London to Dublin - two Sail Rail hacks!

SailRail tickets combine your rail journey to a port, and your foot passenger journey on a ferry.  Despite the rise in cheap flights across the Irish Sea, they are still popular on the Holyhead to Dublin route - especially at peak times or last minute, when air fares are extortionate!

The advantage of SailRail tickets are they are fixed price.  So for example London to Dublin costs either £53.40 for an "Advance" ticket, or once they sell out it's £60.10 for the misnamed "Standby" fare.  Tickets from elsewhere in both GB and Ireland are on a sliding scale, as per this old map - all ferries now serve Dublin port!

Most days there's a 9am train from London Euston which gives you 80 minutes to see the sights of Holyhead, before the huge Irish Ferries ship Ulysses pulls out of port and delivers you into Dublin around 5.30pm - where you stroll across the gangway back onto dry land.

If the journey that you want is showing as Sold Out / Unavailable - try booking Bangor (Gwynedd) to Dublin departing at 12:23 - the last stop before Holyhead.  If this shows as available, you know that it's the train that's causing the problem rather than the ferry that's sold out.

Since the pandemic, Avanti require seat reservations for SailRail tickets - even though they always have a couple of carriages that don't have any seat reservations!

When I've encountered this problem I've tried multiple rail reservation websites, and none could overcome the Avanti block.

Avanti Hack

However, if you go to a mainline station with a ticket office, they should be able to sell you a ticket for the date you want, without a specific train.  Since most stations only sell a handful of SailRail tickets it may take some time for them to work it out. And make sure they select correctly between Irish Ferries (Dublin Ferryport - DFP) or Stena (Dublin Port Stena - DPS).

Then it's just a case of getting past the Avanti staff at the gateline and onto the train with your open ticket!

Sunday Hack

The 9am direct train to Holyhead unfortunately doesn't operate on a Sunday (or if Avanti amend the timetable) - so you'll need to find a connecting route.  If you want to get the 2.10pm Irish Ferries ship, rail reservation websites say you need to depart London Euston just after 8am.

However if you select Dublin Port Stena (for the later ferry) you can book connecting trains which should get you into Holyhead a tantalising half hour before the 2.10pm Irish Ferries departure.

With the last transfer bus to the ferry departing the terminal 20 minutes before the ferry leaves, if the trains are on time you can make the 2.10pm ferry - even though you can't actually book it.

Once you arrive at Holyhead station you need to go to the rail ticket desk (not the Irish Ferries or Stena ticket desk) and ask them to swap your ticket from Stena to Irish Ferries.  As you enter the station/terminal from the platforms, the rail ticket window is on your right facing the ferry ticket desks.

When I did this recently the rail ticket staff member was rather confused and actually issued me a new ticket the same as the old ticket. But thankfully the Irish Ferries checkin staff let it go, and issued me a Ulysses boarding pass anyway.  I guess they appreciated my effort!

So if you value an extra 40 minutes in bed and are willing to take the risk that you may end up on the Stena ferry if your train is late into Holyhead - then give this Sunday Hack a bash!

Belgian Trains "Happy Ticket"

The Belgian Rail operator NMBS/SNCB offers a special deal over the Christmas & New Year period - a day return from anywhere in Belgium to anywhere in Belgium for just 10 euro!

The deal is so good that it will often be cheaper than buying a single.  And it's also so good that if you're travelling across the Belgian border, it will be cheaper to buy a "Happy Ticket" to the border, and a separate ticket for the onward journey.

For example a single from Charleroi Sud to Calais Ville is normally 42.70
But splitting the journey into a 10 euro "Happy Ticket" from Charleroi Sud to Tournai (near the french border), the remaining trip from Tournai to Calais Ville will cost you 24.70 - a handy 8 euro saving.
And a journey to cross a more distant border could save even more.

The "Happy Ticket" is available for the weekend in mid December, and then all the way from 21st December to the 5th January - full details here

Using the main https://www.belgiantrain.be/en/ website the fare comes up for any applicable journey within Belgium.  But using the https://www.b-europe.com/EN website for international train journeys, the "split ticket" fare (unsurprisingly) doesn't appear - so you have to work it out for yourself.

I bought my ticket from an automatic ticket machine in Charleroi Sud station, and the main screen (in english) highlighted "Promotional Fares", and it came up straight away.

A quick search of the internet suggests that it's been going a few years - so hopefully it will be back again next year.

Maybe this map of the Belgian Rail network will inspire some train travel next festive season!

