Train fares to London!!!...hahahaha...

[badmove]

Have just checked..NE UK station return to London Kings Cross..£600 in November (friday outward..Sunday return)..Am I missing something here???

How many is it for????

I think the cheaper fares come out closer to the date, at least thats what happened the last time I took a train. That was a while ago though.Maybe they have increased by that much?

2 adults, 2 kids (aged 10 and 6)
..is it not cheaper if you buy advance tickets then?

ouch!!

and how many for?? have you a rail card? ...if not get one!

and you will get a better bargain if you wait till 12 weeks before your date, that's when they release the bargain tickets, but you do have to be quick.

we once got two adults and two children from edinburgh to KingsX for £26 with a family rail card.

I always thought advance tickets were meant to be cheaper.

I'm going from Newcastle to Lincolnshire in Nov, return for £60.

badmove DEFINITELY get a rail card and register with the East Coast rail site, they WILL send you and email when the 12 week cheapies are released.

booking too far ahead will only access you the eyewateringly expensive tickets.

Is that with a family rail card?

We go newcastle to london every year with two kids- usually costs about £200 or so. With railcard. Friday is most expensive day to travel though.

I don't try to get the cheapest though and sure it cld be done for less.

Whenever I look, rail fares are ludicrous. I can't be doing with all this game-playing and timing nonsense. I stick to the car instead - it's usually cheaper, goes door-to-door (with no changes) and leaves precisely the time that I want.

OP, it is worth looking at megabus?

oh couldnt do bus/coach...kids get sick as it is..thanx all..have registerd with EastCoast mainline and will buy a railcard

But that's the point, Mutt. I don't have to plan the car at all. I don't have to worry about getting to the station. I don't have to get there ludicrously early in case I miss it. I don't have to worry about how much luggage I can carry. I can detour en route if I want to. etc. etc.

If The Powers That Be want me to take the train then it has to be easier and cheaper, not more expensive and requiring a PhD to work out the permutations. I remember hearing a while back a study where they phoned up the rail companies to ask them for the best tickets from A to B. Even their own staff couldn't get it right!

I really don't understand the psychology of the rail companies. I buy my groceries every week so I know my local supermarkets inside out, I know what is a bargain and what is a scam. I go back to them because I trust them and their product. Because I use them regularly, I have a relationship.

Every once in a blue moon, I consider taking a train. I do like the OP did - look at their prices and think "HOW MUCH!!!!!!", revert to the car and don't even contemplate thinking about the train for a very long time. I have no incentive to build a relationship. I think that their pricing strategies are counter-productive.

Going somewhere on a Friday afternoon/evening and returning on Sunday afternoon/evening will always be the most expensive times apart from travel to get to business meetings - everyone wants to go away for the weekend.

Apart from the Railcard, could you travel on different days? Also check to see if two singles is cheaper - it often is.

Pain in the backside I know, but you'll be saving yourself 12 hours of driving.

If you have to get the train, you can use Tesco's vouchers via redspottedhanky.com to buy tickets - I know it doesn't make it actually cheaper, but feels more do-able if you've got vouchers!

have you checked with the trainline?

i get your total fares at £221, without a rail card, with a family railcard it would be £115!

Badmove - depending on when in November, you may be too early.
The cheapest tickets are released c.12 weeks before travel.
Count back 12 weeks on your calendar, then keep checking.
Do get a family railcard if you haven't got one, as that will help.
If you are not going from a mainline station (ie if you have to change at Darlington or Newcastle or something), bung into Trainline the details just from Darlington-to-London, then get your connection tickets separately. Sometimes that works out cheaper.

Make sure you travel after 9.30 on a weekday, makes a huge difference. A family railcard, as others have said, will really reduce the price.

Don't use the trainline as they charge a booking fee. East coast have an online discount for tickets on their line and no booking fee. They sell tickets for other lines too.

Some routes are on megatrain which sometime does brilliant bargains

Does it really need to be this complicated to be able to afford to use the greenest form of transport?