Confused about what this ticket allows me to do?

[ConfusedMuch?]

Hi I would be so so so so so grateful if somebody could help me here.
Basically I finish my exams on the 24th of June, so on the 25th of June me and my mates all want to go to London for the day and "become tourists in our own country".
But the tickets are so confusing!
The website that I'm using to book tickets is fistcapitalconnect.co.uk and we want to go from any train station in Birmingham to any train station in London. Obviously we'll want to travel by tube quite a bit so it would make sense to get a railcard.
Here comes the problem:
So far on a child return ticket to Birmingham leaving Snow Hill at 09:12 and arriving in Marylebone at 11:30, then leaving Marylebone at 17:00 and arriving in Snow Hill at 19:01, we have two options. Either we can get an off-peak return for £16.00 or a Travelcard off peak for £18.00.
I was going to get the travelcard because I thought that it would then include tube travel as it is a travelcard. However it says 'only valid for routes passing through High Wycombe'. To me this makes no sense at all - Marylebone and High Wycombe are about 30 miles apart!
So does anybody know what exactly this travelcard entitles me to, and whether I would be better off getting the £16.00 ticket and then getting a seperate travel card for the tube and buses for £3.60?
Please please please help - this is supposed to be an amazing day out to celebrate the end of 17 (!!!!!) exams!
Thank you so much!

 

[stut]

That just means that you have to use the Chiltern route, rather than going up via Milton Keynes on Virgin or London Midland. It's a very good deal!

You may also be interested in the GroupSave ticket if there's 4 or more of you travelling.

 

[LexyBoy]

Hi,

First of all, Travelcard tickets are (I think!) always singles, so you'll need to buy a travelcard for the zones you need when you arrive in London.

As stut says, the 'High Wycombe' restriction means that your Birmingham-London train passes through there, and is the same for the £16 off-peak return (i.e. the Chiltern route). Alternatively you could travel with London Midland who are slightly cheaper (£13.50 for the equivalent ticket, going from New Street to Euston), but also a little slower and definitely not as comfy - the Chiltern trains are very nice and staff friendly IME. There's also a 'Super Offpeak' ticket for £9.75, but you can't travel till after about 11.30, so probably a bit late!

Oh, and all these tickets are 'walk-on' fares, so there's no need to buy in advance, you can just get them from the station before you travel.

Good luck!

PS: It's not a good idea to put your email address on public websites since it will get picked up by spambots and added to countless spammers lists...

 

[ConfusedMuch?]

So does this mean that I can then travel on the tube for free? Zone 1 is pretty much the only zone I need.
And thanks you two - LexyBoy I never really use that e-mail so it's alright But thankyou anyway!

 

[LexyBoy]

Erm, you still need a travelcard! Off-peak child travelcard Z1-6 is £2 (there's no Z1-2 for the off-peak). Under 16s get free bus travel and very cheap tube travel, but you need to apply for a photocard, so it's probably not worth the effort.

Info: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresandtickets/1055.aspx

 

[dan_atki]

The £18.00 Child Off Peak Day Travelcard is route High Wycombe. This means that you have to pass through High Wycombe on your journey to London. All trains from Snow Hill to Marylebone do so not really an issue .

Your ticket will say Birmingham Stns to Zone R1256. It will be printed as one ticket but is actually a return from Birmingham Snow Hill to London and a Travelcard all in one. It will enable you to go from Birmingham to London, use the Tubes/buses/trams/DLR/National Rail services in zones 1-6, and then travel back from London to Birmingham all on that one ticket .
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Erm, you still need a travelcard!

Only if the £16 Off Peak Return is purchased instead of the £18 Travelcard.

It works out no cheaper in this instance to have everything as one ticket (£18 Travelcard from Birmingham) or two tickets (£16 Return + £2 in-boundary Travelcard).

 

[ConfusedMuch?]

Thank you thank you thank you dan_atki - I get it now.
So even though it says only valid in High Wycombe it means that I can still use it in zones 1-6? Definitely? Coz I'm going to book it over the internet .

And Stus - I meant to say - it's just me and my boyfriend going so there's not 3 but thanks for the tip

 

[dan_atki]

So even though it says only valid in High Wycombe it means that I can still use it in zones 1-6? Definitely?

The £18 Travelcard will definitely allow you to travel in zones 1-6 .

The reason your ticket will say 'High Wycombe' on it is because there are other routes from Birmingham to London that cost different amounts so it ensures people have the correct ticket for the journey. As you are going from Snow Hill to Marylebone you don't need to worry about being on the wrong 'route'!

