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Original poster

Frigging hell! The price of train tickets to London!!

358 replies

Hellotoallmyfans · 02/09/2021 12:28

Why have train tickets become so expensive? (I don't use public transport usually so not very aware of fluctuating prices)

Every couple of years or so I book for us to go to London as a family (2 adults, 3 dcs) to go see a show and take in some sights - the theatre tickets were £600(!) but I was expecting that as I know that's what it costs for decent seats, ditto the hotel which is £500 for two rooms for one night. But what I wasn't expecting was to then have to pay another £340 on top for train tickets from Manchester to get there! Last time we went, before covid, the train was £90 for a family ticket! There doesn't seem to be any options for family tickets and all the websites I've looked at are showing the same price.

I don't know what I'm looking for here, just having a moan really! Or maybe the name of a secret website that does cheap train tickets? Grin

Everything is so bloody expensive isn't it? I guess I will have to suck it up and pay as I've booked the theatre tickets now which I'm sure will non-refundable. It's just gutting that I am looking at close to a grand just to get there and stay for one night. We could literally have flights/hotel for a week in Europe for that! Not taking into account the theatre tickets and the £££+ we will probably end up spending on food/drink and other attractions (wanted to maybe do a boat ride and some museums).

It's going to be at least £2k+ spent on one night in London! I don't know if it's even worth it? Grrr.

OP posts:
LoisLane66 · 03/09/2021 20:16

You can get a FAMILY RAILCARD. Railcards save 1/3 off fares.

stepmad · 03/09/2021 20:20

I feel you pain booked a long weekend back in August not going until mid October looked into rail fares it was three hundred return .Coach twenty four pounds return guess what option is have chosen

LoisLane66 · 03/09/2021 20:26

About 5hrs 30 minutes cist for family of 4, that is, 2 adults + 2 children for a total of £27.60 RETURN on the first weekend in October. Out on Friday from Chorlton bus station Manchester (there are other pick up points in Manchester)
Return on Sunday.
That price is even cheaper if you had a coach card (like a Railcard)
There is a comfort stop on the way, snacks and drinks available on some coaches and toilets on all of them.
I had to make up the dates to get a price.

Southwest12 · 03/09/2021 20:40

Advance tickets have been released closer and closer to the date since COVID started. Last time I travelled with Avanti it was a weekend and the advance tickets weren't available until the week before.

LoisLane66 · 03/09/2021 20:40

Years ( decades) ago I used to get the overnight coach to London with my then 4 children 😲😁 and we'd pay £12 to the driver but he'd give me £6 back and no ticket. If an inspector was due to get on board at some stage he'd be warned beforehand and issue a ticket and take back the £6 he gave me.
When we arrived at Victoria we'd go to the bathrooms which were spotless and a friendly lady gave out freshly laundered towels (always gave us about 6) and we'd go to a warm bathroom and all the children would have a good hot bath etc and then we'd go for breakfast to a nearby cafe.
We got to know her very well as we did the journey once a week.and she wouldn't charge for the children.
When she retired I gave her a cheque and the children drew cards for her.
Great times.

LoisLane66 · 03/09/2021 20:42

Husband worked offshore so I did lots of trips with just me and children. I didn't want to drive that distance.

Crowtooyo · 03/09/2021 20:45

I agree. I was meant to book train tickets the other day for a journey in a few weeks but it slipped my mind. Just went to book them and it's costing double than quoted 6 days ago. So annoyed. I'll have to drive now which I didn't want to do but I'm not paying double!

itsgettingwierd · 03/09/2021 20:46

Train tickets have gone up full stop!

I booked a day for ds and I at an outdoor museum 34 miles away in the summer.

We live 10 minutes walk from our station and there is one at the museum. It's rural.

I'm always thinking of climate etc so looked at train tickets to pre book.

£60 return for us both.

It was a 45 minute drive each way (train twice the time) and about £10 in diesel.

I'd have happily paid £20/25 because going on the train adds to the joy of a day out.

But I couldn't justify 6 times the amount and a twice as long journey each way!

Coasterfan · 03/09/2021 20:51

We went in the summer holidays, just for the day, it was £200 for 3 of us on the train from Nottingham so I drove, parked at one of the outer tube stations, Stanmore?? £6 all day parking and £30 petrol no way was I paying the train cost. The tube was £28 for three of us all day .

linsey2581 · 03/09/2021 20:54

The secret to getting cheap train tickets is this. Train tickets go on sale 12 weeks in advance but if you buy your tickets around the 10 weeks in advance of your travel you can get them for dirt cheap also helps if you have a railcard or split the tickets between stations. I’ve just managed to book my parents tickets to London from Dundee for £112 return, that’s only £56 per person return! Absolute bargain!!!

talkingtoclarry · 03/09/2021 20:58

We went to London last week for three days/two nights. Me, DP and DS. The Avanti family ticket from Manc Piccadilly to Euston was £124 but it was at 6.34am! Later tickets were much much more expensive.
We stayed in the Premier Inn Southwark Syation which was so handy. £200 for a family room, inc breakfast. Obviously wouldn’t work with a bigger family tho, I can see the prices would br much more - even the budget options.
Having stayed near Euston, Camden, Kensington and Shoreditch in the past, I think Southwark was much more convenient. We went everywhere using the tube, buses or river bus.

