Originally Posted by
mtkeller
Yes, definitely advance and routed Chiltern only. (Still learning lots of things about the trains over here, but advance vs. single vs. off-peak vs. off-peak return/day return, etc. I've got a feeling for the basic differences. If only it were clearer which services are really off-peak since there's about 100 exceptions. I usually resort to doing a mock booking to see if they'll sell me an off-peak for a particular train.)
I think that's the easiest way of doing it - it's how I do it at least. FWIW, I find the booking system used on the
East Coast site is the best - it looks a bit confusing at first, but once you've got the hang of it, you'll see it's actually got quite a powerful interface. The same system is used on the
Chiltern,
Southern,
Southeastern and
London Midland sites too. The main alternative booking system used by other train companies' sites is the one based on TheTrainline's interface, which is rather more basic. (Tip - don't ever book directly with TheTrainline, as it charges a £1 booking fee, plus an extra fee for paying with a credit card - if you prefer the Trainline interface, then use say First Great Western's booking site instead and avoid these fees.)
I imagine you know this already, but you can book any tickets using any site, though some companies offer discounts if you book directly with them when travelling on their trains (e.g. East Coast offer a 10% discount on Advance fares on their trains if you book the tickets on their site).
I thought it was weird that they were selling the tickets when they weren't sure what was going to be happening, but I figured at £7.50 apiece it was a good deal even if we got stuck on a bus for part of it.
It's not the way things are normally done, no. I think the underlying issue here is perhaps just that these upgrade works are running significantly behind schedule - the eventual masterplan is for Chiltern to be able to offer faster journeys on their route between London and Birmingham, which they're calling
"Chiltern Mainline".