where are the cheap advanced tickets

[robert2000]

well I can only find cheap tickets to london and glasgow if i book in advance from chester.
why is it only certain destinations that we can go to for a cheap advanced ticket.
chester to manchester is still the same even if i book 12 weeks in advance
places in wales aswell, to name but a few. ive always had this problem,
i dont understand why we have all these website telling up to book in advance even though we still pay the same.
raileasy website said i cud save up to 84% if i book in advance to manchester, infact i saved 0%.

any advice please.

cheers.

 

[pemma]

What sort of times are you looking at?

The cheapest Advance tickets on Virgin aren't available on every off-peak departure. Sometimes Virgin are a couple of days late in releasing Advance tickets, so they aren't on sale a full 12 weeks in advance.

Are you looking for direct trains only for Chester to London? There may be cheaper Advance tickets available for using the Chester-Crewe shuttle and picking up the train from Manchester at Crewe.

 

[John @ home]

why is it only certain destinations that we can go to for a cheap advanced ticket.

Because that's the way the railway industry was privatised in Britain. Certain tickets are regulated. They include most season tickets, the successor ticket to a Saver Return where a Saver Return existed in 2003 and a full price Standard Return where there was no Saver Return in 2003. Most other tickets, including all First Class tickets and all Advance tickets, are not regulated. They don't have to exist. If they do exist, the number of such tickets available and the price are not regulated. As a result, it is often cheaper to buy more than one ticket for one journey.

raileasy website said i cud save up to 84% if i book in advance to manchester, infact i saved 0%.

Did they say you could save money on a Chester - Manchester journey? We advise people not to use raileasy or the thetrainline because of credit card, debit card and delivery fees.

 

[devon_metro]

Advance tickets are subject to availability - never pin your hopes on getting cheap tickets for a journey you need to make, or you will probably be disappointed.

 

[tony_mac]

It is also often the case that only part of the journey has an advance fare available, or that there are advance fares for both legs of a journey, but as they are on different train companies there is no advance fare for the through journey.

As the system doesn't work this out and combine the tickets, you have to buy them separately.

There are usually no advance fares available on short-distance trains.

 

[moonrakerz]

Advance tickets are subject to availability - never pin your hopes on getting cheap tickets for a journey you need to make, or you will probably be disappointed.

Of late, I have noticed that the availability of advance tickets is more "erratic" than it used to be.
I use the SWT service from Bristol Temple Meads to Waterloo on Advance tickets and now find that the Advance tickets don't now appear at the 12 week (ish) mark but appear almost at random, 9, 7 or 5 weeks before hand.