I need some help with buying tickets.

[boxfullofjunk]

We're travelling from Cwmbran to Blackpool on the 16th of August and returning on the 23rd of August so I'm thinking of catching the 5:01 or the 6:12 from Cwmbran but I don't know what time train to catch returning from Blackpool so can you recommend the best way to get the cheapest tickets as I was thinking of buying a off peak return ticket. I need tickets for 3 adults and 1 child with a family & friends railcard.

 

[drueberflug]

We're travelling from Cwmbran to Blackpool on the 16th of August and returning on the 23rd of August so I'm thinking of catching the 5:01 or the 6:12 from Cwmbran but I don't know what time train to catch returning from Blackpool

Not all tickets can be booked at the moment, due to that day being too far in the future; not even Avanti allows you to select your return date.
Trainsplit would allow you to choose those dates, but returns an error message during the search.



Also, since your Off-Peak ticket would be available on the day of travel at the same price, I would rather wait a bit so that Advance tickets hopefully become available for booking, as these are cheaper most of the time.

Furthermore, since you're travelling with a child, you might want to consider your train times, since 5 in the morning seems rather early.

can you recommend the best way to get the cheapest tickets as I was thinking of buying a off peak return ticket. I need tickets for 3 adults and 1 child with a family & friends railcard.

Raileasy/Trainsplit, which our forum's ticketing page is running on, is helpful in finding the cheapest combination of tickets available on your journey.
If it can't provide you with a split ticket, you can buy a regular ticket there with most railcard discounts (incl. the Family and Friends railcard) available and without a booking fee, plus you get to support this forum at the same time (if booking on the RailUKforums-branded page).



However, it should be said that some splitting combinations just do not appear there, so it is not definitely the cheapest in all cases; there may be some people in this forum that know how to split tickets on this route to get a even lesser price.

 

[SickyNicky]

However, it should be said that some splitting combinations just do not appear there, so it is not definitely the cheapest in all cases; there may be some people in this forum that know how to split tickets on this route to get a even lesser price.

If you find any such combinations, please report them (in this thread https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...-forum-when-booking-your-rail-tickets.236796/) and the relevant people will see them and can make adjustments. Unfortunately, the current industry systems make it impossible to do a fully comprehensive search.

 

[boxfullofjunk]

Not all tickets can be booked at the moment, due to that day being too far in the future; not even Avanti allows you to select your return date.
Trainsplit would allow you to choose those dates, but returns an error message during the search.

View attachment 181267

Also, since your Off-Peak ticket would be available on the day of travel at the same price, I would rather wait a bit so that Advance tickets hopefully become available for booking, as these are cheaper most of the time.

Furthermore, since you're travelling with a child, you might want to consider your train times, since 5 in the morning seems rather early.


Raileasy/Trainsplit, which our forum's ticketing page is running on, is helpful in finding the cheapest combination of tickets available on your journey.
If it can't provide you with a split ticket, you can buy a regular ticket there with most railcard discounts (incl. the Family and Friends railcard) available and without a booking fee, plus you get to support this forum at the same time (if booking on the RailUKforums-branded page).

View attachment 181266

However, it should be said that some splitting combinations just do not appear there, so it is not definitely the cheapest in all cases; there may be some people in this forum that know how to split tickets on this route to get a even lesser price.

Northern trains and TFW have tickets for the dates I'm travelling so is it worth buying a off peak return from Northern trains from Manchester Piccadilly to Blackpool then buying advance single tickets from Cwmbran to Manchester Piccadilly then from Manchester Piccadilly to Cwmbran through TFW.
If I do it this way it would cost £117.70 through TFW but I don't know what off peak return I would have to buy from northern trains as they have one for £54.35 and another for £87.15.

 

[yorkie]

Northern trains and TFW have tickets for the dates I'm travelling...

Can you confirm exactly which trains, and for which dates, tickets can be bought from Northern/TfW but not from our site?

so is it worth buying a off peak return from Northern trains from Manchester Piccadilly to Blackpool then buying advance single tickets from Cwmbran to Manchester Piccadilly then from Manchester Piccadilly to Cwmbran through TFW.

I would strongly advise booking all tickets for your journey in one transaction.

If there are trains that are not yet open for booking in your intended itinerary, I would wait until they are open for booking.

Obtaining a through itinerary is good evidence in case of any problems that may arise.

Note that if you book separate transactions and you later change travel plans, you may be charged booking fees for each transaction; furthermore if you book a journey from TfW but your connecting train was booked from Northern and is cancelled, TfW may not be happy to let you cancel or re-book without paying a fee.

Some train companies also charge admin fees on a per-ticket basis, so a journey for multiple people each consisting of multiple tickets can get very expensive quite quickly. We only charge one fee for the entire booking.

 

[drueberflug]

If I do it this way it would cost £117.70 through TFW but I don't know what off peak return I would have to buy from northern trains as they have one for £54.35 and another for £87.15.

Well, regular walk-up tickets would be £251.50 in total, but there are Advance tickets available on the route, and they can get quite cheap. (excerpts shown below)

I would strongly advise booking all tickets for your journey in one transaction.

I agree with yorkie that you should refrain from buying tickets separately;
also, just so you know, it doesn't matter most of the time where you buy the ticket, you should be able to get that Off-Peak Return for your Northern part on TfW's site for the same price.

Northern trains and TFW have tickets for the dates I'm travelling

If you do insist on booking those two tickets separately by yourself, at least take a look at how our ticketing page would make those cheaper for the Cwmbran-Manchester and Manchester-Blackpool legs respectively.
https://tickets-beta.railforums.co....f2&outId=3973864&returnId=3973812&fareSetId=2
https://tickets-beta.railforums.co....80&outId=3936538&returnId=3936204&fareSetId=2
While those tickets are cheaper than your suggested combination, with them not even exceeding £150 in total, I would still wait until a through itinerary is available.

 

[yorkie]

Another thing I would ask is that people don't use our site to find the cheapest ticket and then book elsewhere; if people want to book such tickets separately, then I would suggest this is done by adding each ticket to their basket on our site and paying for them in one transaction.

In my experience, train companies are pretty poor at providing good customer support if things go wrong, and I've become aware of all sorts of disputes arise where people booked a journey from multiple TOCs.