Trains more expensive near Christmas?

A question about : Trains more expensive near Christmas?

Hi,

I'm hoping to go down to wales on the train with my housemate to stay the xmas week(or so) with my parents.

I Usually have no problem with trains and that, but i was wondering, as i've never travelled anywhere near Christmas, does anyone know/experienced that they put the fares up closer to Christmas?

As i've just looked for the latest date possible on the national rail website, 3 months ahead and the price for a SINGLE is already Ј33 when i only pay Ј26 for a return.

I'm really broke at the moment and there's no way i could afford Ј66 for me, and nor could my house mate.

I will wait and see when they open up another week and see what the prices are, but would be interested to know if they do, do a price rise nearer to Christmas day?

Maybe the trains just really booked already? Hmm.

Best answers:

• You don't say where you're travelling from or who the tain operator is, but I think it's more likely that the cheaper tickets aren't available yet. They tend to only go on sale 12 weeks before the date of travel. Certainly Virgin advance tickets are currently only avaiable up to 14th December at the moment.
  I'd suggest keep trying daily over the next couple of weeks (or find out if your particular train operators website offers the option of mailing you when advance tickets are released for a particular day you have specified.
• Sorry, Traveling from any Manchester station to Hereford, and it's with Arriva trains wales.
  They show up to 17th Dec at the moment and we're looking to leave 17/18/19th.
  The 17th currently is where i saw the 'advanced' ticket, at Ј33.80 single, and the 16th is also that price :/
• That Ј33.80 is NOT an 'advanced' ticket - it's an anytime day single that you could buy on the day. ATW have NOT released their advance tickets yet and probably won't for a bit. 8 Dec seems to be the latest date
  You should still be able to get advance tickets right up to Christmas - they may be slightly more expensive (eg Ј17 rather than Ј13) and you may need to be flexible about times but it's unlikley there will be none at all
• 3rd December shows all tickets at Ј13 or Ј17 one way - and they are ADVANCE tickets