Kings Lynn to London

[YellowBrick]

I'm looking to travel Kings Lynn to London (any) on Thursday. No time constraints other than earlier is better.

Despite being barely 100 miles, a one-way is an astronomical £43.50 (43p per mile!), and a return for £58.90 (29p per mile!). (And the journey is about the same time as driving would be too!)

Does anyone have a cheaper way of doing this? Possibly involving me "accidentally" missing an onward train to somewhere the other side of London? ;-o Current best option I've found is about £29 for an advance to Brighton.

 

[miklcct]

and a return for £58.90 (29p per mile!). (And the journey is above the same time as driving would be too!)

This is the off-peak return instead of off-peak day return price.

 

[Gaelan]

TrainSplit (or the forum’s site, which uses the same engine) has some options in the £26-28 range if you don’t mind changing in Ely and/or Cambridge.

 

[Jim the Jim]

I think you can get it down to about £35 with separate tickets Kings Lynn–Cambridge and Cambridge–Liverpool Street, without resorting to advances.

 

[yorkie]

Does anyone have a cheaper way of doing this? Possibly involving me "accidentally" missing an onward train to somewhere the other side of London? ;-o Current best option I've found is about £29 for an advance to Brighton.

We cannot advise breaking the terms and conditions of Advance tickets.

 

[trek]

If you can use one of the few Greater Anglia direct services, for example the 06:18 to Liverpool Street, I can find advances on Friday at £16. Similarly there are advances on the return at 19:07 from Liverpool Street at £20. (Although I've quickly checked and I think these no longer exist after the May timetable change)

At other times splitting is likely cheaper, if you're happy to change at Cambridge/Cambridge North in particular there are usually lots of cheap advances from there into Liverpool Street, although even if you don't want to be tied in to a particular time the flexible fares on that route into Liverpool Street are also cheaper. You'll need to play with a split ticketing tool to find these.

Further worth mentioning that Kings Lynn is in the Network Railcard area so if you don't have any other railcards this will provide savings on flexible tickets. In particular if travelling the weekend/bank holiday super off peak fares on those routes are also much lower and the Network Railcard discount would apply on top.

 

[4COR]

Though it won't help if you're using advance tickets or travelling before 9:44 (from King's Lynn) , this journey is wholly within the Network Railcard area. It costs £30 and gives you a third off, subject to a minimum fare on the weekdays, and also allows reduced fares for accompanying adults/children. If you're going to do the journey more than once inside a year, or travel elsewhere in the southeast, it might be worth considering.

Ah - @trek beat me to it

 

[YellowBrick]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Wasn't aware of the Network Railcard. Does it not apply to Advances? I can't see anything about that in the terms and conditions (of course, the same T&C's point to a network map (network-railcard.co.uk/map) that doesn't exist so...)

 

[trek]

This is the page you need, with map, time restrictions, minimum fares information and applicable ticket types.

You can currently buy a Railcard through Trainpal at 34% off with code RC007, so a 1 year network Railcard would be £19.80 instead of £30. You don't have to buy your train tickets from Trainpal even if you buy your Railcard from them.

 

[YellowBrick]

Thanks trek, much appreciated. Hmmm, that makes it far less useful if it can't do Advances.

 

[miklcct]

Thanks trek, much appreciated. Hmmm, that makes it far less useful if it can't do Advances.

It is still extremely useful for weekend travel because a Super Off-Peak Day Return is rarely more expensive than a pair of Advance Singles. It isn't useful on weekdays though due to its minimum fare.

 

[Hadders]

It is still extremely useful for weekend travel because a Super Off-Peak Day Return is rarely more expensive than a pair of Advance Singles. It isn't useful on weekdays though due to its minimum fare.

It's not useful for journeys on weekdays where the fare is less than £13 but there are many, many fares where a saving can be made.

 

[YellowBrick]

I just asked for the cheapest option at the station in the end and they ended up selling me a return to Dartford, so I got a couple free tube trips in there too. Apparently that was the cheapest option (with the Network Railcard it was £30.05 for a return)

 

[yorkie]

I just asked for the cheapest option at the station in the end and they ended up selling me a return to Dartford, so I got a couple free tube trips in there too. Apparently that was the cheapest option (with the Network Railcard it was £30.05 for a return)

You are not coming back the same day?

That trick only works for a period return (though bear in mind it could be amended if pricing managers become aware of the anomaly)

 

[Haywain]

That trick only works for a period return (though bear in mind it could be amended if pricing managers become aware of the anomaly)

That's been the cheaper option for many years. If they haven't noticed by now they probably never will.