Cheltenham to Newcastle

[Osplivia]

Hello,
I want to travel from Cheltenham Spa to Newcastle on Friday 2nd December (afternoon) and return on Sunday 4th December (evening), and am wondering what (if any) is the cheapest way of doing so.
I have a 16-25 railcard and do not mind how long it takes me to get there, providing I arrive the same day I set off!
Any help would be greatly appriciated

 

[district]

Without splitting tickets there is an advance...

MCS - ADVANCE CC
00439 - XC &CONNECTIONS

1 Adult @£ 19.80 = £ 19.80
__________
£ 19.80

Standard Class Single

Splitting:

Cheltenham Spa to Birmingham £13.95 SVR
Birmingham to Derby £9.75 SVR
Derby to Sheffield £11.75 SVR
Sheffield to York £13.15 SOR
York to Newcastle £24.55 SVR

Total: £73.15 with 16-25 Railcard (rte Any Permitted)
Walk-up through fare: £73.30 (rte not London)

I'm trying to work out an even cheaper way of doing it...

 

[Paul Kelly]

I can get this for £50.10 by purchasing as six separate tickets: Cheltenham Spa to Birmingham New Street, Birmingham New Street to York, and York to Newcastle, and the same for the return journey.

If you want to get the cheapest fares you need to be prepared to change trains in those places and hang around for a while. If nobody comes up with anything better than £50 I'll check all the details and post back here.

 

[Osplivia]

Thank you both so much! I will keep checking back

 

[yorkie]

Thank you both so much! I will keep checking back

Do you want to be tied to specific trains for a cheaper price with Advance Singles, or do you want flexibility of an Off Peak Return?

 

[Osplivia]

I don't mind, the cheaper the better!

 

[Paul Kelly]

OK here is what I have come up with.

Outward Journey: Friday 2nd December

Cheltenham Spa to Birmingham New Street £5.30
dep CNM 15:12
arr BHM 15:56

Then you need to hang around in Birmingham for a while, as CrossCountry have a blackout on all advance fares between 4pm and 6:30pm (or thereabouts) on Fridays.

Birmingham New Street to York £13.85
dep BHM 17:39
arr Derby (DBY) 18:30
dep DBY 18:44
arr YRK 20:30

You need to specify "via Willington" on the booking website to get the above fare to appear. This puts you onto a slightly slower service from Birmingham to Derby, which doesn't have seat reservations available and thus the advance blackout doesn't apply to it. By the time you're leaving Derby it is already past 18:30 and advance fares are available again, so all is fine.

York to Newcastle £4.60
dep YRK 21:14
arr NCL 22:30

Total £23.75 for the outward journey.

Return Journey: Sunday 4th December

Newcastle to York £4.60
dep NCL 17:05
arr YRK 18:12

York to Birmingham New Street £13.85
dep YRK 18:40
arr BHM 22:06
Birmingham New Street to Cheltenham £6.60
dep BHM 22:12
arr CNM 22:50

Note that the Birmingham to Cheltenham train is actually the *same train* as the York to Birmingham train; you don't need to get off in Birmingham - you are just splitting tickets there to get a slightly cheaper fare.

Total £25.05 for the return journey

Overall Total: £48.80

Just to make it clear - on both journeys you have three separate tickets that cover the through journey. On the outward journey you need to change trains at Birmingham, Derby and York. On the return journey you only need to change trains at York.

There are other ways you could go that might not cost a lot more but would be more convenient than this. E.g. you could try looking at Cheltenham to Manchester and Manchester to Newcastle. There are some quite cheap advance fares available from Manchester to Newcastle on Transpennine Express.

 

[Osplivia]

Thanks so much for your help! Could definitely not have found this myself.