 

[tony_mac]

Alternatively you could travel with London Midland who are slightly cheaper (£13.50 for the equivalent ticket, going from New Street to Euston), but also a little slower and definitely not as comfy - the Chiltern trains are very nice and staff friendly IME. There's also a 'Super Offpeak' ticket for £9.75, but you can't travel till after about 11.30, so probably a bit late!

I think that the fare for the off-peak day return on London Midland is £11.50 (and add on £2 for the travelcard)
and the super off-peak return is £7.50 (also plus £2 travelcard), which isn't valid until after 10:30am , but also isn't valid for trains leaving between 4:30pm and 7:30pm which is probably more of a problem. This is good value at weekends, though, when you can use it on any London Midland train.

Or, for £21.25 just get the off peak travelcard which allows travel on the Virgin trains. you can leave Birmingham at 9:50 and arrive into London at 11:15. For an extra £3.25 each you can possibly save 2 hours of travelling.

 

[clagmonster]

Also, as it is a walk up ticket, you can purchase it from the booking office at Snow Hill immediately before travel. That way, if for any reason your travel plans change, you do not lose the majority of your fare. You can travel on any service booked to arrive into Marylebone after 10:00. You then have unlimited travel within travelcard zones 1-6 on that day, and can then return on any train from Marylebone.

 

[37401]

So far on a child return ticket

this is supposed to be an amazing day out to celebrate the end of 17 (!!!!!) exams!
Thank you so much!

Child Tickets are vailid for 5-15 only

 

[ConfusedMuch?]

I looked at London Midland - they are cheaper but only marginally and also the times aren't quite right so I'm just gonna stick with the £18 one.
It's gonna be so good!
And to 37401 - I'm 15 :]

 

[ChrisMcFall]

Try Birmingham New Street to Euston fares quickly, i can see a lot of advances still available at the moment.

 

[ConfusedMuch?]

What doya mean you can see a lot of advances still available?
I'm a railway newbie

 

[ChrisMcFall]

Advance tickets, very cheap, sold in advance, but only to be used on ONE certian service.
Usually non refundable.

What you would buy for the chiltern/LM services would usually be bought on the day.

 

[ConfusedMuch?]

Oh cheers
I get you now...
But the one that I'm on about - First capital connect - will let you buy them now. So that's £18 for the journey there and back including a day travelcard thing. That's good right?

 

[djw1981]

But if you buy now at the same price as you can on the day then if you change your plans you lose money (admin fee of £5 or £10 IIRC). Tickets bought on the day are normally valid on any train by that route (though restrictions may apply during peak/rush hour times) and are thus more flexible.

If it is the same price to buy on the day then you may as well.

Some other tickets are cheaper if bought in advance but tie you to a specific train at a specific time.

If there is any chance that you may have to change your plans I would suggest buying nearer the time or on the day - You may of course ignore this thought

 

[ChrisMcFall]

Yeah that is good value, but remember if you go from New Street to Euston, you save yourself about an hour each way, and you might be able to get tickets for about the same price if you book soon.

Try http://nationalrail.co.uk/ to look for tickets.

Remember to put down that you're looking for Child fares as well, its easy to miss.

 

[tony_mac]

Including a travelcard, the London Midland trains will cost £13.50, the Chiltern Trains £18, and Virgin trains £21.25.

The Virgin trains are about an hour quicker than the other two, and the London Midland trains are pretty basic.

You can get cheap advance tickets, from £2.50 each way. For this price, though, you can't arrive in London before 1:00pm, and can't leave before 9:00pm.

There are lots of other times for advance tickets, but they don't save that much over buying an 'off-peak' ticket. If you have an advance ticket then you have to stick to the times or buy a new ticket. That usually means lots of waiting around at the station as you can't afford to be delayed and miss your train.

If you are not buying an advance ticket, then you can just get them at the station in the morning, it is the same price as buying online. If you buy online and then change your mind later on then you will lose £10 per ticket on the administration fee, so it is best not to take this chance.

 

[clagmonster]

Indeed, you can buy the travelcard including return travel from Snow Hill for £18 from FCC. But there is no advantage in buying this ticket in advance, you can still buy it for £18 from the station on the day of travel, which gives allows you last minute change of plans.
However, on the West coast from New St-Euston you could get cheaper advance singles, which must be booked in advance ( www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com is a good website). With these you must travel on the booked train, and con't change you plans (or you could, but the administration fee would cost more than the ticket). You would then need to buy a day travelcard on top of that, which would cost you £2 each.