Best way to get from London to Manchester then back again?

I'm going to Manchester March 6-9. What is the least expensive way to go there? I found flights on Jet2.com for L59.99. I've checked out www.ba.com and bmi and they are both slightly more than jet2. The trains seem to be about the same price.

Have you considered going by coach?  I remember seeing 'megabus' come through Edinburgh.  I think it says on the side of the bus that you can get fares from 1 pound and up, I'm guessing the further in advance you book the lower the fare is.  Don't know how long it would take to get to Manchester from London, but if price is your priority it might be worth considering...

I remember seeing those buses. I've thought about it alot, which is why I've waited to book anything. It seems like the longer it takes to get there, the cheaper it's going to be. I'm only going to be in the UK for 10 days, so I'm debating cost vs time. I want to be able to spend time seeing friends and doing stuff, but I dont want to spend too much on travel.

I know it can be hard to balance time v. money.  Are you pricing out train tickets w/a 'young person's railcard'?  I think the card costs 20 pounds, but you might save more than enough to cover the cost of the railcard.  I have a family railcard for travelling w/my kids, and it can make a really big difference on the price of our train tickets.

I would advise taking the megabus rather than the train.

The reason?

The train ticket without a railcard will cost you £60, but with a railcard it will also cost you £60 (£20 for the card but still £40 for the ticket).

However, you can take the megabus for £1 each way (if you book now) plus a 50p booking charge, which will cost you £2.50 in total for the round trip.

The only drawback is that the megabus takes 4.5 hours, compared to 2.5hrs on the train, but it is really worth paying an extra £57 just to get there 2 hours earlier, especially if you are not travelling back to Manchester on the same day?

To put it into perspective, if you travelled to London on a National Express bus, it would cost you about £30 and the journey could take up to 6hrs each way (with a possible change in Birmingham or Milton Keynes).

I've traveled national express and megabus, which were both fairly similar travel-time wise (about 4-4.5 hours) but NE was a bit more expensive.  If cost is your concern, I'd say go Megabus.

Trains will cost even more, of course, but if you book in advance (at least 3-4 weeks) then you can get a substantial discount (That's how I got a ticket from Birmingham to Glasgow for £11 once!)  But of course that'll work best if you can be certain of getting on the correct train at exact time you book (so doing that straight off the airplane might not be the best idea.)

I've travelled from Manchester Picadilly to Eusten Station a few times and the price depends on when you book.  I think the last time I went it was about 45-50 GBP

Another thing with the time issue, is that with flying, you have all the hassle of getting to the airport, checking in, getting into London etc.  All in all, you may not save all that much time by flying.

Another thing with the time issue, is that with flying, you have all the hassle of getting to the airport, checking in, getting into London etc.  All in all, you may not save all that much time by flying.

totally agree.  I could have flown into London cheaper (it was an unusually cheap flight!) than the train but the inconvenience of trying to get to the airport in Manch then from Gatwick into London itself just took too long.

 

Thanks everyone!  I got on the megabus webpage and looked...it doesnt seem like it would take much more time than flying would (if you count check in time, etc). And it's only 1-2 hrs longer than the trains would take. Just enough time to read a good book.  I tried to book my tickets, and as soon as I had all my times selected, I got a message saying that the page cannot be displayed at this time. 

I'm finally on the website, but now it's not letting me pay for it.    I've tried two cards, and I keep getting this message: "This transaction has been declined. You may wish to try another card, or contact the merchant with the following information:
WorldAlert check"        

Would just like to say that the megabus website won't let me buy a ticket with a UK or a US card. I emailed customer service but havent had any reply. What would be the 2ed most inexpensive way?

Would just like to say that the megabus website won't let me buy a ticket with a UK or a US card. I emailed customer service but havent had any reply. What would be the 2ed most inexpensive way?

National Express.