Tamworth to Hayes & harlington OR Heathrow

[furryfeet]

Going down to an airport hotel near Heathrow on the afternoon / evening of 31 oct, returning on the evening of 08 Nov

What suggestions do readers have about route & price etc.
Include any difficulties on the tube, or ticket barriers etc

I can go via london or reading.

2 adults, no railcards

I will consider apex tickets for the 31 oct, especially 1st class, but if it turns out that a saver return ticket is best, so be it !

Bear in mind that on the 08 nov it would have to be a walk-on ticket, since the incoming plane to heathrow could well be late !

 

[TEW]

If you are buying a Walk on one way it wont be much more just to buy a walk on return.
Best Walk on Fare I have found is £148 which is your cheapest option, there aren't many AP on that journey. That ticket is valid via London so you will have to use the ticket barriers there and you would probably want to change at either King's Cross or Charing Cross or walk to Euston Square. Its not the easiest thing to do. The ticket then seems to be valid on the Heathrow Express.
From Tamworth you can either get a direct train to Euston or a train to Birmingham New Street and change there.
There are also Ticket Barriers at London Paddington that you will have to go through.
Oh and that is an Off Peak Return fare so you don't get confused, valid via Shortest Direct Route.

 

[87015]

Go via Brum and get London Midland or Chiltern cheap 'super off peak' tickets to London (walk-on) then rebook at Euston/Marylebone for Heathrow, tube single or whatever?

Or even London Midland to Watford and get coach link to Heathrow from there.

Depends how much you want to pay - a direct ticket won't come cheap!

 

[paul1609]

I'm told but haven't experienced it myself that the Watford link is now just a standard service bus and isnt worth doing, you're better off traveling via central London.
I'd guess that the cheapest will be a Nat Express coach from Birmingham.

 

[furryfeet]

looks like the chiltern route is the cheapast - many thanks for this tip.

will travel via central london, seeing as the coach links are poor quality.

just as a thought, is the midland route worth pursuing, via Derby ?
or is it unreliable ?

 

[Techniquest]

Not sure about the Tamworth to Derby bit (not too bad but can get awful), but the MML is usually a good way to go. Would need a Tamworth - Derby and Derby - London/Heathrow ticket combination for that though.

I'd concur that Tamworth to Birmingham is the most logical first step for a Chiltern Railways service to Marylebone then single fares for each of the relevant days you'll be travelling. I would suggest perhaps doing Tamworth - Birmingham - Reading - London Paddington - Heathrow finishing on the HEx, but HEx is incredibly expensive.

Either way, you're still looking at spending a fair bit.

Mind, you do also have the option of getting to Birmingham, onto Megabus to London Victoria Coach Station and the Tube from there. Only thing is Megabus bookings aren't open yet for the relevant dates.

 

[yorkie]

This is most odd.

Using the old Saver (now "Off Peak") fares from NFM95,

Derby-London was £47-70 and is valid via Tamworth or MML
Burton-London was £50-50 valid via Tamworth or MML or £47-70 to only be valid via Derby (and as you can't double back that forces you onto the MML)
Tamworth-London was £37-90 (or £34-30 if you avoid Brum and go direct along the Trent Valley) but is not valid via the MML.

So why does the Burton-London ticket cost more if you go via the WCML as the WCML is a cheaper route? That doesn't make sense. Clearly, going from Tamworth it is not a good idea to go via Derby (unless you can find a very cheap AP ticket that way and none are available direct), as you have to buy two tickets at a huge premium.

Someone going from Burton via the WCML there and back is better off buying from Derby!!