Cheapest ticket for Newport South Wales to Paddington

[Elecman]

Can anyone come up with cheaper fares for 3 day trips from Newport to Paddington leaving on the 05.20 on Monday,Wednesday and Friday for the next 2 weeks?

 

[yorkie]

Have you tried Trainsplit?

Your other option is a Season Ticket:

Look up fares for any train journey in Britain

Full details of all British rail Single, Return & Season tickets and Travelcards. Built-in Season Ticket Calculator.

www.brfares.com

It might be cheaper to "split" at Didcot Parkway; if so, you would need to get trains that call there, which would restrict your choices.

 

[Elecman]

Yes looks like a 5 day season is the cheapest that I can find

 

[pelli]

Both National Rail Enquiries and Trainsplit claim that the 05:25 departure from Newport (South Wales), arriving Paddington 07:16, can be travelled on with Super Off-Peak tickets (Single £47.40, Return £82.30). I don't know if this is intentional or not, but here's what their restriction code YV states:

Outward Travel: Not valid for travel on trains timed to depart earlier than shown from the following stations:

• 08:30 (also valid between 02:00 and 04:30) from Swansea;
• 08:40 (also valid between 02:00 and 04:30) from Neath;
• 08:50 (also valid between 02:00 and 05:00) from Port Talbot Parkway;
• 09:10 (also valid between 02:00 and 04:45) from Bridgend;
• 09:50 (also valid between 02:00 and 05:30) from Cardiff Central;
• 10:00 (also valid between 02:00 and 05:45) from Newport (South Wales).

These "also valid between" times capture the train in question, as it calls exactly at the listed stations, with departure times 03:46, 03:58, 04:05, 04:27, 05:07, 05:25, respectively. This train further calls at Bristol Parkway, Swindon (Wilts), Didcot Parkway and Reading before terminating at Paddington, and it's a GWR train, so none of the additional restrictions apply:

• Restriction code WO applies to all journeys via Newbury or Didcot Parkway, not passing through Reading.
• Restriction code Q8 applies to all journeys via Fareham / Southampton / Salisbury.
• Restriction codes CI / CJ apply to all journeys via London St Pancras International.
• For travel on CrossCountry please use 2V.

The return ticket is only valid from Paddington on the 14:48 or earlier, or the 19:18 or later:

Return Travel: Not valid on trains timed to depart:

• London Paddington after 04:29 and before 10:10 and after 15:01 and before 19:00;
• Reading after 04:29 and before 10:30 and after 15:30 and before 19:00;
• London Waterloo after 04:29 and before 08:15 and after 15:59 and before 19:01.

Not valid on trains timed to arrive:

• Salisbury before 09:30 and after 17:40 and before 19:01.

To return in between, firstly the Off-Peak Single (£65.20, for a total of £112.60) is valid on 15:18, 15:48, 16:18 and then 18:48. Note that journey planners also offer the Off-Peak Return (£109.80) for going out on the 05:25 and returning on these trains, even though strictly speaking its restriction code WV has a similar list of "Not valid for travel on trains timed to depart after 04:29 and before the times shown from the following stations" which the train satisfies at Newport 05:25, which is what electronic journey planners check, but fails at Bristol Parkway (05:54 is not within "(also valid between 02:00 and 05:30)") and Didcot Parkway (06:36 is before "09:54 from Didcot Parkway"), which the electronic journey planners don't check, so if you buy the Off-Peak Return then make sure you get it with an itinerary that clearly states the 05:25 departure as evidence of its validity.

Secondly, Trainsplit offers flexible splits for £80.35 (total £127.75) on 17:18 and 18:18.

If you are willing to commit to a specific return train with Advance tickets, then, looking today (Sunday), it seems that the cheaper tickets for Wednesday are already sold out, but Friday has advances for £64.90 on any train going back in the "evening peak" (for a total of £112.30, or £105.50 if you pre-purchase an advance for the outward as well). (Before you buy Advances, make sure you research how different ticket retailers implement the book with confidence scheme, which allows you to change Advance tickets fee-free, up until 6pm before the day of travel, as some may be more generous than others, such as giving you general-purpose rail travel vouchers or e-vouchers, rather than requiring you to re-book the exact same journey for a later date.)

For comparison, the weekly season Newport to Paddington costs £379.10, which for 3 days of use is £126.37 per day. Note that it's a big risk if there's any possibility you won't take all 3 trips as it will essentially be non-refundable: If I understand correctly, a refund would be calculated by subtracting the Anytime Return fare of £253.00 for each day of validity passed, so if you refund it the same day as you bought it then you get £126.10 (possibly minus a £10 admin fee) back, and any day after that you will not get any money back at all.

 

[alistairlees]

Can anyone come up with cheaper fares for 3 day trips from Newport to Paddington leaving on the 05.20 on Monday,Wednesday and Friday for the next 2 weeks?

What time are you coming back each day?
Do I understand correctly that you will make six day trips, spread over 12 days, and that you will always travel out on the 05.20 from Newport to Paddington?
Do you need any onward travel in London?

 

[yorkie]

Both National Rail Enquiries and Trainsplit claim that the 05:25 departure from Newport (South Wales), arriving Paddington 07:16, can be travelled on with Super Off-Peak tickets (Single £47.40, Return £82.30). I don't know if this is intentional or not, but here's what their restriction code YV states:....

Yes it is intentional; it is a longstanding principle that this particular train allows the use of such tickets.