Edinburgh to Plymouth advance fares

[skyetraveller]

Anyone know why this anomaly exists in Cross Country's advance fares? I need to travel from Edinburgh to Plymouth in early December (midweek) and would like to use one of the direct Cross Country services (the 6am HST to avoid eight hours on a Voyager!).
So I can get some work done, I intend to travel first class but there are no advance fares on the through services in first class, on any day or date that I can find. There are standard class advances on the through services and first advances using Virgin to Birmingham and then Cross Country for the rest of the journey - the same service that I would prefer to use throughout!
The anytime first class fare is well over £400 but I can get a first advance from Edinburgh to Exeter or Newton Abbot on virtually any through service, any day of the week, for £127.50. An anytime single for the last bit of the journey is only a few quid so by buying two tickets I save over £300 but I'm guessing few travellers would think to look for this.
Any idea why Cross Country don't offer an advance to Plymouth on their own services? Their website also offers advances via London on East Coast and FGW. I have emailed Cross Country but on previous experience of their customer service team, I'm not hopeful of a reply!
Thanks.

 

[Paul Kelly]

Can you get first class advances between Newton Abbot and Plymouth on that train? If not, then there is no quota available for that leg of the journey. If yes, then I don't know the answer.

 

[skyetraveller]

Yes I can, it's £6.20! Very bizarre...

 

[Butts]

Have you considered flying from Edinburgh to Exeter and getting a train to Plymouth ?

Just looking at going out on 9th December and coming back on 10th fares available from £33 Oubound and £50 odd coming back.

 

[skyetraveller]

I have flown Edinburgh to Exeter a few times but most flights now go via the "hub" in Manchester so it's a lot of messing around at three airports each way, a bus or taxi from Exeter airport to the station etc, plus Flybe's less than luxurious legroom on a Q400!
I was also just curious about why Cross Country would seem to be chasing people away from their own trains - we'll take you cheaply from Birmingham to Plymouth but for the rest of it you can go with Virgin!!! I'm sure there aren't that many people wanting to travel Edinburgh-Plymouth but it just seems a strange inconsistency.

 

[Simon11]

I'm confused with your opening post:

I need to travel from Edinburgh to Plymouth in early December (midweek) and would like to use one of the direct Cross Country services

first advances using Virgin to Birmingham and then Cross Country for the rest of the journey - the same service that I would prefer to use throughout!

Should the second quote say XC rather than Virgin?

 

[Butts]

I have flown Edinburgh to Exeter a few times but most flights now go via the "hub" in Manchester so it's a lot of messing around at three airports each way, a bus or taxi from Exeter airport to the station etc, plus Flybe's less than luxurious legroom on a Q400!
I was also just curious about why Cross Country would seem to be chasing people away from their own trains - we'll take you cheaply from Birmingham to Plymouth but for the rest of it you can go with Virgin!!! I'm sure there aren't that many people wanting to travel Edinburgh-Plymouth but it just seems a strange inconsistency.

The examples I looked at were BE210 1010 (1145) and BE 211 1210 (1345) both direct on the 9th and 10th December.

Available for less than £70 return - quite astonishing really.

However I agree about the Q400 - Embraer rules

 

[skyetraveller]

Should the second quote say XC rather than Virgin?

Sorry, maybe I didn't make myself clear. If I look up Edinburgh to Plymouth on the Cross Country journey planner, it offers an advance ticket using the 0652 Virgin service down the west coast to Birmingham New Street, changing there onto the Cross Country service that left Edinburgh at 0608 and which I would prefer to use for the entire journey but for which they want 460 quid! I can use it, by buying an advance from Edinburgh to Newton Abbot and another from Newton Abbot to Plymouth, but my point is, why don't Cross Country offer a first class advance for the through journey when they offer them to Exeter or Newton Abbot?

 

[Butts]

Sorry, maybe I didn't make myself clear. If I look up Edinburgh to Plymouth on the Cross Country journey planner, it offers an advance ticket using the 0652 Virgin service down the west coast to Birmingham New Street, changing there onto the Cross Country service that left Edinburgh at 0608 and which I would prefer to use for the entire journey but for which they want 460 quid! I can use it, by buying an advance from Edinburgh to Newton Abbot and another from Newton Abbot to Plymouth, but my point is, why don't Cross Country offer a first class advance for the through journey when they offer them to Exeter or Newton Abbot?

That £460 is a joke - for that price you could fly down on Flybe Plus, Hire a car , book a hotel for the night and still have change

 

[skyetraveller]

Available for less than £70 return - quite astonishing really.

Cheers for that - as you say, quite astonishing and I'll look at it for my next trip south.

However I agree about the Q400 - Embraer rules

Agreed - last time I flew Glasgow-Exeter the Q400 had conked out so they gave us an Embraer off the Birmingham route - 40 minutes early into Exeter and comfortable too!

 

[yorkie]

Arriva are doing their best to price long distance passengers off the rails and onto either air or the roads.

I've also noticed a lack of through 1st Advance fares, yet "splitting" yields them. On a recent journey to the South West, I found it cheaper to book via London (EC+FGW) than on a through CrossCountry train - a situation unimaginable in BR days and also highly unlikely in the days of Virgin XC.

Once Trainsplit starts selling split advances, that should bring the cost of XC journeys down, for people unable or unwilling to spend hours working out the best "splitting" points.

XC is the only operator I can think of, for whom it's nearly always cheaper to "split" when using Advance fares for travel on the same train. There's definitely a premium charged for longer distance travel, which is greater than the sum asked of multiple people making many short journeys.

 

[skyetraveller]

Arriva are doing their best to price long distance passengers off the rails and onto either air or the roads.

I've also noticed a lack of through 1st Advance fares, yet "splitting" yields them. On a recent journey to the South West, I found it cheaper to book via London (EC+FGW) than on a through CrossCountry train - a situation unimaginable in BR days and also highly unlikely in the days of Virgin XC.

Once Trainsplit starts selling split advances, that should bring the cost of XC journeys down, for people unable or unwilling to spend hours working out the best "splitting" points.

XC is the only operator I can think of, for whom it's nearly always cheaper to "split" when using Advance fares for travel on the same train. There's definitely a premium charged for longer distance travel, which is greater than the sum asked of multiple people making many short journeys.

Thanks Yorkie, so it isn't just me going mad then! Seems totally crazy and actually quite unfair - I'm thinking elderly couple who wouldn't want the hassle of changing trains, let alone going via London, and almost certainly wouldn't understand the concept of splitting the journey. They'd probably just accept it and be royally ripped off. As I said in my opening post, I'm not holding my breath for a reply from the train company....