@calc7: Thanks for your reply.I just want a single ticket to Manchester
The ticket booking sites, and any staffed railway station, should give you the cheapest single ticket price to Manchester.
The absolute cheapest single ticket is priced at £7.90 which is a non-refundable
Advance fare (valid booked train only) and would need to be booked on trains at unpopular times around 10-12 weeks in advance, and would
not be available when you wish to travel as it is too short notice. Once this price tier has sold out, the next tier is £11.90, then £16.50, £21.45 and so on.
The cheapest ticket
available for immediate travel is an Off Peak Single and costs £45.55 and, given your Railcard, is
valid on any Virgin train, and for just 65p more you can get an Off Peak Return. These tickets are additionally valid on London Midland but not at certain 'peak' times.
@ Sonic 2009: Thank you for your reply. I just want the cheapest option, whether its online or from the ticket office.
If you are asking for the absolute cheapest option, including using a combination of tickets for one journey, no-one has yet devised a way of calculating that.
People can give it a go but it cannot generally be said with certainty that any particular combination is "
the cheapest". However Sonic2009s suggestion is likely to be the cheapest, or close to it.
You can book at any ticket booking website, or at any staffed station or through telesales.
Some companies offer cheaper fares when you book that companies' trains through their own website.
I am somewhat reluctant to answer when someone asks for the cheapest combination of tickets, or the 'cheapest option' especially when no details about the requirements of the customer are given, as I am concerned that the advice I give may not be applicable/helpful, or answer the question to be "the cheapest".