Is there any way I can buy train tickets more than 12 weeks in advance?

[pharmachameleon]

I'm losing the plot here so would love advice! My DH and DS are going to the Goodwood festival of speed in July and are looking at travel. Flights from Glasgow to Southampton are working out at around £560. They would love to go by train but looks as if they can't buy a ticket more than 12 weeks in advance which is a PITA! Am I missing something? They are keen to get travel booked sooner rather than later so don't want to wait until May to see about train tickets. Help!

Yeah. They are really good.
I've just put in one adult and 1 child into Trainline, just a random date plus a return 2 days later Glasgow to London
Without Railcard £233
With Railcard £132

@Jettyspaghetti thanks so much-I've said to DH. I think we'll get that Railcard anyway as often travel on the train with DS

Good luck with Avanti - they're so rubbish that for the last 6 months or so we've paid on average less than half price for travel due to the number of refunds due to late or cancelled trains.

@MistyMountainTop bloody hell! That is rubbish!

You can get a railcard with Tesco Clubcard points if you have those, I just got one for DH to apply for. It's £15 points for £30 railcard.

It might have been mentioned, but there is always national express. Just a random dates but looks like you can book for Jul already.
https://book.nationalexpress.com/coach/#/choose-journey?journeyType=return&departureStopId=67157&destinationStopId=64186&departureDate=15%2F05%2F2024&departArrive=DepartAfter&outboundTime=05:00&returnDate=18%2F05%2F2024&departArriveReturn=DepartAfter&returnTime=03:00&adults=1&children=1&infants=0&euroAdults=0&euroChildren=0&euroSixtyPlus=0&euroInfants=0&ouiAdults=1&ouiChildren=0&usingCoachCard=false&youngPersonCards=0&seniorCards=0&disabledCards=0&partnerId=NX&campaignId=DEFAULT&request_locale=en&numResults=4

Try going into the ticket office at a station and see what they can do. I think they can sometimes access tickets earlier than the internet release.

Thanks all-really helpful. I'll pass on to DH.

Well your looking at avanti so chances are the train will be really delayed or cancelled. I've had 2 recent free trips to London thanks to this, more than 1.5 hrs delay its a full refund.( really, really miss virgin) Tickets on sale only for the weekdays 12 weeks in advance , weekends about 8 weeks. I normally get singles if going weekday and coming back weekends. Alos.if.DD 16 to 17 he can go half price with a 16 to 17 rail card.

How are the flights so expensive? I have just looked on EasyJet for that weekend and they are nothing like that price. The EasyJet Glasgow to Southampton route only opened recently I think and are pretty reasonable

I was also going to suggest Easy Jet - what price are they quoting?

You can book the Caledonian sleeper to London this early. Then you'd only need to get London to Southampton nearer the time. It probably won't be cheaper but sometimes there are deals to be had.

Look out for discount codes for your rail cards before you buy, too!

Thanks all. I've no idea what flights he picked for the first initial quote. I've just quickly checked EasyJet from Glasgow to Southampton, leaving Thursday 11th July and returning Saturday 13th of July with no baggage and it's £310. That's okay, I suppose. However the flight back home on the Saturday is at 11:20, so they'll need to get from their accommodation to Southampton by 1120, which isn't a disaster, but think they were hoping for later flights.

You can either go Avanti West Coast or LNER via Edinburgh.

The East coast route isn't that much longer and a really pretty journey in parts.

I've only had the option of East Coast the last few times I've travelled (not that I go often) because of issues on the West coast line.

I agree that the way to go is stick the date on your calendar and then book. You'll likely get a good deal and will definitely get seats.

Thanks @ditalini. The chat about cancellations on the Avanti west coast line doesn't sound good so I'll say to him to check out the east coast. Hopefully it might be a bit more reliable.

I totally get you OP. I book holidays and travel a year in advance sometimes to take advantage of better prices and just getting sorted. Echo the railcard thing - I was pricing up train from Edin to Newcastle (using dummy dates!) and it was half the price for a family of 4 using a Family & Friends railcard.

@pharmachameleon the main issue with Goodwood is the sheer amount of traffic on the approach. I’d focus on how they plan to and from get from the station/airport to Goodwood and to/from their accommodation. Do they have plans for this? You definitely don’t want to be on a meter….!

@Heatherbell1978 I didn't know about the friends and family railcard so I'm glad I started this thread! I prefer to get everything booked well in advance for both hopefully cheaper prices but I also love to look forward to trips and the sooner it's booked, the longer I enjoy thinking about going!
@Netaporter I think they'll be okay-DH is meeting up with his cousin who stays really close so I'm hoping they'll know all about the best way to get to and from Goodwood. He hasn't booked accommodation yet as not decided if he'll stay with family down there or try and get a hotel.

I travel on LNER regularly and I've had some shockers recently.

As PPs have said, try dummy dates and you'll get a good idea of prices. We have the 17-25 railcard and the Two Together (via Tesco clubcard) so we can play around and see which combination is cheapest.

I wouldn't panic, your flights will fluctuate in price anyway so might go down and it's easy to buy train tickets if you choose that option.

I also have the Seatfrog app which lets you bid on first class upgrades on LNER. I've had quite a few for £15-20 lately (London to Durham/York).