West Midlands Trains advance fares booking horizon

[Art Vanderlay]

Hi,

I normally book my weekly commute tickets from Stafford to London on West Midland Trains well in advance (2 to 3 months). But quite recently they seem to be selling advance tickets only upto a month ahead of time. Have others noticed this, and does this reflect a long-term change in policy?
Grateful for any insights!

Art

 

[BluePenguin]

It might be, they are allowed to choose how many tickets they sell at each quota and are not obliged to provide any advance tickets at all if they choose not to.

You can still get some good deals and bargain fares if you book ahead as much as it allows, so long as they have not been snapped up by other savvy people.

 

[_toommm_]

Engineering works, and in turn timetables, aren't being finalised as quickly as they used to be. As advances rely on a specific train being in the timetable by and large, they're only being released around 6 weeks before departure. Some TOCs are working on an extended horizon, with them being released sooner though.

I would never recommend using TheTrainLine to buy tickets, but they have an alerts function that will tell you when advances become available for the time and journey you select. Use this, then book either at your local friendly booking office, or on a website such as TPE if you care about Nectar points, or if there's offers on another website.

 

[Art Vanderlay]

Engineering works, and in turn timetables, aren't being finalised as quickly as they used to be. As advances rely on a specific train being in the timetable by and large, they're only being released around 6 weeks before departure. Some TOCs are working on an extended horizon, with them being released sooner though.

I would never recommend using TheTrainLine to buy tickets, but they have an alerts function that will tell you when advances become available for the time and journey you select. Use this, then book either at your local friendly booking office, or on a website such as TPE if you care about Nectar points, or if there's offers on another website.

Splendid, that's helpful, thanks!

 

[cactustwirly]

Engineering works, and in turn timetables, aren't being finalised as quickly as they used to be. As advances rely on a specific train being in the timetable by and large, they're only being released around 6 weeks before departure. Some TOCs are working on an extended horizon, with them being released sooner though.

I would never recommend using TheTrainLine to buy tickets, but they have an alerts function that will tell you when advances become available for the time and journey you select. Use this, then book either at your local friendly booking office, or on a website such as TPE if you care about Nectar points, or if there's offers on another website.

Haha had to laugh at the 'local friendly booking office'
For a number of reasons, booking via a website like East Midlands Trains (basically trainline with a different logo, and no booking fee) is a lot easier than through a ticket office.