Luton Airport train prices

On 22nd October 2019 Luton Airport Parkway joined TfL's "Contactless" scheme

No longer do you *have* to buy a paper ticket ... although sometimes it may be cheaper.  Remember that this is contactless only - your Oyster card will not work at Luton Airport Parkway.

Standard fares using Contactless are 15.50 gbp peak (both morning and evening) and 12.00 gbp off peak.  This pricing also applies from any Zone 1 or Zone 2 station - so you no longer will get charged separately for getting to St Pancras.
Adding in the separate bus fare, the prices become 17.90 gbp and 14.40 gbp

If you use Contactless for a journey from Zone 2 Overground without entering Zone 1 (for example from Kensington Olympia via West Hampstead Thameslink) the fares are 12.00 gbp peak and 7.80 gbp off peak
Adding in the separate bus fare, the prices become 14.40 gbp and 10.20 gbp

If you use Contactless for a journey from Zone 2 Underground without entering Zone 1 (for example from White City via Shepherds Bush and West Hampstead Thameslink the fares are 13.70 gbp peak and 9.30 gbp off peak
Adding in the separate bus fare, the prices become 16.10 gbp and 11.70 gbp

The normal paper ticket fare from St Pancras to the airport (including the bus) is 17.40 gbp (a saving of 10 pence compared with buying separate tickets) - with no obvious change in price between peak and off peak.
However this fare can be reduced by using a Railcard - so for example if you are travelling after 10am, the price drops to 13.00 gbp and if you are travelling at a weekend the price is 8.65 gbp

The normal paper ticket fares from Kensington Olympia to the airport (including the bus) is 18.60 gbp - and this drops to 13.00 gbp after 10am on weekdays and to 12.30 gbp at weekends if you have a Network Railcard.


In summary: use Contactless apart from - if you are staying near St Pancras it is usually cheaper to buy a paper ticket (apart from if you are travelling off peak without a Railcard) and if you are travelling at a weekend from a Zone 1 or 2 tube station via St Pancras

It's also worth highlighting that if you have a Railcard and are in Zone 2 near an Overground station - it's actually slightly cheaper to take the tube to St Pancras, and get a paper ticket from St Pancras than travel via West Hampstead Thameslink


If you don't have a Railcard:
From Zone 1 tube station - use Contactless - 17.90 gbp / 14.40 gbp
From St Pancras during peak - use paper ticket - 17.40 gbp
From St Pancras off peak - use Contactless - 14.40 gbp
From Zone 2 Overground - use Contactless - 14.40 gbp / 10.20 gbp
From Zone 2 tube station - use Contactless - 16.10 gbp / 11.70 gbp

If you do have a Railcard:
From Zone 1 or 2 tube station weekday - use Contactless - 17.90 gbp / 14.40 gbp
From Zone 1 or 2 tube station weekend - use paper ticket - 11.05 gbp  (8.65 + 2.40)
From St Pancras station weekday - use paper ticket - 17.40 gbp / 13.00 gbp after 10am
From St Pancras station weekend - use paper ticket - 8.65 gbp
From Zone 2 Overground weekday or weekend - use Contactless - 14.40 gbp / 10.20 gbp
From Zone 2 tube station weekday or weekend - use Contactless - 16.10 gbp / 11.70 gbp

Japan Rail Pass - calculation

I booked a trip to Japan with just a couple of days notice - so I asked FB for advice ... and one of my friends texted me straight away to tell me to go get a Japan Rail pass before I left for Japan.

Having already looked at train travel, I'd realised that it would be expensive, so had assumed I would end up getting internal flights, as they are reasonably priced, and if you redeem points the taxes/fees are tiny.

But the Japan Rail Pass meant that I was able to cancel my internal flight, and spend a week travelling around by train.  The 7 day pass cost me 29,110 yen (188 gbp) - also available in 14 day, 21 day, child and first class variations - and for this I did the following travel (priced as individual journeys):

Tokyo - Kyoto via Nagano

9830 plus 8230 for seat reservation

Kyoto - Nara

710

Nara - Osaka

800

Osaka - Shinimamiya 

180

Osaka - Tokyo

8750 plus 5390 for seat reservation

Tokyo - Kagoshima Chuo

16410 plus 13450 for seat reservation

Tokyo - Yamanote Line loop

200 x 4

I had also planned to take a daytrip to Kawaguchiko (private line from Otsuki, so that part not covered by the JR pass) - but after a late night out in Tokyo, I decided against !

