Train Ticket Prices Shot Up from Southampton

[lovetotraveltx]

I procrastinated and in the past couple of days the price of our train ticket from Southampton Central to Oxford shot up tremendously. We dock in 2.5 weeks. Is there a chance it will go down or just book it now? Thank you!

[ducklite]

The closer you get, the more expensive the ticket will be. Book it now.

[Cotswold Eagle]

51 minutes ago, ducklite said:

The closer you get, the more expensive the ticket will be. Book it now.

 

Not necessarily. 

 

OP, I think we can assume you missed out on an Advance fare for the train you wanted. Only a limited number of Advance fares will be sold for any particular train. If they have sold, it is extremely unlikely that they will come back. 

 

Many routes, including SOU-OXF, have a range of Advance fares, although some are much more commonly sold than others. Some of the higher Advance fare levels can be higher than the equivalent Off Peak fare, so would not be offered on off-peak services. 

 

As you said “tremendously”, we might surmise that there is no longer an Advance fare on the train you want. If it is now showing Off Peak or Anytime fares, then these fares will not change and can bought at any point up to departure, if you are prevaricating about timing or indeed taking the trip.

 

However, if it is another Advance fare and you are sure you want to travel on that service, you should book it, as at some point it too will be withdrawn. 

 

As always, and particularly with the labyrinthine rail ticketing system, it is hard to give specific advice if you do not share specific details 🙂

Edited August 8, 2019 by Cotswold Eagle

[lovetotraveltx]

20 minutes ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

 

Not necessarily. 

 

OP, I think we can assume you missed out on an Advance fare for the train you wanted. Only a limited number of Advance fares will be sold for any particular train. If they have sold, it is extremely unlikely that they will come back. 

 

Many routes, including SOU-OXF, have a range of Advance fares, although some are much more commonly sold than others. Some of the higher Advance fare levels can be higher than the equivalent Off Peak fare, so would not be offered on off-peak services. 

 

As you said “tremendously”, we might surmise that there is no longer an Advance fare on the train you want. If it is now showing Off Peak or Anytime fares, then these fares will not change and can bought at any point up to departure, if you are prevaricating about timing or indeed taking the trip.

 

However, if it is another Advance fare and you are sure you want to travel on that service, you should book it, as at some point it too will be withdrawn. 

 

As always, and particularly with the labyrinthine rail ticketing system, it is hard to give specific advice if you do not share specific details 🙂

 

[lovetotraveltx]

Just now, lovetotraveltx said:

 

 

21 minutes ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

 

Not necessarily. 

 

OP, I think we can assume you missed out on an Advance fare for the train you wanted. Only a limited number of Advance fares will be sold for any particular train. If they have sold, it is extremely unlikely that they will come back. 

 

Many routes, including SOU-OXF, have a range of Advance fares, although some are much more commonly sold than others. Some of the higher Advance fare levels can be higher than the equivalent Off Peak fare, so would not be offered on off-peak services. 

 

As you said “tremendously”, we might surmise that there is no longer an Advance fare on the train you want. If it is now showing Off Peak or Anytime fares, then these fares will not change and can bought at any point up to departure, if you are prevaricating about timing or indeed taking the trip.

 

However, if it is another Advance fare and you are sure you want to travel on that service, you should book it, as at some point it too will be withdrawn. 

 

As always, and particularly with the labyrinthine rail ticketing system, it is hard to give specific advice if you do not share specific details 🙂

I believe the advance fares are gone. It changed overnight and there was a one-day rail strike, so hoping that was the case. But, not budging. 😞 It was for 25 August in late AM after docking in Southampton.

[Cotswold Eagle]

Yes, I see what you mean and that looks odd. There are NO Advance fares currently loaded for that Sunday, although they are widely available on the Saturday and Bank Holiday Monday that weekend. 

 

The fare showing (£36-50) is the Off-Peak fare and as I suggested above will not change between now and the time the train leaves. 

 

I would leave it for now and monitor to see if it is a glitch and if any Advance fares get loaded back in. 

Edited August 8, 2019 by Cotswold Eagle

[lovetotraveltx]

1 hour ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

Yes, I see what you mean and that looks odd. There are NO Advance fares currently loaded for that Sunday, although they are widely available on the Saturday and Bank Holiday Monday that weekend. 

