[Misc] Any train ninja tips for Manchester this weekend

Bozza · Mar 16, 2018

Our flight booked with BA has been cancelled and we were moved to another flight that would have us struggling to make kick-off at Old Trafford, so I've cancelled them.

Standard London to Manchester fare seems to be £86. Are there any ninja ways of reducing that at such short notice, or is that it?

el punal · Mar 16, 2018

Just checked out a couple for you (geek/nerd me!) - Chiltern Trains Marylebone - Birmingham £33.00, then West Midlands Railway Birmingham - Manchester £30.00. These fares are one way, no rail card, and around mid-day/early afternoon travel. Hope this helps! Just check their official sites for more details.

Notters · Mar 16, 2018

£27 if you use https://www.splityourticket.co.uk or £40 for a direct mainline train.

theboybilly · Mar 16, 2018

Notters said:
£27 if you use https://www.splityourticket.co.uk or £40 for a direct mainline train.

Excellent price - I could only get it down to just over £46 using splitmyfare with an early start from Euston and a (relatively) early start from Man Picc on Sunday

Bolton va va · Mar 16, 2018

Sat 17th
Euston -Stoke 12-46 - 15-02 £17-50 single
Stoke - Manc Picc 15-59 -16-54 £5 single

Sunday 18th
Manc Picc - Stoke 11-41 -12-37 £4-80 single
Stoke - Euston 12-59 - 15-53 £17-50 single

= £44-80 London-Manc return

thedonkeycentrehalf · Mar 16, 2018

Did you try Flybe from Southampton instead?

Bozza · Mar 16, 2018

Thanks for the pointers - those all seem to make the journey a fair bit longer. Given we were refunded £430 for the flights element of the package we'd booked (fortunately being able to hang onto the hotel bookings part), then £86 * 5 for the standard return works out exactly the same.

Somewhat fortuitously, I was able to get a refund on my Heathrow Pod parking, which I didn't expect.

Bozza · Mar 16, 2018

thedonkeycentrehalf said:
Did you try Flybe from Southampton instead?

Just checked it - a lot more expensive than the train, and the only flight up is very early tomorrow morning - thanks for the suggestion though!

Wrong-Direction · Mar 16, 2018

Get in mates car and enjoy ride.

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

Driver8 · Mar 16, 2018

Bozza said:
Thanks for the pointers - those all seem to make the journey a fair bit longer. Given we were refunded £430 for the flights element of the package we'd booked (fortunately being able to hang onto the hotel bookings part), then £86 * 5 for the standard return works out exactly the same.

Somewhat fortuitously, I was able to get a refund on my Heathrow Pod parking, which I didn't expect.

Silly question but why not drive if you are staying over?

TheJasperCo · Mar 16, 2018

National Express or Megabus? Coach takes longer than the train, but pack a couple of good books, a film on your tablet and some Ambien - time will fly by. Easily less than half the price of a train fare.

If train is the only way, try splitting your ticket as mentioned above. With three days notice, I got £88 return train tickets reduced to 66 quid by splitting my journey between Exeter and Manc.

East London Exile · Mar 17, 2018

Had same problem with flight cancellation. Managed to keep hotel booking and return flight and cancel pod parking. Got good deal on train and with refund still in pocket.

BA customer care man told me he had several Brighton fans calling about cancellations so there must have quite a few of us planning to fly. He said he lived in Burgess Hill but did not follow the Albion! Seemed very sympathetic as he had a bet on that we would still be 0-0 at 70 mins!

Bedsex · Mar 17, 2018

I’m getting the train that arrives at Manchester Piccadilly at 4.30. I thought I could catch a train from there a bit later on to the ground, but the national rail website isn’t showing any trains from Piccadilly to old Trafford. Any ideas?

Bozza · Mar 17, 2018

Wrong-Direction said:
Get in mates car and enjoy ride.

Would need to be a big car - there's 5 of us.

Driver8 said:
Silly question but why not drive if you are staying over?

5 of us, so would need 2 cars to travel comfortably - we don't have a large car between us. The train is generally a more relaxed way to travel - sociable with beers on the way up and no "not sure I should be driving" when coming home tomorrow.

TheJasperCo said:
National Express or Megabus? Coach takes longer than the train, but pack a couple of good books, a film on your tablet and some Ambien - time will fly by. Easily less than half the price of a train fare.

If train is the only way, try splitting your ticket as mentioned above. With three days notice, I got £88 return train tickets reduced to 66 quid by splitting my journey between Exeter and Manc.

If I suggested a coach I think I'd be disowned!

East London Exile said:
Had same problem with flight cancellation. Managed to keep hotel booking and return flight and cancel pod parking. Got good deal on train and with refund still in pocket.

BA customer care man told me he had several Brighton fans calling about cancellations so there must have quite a few of us planning to fly. He said he lived in Burgess Hill but did not follow the Albion! Seemed very sympathetic as he had a bet on that we would still be 0-0 at 70 mins!

Same chap, I imagine. I called as soon as I got the cancellation text and had to wait for 70 minutes before I got to speak to someone. He said his neighbour was an Albion fan and was going to the game too. He also said they had cancelled a huge number of flights and had three people manning the phones to sort everyone out!

Bod · Mar 17, 2018

Bedsex said:
I’m getting the train that arrives at Manchester Piccadilly at 4.30. I thought I could catch a train from there a bit later on to the ground, but the national rail website isn’t showing any trains from Piccadilly to old Trafford. Any ideas?

There's loads of trams from the station

Bozza · Mar 17, 2018

Bedsex said:
I’m getting the train that arrives at Manchester Piccadilly at 4.30. I thought I could catch a train from there a bit later on to the ground, but the national rail website isn’t showing any trains from Piccadilly to old Trafford. Any ideas?

Take the tram. For the league game we got a cab from a pub close to Piccadilly out to Old Trafford but we got a tram back. Plenty of them and relatively inexpensive.

Bedsex · Mar 17, 2018

I’ll get the tram then.

mac04 · Mar 17, 2018

If you can get yourself to Horsham by 11.30 I think there are still a couple of seats on the NWSS coach.

Bod · Mar 17, 2018

Bedsex said:
I’ll get the tram then.

You know it makes sense :smile:

Beach Hut · Mar 17, 2018

Are there no trains from Piccadilly to MUFC station today like there was for the league game ?

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