Tokyo - Otsuki (return)

1320 plus 1700 for seat reservation

1320

If I had taken the trip to Otsuki, I would have achieved a total value of 68,890 yen from my 29,110 yen Rail Pass.

If I hadn't bothered with any seat reservations (the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagano was only reserved seating, but I might have been able to take another train with unreserved carriages) I would still have gained 40,120 yen worth of value.

As it was (without the Otsuki daytrip) I achieved 64,500 yen worth of value from my 29,110 Rail Pass - so I'm quite happy with that !

As I was booking the Rail Pass at such short notice, I needed a company where I could go in and pick up the voucher (which you exchange for an actual pass in Japan) on the same day - but many of the companies want at least a day's notice.

I ended up using Japan Experience - as long as you make the payment online by 4pm, you can go into their London office and pick it up before the office closes at 6pm (Monday to Saturday).  I gave them a quick call before making the payment, just to double check that they were open, and that I would be able to pick up my Rail Pass voucher.  It was ready and waiting for me when I arrived at their office an hour later.

The Rail Pass is also available for purchase in Japan (on a trial basis, which may continue to be extended) - but for the higher price of 33,000 yen for 7 days.  Still decent value if you are making a few trips.

Holyhead and Dublin ferry offloading

When flight prices between London and Dublin and nearby airports (and not so nearby airports) become unreasonably expensive, I quite often revert to the old fashioned Sail Rail connection - since the standardised fares mean that (as long as they don't sell out) your fare is capped at a regulated price, even over holiday weekends.

So London to Dublin Port (you need to get a bus into Dublin city centre) fares start from 41 gbp with most tickets selling for 46 gbp.  When last minute flight prices can easily reach 300 gbp for a single during busy periods - if you have the time, taking the ferry and the train becomes an appealing option.

The Seat61.com website has a huge amount of detail on travelling this route.  One issue (which Seat61 briefly mentions) taking the ferry as a foot passenger is how quickly you can get off the ferry once you arrive into port.

Holyhead - Dublin offloading

Stena - Adventurer

I've used this ship a few times, and have always had to wait at least 20 minutes for most of the cars / trucks to off load, before Stena bring the buses on board the ship, to get you into the ferry terminal.  One time we had to queue up (in the rain) to have our passports/IDs checked as we left the buses and before they let us into the terminal building.  Seriously unimpressed !

Irish Ferries - Jonathan Swift (fast ferry)

Sometimes they give you the main berth with passenger gangway, but if the Ulysses is in berth, then the Swift gets relegated to a crappy berth around the corner, where you have to wait for the cars to disembark.  However, since the Swift isn't very big, it should only take about 15 minutes before you get to walk off.

Irish Ferries - Ulysses

The Ulysses gives you the best chance of speedy offloading - you almost always get to use a dedicated foot passenger gangway, so no waiting for the cars.  One time there was a vehicle parked on the quay wall which blocked the passenger gangway, so we had to wait for the cars to off load, and then get a bus to the terminal building - but that was highly unusual.

This is my preferred option for Holyhead - Dublin route.

Dublin - Holyhead offloading

Irish Ferries - Jonathan Swift (fast ferry)

You have to wait for the cars to off load, before you walk off the ferry, and board a bus to the terminal building.  Since the Swift isn't very big, it only takes about 15 minutes for the cars to drive off.  Just make sure you get on the first bus, as the second/last bus will wait for the old and infirm to slowly exit the boat - no point wasting good Coop/Lidl shopping time waiting for the OAPs !

Irish Ferries - Ulysses

I haven't done this routing in ages (for morning trips the Ulysses departs Dublin at 08:05 and may not connect with the 11:27 train from Holyhead, so the Swift is much more attractive) ... but considering the arrangements for loading Ulysses at Holyhead, I assume you have to board a bus on the Ulysses to transport you to the ferry terminal ... so you presumably have to wait for most of the cars and trucks to offload before Stena drive the buses onto the ship.  I suspect this may take a while.

Stena - Adventurer

I haven't done this routing in ages (for morning trips the Adventurer departs Dublin at 08:20 and is unlikely to connect with the 11:27 train from Holyhead, so the Swift is much more attractive) ... but considering the arrangements for loading Adventurer at Holyhead, I assume you have to wait for most of the cars and trucks to offload before you get to walk off the ship (possibly to the funny little staging building where you catch a bus to the ferry terminal), or Stena brings buses onto the ship.

