Cheapest Bracknell to Kemble etc

[Alan White]

On 17 April I'm travelling Bracknell to Kemble and Swindon to Bracknell the same day. I want to get the 08:02 direct train from Reading to Kemble and the return journey from Swindon will be in the evening probably after 18:00. My desire is to obtain the cheapest fare for the whole day. I have a senior railcard.

I've already learned that it's much cheaper to treat Bracknell-Reading as a separate journey for £6.00 return.

I've also learned that a return Reading-Swindon and a single Swindon-Kemble are more expensive than all singles.

The cheapest I've come up with is:
BCE-RDG Anytime day return no railcard £6.00
RDG-SWI Anytime single railcard £22.95
SWI-KEM Off-peak day single railcard £4.15
SWI-RDG Super off-peak single railcard £9.25

I looked at trainsplit.com and it suggests separate tickets RDG-DID, DID-SWI, SWI-KEM at a total cost of £27.75. I found that too but the fare I have is £27.10.

Is the fare I've come up with valid even though trainsplit doesn't show it?
Any other suggestions?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Romilly]

Your suggested tickets seem fine to me. If you know for sure that you will be catching the 0802 out of Reading, you could buy an £17.15 discounted Advance ticket for Reading-Swindon, but that would be valid only on the 0802 (except where you miss the 0802 because of delays that are the fault of the railway) and would have to be bought ahead of Friday. NB that tickets at the £17.15 price may sell out.

 

[lightning76]

The cheapest I've come up with is:
BCE-RDG Anytime day return no railcard £6.00
RDG-SWI Anytime single railcard £22.95
SWI-KEM Off-peak day single railcard £4.15
SWI-RDG Super off-peak single railcard £9.25

Slightly cheaper still is:

BCE-DID SDR £14.10
DID-KEM SOS £20.55 with railcard
SWI-DID SSS £6.55 with railcard

When travelling to/from the Swindon area to places that are sort of near Reading, eg Bracknell, Basingstoke etc. it is often cheaper NOT to split at Reading.

 

[Alan White]

Thanks, Romilly. Although I'm planning to catch the 08:02 there are a couple of others from RDG which would get me to SWI before the hourly service to KEM. I'm a bit cautious of Advance tickets partly because I don't want to commit myself to travelling until a day or so beforehand, and partly because I don't want the ticketing hassle that would result from a problem with my intended train.

Thanks, lightning76. I think that must be the only combination I hadn't tried . I learned early on that BCE-RDG was best treated on its own and it didn't occur to me to extend it to BCE-DID. It's £20.25 DID-KEM, I think: a typo? Thanks again for that: the difference might only be a couple of quid but it's my couple of quid and the same trains .