a couple of nights.
Does anybody have any tips for cheap fares please? Is it advantageous to book a long time in advance? I understand you can buy split tickets; would you be able to stay in the same seat?
Thanks to anyone who can help.

Not sure what prices are like since COVID. I’ve always booked through Trainline for York to London. Loads of regular trains and often a 2 hour journey or less. You can book up to 3 months in advance. I often stalk the site as prices and availability change on a day to day basis.

You can buy a friends and family rail way card if you are travelling with a chid. Or if your under 30 you can buy a similar one if you are travelling alone and there’s others too.

I don't think you'll need split tickets on that route. I've done it before & you can usually get tickets for about £20-30 each way a couple of weeks in advance if you go out after 9am

I have a two together card, but DH won’t be with me. I’m 53 so under 30 card is way in the distance. I just have a faint recall that some train companies released tickets either a month before, or a few days before, at a discount, but maybe I was dreaming!

Ahhh ok. I know LNER was doing. NHS discount with a blue light card. If you know anybody. If you b in advance you should get an ok price.

Look at the trainline or national rail enquiries. You may find 'advance singles' which are probably the discounted tickets you mean - I don't know if they're still doing those post-lockdown. they are only valid on the specified train, so you can't decide to leave earlier/stay later once youve booked them.
Try 'raileasy ' for the split ticketing you mention - again, not sure if they're still operating, but they search for all the little quirks in the ticketing system & can save you money overall, but again, you're often restricted to a timed train.

Split ticketing isn't changing trains - it's getting say a ticket from London to Doncaster then Doncaster to York but staying on the same train. Often cheaper than London to York!

I think booking a month ahead is the cheapest, and travel off peak out, and late morning back. The most expensive tickets are the ones where someone can feasible travel from London to a meeting and then back again the same day.

Trainline I think does split ticketing now automatically.

It's £37 return

ticketysplit.trainsplit.com/timetable_fares.aspx

Book direct with LNER, not one of the agents that will charge a fee. You can collect your tickets at the station.

The cheap advance tickets have already been released for early October. As above, the cheapest price is £37 return.

www.lner.co.uk/

(You're correct that travelling midweek is cheapest.)

I used to book through trainline but now I find joining a train operator's email list and pounce when they release cheap tickets is best. Also, look for the really off peak ones like 2pm on a Tuesday when there isn't much demand (though NR isn't in much demand altogether at the moment). If you have etickets on your phone you can normally avoid most fees though I don't know if LNER have booking fees regardless (my pet peeve). Avoid Half Term, the last week on October. Good luck!

I think you have to book in advance now, to ensure Covid 19 social distancing.

Have a lovely time!

Yes train line best fare finder. Then use the lner website to book the train which is cheapest. As train line charge a bit extra.

Pick your time too - especially coming back as people commute York - London.

Lner seem to be releasing tickets at pretty short notice at the moment so keep checking. The website does not seem to be maintained very well at the moment either. Book direct with them though - no fees and e-tickets.

Thank you everybody!