train tickets

edited April 2009 in General chat
i need to go to newbury and back on saturday afternoon. people keep telling me the trains are significantly cheaper if you book in advance, is 2 days advance notice going to make any difference if i wander up to FP today and buy the tickets? could there be problems with it being the wrong operating company? should i be doing all this online?

any help would be much appreciated.

Comments

  • edited April 2009
    book with <http://www.nationalrail.co.uk>; then pick up the tickets from paddington.
  • edited 11:05PM
    thanks andy

    i assume that when it doesn't offer you a price in the "advance" ticket options that means 2 days away isn't advance enough to qualify? sorry for being a doofus.
  • edited 11:05PM
    Yes. How far is Newbury - you should be able to get a day return which'll be much cheaper than anything else. Is it just you travelling?
  • edited 11:05PM
    yea just me, it looks like the day return is around the 20 quid mark which is substantially less than i thought i was going to get stung for. newbury is in the middle of berkshire, not far really, but seemingly the only place in england you can buy bits and bobs for pedal steel guitars.
  • edited 11:05PM
    Yep - i think it's five days for an advance. And surely you can just go to Denmark St?
  • edited 11:05PM
    surprisingly no. hanks very occasionally have a second hand steel in there and they do stock the bars and finger picks but not strings or cases or volume pedals with the appropriate impedence. really difficult to get pedal steel stuff in the UK, had to order mine through a german company.
  • edited 11:05PM
    Not the place in CE?
  • edited 11:05PM
    i haven't checked but i'd be gobsmacked if they did.
  • edited 11:05PM
    For future reference, it's usually cheaper to look up the route on the national rail site, then book directly with the train operator. National Rail charges a booking fee. Most rail companies don't.

    Also, if you don't care what time you travel, there can be a huge difference in price. I learned this while trying to book tickets to Stratford-Upon-Avon last year. Single tickets ranged from £5 - £80, depending on the time of day. It's mental.
  • edited 11:05PM
    Chicken oriental.
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