Edinburgh (sleeper) London Dorset and return

[endecotp]

Dear Experts,

I am planning to travel Edinburgh -> London (sleeper), London -> Dorset (likely Dorchester), and return by day trains.

My aim for the outward journey is to be as "COVID safe" as possible, hence the choice of the sleeper (with a compartment to myself), and I am considering getting first class for the leg to Dorset in the hope of more physical spacing. This is not a concern for the return journey.

Outward will be reasonably soon. Return within a month, off-peak, but date needs to be flexible.

Can anyone please advise what the most economical option is?

Many thanks.

(I would also be interested to know if anyone knows what effects industrial action might have on the sleeper, but I guess I need to ask that in a different section...)


Edited to add: looking at availability, I may start from Glasgow - just to add an extra complication!

Update:

I have booked the sleeper.
So now I require:

First class Waterloo to Dorchester, off peak, date known.
Standard class Dorchester to Edinburgh, off peak, within one month or similar. I haven't thought about the route yet, maybe I'd prefer Bristol/Birmingham rather than via London.

Is there are cheaper option than two singles?

Thanks.

 

[endecotp]

Update after the trip:

I ended up buying three singles at enormous cost. If anyone else is considering making a journey like this, there is some advice in this thread:

Poole to Edinburgh Super Off Peak Single at SWR ticket machines

Dear Experts, brfares.com lists three Poole to Edinburgh standard-class walk-up singles: https://www.brfares.com/!fares?orig=POO&dest=EDB Anytime Single, not via London - £226 Anytime Single, any route - £204 Super Off Peak Single - £103 The SWR ticket machine at Poole did not offer me the...

www.railforums.co.uk

The conclusion seems to be that you need to find a physical ticket office with good staff, who might be able to sell you a sleeper single and an "SSU" single for the return journey. I'm unsure if this actually works for first class in one direction and standard in the other.

A practical issue with going to a physical ticket office is that I was looking at very limited availability for the sleeper, which I guess were probably cancellations; I felt I needed to buy the ticket as soon as I saw it. Waiting for a ticket office to open would probably have been too late.

 

[philthetube]

Unless you are travelling on a date when there are likely to be holiday makers about I cannot imagine your London Dorchester service will be busy. others may advise

 

[Wallsendmag]

Update after the trip:

I ended up buying three singles at enormous cost. If anyone else is considering making a journey like this, there is some advice in this thread:

Poole to Edinburgh Super Off Peak Single at SWR ticket machines

Dear Experts, brfares.com lists three Poole to Edinburgh standard-class walk-up singles: https://www.brfares.com/!fares?orig=POO&dest=EDB Anytime Single, not via London - £226 Anytime Single, any route - £204 Super Off Peak Single - £103 The SWR ticket machine at Poole did not offer me the...

www.railforums.co.uk

The conclusion seems to be that you need to find a physical ticket office with good staff, who might be able to sell you a sleeper single and an "SSU" single for the return journey. I'm unsure if this actually works for first class in one direction and standard in the other.

A practical issue with going to a physical ticket office is that I was looking at very limited availability for the sleeper, which I guess were probably cancellations; I felt I needed to buy the ticket as soon as I saw it. Waiting for a ticket office to open would probably have been too late.

They shouldn't be able to sell you a SSU (that would mean they were bad staff who really didn't know what they were doing) the RCS data shouldn't allow it to be sold other than online. With any luck SSUs will be history soon

 

[Haywain]

The conclusion seems to be that you need to find a physical ticket office with good staff, who might be able to sell you a sleeper single and an "SSU" single for the return journey.

That wouldn't help as the SSU fare is an online only fare. Even then, I can't see how you would be able to get it when you are splitting the outward journey in the way you did, with a change of class of travel part way through as well as one leg of the outward journey being on a sleeper. It's really designed to go with a simple advance fare for the opposite leg of a return trip.

 

[endecotp]

Unless you are travelling on a date when there are likely to be holiday makers about I cannot imagine your London Dorchester service will be busy. others may advise

It was busy, because it was only 5 carriages. Apparently it had failed to couple on the previous journey.

And having bought a first class ticket (for more or less the first time in my life), the first class section was 2+2 seating not 2+1, and full of people who undoubtedly didn't have first class tickets (e.g. a group of teenagers going to the beach) whose tickets were never checked.