Thanks for all the replies.
In answer to some questions:
1. I usual go down for the day, so its good to know that the Stoke on Trent to Nuneaton ticket is valid via Crewe and Birmingham. Furthermore having looked at a previous ticket it does state "any permitted" in the route section.
Interesting to note is valid via Derby and Leicester.
2. I usually travel down for a meeting which begins at 10am, so I have to get to Nuneaton for 9am for an onward bus. Coming from Preston this is quite difficult, as there is no direction train to Nuneaton. Only trains from Liverpool and Manchester stop at Nuneaton, hence the reason for the above ticket.
When travelling down to Nuneaton for that time in the morning there is no direct service, so you have to change. The walk on fare at that time is Anytime Return at £58, the off peak return carries a 2R restriction, which is not valid before 0928. I use the following travel options to try and reduce the price.
1. Travel out of Preston on the 0554 to London, arrive Crewe at 0646 and change for the 0702 from Liverpool to London, which arrives in Nuneaton at 0747. Wait around for a hour drinking coffee or something and then go to the meeting. The first bus is at 9am so I don't have alot of choice or get a very expensive taxi! The ticket option for this is an off peak return to Stafford which is valid at anytime and cost £31.90 and then an anytime day return from Stafford to Nuneaton which costs £11.20. Total: £43.10, saving of £14.90. All valid as the liverpool train stops at Stafford on the way down. The only snag is I need to ctach a train stopping at Stafford on the way back up, but that isn't usually a problem.
2. Travel out of Preston on the 0558 to Manchester get in there at 0656. Then get the 0715 london train to Nuneaton arriving at 0829, leaving time for a quick coffee, before getting the bus at 9am. This is my preferred option because there less time hanging around for a bus to arrive. The ticket option for this is a Preston - Stoke Off peak return which costs £28.60 which is valid at anytime, then a stoke to nuneaton off peak return at £22.90 which is valid at anytime. Total £51.50, saving of £6.50. Not as good as the above, but saves hanging around!
The only problem with this option is last time I did this I got on the wrong train and went all the way to London Euston! Apparently there are two trains that leave Manchester at the same time, one goes non-stop to London (picking up at Stockport only) and the other stops at intermdediate stations (including Nuneaton). The main problem was this non stop train is not shown in current version of the National Rail Timetable, so I didn't know about it. The train manager was ve ry helpful though and on this occassion authorised my ticket through to London Euston and the manager on the other train honoured this, so I arrived at the meeting some 2 hours late!
Oh well at least I know for next time.
If anybody else has got an alternative to the main two options I would be very interested to know what they are. It would beat getting up at 5am to get to meeting for 10am, all in the name of reducing my companies carbon footprint!!
Many thanks,
WestCoastTravel