One common thing among us brits is that we love travelling and exploring new areas, sightseeing, and enjoying exotic foods. And as the holiday season – the most awaited time of the year – is almost upon us, people have already started planning their excursions to different parts of the UK.

Some will join their families to cherish the festivities of Christmas and new year, while others might be touring different regions to discover the splendour and serenity of nature.

Whatever the reason, we are all aware that the prices of train tickets have skyrocketed due to high fuel prices. Combined with the fact that most of you’ll be travelling with your friends and family, planning accordingly to save your money can stretch your budget, bigtime.

Cheap Train Tickets

One way of saving money while travelling to other parts for those living in the UK is finding cheap train tickets. This way, you will not only reduce your expenses but also have peace of mind that you won’t run out of cash mid-way through your trip.

If you are one of the thousands of brits who are thinking of touring other cities of the country in the coming days or whether you are an avid traveller, always ready to pack your bags, we’ve got some fantastic tips and tricks on how to find cheap train tickets in UK.

How Much Can Cheap Tickets Save You Per Year?

One way of saving money while travelling by train is to switch to railcard. Having a railcard lets you save big and you can have these cards for upto three years in just a meagre amount.

Switch To Railcard; It’s Value For Money

Do you know that a railcard lets you save a whopping 33% of your standard train fare? If you didn’t know earlier, well, you know now! What does this mean? If you are a regular traveller or someone who occasionally travels with friends and family, now you can save 33% of what you were paying earlier.

The most in-demand railcards cost you £30 per year, and nearly all of them allow you to travel by paying £70 for 3 years. You can use the 16-25 and 26-30 railcards at peak times even if the minimum fare is £12. Simply saying, if you were spending £100 on your travel tickets before, now you’ll be paying £66 and that’s ‘some’ saving considering frequent tours or if your loved ones also accompany you.

Apart from being available in paper form, these railcards can also be saved digitally on your smartphone. Usually, you can save the card’s price in one or two trips.

Book In Advance

Another helpful tip to save money is to buy train tickets in advance, just like people purchase airline tickets at a lower cost. Most rail operators allow you to grab cheap train tickets throughout UK 12 weeks before your departure.

Why is that so? Because this is the time when Network Rail sets their timetable and rolls out tickets at amazingly low prices. Although the time period can vary, still, the earlier you book the tickets, the more you are going to save.

Here’s How To Buy Train Tickets Cheap

If you are on the outlook for cheap train tickets to London, Edinburgh or any other city in the UK, all you have to do is subscribe to Trainline Ticket Alert. After entering the required details about your journey, click on ‘Set Ticket Alert.

Once done, you’ll get an email alert when advance ticket sales for your journey begins. This is the time when the tickets are priced the lowest. To get hands on the best prices through this system, you’ll pay up to £1.75, known as booking fee charges.

Last-Minute Bookings Also Do The Job

If, for any reason, you couldn’t grab the 12-week advance buying opportunity or, for some reason, you have to travel immediately, there is no need to worry. You can still purchase cheap tickets to any city in the UK, depending on the availability.

If the tickets are available, you can buy them at a much lower price on the same day you travel, thanks to seven rails firms. All you have to do is browse the website while on your way to the station and you may end up having a low-priced ticket as compared to a walk-up fare. So, last-minute train trips don’t always mean expensive fares and high ticket prices.

Also, early in the morning or late at night is the time when you can find cheap tickets. If you can be a little flexible on your timings, you can still get to save money.

Check Out For Discounts

You can also get amazing discounts on rail tickets based on your circumstances, like your age, profession, or job status. You can avail discounts if you fall into any of these groups.

Students

If you are a student, you are eligible for a discount. You can get good value for money if you have an NUS or TOTUM card.

Children

Kids under five years can travel absolutely free of cost, when travelling with a fare-paying parent or guardian unless otherwise specified. Children between 5 and 15 can travel at 50% off on most tickets. So, if you are travelling as a family, you don’t need to pay for your toddlers and only incur 50% charges if your kids are smaller than 15.

Unemployed

If you are one of the many unlucky ones who are unemployed and claim Universal Credit or jobseeker’s allowance, you can have a 50% off on rail fares with a Job Centre Plus Travel Discount Card.

Try Not To Travel During Peak Times

If you are not in an emergency or on an official trip, try to travel during off-peak times. By off-peak, we mean to say any time other than the busiest hours of travelling — another sure-shot trick on how you can save money on train fares.

