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On GB trains, there are some heavily discounted tickets called "Advance" tickets.

These become available about three months before the train runs - but that varies from one train company to the next.

The cheapest tickets tend to sell out very quickly once they become available, so it would be very useful to know exactly when tickets for my journey are on sale.

How can I find out?

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You can use the trainline's ticket alert service. You put in the route and date you want and your email, and it will email you when advance tickets become available for that route. You don't have to then book with the trainline, though they obviously want you to do so.

Note that it does not cover Eurostar services (for which I don't know of an easy way to do this) and nor does it cover the Caledonian Sleeper - but the Caledonian Sleeper has a simple booking window of exactly one year, so you don't really need a service to track that.

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  • Are you affiliated with thetrainline?
    – gerrit
    May 16 '16 at 13:05
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    @gerrit Not at all - In fact, I avoid booking with them because they charge a larger booking fee than booking on a TOC site.
    – Richard Gadsden
    May 16 '16 at 13:06
  • Foolish question - is the date on which advance tickets become available by definition the same as the date from which you can book a 'normal' ticket (eg an anytime with reserved seats), or can the availability periods differ?
    – Andrew
    May 18 '16 at 19:14
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    @Andrew It's the date that reservations become available for that train. You can book flexible tickets without a reservation up to a year in advance of travel, though (which can be a useful trick if you can anticipate a price increase).
    – Richard Gadsden
    May 18 '16 at 19:16

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