Aberdeen to Cardiff return

[Aberdeen Taff]

Hi guys,

seeking your advice on fares - myself and my wife (plus 2 children aed 6 and 4 at the time) are looking to ravel Aberdeen to Cardiff on Fri 10 Feb and return either on Sun 12 Feb or Mon 13 Feb and I was wondering the most cost effective way to do it.

we are heading down for the girls to be fitted for bridesmaid dresses but it's the same weekend as Wales v Scotland 6 Nations match so prices looking pretty high (#300 plus each!)

Any suggestions gratefully accepted.

Cheers.

 

[Paul Kelly]

This is a journey where you'll definitely benefit from purchasing a family railcard for £28, if you don't already have one. It will give 34% off the adult fares and 62% off the normal child fare, and the 4-year-old can travel free anyway. The most you will have to pay is for an off-peak return from Aberdeen to Cardiff. The normal price for this is £185.50 - with the family railcard the adult fare reduces to £122.40 and the child fare to £35.35. So the absolute most you should have to pay is 2 x £122.40 + £35.35 = £280.15.

From 2nd January long-distance off-peak returns priced by CrossCountry like this are only going to be valid after 09:30 (currently they are valid at any time). This really cuts down the journey opportunities for a long journey like this. But you can still do the journey in one day - it takes around 9 hours.

£280.15 (plus £28 for the railcard) is the most you will have to pay (for everyone), but it might be possible to get the price down a bit by using split advances and trying to avoid CrossCountry as much as possible. E.g. any CrossCountry journey that involves travel between 16:00 and 18:30 on a Friday afternoon never has any advances available at all, as far as I can see. Checking if there are any reasonable advances using Transpennine Express from Edinburgh to Manchester or Virgin from Glasgow to Birmingham might be something to look for.

 

[Liam]

There are a few cheaper advances from Aberdeen-London available, 2 adults 1 child with railcard for £61.10 each way, not sure if you would want to travel via London though.

 

[34D]

There are a few cheaper advances from Aberdeen-London available, 2 adults 1 child with railcard for £61.10 each way, not sure if you would want to travel via London though.

I really wouldn't fancy Aberdeen-Cardiff with two children - this is one of the few journeys I would look at flight options for. Is there an option to pay for the outfitter to travel to Aberdeen (there may be some cheap tickets in that direction)?

 

[Aberdeen Taff]

Cheers for the replies - we do need to go down for the fitting and the dressmaker coming up isn't an option sadly. because of the rugby flights are very expensive so trying to see how it can be done without having to resort to driving through the night.

I don't suppose there is much by way of sleeper trains that I coud factor in is there?

 

[anthony263]

Cheers for the replies - we do need to go down for the fitting and the dressmaker coming up isn't an option sadly. because of the rugby flights are very expensive so trying to see how it can be done without having to resort to driving through the night.

I don't suppose there is much by way of sleeper trains that I coud factor in is there?

The only sleeeprs run to London, shame they got rid of the overnight crosscountry service which used to run down to devon as you could have traveled on that to Bristol.

Have you tried splitting at Manchester Piccadily? say Aberdeen - Manchester Piccadily & Manchester Picadilly - Cardiff central.

I do agree with what others have said about getting a family railcard however.

 

[Aberdeen Taff]

The only sleeeprs run to London, shame they got rid of the overnight crosscountry service which used to run down to devon as you could have traveled on that to Bristol.

Have you tried splitting at Manchester Piccadily? say Aberdeen - Manchester Piccadily & Manchester Picadilly - Cardiff central.

I do agree with what others have said about getting a family railcard however.

thanks - I will definitely get the railcard - we had one last year and used it quite alot. That's a shame about sleepers as it might have solved all the problems.

 

[Olympian]

Have you tried splitting at Manchester Piccadily? say Aberdeen - Manchester Piccadily & Manchester Picadilly - Cardiff central.

What a good idea! But only seems to work if you do the Aberdeen - Manchester legs via Glasgow rather than Edinburgh.

So how about the following, all Standard Advance Singles for two adults and one child on a Friends and Family Railcard:

Friday 10th Feb:

0740 Aberdeen - Glasgow QS 1014 / 1140 Glasgow Central - Preston 1350 / 1410 Preston - Manchester Piccadilly 1456 = £42.30

1530 Manchester Piccadilly - Cardiff Central 1855 = £30.20

Monday 13th Feb:

0850 Cardiff Central - Manchester Piccadilly 1215 = £30.20

1316 Manchester Piccadilly - Glasgow Central 1630 / 1741 Glasgow QS - Aberdeen 2033 = £42.30


Total £145 plus railcard purchase.

 

[Aberdeen Taff]

What a good idea! But only seems to work if you do the Aberdeen - Manchester legs via Glasgow rather than Edinburgh.

So how about the following, all Standard Advance Singles for two adults and one child on a Friends and Family Railcard:

Friday 10th Feb:

0740 Aberdeen - Glasgow QS 1014 / 1140 Glasgow Central - Preston 1350 / 1410 Preston - Manchester Piccadilly 1456 = £42.30

1530 Manchester Piccadilly - Cardiff Central 1855 = £30.20

Monday 13th Feb:

0850 Cardiff Central - Manchester Piccadilly 1215 = £30.20

1316 Manchester Piccadilly - Glasgow Central 1630 / 1741 Glasgow QS - Aberdeen 2033 = £42.30


Total £145 plus railcard purchase.

brilliant! Would it be much nore difficult travelling back on the Sunday? Would save taking the little one out of school for 2 days but I'm maybe asking alot. Can't believe how helpful you have all been!!

 

[Olympian]

brilliant! Would it be much nore difficult travelling back on the Sunday? Would save taking the little one out of school for 2 days but I'm maybe asking alot. Can't believe how helpful you have all been!!

Slightly trickier, and a tad more expensive, as there don't appear to be any Advance tickets left for the direct trains from Cardiff to Manchester so you'll have to go via Birmingham instead unless you want to pay £50 more.

Sunday 12th Feb:

1045 Cardiff Central - Birmingham NS 1245 / 1301 Birmingham NS - Manchester Piccadilly 1440 = £41.55

1546 Manchester Piccadilly - Preston 1639 / 1648 Preston - Glasgow Central 1900 / 1945 Glasgow QS - Aberdeen 2224 = £39.25

Alternatively you can avoid Manchester and go direct from Birmingham to Glasgow (with a change in Preston) but it'll cost £17 more and also gives you a slightly later start from Cardiff but same arrival time into Aberdeen although the connection times are much better than via Manchester so probably well worth the extra:

1145 Cardiff Central - Birmingham NS 1341 = £26.45

1420 Birmingham NS - Preston 1554 = £34.00

1648 Preston - Glasgow Central 1900 / 1945 Glasgow QS - Aberdeen 2224 = £37.75