• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Through fares to Calais

Status
Not open for further replies.

Brucey

Member
Joined
7 Jan 2010
Messages
671
I'm looking at doing a day trip to Calais, leaving from Milton Keynes or Bletchley.

I have a YP railcard and will be leaving around 7am in the morning on a weekday.

I was looking at doing the following:
BLY to London International (EVR) £16.95
Oyster to Victoria £2.00
London Terminals to Calais (SDR) £23.75
Oyster to Euston £1.30

Total cost £44.00

I have a few questions:
1. Is it possible to buy the Calais ticket online from anywhere? Otherwise, can any ticket office issue it?
2. Can I upgrade the Calais ticket to HS1 for the usual £3.70 supplement?
3. Is there any type of through ticket from MKC that may work out cheaper?
4. Is the LNE ticket actually valid with a Calais ticket?
5. Is the bus still £2 from Dover Priory to the docks?
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Brucey

Member
Joined
7 Jan 2010
Messages
671
There was a recent thread which probably answers most of your questions :)

That answers most of my questions.

£3.70 for the HS1 upgrade is definitely worth it as the Oyster fare would be £3.30 in total, so just an extra 40p for quite a bit of extra convenience and comfort.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Another question: is there much open in Calais on a Sunday? I was planning on going Thursday, but it is £7 cheaper MKC-London at the weekend (can't do Saturday).
 

lyndhurst25

Established Member
Joined
26 Nov 2010
Messages
1,406
www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/travel/travel_europe.html
"Tickets to "London International" also include the London Underground across London (if necessary) to St Pancras (or Liverpool Street, Charing Cross or Victoria)."

I don't think that you need to use your Oyster card on the underground - the London International CIV ticket should cover the cross-London transfer.

Looking through old threads I don't seem to be able to find a report of anyone successfully using a London International ticket in combination with a Calais ticket. That doesn't mean to say that it is impossible to do and what National Rail website says above seems to suggest that it is allowable. Many people seem to think that London International CIV tickets are just for connection to Eurostar nowadays though.

The rules say that you need to show your Calais ticket to be able to a ticket to London International so you'll have to buy the Calais ticket first or at the same time as the London International ticket. This may cause problems if Bletchley can't issue the Calais ticket. In this case I wonder if it would be acceptable to buy a normal BLY to London ticket and have it "excessed" (partial refund) to the CIV fare on arrival in London, where the Calais ticket should be available?

Let us know how you get on. This is a trip that I was considering doing from north of London too.
 

Brucey

Member
Joined
7 Jan 2010
Messages
671
I don't plan on buying the ticket from Bletchley as the station is occasionally manned solely by the gateline assistant with an Avantix at weekends.

I've contacted The Ticket Hut at Pembrey Station to see if they can do the booking through ToD. (I've previously used them for another complex purchase and they managed very well)

The plan was to either go on Thursday/Monday/Tuesday (with the Euro SVR ticket from Victoria) or on Sunday (with a CDR and HS1 supplement). I'm edging towards the HS1 option as I've never used the service previously.

The weather is also a major factor. If it continues to rain like this, I'll call off the trip until a later date as I prefer to walk places (instead of getting the bus) and don't fancy getting soaked!

I'll let you all know how I get on. I'm quite surprised Southeastern don't publicise these fares a little more.

Am I also correct in saying that the new ships have free wi-fi? Can anyone report what speed is available on this? I need to get at least a little bit of work done if I go on a weekday and that relies on a reasonable Remote Desktop Connection.
 

radamfi

Established Member
Joined
29 Oct 2009
Messages
9,267
Am I also correct in saying that the new ships have free wi-fi?

I used the free wi-fi on the Spirit of Britain a few months ago and it seemed reliable enough, but didn't check how fast it was.
 

34D

Established Member
Joined
9 Feb 2011
Messages
6,042
Location
Yorkshire
In this case I wonder if it would be acceptable to buy a normal BLY to London ticket and have it "excessed" (partial refund) to the CIV fare on arrival in London

I don't believe the rules for excesses ever allow a refund to be given - in this circumstance I believe it would just be a zero excess (may still be worth doing, especially if you plan to arrive back in London just before the evening peak.
 

bb21

Emeritus Moderator
Joined
4 Feb 2010
Messages
24,151
I don't believe the rules for excesses ever allow a refund to be given - in this circumstance I believe it would just be a zero excess (may still be worth doing, especially if you plan to arrive back in London just before the evening peak.

That is correct. If the ticket excessed to is of a lesser value than the original ticket, no refund will be given.

If the difference is large, it might be worth considering refunding the original ticket and purchase the desired ticket separately.
 

Brucey

Member
Joined
7 Jan 2010
Messages
671
I've not had any response from "The Ticket Hut" who I contacted, having previously used them for a complex ticket purchase.

My ticket is currently postponed indefinitely, but when I do the trip, it would be nice to be able to have the tickets in advance to prevent any issues when I'm actually travelling.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top