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Bristol to London Paddington - best value with peak outward journey

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hatt55

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Joined
13 Nov 2019
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17
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Bristol
Hi there,

I'm looking to take the train from Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington next Friday the 20th August.

I had my eye on the 0704 departure, which would have been ideal, but the Advance ticket has jumped in price from ~£20 to £51.10 since I last looked. I'm therefore left with either paying the extra or going for an earlier or later start (the 0553 and 0800 are currently priced at around ~£26 for an Advance ticket). The 0800 also gets to London Paddington a bit later than I had wanted, so the earlier trains are better in that sense and I may need to just take a hit and travel earlier than intended.

This will be a Return Journey but I had ruled out buying a Return ticket of any kind and was planning to just buy an Anytime Single on the way back after 1930 in order to travel Off Peak (and have some degree of flexibility).

Have I missed anything here - are there any options to reduce the cost of the 0704 from the current Advance price? That would be my ideal travel time.

I have no railcard, although I'm travelling with a friend so might consider buying a 2 Together pass for the return part of this journey if we think we might make one or two other trips in the next year.

Any suggestions appreciated! Thanks.
 
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sonic2009

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4,915
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Crewe
I can't see anything at the moment that would reduce the cost of the 0704. But if you wanted to go for the Ultimate money saving, consider using the flixbus between Bristol and London £2.99 each way at the moment, journey time is 3 hours.

There is an 0600 from Bristol Bond Street or 0610 UWE Coldharbour Lane for arrival into London at 0900 for £2.99 + £1 service fee currently, you can also get off in Hammersmith at 0835 for the same price if this helped you in where you needed to get in London, So even if you used the flixbus one way and the train back the other way, some money could be saved.
 

Dai Corner

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20 Jul 2015
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6,316
Have you looked at trainsplit.com ?

Best return fare theyre offering at the time of writing is £57.20
 

hatt55

Member
Joined
13 Nov 2019
Messages
17
Location
Bristol
I always forget to look at the coach cost! Thanks for highlighting those prices. This time I'm going to stick with the train (Ive missed train travel recently) but will certainly bear that in mind in future. That's a really impressive saving compared to the train, even if I'm not such a fan of coach travel.

I had looked at trainsplit.com but only for the outward journey and couldn't find much. Having another look just now, I can see options for about £61 on a few different services for the return. It doesn't seem to be splitting anywhere though, just giving me the combined price of Advance Singles. Perhaps I'm missing something?

I'm trying to avoid being tied to a specific train coming back, and am prepared to wait until after 1930 in order to get an Off Peak ticket which I think will be just £37.30 on the day. That seems to be the cheapest option for the return leg without having to be specific on time. Having the outward leg during peak hours has really thrown a spanner in the works.

Thanks for the suggestions!
 

sonic2009

Established Member
Joined
19 Jan 2010
Messages
4,915
Location
Crewe
If you take the 0704 and change at Bristol Parkway and wait 15 minutes for the 0728, and return on the 1918 back to Bristol Parkway and change for Temple Meads, current cost is show below, obviously when booking through trainsplit there is share of the savings on top. To see the fares below on trainsplit specify change at Bristol Parkway.

Bristol Temple Meads to Bristol Parkway
Anytime Day Return (SDR)
£5.00
Bristol Parkway to London Paddington
Advance Single (W2O)
£36.30
  • Only valid on booked Great Western Railway services and required connecting Great Western Railway services.
  • Restriction QS applies - click for details
London Paddington to Bristol Parkway
Advance Single (W2Q)
£31.90
  • Only valid on booked Great Western Railway services and required connecting Great Western Railway services.
  • Restriction QS applies - click for details
 

XAM2175

Established Member
Joined
8 Jun 2016
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3,469
Location
Glasgow
It doesn't seem to be splitting anywhere though, just giving me the combined price of Advance Singles. Perhaps I'm missing something?

I'm trying to avoid being tied to a specific train coming back ...
There can be times where the Advance Singles are cheaper than any combination of split flexible tickets, so in those circumstances Trainsplit will show the Advances as it defaults to assuming you want the cheapest trip.

If you use the new engine at https://new.trainsplit.com/ you can open the "More Options" menu and force it to only search flexible tickets.
 
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