Hi Guys,

Can anyone tell me the best resources for cheap online rail tickets,
I'm hoping to go from Birmingham New Street to Newcastle on a weekend
and I am looking for the cheapest option.

Any help would be appreciated thanks :)

If you mean a day trip on a Saturday or Sunday then the following is
cheapest, and you can get ANY Virgin train, as they all call and there
are no peak restrictions:-

Birmingham Stns - Derby CDR
Derby - Sheffield CDR
Sheffield - York CDR
York - Newcastle CDR

You can also, for a much more comfortable and interesting journey take
a Central Train (former MML set with declassified 1st Class if you're
lucky) to Derby, then a MML HST to Sheffield, then TPE or Northern to
Doncaster, and a GNER (HST if you're lucky) to Newcastle. This can even
be quicker if you're lucky with the timings and Virgin are delayed (not
uncommon).

If you are going for a weekend away, then you will be much better off
booking in advance with Virgin Value. Newcastle-Birmingham can be
cheaper than York-Birmingham if you have a Railcard, due to 'minimum
fare' restrictions!

Thanks for the useful information Yorkie it is appreciated :)

I am hoping to go on a Friday evening (well anytime 7pm) and return on
Sunday evening. I would be going from B'ham New Street and want the
cheapest option (I have no need for 1st class)
Ideally i'd want no changes either - trainline.co.uk shows bham new st
- newcastle with no changes (approx 3 1/2 hr journey) but if a change
would make it significantly cheaper then I am willing to do this. I'm
kinda new to using trains (sounds dumb doesn't it) so I'm not sure of
the cheapest options/railcards/special offers and things like that so
anyway help is great.

I've seen offers like £15 London - Glasgow (1 Way), surely there are
similar offers like this for Bham New Street - Newcastle. I'll check
the Virgin value site now as i'll be booking way in advance.

playazcl...@gmail.com wrote:

> Thanks for the useful information Yorkie it is appreciated :)
>
> I am hoping to go on a Friday evening (well anytime 7pm) and return on
> Sunday evening. I would be going from B'ham New Street and want the
> cheapest option (I have no need for 1st class)
> Ideally i'd want no changes either - trainline.co.uk shows bham new st
> - newcastle with no changes (approx 3 1/2 hr journey) but if a change
> would make it significantly cheaper then I am willing to do this. I'm
> kinda new to using trains (sounds dumb doesn't it) so I'm not sure of
> the cheapest options/railcards/special offers and things like that so
> anyway help is great.
>
> I've seen offers like £15 London - Glasgow (1 Way), surely there are
> similar offers like this for Bham New Street - Newcastle. I'll check
> the Virgin value site now as i'll be booking way in advance.


Try to get Virgin Value 14 (£11.50 each way). Book each leg
individually. The cheap tickets for the Friday could go on sale maybe
as far as 6-8 weeks in advance, but for the Sunday it is likely to be
later as it often takes longer to finalise engineering works on Sundays
(see http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/engineering/default.aspx for planned
works).

I recommend the 19:30 departure from Birmingham - this goes non-stop
Sheffield to York (on the former S&K Joint Line) avoiding Leeds or
Doncaster, and is booked to be only 6 mins behind the 19:03 by Durham!
I once got this train to York and it arrived before the 19:03 which got
delayed behind stoppers near Leeds.

Yorkie wrote:

> Try to get Virgin Value 14 (11.50 each way). Book each leg
> individually. The cheap tickets for the Friday could go on sale maybe
> as far as 6-8 weeks in advance, but for the Sunday it is likely to be
> later as it often takes longer to finalise engineering works on Sundays
> (see http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/engineering/default.aspx for planned
> works).


The best thing to do is just check on thetrainline.com or similar 
every few days to see if there are any. If they do not show up, 
you can buy "standard" fares (cheap day return, standard day 
return, saver return etc) on the day you travel - the only thing 
you stand to lose is maybe a seat reservation.