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ScottR96

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Only if it isn't too far in advance. If you want to travel more than 24 weeks in the future, you cannot purchase a cheap ticket.

If you know what you doing in 24 weeks, wait approximately 12weeks then buy.

Trainline tell you when the cheap advance tickets become available for each company.

As of today the advance dates are;

Advance ticket booking window Virgin Trains East Coast 22 April Virgin Trains 21 April Great Western Railway 22 April Arriva Trains Wales 24 April Chiltern Railways 24 April London Midland 22 April ScotRail 22 April East Midlands Trains 22 April AbellioGreaterAnglia 22 April Southern 22 April Grand Central 23 April CrossCountry 24 April TransPennine Express 31 March South West Trains 02 April Hull Trains 22 April Northern Rail

24 April

These are the further forward dates you can currently book advnce tickets for each company,

They even send you an email reminder if you require for when your tickets will become available.

http://www.thetrainline.com/ticketalert/

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Only if it isn't too far in advance. If you want to travel more than 24 weeks in the future, you cannot purchase a cheap ticket.

The Trainline website has a free service where you enter your journey and the date and it'll send you an email reminder when the advance fares go on sale - http://www.thetrainline.com/ticketalert/

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If you know what you doing in 24 weeks, wait approximately 12weeks then buy.

Trainline tell you when the cheap advance tickets become available for each company.

As of today the advance dates are;

Advance ticket booking window Virgin Trains East Coast 22 April Virgin Trains 21 April Great Western Railway 22 April Arriva Trains Wales 24 April Chiltern Railways 24 April London Midland 22 April ScotRail 22 April East Midlands Trains 22 April AbellioGreaterAnglia 22 April Southern 22 April Grand Central 23 April CrossCountry 24 April TransPennine Express 31 March South West Trains 02 April Hull Trains 22 April Northern Rail

24 April

These are the further forward dates you can currently book advnce tickets for each company,

They even send you an email reminder if you require for when your tickets will become available.

http://www.thetrainline.com/ticketalert/

The Trainline website has a free service where you enter your journey and the date and it'll send you an email reminder when the advance fares go on sale - http://www.thetrainline.com/ticketalert/

Thanks. However, the point I was making was that it isn't possible to book more than 24 weeks prior for advance tickets. If like me you know that you have a journey to London in October then I can get the price or airline tickets but not for the train. It means that I am more likely to book the flights just now than wait and see what the train prices are going to be.

Edited by strichener
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Whilst getting an open return ticket can be horrendously expensive, if you book a specific train far enough in advance you can get some good deals. I was getting quoted a £60 off peak return from Dundee - Lancaster. Looked into it further, got from Edinburgh - Lancaster and back for £6.95 each way and then Dundee - Edinburgh for £7 and just £3 on the way back. Overall it was £24, less than half the price of an off peak return.

Likewise, I was being quoted £32 return for Dundee - Balloch in a couple weeks. Can get advance tickets to Glasgow from Dundee for £3.30 each way. Then the Glasgow - Balloch train is just a few quid for a return.

Basically, if you plan in advance it can work out far cheaper taking the train than the bus. Though if you can't plan in advance, it can be fucking expensive.

I got a single to Birmingham from Glasgow Central travelling down on a Saturday at 6pm and getting in at half 10 for £14 because I booked a few months in advance. That makes it cheaper than a return from Milngavie to Ayr!

The even better thing was that the Sons game that called off, and the trains were in disarray because of the viaduct. As a result I got an earlier train and made it into the hotel just after 9! Was very pleasing.

At the moment however I'm on a horrible train that stinks of wee (not me. This time) Getting home from Uni and I paid £12 for privilege.

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I've just found out that instead of £14 return from Dundee-Stirling, if I get tickets for Dundee - Perth and then Perth - Stirling (and obviously stay on the train), it's only £11! Train prices work in mysterious ways.

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f**k Scotrail. The price of travel around Scotland via train is nothing short of a disgrace.

Do any P&Bers have any Scotrail horror stories?

Yes. On the way home from uni once I found the worst skidmarks ever in my boxers. I had basically shit myself. It's the closest I've been to full on shitting my pants.

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Yes. On the way home from uni once I found the worst skidmarks ever in my boxers. I had basically shit myself. It's the closest I've been to full on shitting my pants.

