Cheap Train Fares - some helpful advice

Last updated : 21 July 2008 By Shrimpers24

Martin Lewis, well known money saving expert of TV and radio fame, has a very useful website, www.moneysavingexpert.com, with all sorts of money saving tips but I noticed he did a special on transport including trains.

I've printed some selected highlights but for the whole article and the chance to sign up to his weekly newsletter click on to the link above.



Virgin unveil new high speed train from London to Stockport via Hartlepool

GET THE CHEAPEST TRAIN FARES:
Everyone knows book early and you can get cheaper fares, yet often these disappear quicker than empty seats on a commuter trip. Therefore to ensure a bargain, the key moment is buying 12 weeks in advance. This is because, contractually Network Rail must have the timetable set 12 weeks in advance; therefore this is commonly - though not definitely - when tickets are released.

You can book early quite late.
Early booking is still cheaper even when it's not so early. Advance tickets can sometimes be available on the same day. For example an advanced single for a Manchester to London at 1pm in the afternoon, was still on sale as late as 1am the same morning. As soon as you know when you want to go, don't leave it until the station, check the price out straight away.

Railcards
Railcards which can be bought from the Railcard website typically cost £24 and cut a third off the bill. Therefore spend over £72 a year (even in just one trip) and you save. Until May '08 railcards weren't valid on some super-cheap promotional fares; now they're valid on all tickets bought in advance and all standard class tickets.

Don't assume every journey is eligible for use with a railcard though; always check it out first - especially if you're travelling at peak times. The main cards are…

The 16-25 Railcard: This is for under 25s or full-time students of any age. So do renew just before your 26th birthday to get another year (the same applies for those older and leaving Uni).

Family & Friends Railcard: This can be used on all tickets provided there's a minimum one adult and one under-16 travelling together, and a maximum four adults and four children.

The Senior Railcard: If you're over 60 then this one works for you; some local councils give discounts on this card, so it's worth checking first.

The Disability Railcard: If you qualify for it, this is actually the cheapest railcard at £18; and again some local councils may allow you to get it even cheaper.

Check for hidden promotional specials
The National Rail website has a special promotions index page listing all special offers. Also do note that on certain East Midlands and South West Trains routes, including Sheffield to Derby and London to Exeter, it's possible to get Megatrain fares for £1 if you book early enough.

Plus if you're travelling from Manchester to London, go to the Virgin Trains website and click the e-ticketing and m-ticketing section. This offers super-cheap mid-week single tickets, from £1 provided you print the tickets yourself. And a similar service is available via Chiltern Railways for London to Birmingham trips.

Where to find all train ticket info
There are four main sites for finding cheap train fare info, as well as different types of search tools, rather bizarrely they don't all list exactly the same tickets, so if you've time for a full belt and braces check on a big fare, do try them all.

TheTrainline.
The ubiquitous TheTrainline* powers both its own site and many other commercial booking sites. Its operating system is relatively simple, but it charges fees when you book through it, so you're better booking direct from the train operator.

National Express' East Coast system. The name might suggest otherwise but the National Express East Coast system covers the whole UK, has no booking fees and sometimes gives extra discounts if your journey uses its network. One advantage of this is it includes a low fare finder, which will also find alternative routes which may be cheaper.

Raileasy. Another commercial booking site, like TheTrainline, Raileasy* also charges booking fees; it's a new player which is promising to bring out some powerful tools. One advantage is it lists single fares on the results screen, which is useful as these can often be cheaper than returns.

National Rail. The daddy of all the info providers, National Rail has huge details of the different fares and great depth for the search. You can't buy your tickets direct through it, but it will link you to individual train operators, which don't charge booking fees.

The cheapest way to book tickets
Booking direct at a station or via the rail company's own website is usually cheapest as there's no booking fee; plus you may also find some extra online discounts.

If you're using the booking sites, beware, you'll pay more… the Trainline charges a flat £2.50 fee on credit card payments. Raileasy, on the other hand, charges a £1 booking fee on every purchase over £10 (£2 if it's under a tenner), plus a 50p debit card fee and 2.5% for credit cards.

Overall this means of the two, the Trainline is cheapest for any bookings using a debit card and for credit card payments over £60, whereas Raileasy wins for credit card bookings under £60.

Calling National Rail Enquiries? Pay less for the call

If you need to dial National Rail Enquiries, the official number is 0845 748 49 50; yet you can cut the cost of calling by dialling 0121 634 2040 and then pressing '1', you'll get through to the same thing. See the SayNoTo0870 guide for more info.

Become Jonathan Creek online and get those cheapest deals

This is the big trick everyone should know. Instead of buying tickets for the whole journey, buying tickets for its constituent parts separately can bizarrely slash the price - even though you're travelling on exactly the same train.

It's perfectly allowed within the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, and has been confirmed by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). The only rule is that the train must call at the stations you've bought tickets for.

How much can you save… London to Penzance return cut from £257 to £48. (Not that we're playing Plymouth this season but keep with us......)

As an example, for London to Penzance return the cheapest ticket was a standard open return at £257. This train stops in Plymouth and by instead buying four singles…

  • Outbound: London to Plymouth
  • Outbound: Plymouth to Penzance
  • Return: Penzance to Plymouth
  • Return: Plymouth to London

the total cost for those tickets is just £48, a saving of £209 and just to clear it up…

It's the same train at the same time, the difference is you've four tickets covering the journey not one.

How to find split ticket bargains:

It normally takes five-ten minutes to check, but it's worth doing, especially for long journeys.

  • Step 1: Find the cheapest price for the standard journey.

    First get the price for the standard journey; without this you won't know if you can save. Check both a return ticket and two singles.

  • Step 2: Find out where the train stops.

    Use the Transport Direct journey planner; just click on the train icon after you receive your route to see where it stops. The info is also available via the timetables section of the National Rail website.

    Alternatively, if your journey involves changing trains, click on the train time at Step 2 of the TheTrainline* booking process. It will reveal when and where the train stops; try splitting your ticket there.

  • Step 3: Check the options.

    Now pick a main station about half way across the journey and get a price for separate tickets to and from there for each leg. If that doesn't work try another leg. If the train stops at many places then there's a huge combination of available tickets. Obviously it's a balance of time versus money. You could split a journey's tickets into six or eight… it all depends on the amount of time you have.

Successful Split Ticket Examples
Route
Tickets split at
Standard Open Fare
Split Ticket Cost
Saving
Cardiff-Birmingham Return
Gloucester
£51
£34
£17
Barnstaple-Cardiff single
Bristol Temple Meads
£35
£9
£26
Bristol-Newcastle (1)
Birmingham
£59
£25
£34
Huddersfield-Bournemouth (1)
Manchester Piccadilly
£103
£26
£77
Newport (Gwent)-Edinburgh
Crewe
£200
£92
£108
(1) With 16-24 Railcard

Again, I appreciate these are not Southend or London examples to away games we have, (unless you live in Cardiff and are going to Walsall!), but the principle is the same. It really depends on the time you have to do the detective work but there can be some real bargins out there.

I did this last season to get from London to Crewe via Wolverhampton, saved over a tenner on the direct journey even 12 weeks in advance.

Remember, keep clicking onto the Day Tripper link for all the best matchday offers.

Good Luck with all your travelling this coming campaign and hope you see the Blues pick up plenty of points. Because we know what points mean, "points mean promotion!"