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

[Hellotoallmyfans]

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?

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.

YANBU. Not at all. Yes, some fares are regulated, blah, blah, but they creep up by a suspicious amount each year. And in general it's just way harder to get the cheap, specific train tickets. It's £100 for a person to go any distance return now. E. G. You used to be able to get a one way, specific train London to Glasgow or Edinburgh for £20. They just don't come up any more. Trips to see friends are just starting to cost silly amounts of money. I don't want fancy new, uncomfortable trains. I want to be able to afford to go places.

To repeat, with the trains it is not always the earlier the better. You can currently buy a single from Cardiff to Crewe on 15th October for £21. For any date after that the fare goes up to £68.90 because the cheap tickets haven't been released for those dates yet. If you want to get a cheap ticket on any of those later dates you need to wait.

If you want to get the cheapest fares you have to work out how far ahead your train operator releases their advance tickets. If you book before then you'll pay over the odds.

(And yes, it is a shit system. But if you want to save money you have to work with it.)

Use Expedia for the hotel, there’s an 8% off coupon just google it. I got a room in Mayfair for £80 and it was 4 circles on trip advisor. Granted not for me but if you only need something clean and easy, there’s a LOT of cheaper options!

@Hellotoallmyfans you sound rich

I don't know when you want to go but you should be able to get these tickets much cheaper. I just went on trainsplit.com (the site splits the journey up into say Manchester to Stockport, Stockport to Milton Keynes to get you the cheapest split tickets all whilst you stay on the same train, in the same booked seats) and looked for departing tomorrow, 3 Sept after 10:30am and leaving this Sunday after 11:30am and the tickets came up at £317 for 2a, 3c all aged 5-15. I then changed the option to say you had a Family Railcard (as many PP have said this costs £30 and you can use Clubcard vouchers for this at i think 3x value of voucher) and it brought the cost down to £170 total (excl cost of family railcard): www.trainsplit.com/timetable_fares.aspx

A good hotel tip for anyone with an armed forces connection is the Victory Services Club at Marble Arch. Doubles £130, family rooms £170 including breakfast.

Haven't read through the whole thing but has anyone suggested splitmyfare? If not use that, it works out the cheapest tickets often meaning you have several individual tickets for each section of the journey but it usually works out loads cheaper overall.

I use trainline the website.

You can get a family and friends railcard for three years which is cheaper than one year.

Trawl around for a code and you sometimes get offers.

Manchester to London at that price. No, don't think so.

If you book in advance on trainline it shouldn't be anywhere near that.

Like anything else you buy, if you trawl on internet long enough and in the right places you could cut that by half.

Food being a similar example. There’s a sugar tax and talk of a tax on other ‘unhealthy’ food to encourage people to make better food choices; yet no talk of subsidies on healthy food.

Yes, use the sugar tax money to make fruit and vegetables cheaper!

To repeat, with the trains it is not always the earlier the better. You can currently buy a single from Cardiff to Crewe on 15th October for £21. For any date after that the fare goes up to £68.90 because the cheap tickets haven't been released for those dates yet. If you want to get a cheap ticket on any of those later dates you need to wait.

If you want to get the cheapest fares you have to work out how far ahead your train operator releases their advance tickets. If you book before then you'll pay over the odds.

(And yes, it is a shit system. But if you want to save money you have to work with it.)

You can generally sign up for an email alert for when the cheap tickets are released. But the times have become really varied in recent years, pre Covid too. Yes, it's shit.

Stayed at holiday inn camden for three nights two adults and it came to 400 ish.

Book through booking.com and through quidco cashback and you get 3 per cent cashback on this. Book for third time through booking.com and their loyalty scheme means you get ten per cent off booking.

Oh and also to be mentioned, our local travel shop has really good combined theatre, hotel, coach travel deals.

That would probably work out easiest and cheapest with kids.

Have you tried SplitTicketing or changing where you’re travelling from? When I visit my parents it’s significantly cheaper to book from a station one or two stops down the line, rather than the local one. Or travel late at night if you can

@clary

I've just clocked that you are paying £120 a ticket for the theatre. Maybe ignore my advice as clearly we have different ideas about decent seats. Those must be literally the most expensive there are, surely?

Depending on the show they are possibly 2nd or 3rd price range

The £90 for a family (whatever that means as families vary in size) sounds exceptionally good. My train can take less than forty minutes into London and it costs £28. Our rail service has to be one of the most expensive in the world.

Sorry, haven't read whole thread but when are you travelling? On TheTrainLine that journey for 2 adults + 2 5-15-year-olds can be done for less than £60 at weekends or less than £200 on weekdays.

For me, the £500+ for one night in a hotel is more eye-watering.

The thing is - the railways are trying to recoup some of the lost revenue as a result of lockdown (and the reluctance of workers to return to the office because they prefer working from home)
I see where the WFH WORKERS would prefer not to have to commute to any large city (not just London) but their actions have consequences such as - rail ticket price hikes, fewer trains .
I said to anyone who would listen at the start of the WFH encouragement - there would be knock on effects outside the individual circumstances,
I am sorry for those who cannot drive and have to use public transport - they will suffer most.

...and probably less with split-ticketing, as others have suggested.

If I wanted to go from London to Glasgow tomorrow 1st class it would be £782 for 2 people. I booked this journey with a £30 rail card 9 weeks ago and paid £240 1st class.

Got to book way in advance mostly.

I would definitely try to get a cheaper hotel. Maybe stay a little bit further out? A Premier Inn type or even a hostel - they often have family rooms and they won't be stuffed with kids on school trips this year. I stayed with Dd at a nice place in Hendon with an easy commute into the centre.

I travel from Manchester to London and when I went in Sept last year it was £90 I thought that was expensive then but £340!!! I would consider flying for that price. I've done the coach loads when younger and yes it is cheaper but I haven't got the patience to do it now. Especially if you're only there for the weekend. It's supposed to take 4-5 hours on a coach. It very rarely is shorter than 6-7. We have the highest train fares in Europe. I think Britain has a real problem with public transport fares. They want everyone to be greener and use public transport which is fine but if you make it more expensive than owning and driving a car.... I know which one I would do, if I could drive!

@OnceTheyDid

If I wanted to go from London to Glasgow tomorrow 1st class it would be £782 for 2 people. I booked this journey with a £30 rail card 9 weeks ago and paid £240 1st class.

Got to book way in advance mostly.

Even £240 is a ludicrously high amount. They bump up the price to eye watering levels, so they can fool you into believing you're getting a good deal, when they knock it down...

@Hellotoallmyfans YANBU

YANBU @Hellotoallmyfans The train fares are so insanely expensive now that me and DH just drive everywhere. (And so do our adult DC who have left home ...) There's MUCH more freedom, and comfort, and relaxation. You can stop when you want, and play your music to your heart's content. And you don't have to wear a naffing MASK!

Also, with a car, you have no risk of lack of seating, crowds, restricted evenings (because you have to often leave venues before the show/concert is over to get the last train,) hanging around for 'changes,' if your train doesn't go straight through. cramped seating, cancelled trains, having to wear a mask, and risk of missing your connecting train (or missing an appointment,) as the trains are often late, etc etc...

We used to get the trains a LOT when the kids were at home. Wouldn't use the shitty overpriced rail system if you paid me now tbh. It's fucking dreadful. For all the reasons I listed, and also the disgustingly high prices. Yeah there are railcards, but they don't apply to many, especially not if you have no young children, and you're not under 25. And even if you get a railcard, they don't knock a massive amount off!

And all the 'you should look for special offers at special times on special days' posts are all well and good, but many people want - and NEED - to go at a certain time and on a certain day!