Crazy Rail ticket prices

[denis567]

I wonder how they work out the cost of rail tickets?
I have today booked 2 Senior Railcard tickets from York to Reading.
I wanted to book return seats but it was going to cost me £130.20 for the train I wished to travel on, however by booking single fares, each way, I have got them for £88.40
What's the logic in that?, if it had been the same price, I wouldn't have been surprised, but to be £42 cheaper just doesn't add up, although I am not complaining.
Does anyone know how it is worked out?

[ELVIS68]

There was a bit on Watchdog about this, apparantly you can save £100s of pounds on long journey rail tickets by changing trains mid journey rather than going all the way on the same train

[squarebear]

That's what we do here. If I want to go to Doncaster, it is cheaper to buy a ticket from our home town to a midway station, then this midway station through to Doncaster than paying for one ticket straight through.

You need to shop around. I find also buying tickets well in advance saves a fortune. Our last trip to London from Yorkshire cost £11 each for a return.

[Bigfellah]

Hi Denis - one has to be very shrewd when booking rail tickets. One can book up to 12 weeks in advance and the railway companies advertise that the cheapest fares can be obtained then.

Don't be fooled by that. Wait until about 9 or 10 weeks before your intended travel date and the fares have usually come down dramatically. For example I wanted to travel London/Edinburgh return in mid December. I checked the website in mid September and the cheapest fares were £73 each way - total £146. A few weeks later having monitored on a daily basis the cheapest fares were down to £8.60 each way and so I bought them.

If you buy very close to date of travel the fares would be almost unaffordable!

Moral is you need to arrange in advance and monitor the website of the train company regularly as these cheap fares go very quickly. Don't use www.thetrainline.com as they will charge you a small booking fee - go direct to the train company website.

I hope this helps.

Cheers

[denis567]

Thanks for all your answers, some good advice for next time

[dzug2]

Advance tickets are always singles and tie you to a specific train - miss it and you have to pay again. For making that committment you often get a discount.

Return tickets are flexible - you don't have to choose which train you actually travel on until the day. Hence they are often more expensive.

[ELVIS68]

I work on the railways and always blag a lift in the drivers cab, views are so much better lol

[lilypoppyfre]

not even the booking clerks know .....I am afraid you have to spend some time on your computer and try different dates and times....That 's what I was told the last time I wanted some prices to go to Wales...some help then.....!!!