 Poster: A snowHead
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Am now trying to sort out the rail travel in the UK to London for some of us who are going on the March Cautious to Confident week. I have posted this question on the trip thread, but thought a separate thread might stand more chance of being noticed by those with the information I need and the details could be of use to others too.
The very helpful "Man in Seat 61" says it's best to get tickets to "London International (CIV)" which are a good price, have few time restrictions and give full international conditions of travel to the whole journey, ie if you're delayed they put you on the next train without surcharge. It's suggested you have to prove a E* booking to get them.
However, I can't find evidence of such tickets on the rail booking sites (he recommends and links to RailEasy). The tickets offered to/from London Int'l are a great price with few time restrictions BUT seem to be the usual deal of travel on a fixed train or pay silly money on the day if you can't.
Does anyone know the score?
Edited to make link work
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sun 27-12-09 11:28; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I found in teh past teh best option was to ask at your local station, but as I recall the tickets to London International were much better value than regular return tickets, however with teh way teh various rail companies are trying to rip us all off .........
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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D G Orf, the "advance" tickets to London Int'l are fantastic value at around £23 return for the start of March 2010. Living in a bit of a backwater, my station has no staff and the last time I went to the nearest staffed one I got no sense at all from the sole muppet on duty.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Butterfly, thanks for starting this thread - in the past I have bought ordinary tickets to KX - with the risk that the Eorpoean tickets would become usless if I did not make the link. 'London International (CIV)' is now locked firmly in my brain.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Hi Butterfly, Achilies,
I have done the same thing myself for the 2nd Jan; we booked them through the Eur0star telephone line and I must say they were excellent in service and value (£30 return from Newcastle to London KX) with the onward connection. There is a specific department with Eur0star to book in internal UK connections,I'd just ring the main telephone number and ask about buying the CIV tickets (say you already have the Eur0star booked) abd hopefully they'll give you the number.
They will probably ask for the Eur0star ticket reference when you book them and you will probably also have to show them on your domestic service.
I'm just concerned about the weather next week now!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Tickets to London Intl are also valid on the London Underground, should you so need it.
As previously mentioned, if a train, which you have reservations on, is delayed and you miss an onward connection, then under the CIV conditions the rail companies must get you too your destination. Having said that, if there are no seats on the next train then you could be scuppered.
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I have just found that if you go through the RailEasy Website you need to tick the "Flexible" rather than "cheapest" option before setting the search going, otherwise it doesn't give you the CIV tickets as an option!
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For what its worth. the CIV bit worked fine this weekend when the Euro* was far too late to make my connection to Newcastle. Without the CIV thing, that would have been approximately 200 groats... Probably worth doing then, since its free...
Apart from that, the daytime direct Euro* was a lot of fun...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Jamster, good to know it worked. It's not free, it's a particular class of fare - from here a CIV single from London at £37 is half the cost of the cheapest alternative "any train" single ticket. A fixed train time, non CIV ticket can be had for under £12.
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Butterfly, that's interesting - I guess it only worked out "free" for us as the two types of tickets available at the same time - as you say, the class of fare - were the same! I stand (happily) corrected...
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