The different disembarkation options need to be considered when working out which train you are likely to catch (or timings for friends/family pickups) and which ferry to choose.  My choice for afternoon departures from Holyhead is the Ulysses.  For morning departures from Dublin my choice is the Swift (despite the slightly higher Sail Rail fare) as it also gives you some extra sleep time!

One other thing to bear in mind is that booking tickets in Ireland doesn't allow you to reserve a seat on your trains in the UK, so if you're booking a return from Dublin to London, you might want to book two singles, so you get to reserve seats on the trains from London.

St Pancras International timings

St Pancras International station is a separate building to Kings Cross - so I never know how long to leave between my tube arriving into KX and my train departing St Pancras.  Today I had some spare time, so I decided to use my stopwatch !

Starting point - Piccadilly line eastbound - Carriage two, door three - by the exit

Speed - normal pace, not rushing it - although it was early morning, so not many backmarkers to navigate around

Escalators - sauntered up them

Luggage - smallish backpack

Routing - exited to outside up the steps as soon as passed through the tube barriers.  Probably slightly quicker than using the tunnel underneath Pancras Road (but that routing has the advantage of escalators to take you upstairs into St Pancras station)

Timings:

Exiting Piccadilly line to Platform B northbound - 5 mins 15 seconds

It would be slightly less to Platform A southbound

Exiting Piccadilly line to Platforms 1, 2 & 3 upstairs - 6 mins 35 seconds

It would be an extra 30 seconds or so if your train was the far end of the platform (as often happens)

Exiting Piccadilly line to Eurostar security - 5 mins 45 seconds

Next time I won't bother giving myself a full 15 minutes to spare !

London to St Anton

I'm looking to get to St Anton on Saturday 20th February ... there are loads of different options from London ... so I ended up putting together a spreadsheet to work out the different total costs - including the various different baggage fees from different airlines, and the different rail costs from different airports.  Below are the cheapest flights I could find, ignoring the 7am departures !

I ended up booking this flight to Innsbruck - it has the shortest transfer time - so hopefully I will be able to go and pick up my skis and boots from the hire shop in St Anton on Saturday evening.  The trip from Innsbruck airport into town by bus is quite straightforward ... and with a direct train from the main station at 17:15, i could get a taxi into town if the connection was getting tight.

Dep LGW	13:25
Arr INN	16:25
Flight	76	gbp
Bag	18	gbp
Airport - HBf	2.7	eur
Inn HBf - StAaA	21	eur
Train time	1.5 hrs
Total	112	gbp

Whilst the option of going to Salzburg was a bit cheaper - the airport is a bit of a mosh pit at weekends during the winter, and i wouldn't get into St Anton until after the ski shops had closed.  And the amount Monarch charge for a bag in the hold is just crazy.

Dep LGW	14:15
Arr SZG	17:20
Flight	33	gbp
Bag	23.75	gbp
SZG - StAaA	53.6	eur
Train time	3 hrs
Total	99	gbp

The Friedrichshafen option was quite attractive - but it would mean an earlier start in the morning, and some of the train connections were a bit tight (although there were plenty more trains, it would just take a bit longer).

dep LGW	11:00
arr FDH	13:45
Flight	52	gbp
Bag	18	gbp
FDH - StAaA	31	eur
Train time	2.5 hrs	3 changes
Total	94	gbp

I've never flown to or from Memmingen airport ... but it just sounded like too much effort on this occasion (including a not overly frequent bus service from the airport to the train station) ... even though the fare is very good.

dep STN	11:45
arr FMM	14:30
Flight	33	gbp
Bag - guess	15	gbp
FMM - HBf	3	eur
Memm - StAaA	48	eur
Train time	4 hrs
Total	88	gbp

I really like Zurich airport, and the fact that mainline trains depart from underneath the airport - but the fare just wasn't competitive.

dep LHR	15:40
arr ZRH	20:05
Flight	86	gbp
Bag	20	gbp
ZRH - StAaA	54	eur
Train time	2.75 hrs
Total	148	gbp

I also looked at prices to Munich - but sadly the cheap Lufthansa flights arrived to late to make the last train to St Anton.

Flights to Geneva weren't particularly cheap, and the train costs around 120 euro each way - so the totals weren't competitive.

Dublin to Ischgl for a few days skiing

Ischgl isn't the easiest of places to get to from Dublin ... there aren't (m)any direct flights from Dublin to Innsbruck (the nearest) airport to Ischgl ... so the journey is a bit longer ...

