Seat reservations possible with different journey origins?

[ilkestonian]

My brother and I are travelling to Bristol later this year.

I'm starting from either Stoke on Trent or Stafford, my brother from the Shrewsbury area.

We aim to be on the same train from Birmingham New Street to Bristol and likewise on the return leg.

Is it possible to somehow reserve adjacent sets on this part of both the outward and return legs of the journey, either if we book our own tickets or if one person books both?

I'm assuming at this stage we shall be booking advance tickets, with no splits as the through fare seems reasonable and a quick check doesn't reveal any savings by splitting, but would one person booking both tickets and splitting at Birmingham be a (or the only?) way to achive what we want?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

My brother and I are travelling to Bristol later this year.

I'm starting from either Stoke on Trent or Stafford, my brother from the Shrewsbury area.

We aim to be on the same train from Birmingham New Street to Bristol and likewise on the return leg.

Is it possible to somehow reserve adjacent sets on this part of both the outward and return legs of the journey, either if we book our own tickets or if one person books both?

I'm assuming at this stage we shall be booking advance tickets, with no splits as the through fare seems reasonable and a quick check doesn't reveal any savings by splitting, but would one person booking both tickets and splitting at Birmingham be a (or the only?) way to achive what we want?

Thanks for any advice.

For your journey from Stoke or Stafford, you can do this on a through train (CrossCountry). By booking on their website, you can choose the seat you want (you are initially randomly allocated one but can change this and see a seat map). For your brother's journey from Shrewsbury, you'll need to enter 'avoid Craven Arms' or some equivalent route restriction to get the journey via New Street to show up, but again, if you book via CrossCountry then you can use the seat map to choose seats manually.

For your brother's journey, there is little point in getting an Advance ticket, as these are only marginally cheaper than a flexible ticket (at least at off-peak times, which for the relevant tickets for this journey have mostly morning-only restrictions, until around 09:30). You can split the tickets at Shifnal and Cheltenham Spa (getting an Off-Peak Day Return, Off-Peak Return and Off-Peak Day return for each of the three parts) for the best savings.

For your journey, and given the timetable issues from May onwards, there's also little point in getting an Advance ticket, as these are again only marginally cheaper than a flexible ticket. Splitting at Wolverhampton and Cheltenham Spa, with the same arrangement as your brother's tickets, is probably best.

 

[ilkestonian]

..lots of helpful advice...

Many thanks for your detailed advice, much appreciated.

I should have mentioned that we are not returning same day, we go Sat 9th June, returning the following day, both journeys are not time critical but we aim to arrive early to mid afternoon, and to depart from Bristol mid to late morning, so off peak, but as its weekend, perhaps off peak is not relevent.

I'll check those splits amended to exclude day return tickets, and the information about the small difference between an advance ticket and a flexible ticket is good; a flexible would certainly be worth it, to give us more... er...flexibility

I know we are just entering the point where tickets for these dates are available, but I'm currently seeing warnings on the National Rail planner about these journeys. Presumably these warnings wont apply once the tickets are available and are sold?

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Many thanks for your detailed advice, much appreciated.

I should have mentioned that we are not returning same day, we go Sat 9th June, returning the following day, both journeys are not time critical but we aim to arrive early to mid afternoon, and to depart from Bristol mid to late morning, so off peak, but as its weekend, perhaps off peak is not relevent.

I'll check those splits amended to exclude day return tickets, and the information about the small difference between an advance ticket and a flexible ticket is good; a flexible would certainly be worth it, to give us more... er...flexibility

I know we are just entering the point where tickets for these dates are available, but I'm currently seeing warnings on the National Rail planner about these journeys. Presumably these warnings wont apply once the tickets are available and are sold?

As it's the weekend, none of the relevant tickets have off-peak restrictions - you can take a train at any time. (There are some off-peak tickets with weekend restrictions, usually super off-peak tickets, the ones here are not in that category).

However, if you're not returning the same day then flexible tickets are a fair amount more expensive (as you can't make use of cheap Day Return tickets). In that case, Advances could be worth it - and if booked through CrossCountry, they are changeable without an admin fee up to 24 hours prior to departure (you get a full refund on the old tickets and simply buy new tickets - they must be Advances for the same journey though). If you want to do this, for your journey you're best off splitting at Birmingham and Cheltenham Spa (saves about £3 on the return, for no real loss of flexibility given the train stops there anyway). For your brother's journey, there are no advances between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton, so simply get an Off-Peak Return for that bit, but then split Advances at Birmingham and Cheltenham Spa.

 

[ilkestonian]

Thanks again, I'd just discovered Advance seem the best bet, so the fact that they could be changed if necessary is good to know.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Thanks again, I'd just discovered Advance seem the best bet, so the fact that they could be changed if necessary is good to know.

They can always be changed, but most sites require a £10 admin fee to do so - so splitting Advances is then not worth it, as they are each under £10 and so effectively have no value when changed. It's only CrossCountry that offer a fee-free changeover, and only if booked online via their website.

 

[ilkestonian]

I wonder if I can ask a question about changing seat reservations for an advance ticket, (to be booked on the Cross Country website for one of their trains)?

Can this be done anytime, even after receiving the ticket, or must it be done during the actual booking process?

Thanks!

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

I wonder if I can ask a question about changing seat reservations for an advance ticket, (to be booked on the Cross Country website for one of their trains)?

Can this be done anytime, even after receiving the ticket, or must it be done during the actual booking process?

Thanks!

Generally, you can only set your reservation when you book your tickets. If you had a season ticket you could get multiple reservations for different trains at a booking office, but it's unlikely any booking office would let you book multiple reservations (or even any at all) with a pure single/return ticket.

 

[ilkestonian]

Generally, you can only set your reservation when you book your tickets. If you had a season ticket you could get multiple reservations for different trains at a booking office, but it's unlikely any booking office would let you book multiple reservations (or even any at all) with a pure single/return ticket.

Thanks again for the help and advice.

So, for example, if I book my ticket, my brother could then book his and select the seat next to me if still free, but if we both booked independently, neither of us could then amend ours to be next seat to the other?

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Thanks again for the help and advice.

So, for example, if I book my ticket, my brother could then book his and select the seat next to me if still free, but if we both booked independently, neither of us could then amend ours to be next seat to the other?

That's my understanding, correct. If you simply book both at once you can make sure you select seats next to each other.

 

[ilkestonian]

All sorted, many thanks ForTheLoveOf for your help.

I booked mine then gave my seat details to my brother who bought his and was able to select the seat he wanted.