Nottingham to Sleaford and Grantham

[Steveoh]

I'm hoping to save some money for a friend but I can't seem to find anything clever so I was hoping that somebody might have some suggestions.

On a fortnightly basis he makes the following journeys:

on a Friday

1 Adult
Nottingham -> Sleaford traveling out on the 13:45

1 Adult and 1 Child
Sleaford -> Nottingham getting the 16:10

On Sunday

1 Adult and 1 Child
Nottingham -> Grantham

1 Adult
Grantham -> Nottingham

Money is very tight so even a £1 saving would make a difference to him.

Any suggestions gratefully appreciated.

 

[Romilly]

My starting suggestion would be:

Adult offpeak day return Nottingham-Sleaford £13.20

Child offpeak return (i.e. a period return not a day return) Sleaford-Nottingham £11.35 - it will be fine to use this on the Sunday for just Nottingham-Grantham

Adult offpeak day return Nottingham-Grantham £8.70

Total £33.25

I have assumed that the child is aged 5 to 15: children under 5 are free, and children aged 16 or over pay adult fares. I cannot see that a Family & Friends railcard would make the total any less.
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I have just spotted that, for the child, it would be cheaper to buy:

Sleaford-Nottingham offpeak day single £6.55

Nottingham-Grantham offpeak day single £4.30

reducing the overall total from £33.25 to £32.75

 

[Steveoh]

Thanks. I was hoping that might be something clever that could be done with a railcard or some fares that I'd missed. 50p is something at least.

 

[Romilly]

Part of the problem here is that the offpeak return fares are about 75% more expensive than the day returns. That meant that any benefit from a Family & Friends railcard for the return journey that your friend and the child make together is outweighed by the need for your friend to then pay two offpeak return fares for himself instead of two offpeak day return fares.

I did spot that a Nottingham-Metheringham day return is only £11.20 - that is valid via Lincoln, but the journey planners say that it is also valid via Sleaford but only on journeys that avoid Grantham. Unfortunately, there are only 2 or 3 journeys each day each way between Nottingham/Sleaford that go via Bingham but not Grantham, and none of them are at the times your friend wants to travel. So that extra £2 Friday saving appears not to be available.
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[Edit: the reason for that validity on the Nottingham-Metheringham ticket is that the shortest route (and only route mapped by the Routeing Guide) is 43 miles (Nottingham-Newark Castle-Lincoln-Metheringham) and, although Nottingham-Bingham-Grantham-Sleaford-Metheringham is 52 miles, the distance for Nottingham-Bingham-NOT Grantham-Sleaford-Metheringham is only 45.75 miles and is therefore allowed because it is within 3 miles of the shortest route.]

 

[bluealley]

Travelling between Newcastle/Durham to Sleaford/Boston was and is a nightmare for connections.