London to Glasgow 22 Dec

[jay jay]

Good Morning

Can anybody suggest any split ticketing for going from London to Glasgow on the 22nd December and back on the 23rd December? Although its late now, just wondering if any ticket "gurus" on here could suggest the cheapest option for me?

Thanks

 

[cuccir]

To get you the best deal, we need more information. Do you need to arrive/depart for any particular time on either day? Are you willing to be tied to one train, or at least to a less flexible ticket? And are you willing to either travel very early, or on a long-ish journey, to get a cheap deal?

 

[jay jay]

To get you the best deal, we need more information. Do you need to arrive/depart for any particular time on either day? Are you willing to be tied to one train, or at least to a less flexible ticket? And are you willing to either travel very early, or on a long-ish journey, to get a cheap deal?

Hi, will leave early if necessary from london on the way up on the 22nd, and coming home on the 23rd wish to leave around midday. Not bothered on route or journey time length in both directions. Also happy to be tied to one train if required!

 

[tony_mac]

In general, splitting tickets on a long route like this doesn't often work (unless it is priced by XC).
You could save some money using London Midland, but that's likely to make the journey unbearably long.

Advance tickets are often cheaper to Glasgow than they are to Preston or Carlisle; you are unlikely to save much money at this late stage compared to the off-peak return.

 

[cuccir]

You could save some money using London Midland, but that's likely to make the journey unbearably long..

London Midland is why I asked the question! But Tony is right that on longer journeys splits are often less reliable.

Right,

The best you can do on through advance tickets is £96 (£48.05 each): the 09:00 East Coast from King's Cross on the way out, and 11:50 East Coast from Glasgow Central on the way back should do you (there are a couple of other options). This includes the 10% extra discount from the East Coast website. If you're happy to leave very early, you could get the Virgin Trains 05:39 out of Euston for £49 first class (an extra 95p) - this gets you in at 10:36 and includes a free breakfast! These tickets are probably your best bet.

London Midland is significantly cheaper getting you part way, but takes longer. There's then no obvious cheap way from Crewe. The best I can do with this saves you only £6: advance singles Euston-Crewe and Crewe-Euston (£8 each), then Off-Peak Returns to Preston (£21), Carlisle (£33.40) and Glasgow (£19.80), coming to £90.20. This only involves changing once (at Crewe) and keeps you flexible as they're all regular stops on the route. You can save even more splitting the Preston-Carlisle leg: Oxenholme - Preston to Oxenholme Off Peak Return is £16.20 and Oxenholme - Carlisle Off Peak Return is £13. This reduces flexibility a bit more but brings you down another £4.20, to £86. Whether all of that messing about with different tickets and extra hour journey is worth £10 is probably dependent upon your circumstance!

 

[bnm]

Dec 22nd:
London Euston to Crewe LM Advance on the 0846 arrive 1138. £8.00
Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly Anytime Return (Virgin Only) on the VT 1211 arrive 1249 £11.00*
Manchester Piccadilly to Glasgow Central TPE Advance on the 1316 arrive 1630 £22.50

Dec 23rd:
Glasgow Central to Manchester Piccadilly TPE Advance on the 1254 arrive 1627 £26.50
Manchester Piccadilly to Crewe Anytime Return on the VT 1655 arrive 1727 £0 (*return portion)
Crewe to Euston LM Advance on the 1749 (change Stafford) arrive 2049 £11.50

Total £79.50 if booked now.

 

[jay jay]

London Midland is why I asked the question! But Tony is right that on longer journeys splits are often less reliable.

Right,

The best you can do on through advance tickets is £96 (£48.05 each): the 09:00 East Coast from King's Cross on the way out, and 11:50 East Coast from Glasgow Central on the way back should do you (there are a couple of other options). This includes the 10% extra discount from the East Coast website. If you're happy to leave very early, you could get the Virgin Trains 05:39 out of Euston for £49 first class (an extra 95p) - this gets you in at 10:36 and includes a free breakfast! These tickets are probably your best bet.

London Midland is significantly cheaper getting you part way, but takes longer. There's then no obvious cheap way from Crewe. The best I can do with this saves you only £6: advance singles Euston-Crewe and Crewe-Euston (£8 each), then Off-Peak Returns to Preston (£21), Carlisle (£33.40) and Glasgow (£19.80), coming to £90.20. This only involves changing once (at Crewe) and keeps you flexible as they're all regular stops on the route. You can save even more splitting the Preston-Carlisle leg: Oxenholme - Preston to Oxenholme Off Peak Return is £16.20 and Oxenholme - Carlisle Off Peak Return is £13. This reduces flexibility a bit more but brings you down another £4.20, to £86. Whether all of that messing about with different tickets and extra hour journey is worth £10 is probably dependent upon your circumstance!

Would just like to thank you for this information. This is the way I am going to do it. Thank you for your time!

 

[OwlMan]

There is industrial action (Driver strike) on London Midland on 23 December - watch out!!
see
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-11986596

Peter

 

[tony_mac]

Don't Virgin usually let you travel on their trains if London Midland aren't running?

 

[yorkie]

They'd have to; they can't strand customers. Although they may be able to force you to wait an hour or two for the next LM train if they're running but very infrequently.

 

[OwlMan]

Only if LM could not provide an alternative.

If some services are running you might end up changing at Northampton & Birmingham (with possibly long waits at both stations) and having to go through the West Midlands; also the services that do run will probably make more stops than usual. - could add quite a bit of time to your journey.
In the last strike I was 2 hours late arriving (including 55 minutes wait at Northampton) at Nuneaton - having to travel via Coventry as well.

Peter