Train fares are silly

[fluffymark]

So, I’m booking a train to Lancaster for Christmas, and boggling at the strange prices this country has. Cheapest return ticket at this point is now £60.40. Ouch. I felt slightly better, and rather confused when I saw the exact same journey can be made with 2 FIRST CLASS single tickets for £60. And so I am therefore going first class (er...yay?)

Does anybody else get this, or is it just Virgin Trains out to confuse me?

Comments

Fare and Loathing in Lancancestre

[hairyears.livejournal.com]

Nope, it's just that way.

Lancaster?

[the-lady-lily.livejournal.com]

Sounds absolutely ridiculous but unsurprising to me *sigh*

[snow-leopard.livejournal.com]

Thats the pay on the day fare, so what I do is keep checking back to see if it gets cheaper and if not book that price a few days before. They put the cheaper tickets up intermitantly so its a matter of just keep checking.

[mirabehn.livejournal.com]

Something very similar happened to me travelling to Cornwall last spring. Can't remember who the operator was but I'm fairly sure it *wasn't* Virgin. It was probably the First Evil.

At any rate, travelling first class is rather lovely. Comfy seats, etc. Make the most of it, I say. :-)

heh..

[secret-vampire.livejournal.com]

For some reason it is almost always cheaper to buy 2 single tickets than a return ticket. Its one of them anomolies which we shall never fathom!!

:)

Hope your doin good hun

Fraggle
xxxxxxxx

Re: heh..

[otterylexa.livejournal.com]

Except when it's cheaper to buy a return ticket than a single ticket.

Re: heh..

[fluffymormegil.livejournal.com]

Eh? For every journey I do, two cheap day singles cost substantially more than a saver return.
(I don't do pre-booked rail tickets. I lack faith in (a) my supply of tuits to reliably get to the station for the first leg of the trip on time for a fixed train (b) the network's ability to make them work.)

[smhwpf.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. Try looking for tickets from Bristol up to Scotland! They theoretically have all these ludicrously cheap advanced singles, but there are never any available! And all you can get are these ludicrously expensive ones, that make it far cheaper to fly and destroy the planet. I think these cheap tickets are mythical beasts.