BigWhooper · 03/09/2021 21:00

That is an insane amount of money and ya definitely nbu to be shocked at it.

I don't know that it's worse since pandemic though : train prices are capricious and have been for years. In fact public transport in the UK is notorious for its opaque pricing and high cost. I used to work with international students and they often communicated this to me, also that it is a subject of discussion among young international travellers. These are people with money, don't forget (the UK doesn't attract budget travellers/students) but they are put off by how difficult and expensive it is to get about here because of our patchy transport system. Really with that and Covid and Brexit I'm unsurprised that your average Chinese upper middle class family is having second thoughts about sending their kids here for an education.

Againstmachine · 03/09/2021 21:03

They train tickets are cheapst part off the insane day out. If yyou willing to pay rest of price pay it for train tickets.

Jem57 · 03/09/2021 21:14

I booked 2 weeks in Pefkos Rhodes Greece for 2 people with flights and transfers for £970 4.5 star rating on Trip Advisor,no way would I pay that for a night in London🙈

emlouwat · 03/09/2021 21:26

I get the coach from bham to London Victoria. £9 RETURN!

BigWhooper · 03/09/2021 21:45

Yes but it takes five fucking days.

Morgysmum · 03/09/2021 21:49

Definitely worth getting a friends and family rail card. We have one, but don't have a car, so we use the train a bit, but not far to London, as its expensive to go to London, without us having to pay for accommodation.
But train travel is expensive, I am going to Glasgow, even booking more than 6 months, its still £120 just for me. It works out cheaper ti fly, so not better for the environment. I am going to get a bus, yes it's a long journey, but a lot cheaper than the train. They are supposed to be making train travel better, so more people would use it. But with them putting the price of season tickets up, people are turning off using the train.

Pigwig10 · 03/09/2021 21:59

We wanted to go to London, see the sights etc, however, the train ticket prices were ridiculous. We are a family of 5. I don’t know how to make it cheaper???

BlueMongoose · 03/09/2021 22:45

@HealthAnxietyWorry

Where are you travelling from? I’ve been to London a couple of times in the past month and my train ticket has no more than £40 and I’m 2hours away from London.

My colleague travels to London as herself, husband and 4 children and manages to get tickets for all of them for less than £100.

Coach may be cheaper for you, or could you perhaps drive to a nearer train station to London and get cheaper tickets from there?

It depends on where you live, and whether you can book in advance. Where I used to live, 100 miles, an hour and a half minimum, no changes, about 60 quid to get into London of peak but before 12am, down to 40 if I booked ahead. Where I live now, about 200 miles, close to £200, takes four to five hours, can't get in before noon of course, at least one one change, local link so unreliable I'd almost certainly miss the connection, no cheap book ahead tickets that I have found at all. A family member's place, over 100 miles, costs less than where I lived before. It's a complete lottery.
BlueMongoose · 03/09/2021 22:47

(from here it would be cheaper for two of us to drive, park, stay overnight, and have dinner and a night at the theatre than do it in one day by train)

BigWhooper · 03/09/2021 22:59

Definitely a lottery. I can get to London really cheap as it goes, most of the time. But a ticket to where my parents live 60 miles away costs £45 and there aren't any savings booking in advance. None at all. I've tried splitting tickets at every stop along the way, booking a week before, a month before, two three months before, it's the same price regardless. That's just for one adult.

windysocks · 03/09/2021 23:28

Drive to an out of zone premier inn to stay and park as long as near a direct train/tube

windysocks · 03/09/2021 23:29

@Jem57

I booked 2 weeks in Pefkos Rhodes Greece for 2 people with flights and transfers for £970 4.5 star rating on Trip Advisor,no way would I pay that for a night in London🙈
Love Pefkos! Have a fab time
Ineke · 04/09/2021 02:16

Somehow or other my dc manages to get very cheap tickets, sometimes first class even as are cheaper than ordinary ones.She goes on train line and hunts for last minute bargains or even not last minute. She also came from Manchester to Canterbury for less than £30, first class, this was two years ago though. But usually last minute so maybe wouldn’t suit you, also family booking not so easy to pick up unreserved seats. Def worth getting a family railcard as it takes a third off the cost.

CalamityJaneDoe · 04/09/2021 02:38

@GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing

Standard train tickets to Oxenholme, Lake District from London this month have cost me what first class tickets (advance) cost me two years ago.

I looked for advance tickets months ahead but could get anything reasonably priced.

You could get the train to grange instead, that always seems cheaper, and get the X6 bus from the bus stop outside the station to get to Kendal.