Hello, back again needing more help.

We will be in the UK (and Ireland, but this questions is about the UK only) for 6 weeks from early September to mid-October. We are traveling without a car and I'm trying to figure out whether to get a BritRail pass or a senior pass (24 pounds) or just buy as we go. I'm having trouble finding what seems to be the true cost of rail tickets for the cities we will be visiting in order to make a good comparison.

The National Express site will have a variety of pricing, depending on the ticket, restrictions, etc. The BritRail site will have one price, usually about equal to the most expensive price on the National express site. BritRail has a US phone number; National Express does not list one. If I decide to call National Express, I would like to have my questions lined up first.

To get the cheaper tickets, you have to buy in advance. To get the senior pass we have to be in the UK, so can't do that ahead of time, so I can't be sure of what the price will be. BritRail pass as I understand it must be bought ahead of arrival.

I'm hoping some wise Slow Travelers will have some practical information for me: what are the chances of getting lower cost tickets? The more expensive tickets will probably make a rail pass a good idea, for us but if we can get the better ticket deals, the rail pass probably would not be the best bet.

Thanks everyone...
Roberta

Without checking (which will take a fair amount of time) I'd guess the senior's pass will ultimately save you more money.

I don't normally use the National Express website for rail travel but I find the Nation Rail Enquiries site to be really useful. Once you input the departure and arrival stations, you can check the fares and the Fare page always tells you the cheapest fare available for that journey. Further reductions are available, I believe by selecting the appropriate rail card that applies. In the case of the Senior's card, the saving is advertised as 1/3 off the standard fare. It may sometimes be possible to get good prices without the use of a Senior's card by choosing particular trains (and the Fares page shows you the alternatives) but the rail card will mean you can even travel on the more expensive trains at a discounted price.

I'm afraid the exercise will take a bit of time to get a reasonable figure for the overall budget but rail fares can be expensive so it's definitely worth doing.

Roberta - The outlay on the Senior Pass with very soon be 'paid back' by doing a couple of journeys or even one long one (it costs £24) because, as Beebee says, it takes a third off the normal fare.

The answer to your question really entirely depends on exactly what journeys you plan to do - whether you will be travelling every few days, every day, every week etc. If you are going to be on a train several times a week then probably the Britrail pass would be be the best way to go but it is an imposssible question to answer without knowing the journeys involved. I agree with Beebee - if you work out a detailed itinerary then it will soon become clear what your outlay would be with a Senior Pass and then you can see if you are really going to get the full value out of a Britrail pass.

beebee and Felicity,
Thank you for your help. I did not have the national rail inquiries site. It seems helpful and a little clearer in some ways than the National Express site.

You have pretty much told me what I thought but I guess I was hoping there was some "magic" to figuring it all out. With several fares available for the same route depending on several factors, I don't feel I'm comparing apples to apples. The cheaper fares seem to be for tickets purchased in advanced, and once we get there -- and can buy the senior pass -- we may be able to take advantage of the cheaper advance fares and the senior card which would probably mean the BritRail pass would not be the most economical way. We have planned out an itinerary, but we tend to like to make last minute changes. We have locked in a few cities with accommodations, but in between we have wanted to allow for some spontaneity. Also one of our more expensive tickets will be on the first day when we go from Heathrow to York, and I don't want to buy advanced tickets because timing is depending on the flight -- late arrival always a possibility -- and getting through customs and to Kings Cross Station.

All in all I'm leaning to the senior pass. Thanks again. All ideas really welcome.