Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

p1an0player

dzug1 wrote: »

http://www.send-data.net/firstscotrail/lifestyle_prebooking.asp?magic=E6A36B3683AE&magic2=032775F6

great offer but is it really ok for anyone to use? seems to have come from an email on a different thread

ticketcollector

Simply go to http://www.firstscotrail.trainsfares.co.uk and put in the code FSRADVNCE in the "Do you have a Promotion code" box.

It also works at most trainsfares.co.uk websites as well.

yorkie2

shewhoguards wrote: »

Which company was it offering 10% off advance fares until today? I was looking at it last night and now I'm ready to book have forgotten!

FSR are offering 10% off tickets until the end of today (no railcard discounts).
NXEC always offer 10% off their own advance tickets bought from the NXEC website (in addition to any railcard discount).

5finger

isasmurf wrote: »

Where's this job that gives you 12 weeks holiday?

By my reckoning you only need four or five weeks holiday for it to work out more expensive. Evidently I haven't worked this out for all season ticket route in the country so there will inevitably be some discrepancy. I am surprised you have worked this out to be 12 weeks, however! Have you deducted weekends and statutory holidays also? I only work 229 days in a year give or take one or two depending on which day of the week the year starts on, leap years, etc.

5finger

Altarf wrote: »

Also you obviously lose the benefits that come with an annual 'gold' card.

I was under the assumption that the gold card was only valid/offered in the South East where I neither live nor work. Yes - I therefore agree with you for those to whom this applies that this is likely to be a benefit well worth having.

As with any case, it is well worth doing the calculations for your specific route rather than following others' advice. There are therefore likely to be some routes on which my proposal works out dearer than an annual ticket. This will inevitably be due to the pricing structures on your travelled routes which may be determined under multiple franchises. However, I am glad that you found my recommendation to be the next cheapest option!

5finger

Altarf wrote: »

Sorry, I don't believe this is cheaper in real life than an annual ticket for most people. A quick check with some example figures from my route, with a 'perfect' 5 week pattern, ignoring bank holidays, and including 6 weeks holiday as a single block, comes out £50 than an annual season ticket. However anything other than the 'perfect' 5 week pattern comes out several hundred more expensive than an annual ticket.

I am now intrigued to know an example of a route (such as yours) where the annual ticket is cheaper than my 'multiple 5-week' scheme since the examples I have just tried have all worked out in favour of my system by at least £100 per annum.

For any given route, I have been calculating on the basis of 8 5-week tickets (33 days) and one 6-week ticket (40 days) for a total of 46 working weeks in the year and comparing this with the price of an annual ticket.

ticketcollector

5finger wrote: »

I am now intrigued to know an example of a route (such as yours) where the annual ticket is cheaper than my 'multiple 5-week' scheme since the examples I have just tried have all worked out in favour of my system by at least £100 per annum.

For any given route, I have been calculating on the basis of 8 5-week tickets (33 days) and one 6-week ticket (40 days) for a total of 46 working weeks in the year and comparing this with the price of an annual ticket.

Heres another one for you.
Berwick on Tweed TO Kings Cross
£16,524.00 ANNUAL

£1,801.20 33 days x 8 £14,409.6
£2,168.80 40 days x 1 £2,168.80
£16,578.40

miller

Free return from Exeter to :

Dawlish, Dawlish Warren, Teignmouth, Newton Abbot, Torquay, Paignton, Totnes, Plymouth, Digby & Sowton or Exmouth.

Looks like a bit of a lottery...

Apply at:
http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/ExeterPromotion2008.aspx

Closes 29 Aug 2008

5finger

ticketcollector wrote: »

Heres another one for you.
Berwick on Tweed TO Kings Cross
£16,524.00 ANNUAL

£1,801.20 33 days x 8 £14,409.6
£2,168.80 40 days x 1 £2,168.80
£16,578.40

Bizzare - using the season ticket calculator on the National Rail site (which concurs with quotes I have been given when enquiring at my local station), these fares are

£16,524.00 ANNUAL (agree)

Assuming all tickets are bought in a month with 31 days (i.e. best value) - therefore 1 month + 2 or 9 days for 5 or 6 weeks:
£1693.90 33 days x 8 £13550.40
£2065.50 40 days x 1 £2065.50
£15615.90

Assuming all tickets are bought in a month with 30 days (i.e. worst value) - therefore 1 month + 3 or 10 days for 5 or 6 weeks:
£1747.50 33 days x 8 £13980.00
£2115.10 40 day x 1 £2115.10
£16095.10

Both of these are cheaper than the annual ticket and in reality the true total will be somewhere between these given that, over the course of a year, some tickets will be bought in months with 30 days and some in months with 31 days.

By my reckoning you are calculating for 34 and 41 days, not 33 and 40, i.e. 1 month + 4 or 11 days which would only be required in a leap year February!

Pity the person with the daily commute from Berwick to London and back every day - at least seven hours travel every day...

Stonk

5finger wrote: »

...

Thanks for the information, 5finger. I've recently started commuting to London by train, and was already intrigued by the mathematical optimisation problems of the season ticket system. I didn't realise until now that you could buy a ticket for any odd period greater than a month - I thought it could only be for whole months. This opens up a whole new can of possibilities!

Certainly your ideas are correct, and I just need to hone my own purchasing technique a bit to take account of the new possibilities you've suggested. An annual ticket costs 10.5 times that of a monthly ticket - I believe this is set in stone. So, if you have 6 working weeks off a year (which most people do, e.g. just 22 days holiday plus 8 public holidays), then you generally break even by using monthly tickets. Any more time off, and you're winning with the monthlies.

This is to say nothing of the benefit of having money in your bank account rather than the train operator's, or of the fact that if you have to cancel your annual ticket and refund the remaining portion for any reason (change job location, move home, retire, etc), then you lose out badly. You do lose out by the same proportion if you cancel and refund a monthly ticket, but in absolute terms the loss is only 1/12 as high. Actually, it's that last point more than any other that absolutely ruins the viability of the annual ticket for me.