Bristol to Manchester... any help very much appreciated

[theretrotrader]

Hi all

First time on here.

My girlfriend and I are wanting to Travel from Bristol to Manchester via train. We've had a look at fairs online and have been quoted approximately £70+.

Were leaving after 5pm on 4th March and returning on the Sunday any time after lunch time. We've heard of such things as split ticketing etc which may be able to save us some cash but not sure how it works.

Were flexible travelling from either Temple Meads or Bristol Parkway. Our friend were visiting is in Altrincham but would be able to pick us up from pretty much any Manchester station.

Any help or advice will very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Ric & Orla

 

[ainsworth74]

Firstly are you eligible for any railcards (16-25 Railcard, Senior or disabled) because that alone brings the off peak return down from £70.40 to £46.75!

 

[theretrotrader]

Hi

I'm 29 and my girlfriend is 30. Are there any rail cards available to our age group for this area?

 

[ainsworth74]

Unless one of you meets the conditions for a disabled persons railcard (see here) then no unfortunately not (though there really should be and there is in other countries that take public transport seriously but that's not relevant to this thread sorry).

 

[Ivo]

Firstly, I am sorry but there are no Railcards available to you unless you are mature students, in which case you would need evidence of status from your University, or as ainsworth74 suggests through disability (including things such as epilepsy but with different criteria to the bus pass scheme).

Being a Friday evening you may find it fairly difficult to get a decent Advance between the two (the 17:00 can be quite busy!), so splitting is the way to go. You will not find any difference between Temple Meads and Parkway, or indeed between Manchester Piccadilly and Stockport (where the CrossCountry service also calls), so just go for whichever is easier.

Here are the splits I would recommend, although do watch out for the advice supplied by yorkie; he really is the best man for this.

Bristol TM - Cheltenham Spa @ £15.50
Cheltenham Spa - Wolverhampton @ £21.10
Wolverhampton - Manchester Picc @ £27.20

This totals £63.80, which is roughly 10% cheaper than the through ticket. I know it isn't much, but it is a start, and will not cause you any problems with skipped stations which can be a liability when splitting.

 

[ainsworth74]

Just further to Ivo's great advice (local knowledge really helps in finding splits!) when you come to buy your tickets you can (and should) buy them from any train companies website. Avoid site like The Trainline as these charge booking fees and all sorts of extras, where as train companies do not.

 

[theretrotrader]

Hi thanks everyone for your help and the advice on splitting tickets.

Well a saving of £10 each is great. It means £20 towards a roast and a pint before we leave on Sunday.

It would be cheaper for us to take the car but we spend all week driving around so decided to go for the train so we can completely relax and enjoy our weekend.

It does sound absurd that there is not a rail card that caters for our age group but hey what can you do.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[yorkie]

Here are the splits I would recommend, although do watch out for the advice supplied by yorkie; he really is the best man for this.

Bristol TM - Cheltenham Spa @ £15.50
Cheltenham Spa - Wolverhampton @ £21.10
Wolverhampton - Manchester Picc @ £27.20

This totals £63.80, which is roughly 10% cheaper than the through ticket. I know it isn't much, but it is a start, and will not cause you any problems with skipped stations which can be a liability when splitting.

Thanks! But there are a lot of people who can work out places to 'split' the journey into multiple tickets just as well as me, and I can't find anything better than what you quote. Of course, there may be a better split, but it certainly isn't obvious to me.

I did look at Advance from Newport; you can get the fares down to £13 each way on Arriva Trains Wales, but there are none at a decent price at a time you can travel (Bristol - Newport Advances can be cheap) and it's a slower route so not worth it unless you book really early to get a good deal that way.

The tickets quoted above by Ivo, can all be bought on the day of travel and are not tied to any train. The restrictions do vary in the early morning but there's certainly no restrictions on a Friday afternoon/evening and none on a Sunday. Return is within 1 month on all the tickets quoted, all Off Peak Returns (SVRs).

 

[Greenback]

Retrotrader, I think you'll be hard pushed to beat Ivo's splits for this journey.

Unfortunately, it's often the case that passengers are penalised if they are unable to plan their long distance travel well in advance. As Yorkie has said, Advance tickets can save a lot of money, but are heavily restricted, and usually sell out well before the week before travel, especially for popular travel days like Friday and Sunday.

 

[OwlMan]

A Newport - Manchester off peak return (SVR) is £60 and is valid via Bristol.

Peter

 

[lemonic]

A Newport - Manchester off peak return (SVR) is £60 and is valid via Bristol.

Peter

With this ticket:
"Break of journey is not
permitted except to change
trains at an intermediate
station or to access station
facilities."

So it is technically invalid if starting at Bristol I assume. (unless starting a journey late doesn't count as breaking a journey)

 

[toffeedanish]

Nobody has yet mentioned that it is possible to get Advance tickets from Bristol to Manchester via Newport cheaper than seperate Advance tickets either side of Newport. This would be the best way to do this journey with plenty of notice both for the fare and the avoidance of Voyagers.

At this time it is just possible to get fares from £31 each way, so £62 in total, just beating the prices above. There are more options at £34 each way.