London to Bournemouth to Cardiff return, ticket help request

[AnkleBoots]

I need to take a group of about a dozen adults from London to Bournemouth, and then to Cardiff, travelling in the afternoons. I have come up with the following:


03-Aug London Bournemouth Off-Peak Return £39.95
04-Aug Southampton Cardiff Anytime Return £49.00
05-Aug Cardiff London
Network Railcard £30/4 = £7.50

Total £96.45 per person

Any other suggestions such as Rover tickets?

Thank you

 

[Romilly]

Do you particularly want to return via Southampton, or is that just to try to save cost?

Also, there appear to be £12 Advances currently available for Southampton-Cardiff on the 4th and Cardiff-Southampton on the 5th. Try on new.trainsplit.com or LNER. However, there may not be enough for everyone.

 

[swt_passenger]

I took it that the Cardiff to Southampton return leg was unnecessary. Assuming they want to take the more direct route back as is implied in the OP, the Bournemouth to London off-peak returns (that you are currently part using) would still be valid into Paddington via Reading, so you only need to cover the Cardiff to Reading leg AFAICS.

 

[paul1609]

I need to take a group of about a dozen adults from London to Bournemouth, and then to Cardiff, travelling in the afternoons. I have come up with the following:


03-Aug London Bournemouth Off-Peak Return £39.95
04-Aug Southampton Cardiff Anytime Return £49.00
05-Aug Cardiff London
Network Railcard £30/4 = £7.50

Total £96.45 per person

Any other suggestions such as Rover tickets?

Thank you

03-Aug London Eastleigh off Peak return £27.65
Eastleigh to Bournemouth 3 in 7 Freedom of Severn Solent Rover £38.95
04-Aug Bournemouth to Cardiff 3 in 7 FOSS
05-Aug Cardiff to Swindon 3 in 7 FOSS
Swindon to Reading Super Off peak single £9.75
Reading to Paddington return portion of london to Eastleigh off peak return

Two Together Railcard £30/2 = £15.00
Total £91.35 per person

 

[AnkleBoots]

Do you particularly want to return via Southampton, or is that just to try to save cost?

Was just to save costs

Also, there appear to be £12 Advances currently available for Southampton-Cardiff on the 4th and Cardiff-Southampton on the 5th. Try on new.trainsplit.com or LNER. However, there may not be enough for everyone.

I took it that the Cardiff to Southampton return leg was unnecessary. Assuming they want to take the more direct route back as is implied in the OP, the Bournemouth to London off-peak returns (that you are currently part using) would still be valid into Paddington via Reading, so you only need to cover the Cardiff to Reading leg AFAICS.

Thank you

03-Aug London Eastleigh off Peak return £27.65
Eastleigh to Bournemouth 3 in 7 Freedom of Severn Solent Rover £38.95
04-Aug Bournemouth to Cardiff 3 in 7 FOSS
05-Aug Cardiff to Swindon 3 in 7 FOSS
Swindon to Reading Super Off peak single £9.75
Reading to Paddington return portion of london to Eastleigh off peak return

Two Together Railcard £30/2 = £15.00
Total £91.35 per person

Amazing, thank you!

 

[AnkleBoots]

05-Aug Cardiff to Swindon 3 in 7 FOSS
Swindon to Reading Super Off peak single £9.75

Must it call at Swindon?

 

[John @ home]

Must it call at Swindon?

No, it does not have to call at Swindon.

14.2 If you are using a Season Ticket, daily Zonal Ticket, or another area based Ticket such as a concessionary pass, ranger or rover in conjunction with another Ticket and the last station at which one Ticket is valid and the first station that the other Ticket is valid are the same, then the train does not need to call at that station for your combination to be valid.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/images/structure/css/Conditions of Travel 2016.pdf

 

[AnkleBoots]

I think my original suggestion of the Network Railcard was wrong anyway as the people can split into groups to get the equivalent saving from Groupsave?
(although it doesn't seem to work on the Anytime Return)

03-Aug London Bournemouth Off-Peak Return £39.95
04-Aug Southampton Cardiff Anytime Return £49.00
05-Aug Cardiff London

Total £88.95 per person

 

[paul1609]

If you were happy to return from Cardiff via Southampton you could use my FOSS/two together plan above but wouldn't need the Swindon to Reading single which would take the cost down to £81.60 pp

 

[tiptoptaff]

Must it call at Swindon?

No, it does not have to call at Swindon.

You'd be hard pressed to find a Cardiff-PAD service that doesn't call at SWI. There are none that are not booked to call.

 

[AnkleBoots]

If you were happy to return from Cardiff via Southampton you could use my FOSS/two together plan above but wouldn't need the Swindon to Reading single which would take the cost down to £81.60 pp

Thank you, it could be useful having the Two Together Railcards for future trips as well.

 

[mmh]

Freedom of Severn Solent Rover

My experience of that wasn't good, after the fourth time of trying to buy the ticket from three ticket offices and one guard I just gave up and travelled into its area without a valid ticket (by that point I was already on a train from that needed it beyond Swindon, but I'd had enough)

 

[paul1609]

Ive ne

My experience of that wasn't good, after the fourth time of trying to buy the ticket from three ticket offices and one guard I just gave up and travelled into its area without a valid ticket (by that point I was already on a train from that needed it beyond Swindon, but I'd had enough)

Ive never had any problems buying at either Southern or Southeastern Ticket Offices. Great Westerns website appears to offer them on-line but Ive never tried that.

 

[AnkleBoots]

In an attempt to reduce costs, the X3 bus has been pointed out as a good way of getting from Bournemouth to Salisbury (in conjunction with Megabus on the other days).

If we arrive at Salisbury train station in a group of 12, will the ticket office on a Saturday morning be willing to sell walk-up Groupsave Anytime Singles based on two groups of 6, or will they insist that any group over 10 has to be dealt with in advance?

 

[island]

I suspect you will have no issue whatsoever getting the tickets you need, but if you are particularly concerned, then enter and leave the booking office separately.