Why travel during off-peak times? This is the time when fares are at their lowest. On the other hand, trains moving during the peak times like 7 am to 9 am and in the evening from 5 pm to 7 pm are expensive.

So, if possible, make your journey during the off-peak times. You are more likely to get cheap train tickets. For instance, going through ticket prices on Trainline, a couple of days ago, we found a massive difference between peak and off-peak prices.

We were searching for a cheap train ticket to London Euston from Manchester Piccadilly during peak hours, which was £180. However, we weren’t in a hurry and delayed our commute for a couple of hours and to our surprise, we got the same single ticket for only £40.70.

Another thing to note here is that the ticket pricing on Fridays and weekends is usually highly-priced. If you are with your family and friends and going sightseeing or visiting someone in another city, be flexible and start your journey on Tuesday or Wednesday morning. This is the time when you can get train tickets cheap.

Switch To A Season Ticket

If you are a regular commuter between two stations, we suggest you buy a season ticket. This way, you can enjoy unlimited travel from one station to another by saving a lot of money spent instead. A season ticket also allows you to travel across Travelcard Zones – in case you live in London. The most beneficial thing about season tickets is that you can purchase weekly, monthly, or annual tickets, based on your travel needs and budget.

According to our calculations, if you commute thrice via train to the same destination in a week, you can save money by buying a season ticket. You can find the most appropriate season ticket based on your commute frequency and calculate your fare from the National Rail’s ticket calculator.

Flexible Season Tickets

You can also take advantage of Flexi season tickets if you commute between the same stations but not regularly. Flexible season tickets can be of immense help if you travel to your office or any place for a couple of days a week. It can offer you 8 days of commute in 28 days.

One downside of these tickets is that you must pay a hefty upfront fee to get them. So, before going for it, it is vital that you calculate how much you would be traveling and how much you can save from it. If you are about to get regular with your job or about to switch, you will be less likely to benefit from your flexible season ticket.

Season Ticket Loan Scheme

If you are a frequent traveler by train, a season ticket seems to be the only solution to lower your costs. However, if you can’t pay the big upfront money, you can check with your company whether they offer a season ticket loan or not. This scheme means that your company will pay for the ticket, and you will pay back the amount in installments every month.

Use 0% Interest Credit Card

Another trick to save big on your travel expenses is getting a season ticket via a credit card that doesn’t charge you any interest when paying back – within a set period. By using a credit card with a 0% interest rate, you can start taking advantage of the season ticket and pay back the original cost in a few months. This monthly spreading of the ticket price doesn’t burden you, nor do you have to pay any interest. However, make sure you pay regularly and don’t skip any payments.

How To Calculate Your Fare?

If you are a saving freak and love using different tips and tricks for this purpose, we’ll add to your knowledge of finding cheap train tickets to any destination in the UK. This way, you can stretch your budget. Before your departure or when finalizing the trip, you can calculate how much you’d be saving by visiting railcard.co.uk and entering your details in the saving calculator.

Moreover, to avoid the hassle for you and your loved ones, visiting the National Rail portal to check the Train times and tickets would also be of immense help. Here, you can check the live departures and arrivals for your nearest stations 24/7.

Find Cheap Train Tickets Using National Rail Enquiries

You can ease your process of finding all the details like tickets, timetables, fare enquiries, info regarding train company, promotions and live train tracking from National Rail Enquiries. After adding your details in the Cheap Fare Finder, the site will lead you to third-party retailers or train operators to buy the required number of tickets. These train operators don’t usually charge any booking fees.

The cheap fare finder tool lets you see the fares of all train companies operating on all routes. Just enter the time and date of your departure, and it will show you the best fare options to choose from and enjoy significant savings. As mentioned above, if you are booking the tickets in advance and can be flexible with your time and dates, you are bound to save more.

The cheap fare finder is famous amongst the brits and is considered a one-stop shop for getting value against their money. It gives them the best and most affordable options for their journeys. You should also try it and see how it enables you to save money and eases your commute.

Ticket Alerts

Another way of buying train tickets cheap is by subscribing to Ticket Alerts. Doing so, you’ll get updates on the availability of advance tickets. By subscribing to these alerts and buying tickets in advance, you can save up to 61% compared to buying them on the day of your travel or a few days before.

Just fill in the required details in the form, like your email address, departure station, arrival station, departure time, and return time and click on the Set Ticket Alert. It is important to note that advance tickets are only available as singles. So, if your departure and return dates differ, you’ll get two alerts via email.

