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Southern Advance Tickets - 90% off!! (available 10/07/09 only)
On Jul 10, 7:30*pm, Paul Corfield wrote: On Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:00:38 -0700 (PDT), Mizter T wrote: [x-posted to uk.transport.london, for the attention of Londoners interested in a cheapo escape for the day!] FWIW, I've just taken a speculative punt and bought a load of tickets for a weekend day trip from London down to Brighton, all at just 75p each so £1.50 for a round trip! I'm sure I'll be able to muster up interest from one quarter or another in a little jaunt to the seaside! Well done Mizter T - you've just sorted out the venue for the next group event for either ukr or utl. *What day are we going? * ;-) eeek! ;-) FWIW, I did check the system at 1am after rocking back in last night, and the super-discounted cheapo fares were no longer on offer (though the promotional page as linked to in the OP's post was still up, though that might have just been the result of it being stuck in a cache somewhere - it's gone now). Earlier in the evening, after buying the first batch of tickets which I'd described, I thought I'd try and buy another batch - I wasn't quite sure of what date would be best for my compadres, and given they were all so cheap I thought I might as well get some for an alternate date. However by now it was obvious that word had got around (that Money Saving Expert website had perhaps latched onto it) and tickets were being snapped up left right and centre - either that, or I'd just got lucky first time round - anyway each time I thought I'd secured the requisite tickets, I'd click on "buy now" and find myself on a screen with some red text, with words to the effect of 'sorry, there are no more reservations available on your selected train any more, go back and search again' - essentially the booking engine was not keeping synchronised with reality, and was still offering tickets that had already gone. I'm guessing that some people probably procured cheapo tickets for potential day trips for the next three months running! (I was of course checking for what I suspect was a particularly popular route, i.e. London to Brighton.) Anyway after a bit of frustrated searching I realised I'd been sucked into the bargain-obsession black hole, where one loses all perspective! So I managed to wrench myself away from the 75p ticket challenge, as I had to be elsewhere. More to the point, I also realised that instead of shelling out for a bucket load of tickets that may never get used, there was a really good alternative option on offer, if one's willing to plan ahead - and that's Southern's *Group* DaySave ticket which costs £20: http://www.southernrailway.com/main.php?page_id=189 This allows for up to four travellers to travel together anywhere on Southern during off-peak times (basically after 10am weekdays, with weekday evening restrictions for travel *from* London termini stations and East Croydon - but no restrictions at the weekend and on bank holidays of course). It does need to be booked seven days in advance, but there's none of the hassle of having to catch specified trains or even decide on exactly where one's going. Comparing Southern's Advance tickets to DaySave - both the £10 DaySave solo ticket and the £20 DaySave Group ticket - and DaySave actually comes out pretty well too. For yesterday's promotion, the tickets were priced at 50p, 75p and £1.25 - all very dirt cheap. But these actually translate to the normal prices of £3, £4.50 and £7.50 - and if you look you'll see there aren't actually that many tickets priced at £3. Therefore, for a return trip you're likely looking at 2x £4.50 tickets, so £9 for each traveller - in which case why not just buy a DaySave solo or group ticket with all the added flexibility and freedom that brings. Where Southern Advance tickets might prove useful is for trips during the morning peak as DaySave cannot be used before 10am - there are, for instance, a number of contra-peak Advance tickets on trains out of London in the morning peak. (In the evening peak leaving London termini, DaySave cannot be used 16:45 and 19:15 - but there don't appear to be any Advance tickets available in that window anyway, well Advance tickets are available on one train I can see - the 18:49 Victoria to Brighton - but big deal!) Another potential advantage of Southern Advance is that they can - like all 'normal' Advance tickets - be purchased up until 6pm the previous day, as opposed to the seven days in advance requirement for purchasing DaySave. (That is, only if there's any Advance fares still available for these morning trains of course!) So one could even use a Southern Advance ticket purchased a day or two in advance to escape London during the morning peak and get to Brighton, and then buy a DaySave ticket on the day there - as DaySave is actually available for purchase on the day but *only* in Brighton at two outlets - the tourist office and the One Stop Travel Shop (but only the main one in the Old Steine, not the one in Brighton station). One would then have the freedom of the Southern network and would be in Brighton, able to take advantage of the 10am start time of the DaySave ticket to get further out along the coast, for a walk or a visit somewhere, before heading on elsewhere should one feel so inclined. Of course, the other big advantage of Advance tickets is obviously when one is only making a one way trip - or at least not a return day trip! |
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