 

The fare showing (£36-50) is the Off-Peak fare and as I suggested above will not change between now and the time the train leaves. 

 

I would leave it for now and monitor to see if it is a glitch and if any Advance fares get loaded back in. 

Thank you! Do you think it go higher than 73.50 British Pounds for two though, if I wait? I'm coming in on a Ship there are probably others traveling from the ships coming in as well.

[John Bull]

2 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

 

OP, I think we can assume you missed out on an Advance fare for the train you wanted. Only a limited number of Advance fares will be sold for any particular train. If they have sold, it is extremely unlikely that they will come back. 

🙂

 

I think the Eagle is right. 

 

Except for Sunday 25th August, cheap advance tickets are available on every  date that I tried, including the sundays before & after, although not on all train times.

I'm surprised - there are still cheap advance tickets available on that Bank Holiday friday, saturday & monday, the days when most people will be travelling.

Couldn't find any major events in the Oxford area that would create extra demand.

 

But it is what it is,.

No, there'll be no more cheap advance fares released for that day.

But no, the fare won't rise either.

The quoted fare of £36.50 is the standard off-peak fare (the whole of sunday is off-peak for that route), whether you buy now or at the station.

 

JB 

 

 

 

[gnome12]

Try using loco2.com. They seem to have advance fares for that day.

 

https://loco2.com/en/journey/southampton-central-oxford-mle1yg?currency=GBP

 

I am seeing £27.10 on the direct trains at 11:15, 12:13 and 13:13 among others.

[Cotswold Eagle]

4 hours ago, lovetotraveltx said:

Thank you! Do you think it go higher than 73.50 British Pounds for two though, if I wait? I'm coming in on a Ship there are probably others traveling from the ships coming in as well.

 

I don’t know how I can say this any more clearly than I did above. No, the Off Peak fare is what it is. It will not change. 

[Cotswold Eagle]

3 hours ago, gnome12 said:

Try using loco2.com. They seem to have advance fares for that day.

 

https://loco2.com/en/journey/southampton-central-oxford-mle1yg?currency=GBP

 

I am seeing £27.10 on the direct trains at 11:15, 12:13 and 13:13 among others.

 

A very good spot, but slightly incorrect reasoning 🙂 Third party resellers do not have a secret bucket of fares that aren’t available elsewhere. These are not Advance fares. 

 

Those fares  are marked as ‘Pricehack’, which is their name for split-ticketing. It is a quirk of the system that sometime buying two or more tickets covering the same journey is cheaper than one ticket covering the whole journey, even though you stay on the same train. The ‘official’ ticket sellers, the Train Operating Companies, and the National Rail search tool do not search for splits. 

 

In this case, the split is at Basingstoke. So a Super Off Peak Southampton to Basingstoke on the 1115 is £13-40 and Off Peak from Basingstoke to Oxford at 1151 is £13-70 (crucially, on the same train). Total SOU-OXF is £27-10. 

 

This is perfectly legal and you don’t have to get off the train at Basingstoke. You can buy the separate tickets as above via National Rail at face value, rather than pay Loco2’s £1-50 fee. 

 

Again these fares are available until the train departs, so I would still wait to see if the Advance thing is a glitch, although that is unlikely. You will lose nothing through waiting now. 

 

 

Edited August 9, 2019 by Cotswold Eagle

[Cotswold Eagle]

Sorry for the lengthy post, but split ticketing is the most obscure corner of a very obscure system 😀

 

You can play all kinds of games. For example, there is a £5 Advance on the 1055 Southampton to Basingstoke. That train does not go to Oxford, you would get off and wait for nine minutes for the 1151 to Oxford (the 1115 from Southampton) and get the Off Peak ticket as above (£13-70). Is the extra 20 minutes and a change of train ‘worth’ the £8-40 you save? 🤣

[davekent]

I understand that Cross country trains who run the routes such as these from the south/south west of England to the midlands and the north are currently in dispute with the RMT one of the rail unions. As such the union have industrial action planned over various dates this month in the form of overtime bans (workers only undertaking their basic working hours) and I believe they have just announced the weekend of the 25th August will be one of these dates. The impact of this is particularly felt on a Sunday due to the way the contracts are organised when significant numbers of cancellations would be expected

 