Where To Buy Cheap Train Tickets?

There are five common ways of buying rail tickets. You can choose any one of the below-mentioned methods, depending on which suits you.

Online

If you want to choose the easy method of buying tickets online, visit the National Rail Inquiries and enter details in the Journey Planner. It will lead you to a retailer from whom you can buy a ticket based on your time, date, and location you want to travel.

Note: National Rail Inquiries do not sell train tickets.

Phone

You can also buy a ticket through phone by calling at one of the numbers listed in the Train Company page.

From A Ticket Office

Visit the Station Information page to know which stations have a physical ticket office. Here, you’ll also find information about the different payment methods and their working hours.

Self-Service Ticket Machine

This facility is available at different stations allowing you to buy a ticket, quickly, easily – without any hassle.

Travel Agents

You’ll find Rail-appointed travel agents at many stations to provide you with travel services and issue tickets.

In case there aren’t any ticketing facilities at the station, like a ticket office or a self-service ticket machine or their working hours are up, you can still purchase a ticket while on board. Make sure to ask for it before onboarding.

Buy A Split Ticket

Going for a split ticket is another splendid and sure-shot way of saving money. It means that you purchase two or more than two tickets for your journey instead of only one. Doing so won’t disturb your travel plans.

You can travel via the same train without additional charges or any changes to the journey. You can save a staggering 90% off on rail fares by going for more than one ticket through Split my Fare.

How Can A Split Ticket Save You Money?

For instance, you are travelling to London from Durham, and your train makes a stop at York. Make sure you buy two tickets for this journey to save money – one from Durham to York and another cheap train ticket to London from York.

Simply put, this is a way to split your journey into smaller parts to save money. You pay less from your departure station to your destination despite buying multiple tickets.

You can buy and calculate your split ticket fare savings from different websites. One of them is Split My Fare, which we mentioned above, and the other most notable name is TrainTickets.com. However, one downside of these two is that they charge 10-15% of the savings you make.

Another name that makes rounds on the web for cheap tickets is TrainPal. Although unlike the other two websites, they don’t charge any fees, however, according to reviews, it may not always be the cheapest to buy split tickets.

These three portals are only available via websites and don’t have an app. Trainsplit is the only famous name that assists you with split tickets and has a mobile app to ease your ticket booking process. However, just like the above two – Split My Fare and TrainTickets.com – it also charges 15% of the savings.

How Much Can You Save Through Split Tickets?

Although the savings vary depending on multiple factors like destination, time, and day of the week, however, you can save a hefty amount every time you choose this option. For instance, if you’re travelling from London to Taunton, one ticket may cost you around £100.

Conversely, if you act smart and choose the split ticket option, as the train will make a stop at Pewsey, you are likely to pay only around £40-45. This way, you will be saving around £55-60. An important thing to keep in mind – if you’ve never used a split ticket before – is that you don’t get off the train when it makes a stop.

When the train comes to a stop at a specific station, theoretically, you change the trains. Simply saying, you’ll still travel on the same train, but it will be considered a new journey on a new ticket.

Interesting Read: User Guide: How to Save Money using Budgeting Apps.

How Many Split Tickets Can You Have?

Now, you know that splitting your journey with a split ticket saves you money. Do you know how many split tickets you can buy for one trip? Let us tell you! You can purchase anything between 2 to 10 split tickets for one journey. And by buying multiple tickets for a long journey can save you a huge amount, that’s for sure.

The more split tickets – the more money you save!

Check For Alternative Routes

If you are travelling to a destination with multiple railway stations, make sure to compare the routes from your location to all of them. This way, you’ll have the choice of selecting the most affordable route.

Also, longer routes are less expensive as compared to shorter ones. So, if you are not in a hurry and can compromise on a few minutes and miles, take the longer route. You can save some quick bucks.

Railcard As An Alternative To Tickets

Having a railcard lets, you enjoy guaranteed savings of up to 1/3rd of your train fares. You can purchase most railscards for just £30 for one year, and you can benefit from it for three years at only £70, making it even cheaper at £23.30 per year. The upfront price required to attain a railcard is secured by itself after one or two trips. And from then onwards, you start saving money every time you commute via train.

What Is A Railcard?

It is a discount card through which you can secure up to 33% savings compared to regular train tickets. It is an excellent way of saving money for those who travel by train to different cities in the UK.

What Is A Digital Railcard?

Just like a virtual debit or credit card, you can store a digital railcard within your railcard app on your mobile or tab. Having a digital railcard makes it convenient to use as you don’t have to carry the plastic card while travelling.

