Weybridge -> Birmingham 20th April, fare recommendations

[lookapigeon]

Hello, I am looking for the best value ticket for this journey please. I'm looking at heading out in the morning, and coming back as late as it will allow me to, on the same day.
I'm a very infrequent rail traveller, so some gudiance would be appreciated. Is there any particular opinion on which rail company (Avanti, Chiltern, WMT so far I can see) to avoid or go with from a on board train facilities/comfort point of view?
Many thanks in advance!

 

[Watershed]

Getting the best value ticket and "coming back as late as possible" are, in some senses, incompatible aims.

The cheapest available through ticket would be the Super Off-Peak Return routed "via High Wycombe" (i.e. for use on Chiltern), costing £55.10 before Railcard discounts. This has no time restrictions on a Saturday.

The first official itinerary of the day via this route would get you to Birmingham Moor Street for 10:06, leaving Weybridge at 06:01.

Realistically you could probably make the 07:02 from Marylebone (arriving into Moor St at 09:06) if you took the 05:42 or possibly the 06:01 from Weybridge - but these wouldn't be official connections across London. Therefore, you couldn't claim any compensation if you missed the 07:02 from Marylebone.

The last official itinerary back would mean leaving Moor St at 20:13 and arriving back at Weybridge at 23:48.

If arriving earlier or leaving later is important then you'll want to travel with Avanti. That'll cost you accordingly more: an Off-Peak Return routed "Any Permitted" costs £77.90 before Railcard discounts. That would allow you to arrive as early as 08:27 on an official connection, and return as late as 21:21.

If you only wanted to travel using Avanti in one direction, you could buy the cheaper "via High Wycombe" ticket and then obtain a "change of route excess" for the relevant portion (outward / return) for half the difference.

So if you wanted to go out using Chiltern and back using Avanti, you could do so by buying the "via High Wycombe" ticket and then obtaining a change of route excess for the return portion, at a net cost of £66.50.

Of course you might be able to save by using Advance tickets (if you're happy to be tied to a specific train) or split tickets. But the above amounts are the most you should have to pay.

 

[paul1609]

An alternative mixed mode journey:
Weybridge to London Underground Zones 1 to 3 £24.40 Off peak day return
06.01 Weybridge to Waterloo.
Waterloo to Finchley Rd come out main enterance turn left, walk to bus stop CL 150 yards.
07.30 Flixbus to Birmingham arrive 10.10 £3.99
Return Journey
20.15 Flixbus to London Finchley Rd £3.99 arriving 22.50 return as outward to Weybridge.
Flixbus booking fee £1.00 Total Journey £33.38
The coach Finchley Rd to Birmingham is about 20 mins longer than Chiltern and quite often quicker than LNWR its obviously a fair bit slower than Avanti.

 

[lookapigeon]

Many thanks for the suggestions, I'll go with the super offpeak through ticket as it looks to be the most straightforward option with no ties to specific trains and I presume one can just walk up and buy it?
Sadly I don't qualify for any of the railcards and thank you for the tip for the excess should I want to switch the route, I didn't know this. I guess if i want to exercise this option I'd have to talk to some of the staff in Birmingham?
Looking on a few of the trainsplit sites the prices have gone up and the tickets seem more inflexible than the above ticket!
Pail1609: Thanks for the alternative suggestion, I'd probably have taken it in my student days haha.

 

[paul1609]

Pail1609: Thanks for the alternative suggestion, I'd probably have taken it in my student days haha.

I've really only discovered coaches in retirement largely as a result of sky high prices and industrial action on rail. The coach product is often actually preferable to the cheap rail options. The seats on flixbus for instance are far better than those on a EMR meridian I was on yesterday.
My "student" travel was largely on rail utilising warrants provided by the borstal

 

[Watershed]

Many thanks for the suggestions, I'll go with the super offpeak through ticket as it looks to be the most straightforward option with no ties to specific trains and I presume one can just walk up and buy it?

That's correct. As a regular walk-up ticket, it's available to buy at that price at any time, including on the day of departure, and it isn't tied to any specific train. On a weekend, like most Off-Peak tickets it has no time restrictions.

Sadly I don't qualify for any of the railcards and thank you for the tip for the excess should I want to switch the route, I didn't know this. I guess if i want to exercise this option I'd have to talk to some of the staff in Birmingham?

That's probably the easiest option although you are also entitled to board the train and to pay the excess to the conductor. There is no penalty for doing so; indeed, the "via High Wycombe" fare is valid on Euston services as far as Coventry anyway.

 

[Haywain]

I've really only discovered coaches in retirement largely as a result of sky high prices and industrial action on rail. The coach product is often actually preferable to the cheap rail options. The seats on flixbus for instance are far better than those on a EMR meridian I was on yesterday.

I guess that depends where you live. Many towns have extremely limited options for longer distance coach travel and 'hub' changes can produce very long and tedious journey times.

 

[paul1609]

I guess that depends where you live. Many towns have extremely limited options for longer distance coach travel and 'hub' changes can produce very long and tedious journey times.

Yes and no, it really depends on where your real journey starts and ends. I live on the edge of Romney Marsh in Kent. Going to the coach hubs in London is much the same as a cross London Rail trip. I prefer Golders Green and Finchley Rd because of their proximity to the M1. Victoria for the West. The end to end journey time to Birmingham is only slightly slower than Chiltern and quicker than LNWR. It's slightly over an hour slower than premium priced and less than premium reliability Avanti. Coach hubs have good connections to dirt cheap regional rail at Manchester Airport, Manchester Picc (nx), Manchester Victoria (flixbus and Megabus) Sheffield Meadowhall which covers most of my requirements in the north.

 

[peteb]

That's correct. As a regular walk-up ticket, it's available to buy at that price at any time, including on the day of departure, and it isn't tied to any specific train. On a weekend, like most Off-Peak tickets it has no time restrictions.


That's probably the easiest option although you are also entitled to board the train and to pay the excess to the conductor. There is no penalty for doing so; indeed, the "via High Wycombe" fare is valid on Euston services as far as Coventry anyway.

Could you clarify the last sentence please? If I'm in London with a "via High Wycombe" ticket to, say, somewhere in the West Midlands, can I instead use it to Coventry from Euston, then obtain another ticket from there to complete my journey?

 

[jfollows]

Could you clarify the last sentence please? If I'm in London with a "via High Wycombe" ticket to, say, somewhere in the West Midlands, can I instead use it to Coventry from Euston, then obtain another ticket from there to complete my journey?

The other way round, map GC at https://data.atoc.org/routeing-maps, that's to say it's valid Birmingham-Coventry as part of the Birmingham-Marylebone route.

 

[peteb]

Ah ok many thanks for clarifying that.