I suspect only 'open' tickets are therefore being sold as at this stage they would not know what particular trains may be cancelled and also to restrict the numbers of passengers who may be impacted  (last Sunday I understand there were lots of cancellations but not uniform across all the routes they manage and reasonable numbers did run). It may well be that the action will be called off or changed over the next couple of weeks (in which case the cheaper tickets may actually be sold again) but no certainty I am afraid as to what will happen

 

I much prefer travelling by train myself and would probably wait and see but do notice National Express have a direct coach at 1.25 that afternoon currently priced at £10.80 if you wanted to remove the risk - have a great trip and best of luck

 

(for any one else concerned by this, trains to London are run by Southwestern railways and are not affected by this action at least)

Edited August 9, 2019 by davekent
change coach time format

[Cotswold Eagle]

Ah, very good point, DaveKent - I never use Cross Country, so that particular dispute had passed me by. I’m sure you are right - there had to be a reason for the peculiar fare loads. 

Edited August 9, 2019 by Cotswold Eagle

[gnome12]

5 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

This is perfectly legal and you don’t have to get off the train at Basingstoke. You can buy the separate tickets as above via National Rail at face value, rather than pay Loco2’s £1-50 fee. 

This is the first time that I have seen a fee on Loco2. I presume it is because of the price hack. Thanks for pointing it out.

[Cotswold Eagle]

20 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

This is the first time that I have seen a fee on Loco2. I presume it is because of the price hack. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

Exactly so. They had to develop and use their own software to identify split tickets and charge on that basis, only on Pricehack fares.  

Edited August 9, 2019 by Cotswold Eagle

[John Bull]

6 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

....... split ticketing is the most obscure corner of a very obscure system 😀

 

🤣

 

 

........... and as the Eagle's long post demonstrates, quite difficult to explain. 

Well-worthwhile for long & expensive train journeys, but is it worth the grief for a saving of about £7 ?

 

The train system in the UK is pretty decent - but the ticket-pricing is a bit of a nightmare for those who don't know the ins & outs.

 

This post of mine has added nothing of value, just an opportunity to vent my spleen.  

 

JB 

[lovetotraveltx]

There are two tickets using Loco2 but I don't have a change of trains. And, it saves 18 pounds total.

[Ergates The Ant]

Best web site to use is www.nationalrail.co.uk ,should be no fees unless you are having tickets sent to you. I think at least one train company may charge a fee for you to pick up your ticket at a station ticket machine, but that company allows you to print or download your ticket to your phone.

I worked out my own split ticket recently through this website, for a trip from Devon to Oxford via Basingstoke. Two tickets, one to Basingstoke from Devon, and another from Basingstoke to Oxford cost less than one through ticket.

there is a possibility that there may be rail maintenance works planned for that Sunday. You should be able to check this on the website as well. That may be why there are fewer advance tickets available? Usually it’s just supply and demand, which could indicate that is going to be a busy day on the trains.

[Ergates The Ant]

Sorry, duplicate post

Edited August 9, 2019 by Ergates The Ant
Duplicate post

[Ergates The Ant]

Once you decide to buy your train tickets, you will get the option to reserve seats on the train of your choice. Not a bad idea in case the train gets very busy. Also saves time trailing down the carriages looking for vacant seats that haven’t been booked by someone else! If you get a different train for any reason, your ticket will still be valid, you just won’t have a reserved seat. This doesn’t apply with an advance ticket which can only be used on the train it’s booked on.

[Thejuggler]

Use loco2 to get the split ticket option prices, then use national rail to book tickets using loco2 info and no fee payable.

[Bob++]

The threat of industrial action would put me right off. I would certainly use the coach. 

[Ergates The Ant]

The benefit of the coach is that the driver will put your cases in the luggage compartment and get them out when you arrive in Oxford. ( check how much baggage you can take though) The coach station is also nearer the centre of Oxford.

Could be a lot easier than trying to stow bags on a busy train, while trying to find a vacant seat! And you will see a bit more scenery en route.

Usually cheaper than the train, if a little longer, but you will definitely have a guaranteed seat, and these days, on board free Wi-fi.

you will need to book in advance though to be sure of getting on. 

[lovetotraveltx]

Really don't know what to do, Train is still high and then we have to factor in Taxi to and From Train. The best coach deal is the Mega bus, but the two coaches to Oxford leave either very early or way too late. Tossing around taxi a private car all the way, but want to make sure I'm booking a reliable person. Thank you!