Did the rest of the carriage at least turn away until you'd finished your inspection? People are just so nosy these days.

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Did the rest of the carriage at least turn away until you'd finished your inspection? People are just so nosy these days.

If Ad Lib had have been there he would have been "strongly advising" the other passengers to look away.

Although if The Big Man had been there there would have been no way of hiding "the problem".

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Thanks. However, the point I was making was that it isn't possible to book more than 24 weeks prior for advance tickets. If like me you know that you have a journey to London in October then I can get the price or airline tickets but not for the train. It means that I am more likely to book the flights just now than wait and see what the train prices are going to be.

Or you could check the advance ticket price for the latest available (same weekday) date, and know that this will also be the advance ticket price for your planned date. Fairly straightforward stuff.

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Or you could check the advance ticket price for the latest available (same weekday) date, and know that this will also be the advance ticket price for your planned date. Fairly straightforward stuff.

Yep...book a plane.

ETA: A more detailed investigation of your theory shows that you are incorrect. If I enter the same details for the 25-27 March and 22-24 April (latest that allows a weekend return) then the difference in price can be nearly 100%.

ABD-LON (3A/1C F&F Railcard)

April out: 8:20 back: 09:00 Cost £664

March out: 8:20 back: 09:00 Cost £347

Edited by strichener
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There's a girl in my work who commutes from Dundee to Glasgow every day. Think her season ticket is about £5000 per year. Absolutely mental, but I believe her husband is some scientist at Abertay, so most likely makes a mint, and she just genuinely enjoys doing what she does for a living.

How does she find the daily commute? On one hand I can imagine that being quite draining, but on the other I imagine you could get used to it?

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How does she find the daily commute? On one hand I can imagine that being quite draining, but on the other I imagine you could get used to it?

Suppose it depends on if the employer is willing to pay you for at least part of the commute. Wouldn't fancy being out the house 7am-7pm every day

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I think some of the point is that a customer shouldn't have to rake for the cheapest way to get from a to b, scotrail should be providing it. Breaking up journeys to stay on the same train is ridiculous.

We were told it's our role to offer the cheapest possible ticket. So if we know how to break someone's journey up to make it cheaper we are supposed to do that. But we can only offer what our machines will let us. It may well have been cheaper if someone booked a while back but there's nothing we could do about it. I don't see how Scotrail can do any more to offer the cheapest deals. They can't exactly put up every single cheap deal on their website, customers surely have to at least go looking?

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How does she find the daily commute? On one hand I can imagine that being quite draining, but on the other I imagine you could get used to it?

She seems to find it OK, although I guess when you've been doing it for as long as she has, you get used to it. I think she sleeps a lot on the way down and reads on the way back. Leaves the house at 6am every morning and doesn't get home until 8pm. Basically your life isn't your own for five days I reckon.

Absolutely no danger I could do it myself.

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She seems to find it OK, although I guess when you've been doing it for as long as she has, you get used to it. I think she sleeps a lot on the way down and reads on the way back. Leaves the house at 6am every morning and doesn't get home until 8pm. Basically your life isn't your own for five days I reckon.

Absolutely no danger I could do it myself.

My mum did similar for a few years. Wasn't much fun being dropped off at school at 7am.

For some people, work is just the most important thing in the world to them - my mum even took two jobs in the evenings and weekends just because she had no idea what to do with herself when she wasn't working. Didn't need the money either, as she was a well-paid professional by day, shelf-stacker and auxiliary nurse by night (which sounds like a terrible superhero, thinking about it).

Yes, it's entirely possible that this was just a ruse to avoid me, smart-arses :P

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My mum did similar for a few years. Wasn't much fun being dropped off at school at 7am.

For some people, work is just the most important thing in the world to them - my mum even took two jobs in the evenings and weekends just because she had no idea what to do with herself when she wasn't working. Didn't need the money either, as she was a well-paid professional by day, shelf-stacker and auxiliary nurse by night (which sounds like a terrible superhero, thinking about it).

Yes, it's entirely possible that this was just a ruse to avoid me, smart-arses :P

I did a 7am to 9.30pm day weekdays then 8.30am to 6.30pm Saturdays shift in my last job...i needed the money to pay the bills. No problem, you get used to it, or starve.

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