If you want a digital railcard to make things simple for you, follow the step-by-step guide to add it to your device.

Different Types Of Railcards?

Most Britons know very well about the 16-17 saver – which lets you save 50% money on rail fares and season tickets – or 16-25 railcard – also known as the young person’s railcard. However, do you know about the 26-30 railcard? And what about the railcard exclusive only for people 60 or above – also known as the senior railcard?

Types Of Railcards And The Discounts Associated With Them

16-25 railcard

Also known as a young person’s railcard, it offers a 33% discount. Any youngster between the specified age bracket or in full-time education can have it. It costs only £30 for one year and £70 for three years.

26-30 railcard

Available for people between 26-30 years of age and just like the 16-25 card, it also offers a discount of 33% on rail fares. The duration of this railcard is only one year and costs you only £30.

Family And Friends Railcard

Having a family and friends family card allows you to avail of a fare discount of 33% for adults and 60% for kids. This card serves 4 adults commuting with up to 4 children between the ages of 5-15. To take advantage of this card for one year, you pay £30 and for 3 years £70.

Two together railcard

Two adults travelling together are entitled to a 33% discount. Both the persons should be above 16. You only pay £30 for a one-year activation.

Senior Railcard

Any person aged 60 years or exceeding 60 can benefit from 33% off on rail fares with this card. One year of activation of this railcard costs only £30 and 3-year activations cost £70.

Disabled Persons Railcard

This card is only for those who receive disability-related benefit. People with visual or hearing impairment or epilepsy can have it by paying £20 for one year and £54 for 3 years to enjoy a 33% discount on rail fares.

Network Railcard

With a network railcard adults can save 33% off on fares to any city and 60% off in London and the South East of London. If you are over 16, you can have it for £30 for one year. Max group size is up to 4 adults above 16 and 5 children between 5-15 years of age.

Veterans Railcard

This card is for those who have served for at least 1-day in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, be it regular or reserve force. Or those who’ve been Merchant Mariners and served in legally defined military operations. With a veterans railcard, you can benefit from 30% off for you and a named companion. Moreover, it gives 60% off on kid’s fares. For one year it costs £30 and £70 for three years.

To know more about the terms & conditions and times to use these railcards, visit this page for detailed information.

What Suits You If You Are A Regular Traveller?

If you are a frequent traveller by train and tired of spending a hefty amount on train fares, we suggest you opt for a railcard based on your age requirements. Also, it would be best to buy split tickets to save up to 61%.

Visiting National Rail Enquiries and calculating your fare from one destination to another also helps you in getting cheap train tickets to different cities. Getting a seasonal pass is also an option if you travel regularly and want to take advantage of discounts.

Top 6 Websites To Book Cheap Train Tickets In UK

We know you don’t want to waste time browsing the internet searching for the best websites to book train tickets. For this reason, we are listing down 5 top websites to buy cheap train tickets. These are:

www.nationalrail.com

www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk

www.thetrainline.com/

www.mytrainpal.com

www.uk.trip.com

www.gatwickexpress.com/

How To Get Cheap Train Tickets For First-Class?

It is a hidden fact that tickets for first-class seats cost you more. However, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes they can be bought at the same price as standard tickets or even cheaper. Although this happens rarely but some lucky ones do get lucky to take advantage of it.

Based on the time and date of your travel, you can also get cheap train tickets for first-class during off-peak hours. First-class seats may be available for less money when compared to a standard seat. If you want to ride the luck and make the most of your money by travelling first-class at a low price, make a booking 10-12 weeks before D-day.

This is when you are most likely to get it at an affordable price. Also, websites like ScotRail let you save around 30% on first-class tickets if you purchase in advance.

Can You Claim A Refund For Your Train Ticket?

Yes, you can refund your train tickets if the train departure is late. This way, you save a lot of money. Although you run late and don’t want it to happen anytime, the authorities or train companies are compelled to pay you in full or a percentage of the ticket price in return.

Interestingly, a large majority of people either aren’t aware of this fact, or they don’t claim compensation for lack of time when their trains are delayed. The exact percentage of refund or terms may vary based on the terms and conditions of the train company; however, you are entitled to get a 50% refund in case the train is delayed by an hour.

If the train is two hours late, you get a 100% refund of your ticket bought. Therefore, holding onto your pass to claim the rebate is essential. You may be required to present the ticket or its photo at the time of refund.

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