The other complication is that Swiss (the airline) seem to have gone back to the dark ages with their pricing ... single flights are exorbitant ... so if there isn't a flight in one of the directions on one of the days that you want - you're screwed !

Aiming to fly out of Dublin on Tuesday 2nd February ...

Dep Dublin 16:15
Arr Zurich 19:25
price 79 eur plug baggage (EI)

Dep Zurich Flughafen 20:18
Arr Landeck Zams bahnhof 23:42
price approx 60 eur

Taxi to Ischgl
price ?

Another option is to fly to Innsbruck on a connecting flight ... with plenty of time to check in again in LGW

Dep Dublin 07:35
Arr LGW 09:10
price 23.40 eur plus baggage (FR)

Dep LGW 11:30
Arr INN 14:30
price 68 eur plug baggage (EZY)

Bus F from the Flughafen terminal to the Hauptbahnhof takes less than 20 mins and departs every 15 mins
price 2.7 eur

Dep Innsbruck Hbf	15:57	17:01
Arr Landeck-Zams	16:58	17:57
Dep Landeck-Zams	17:05	18:05
Arr Ischgl	17:58	18:58

Price 16.1 eur for the train (postbus not bookable online - fare approx 10 eur)

A further option is to fly to Salzburg - one advantage of this routing is sold as a connecting flight by BA (although DUB-LGW is operated by EI) - so if you miss the connection in LGW, it's up to BA to find you a new one !

Dep Dublin 07:00
Arr LGW 08:25
Dep LGW 10:05
Arr Salzburg 13:05
price 157 eur including baggage

Dep Salzburg Flughafen	14:25	15:25
Arr Salzburg Hbf	14:47	15:47
Dep Salzburg Hbf	15:00	15:56
Arr Landeck-Zams	17:39	18:30
Dep Landeck-Zams	18:05	19:05
Arr Ischgl	18:58	19:58

Price 53.6 eur


Accommodation

Ischgl has a reasonable amount of accommodation bookable through the town's website - with B&Bs in the town (rather than in Mathon which is 5km away) from about 55 eur per person per night sharing.  Ganahl is showing availability on the website - others may be available offline by email the tourist office.


Return flight

Need to get back into Dublin around lunchtime on Sunday 7th February ... so looking at options that give a full day skiing on Saturday 6th ...

None of the airports have late flights on Saturday to Dublin - so starting off looking at late flights to London (so could fly to Dublin on Sunday morning) ...

Innsbruck
The last (sensibly priced) flight out on Saturday evening departs at 17:15 - so that's not much good

Salzburg
There's a 19:45 flight on Saturday evening from to London for just 37 eur - but you'd have to leave Ischgl by 2pm in order to make it

Zurich
The 20:50 departure to LHR is 148 eur - that would mean leaving around 3pm

Munich
The last flight from to London on Saturday night is soon after 7pm - so that's not much use


Looking at travelling to direct to Dublin on Sunday morning - so spending Saturday night near the airport ...

Munich
dep Ischgl 17:58 (or 15:58) and arr Munich 22:21 (or 21:15) for 39 eur (no price showing for earlier timings)
dep Munich Sunday at 11:05 and arr Dublin 12:45 for 106 eur plus baggage (EI)
or Sunday evening departure at 20:10 (arr Dub 21:50) for 100 eur plus baggage (EI)

Zurich
EI direct flight departing at 8pm (arr Dub at 21:25) for 102 eur
or connecting BA flight departing at 7am (arr Dub at 12:20) for 150 eur

Innsbruck
No direct flights
connecting FR/EZY flights departing at 10:45 (arr Dub 15:35) for 150 eur with 2:35 in Luton to transfer / check in

Salzburg
No direct flights
connecting FR flights departing at 10:30 (arr Dub 15:05) for 99 eur with 2:05 in Stansted to transfer / check in


Looking at travelling to London on Sunday evening

Munich
8pm departure for 86 eur plus bag (EZY) or 9.15pm departure for 100 eur - but doesn't work with connections
to make the 8pm departure - would need to leave Ischgl around 2pm

Zurich
9.25pm departure for 171 eur plus bag (EZY)
departing Ischgl soon after 3pm would get you to the airport by 7.45pm

Innsbruck
sadly the last flight to london is at 5.40pm (for a crazy 473 eur) and the 3.10pm flight (for a still hefty 219 eur) isn't very helpful

Salzburg
the last flight to london is at 5.05pm for 157 eur with BA
departing Ischgl soon after 10am would get you to the airport for 2.30pm - trains only every 2 hours