Train fare hikes in school holiday

[Slowroad]

Hi, not totally a cycling issue, but is if you have to tour in school holidays. I've been scoping out a trip to France in the May/June half term, and as it's too far ahead I've been looking at train times in March. Surprised to see that a return from London to the south coast nearly doubles in late March, presumably due to it being the school holidays? I don't think it is the scheduled fare rise as that's earlier in March and 5 or 6%.
Any knowledge of this? I've never noticed it before.

[st599_uk]

If you look before the seats have been released, you're shown the maximum price.

[scragend]

If you look before the seats have been released, you're shown the maximum price.

Yes exactly this. The "walk up" fares won't change according to demand. The official price rise is 4.9% and occurs on 3rd March, but after that they will stay the same for the next 12 months.

What will change is the availability of the various Advance fares, which will only be released nearer to the time.

[st599_uk]

Normally, if you hunt the various train companies websites, you can see which date they've released until and set an email alert when the date you're interested is realeased.

What you quite often find though is that weekdays are released 12 weeks in advance, but weekends are delayed until 4-6 weeks in advance as they don't know exactly what engineering work is planned.

[PH]

It's a minefield, for the best value you have to search around, you could also try split ticketing and alternative routes. I came back from London to Derby last night, travelling via Birmingham took an extra 80 min and saved £28 over a direct train, yet next month for the same trip, at the same time, the cheapest option is a direct train.
I think part of the variability is that some advance fares are sold in limited numbers. That's what I see when I book with Trainline "Only X left at this price". I've also seen fares drop close to the travel date, maybe as spare capacity is offered. I don't know what governs this, it may well be that at times of higher demand, like school holidays, they offer less discounted tickets.
If you say where to where, maybe someone, maybe I, know of likely options to save you some money.

[mattheus]

What you quite often find though is that weekdays are released 12 weeks in advance, but weekends are delayed until 4-6 weeks in advance as they don't know exactly what engineering work is planned.

ooh, I hadn;t realised that difference! I'd always assumed the 12week period.
Does "weekends" usually include Friday evenings?

(Part of the reason I can never work out the "rules" that govern this, is my line sells out of Advance fares in 14milli-seconds. I haven't bought an Advance fare for about 5 years.)

[st599_uk]

Don't know, but here is LNER's current dates:

Tickets are available for travel up to and including: Friday 31 May 2024
Excluded dates not yet available for booking: 9, 10, 30, 31 March 2024
6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28 April 2024
4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26 May 2024

I'm assuming each train co will have a similar page

[Slowroad]

Thanks - I've looked again and it has all changed. Looking more closely, this is all about the new National Rail Journey Planner. I had not realised that what it calls a 'standard' ticket turns out to be either an advance or another type of ticket if advance are not available yet. I really don't like the new journey Planner and I think I shall use The Trainline in future - also you can book ahead as far as the end of May - without the advance option of course...

[scragend]

Thanks - I've looked again and it has all changed. Looking more closely, this is all about the new National Rail Journey Planner. I had not realised that what it calls a 'standard' ticket turns out to be either an advance or another type of ticket if advance are not available yet. I really don't like the new journey Planner and I think I shall use The Trainline in future - also you can book ahead as far as the end of May - without the advance option of course...

I wouldn't go anywhere near Trainline - they charge booking fees (unless you are booking for travel the same day I think) and on occasion some sharp practice when it comes to split tickets.

I recommend Trainsplit - it will find the best split tickets for you, or you can search without split ticketing if you prefer. If the site finds you a split which saves money over a standard ticket it will take a percentage of the saving, but if there is no saving there is no charge.

Of course you could use Trainsplit to find the tickets and then book them elsewhere to avoid their cut, although the morality of that could be debated. Like going into WH Smith and reading all the magazines but not buying any.

You can also use any train operating company's web site to buy tickets, even if it doesn't involve their trains. I sometimes use the TPE web site, for example, because I can get Nectar points and easyfundraising donations.

[xerxes]

I wouldn't go anywhere near Trainline - ....... on occasion some sharp practice when it comes to split tickets.

An example of this - I booked a first class ticket to the Scottish Highlands - however a large part of the journey had no first class accommodation. It would have been cheaper to have booked a separate second class ticket for that portion of the journey.

[Slowroad]

Thanks both! Why does it have to be so complicated?