Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

neily_boy72

Does anyone know of any codes or promotions that are available and work on the site? I've tried a few codes that were posted previously on this site, but they now don't appear to work? Any help would be appreciated!

evesham1988la

neily_boy72 wrote:

Does anyone know of any codes or promotions that are available and work on the site? I've tried a few codes that were posted previously on this site, but they now don't appear to work? Any help would be appreciated!

The code for the Gatwick Express expired at the end of 2006. Instead of paying £26.80 for a Standard Open Return on the Gatwick Express you could take the Southern service from Gatwick Airport to London Victoria, taking 5 minutes longer but costing only £17.80.

bananakinz

I'm looking to go to Blackpool on Sat 3rd March to meet up with some friends.
I will be going from Redhill, Surrey to Blackpool, but can get to most other local train stations! the price quoted is £73 return - does anyone know of any discount codes for trainline, or if I can get this cheaper?

Many thanks

ImFrugal

Hi - I'm new to this.
Can anyone tell me if the Ryde Esplanade and Ryde St John's Road Gold Card Trick is still valid. Details of this seemed to have been taken off of the cheap train tickets page. I am a shift worker and live in Dartford and travel off peak to london bridge regularly. I don't travel often enough to make a season ticket worthwhile.

Thanks

Spikey_2

are they any codes out there for any of the rail networks?

evesham1988la

bananakinz wrote:

I'm looking to go to Blackpool on Sat 3rd March to meet up with some friends.
I will be going from Redhill, Surrey to Blackpool, but can get to most other local train stations! the price quoted is £73 return - does anyone know of any discount codes for trainline, or if I can get this cheaper?

Many thanks

You should be able to buy Virgin Value singles for £16 each way although they havent been released yet.

bananakinz

Thanks for that - do you know roughly when Virgin release these fares?

trubster

wrote:

I commute from Sheffield to Wakefield to work each day and by buying a South Yorkshire TravelMaster ticket together with a season ticket between Moorthorpe and Wakefield is costing me £107.95 per month instead of the full season ticket price of £133.50 between Sheffield and Wakefield. This combination of ticket is valid on a through train which does not call at Moorthorpe station (e.g. 0712 Virgin Train) as permitted under Condition 17(c) of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, which says:

17. A combination of tickets
You may use two or more tickets to travel on one train journey as long as together they cover the entire journey and one of the following applies:

(a) they are zonal tickets;
(b) the train you are on calls at the station where you change from one ticket to another; or
(c) one of the tickets is a season ticket, which for this purpose does not include season tickets or travel passes issued on behalf of a passenger transport executive or local authority, and the other ticket(s) is/are not. You must comply with any restriction of use to a particular Train Company's trains shown on the tickets (see Condition 10).

I have met a number of other regular passengers travelling from Sheffield (or Dronfield and Chesterfield) to Leeds each day and I would strongly advise them to do the same.

South Yorkshire Zone TravelMaster ticket: £63.50 per month;
One Month season ticket between Moorthorpe and Leeds: £72.20 per month;
Making it £135.70 per month altogether.

One full season ticket between Sheffield and Leeds: £151.00 per month.

By buying a combination of tickets as above, a saving of £15.30 per month can be made, plus the cost of all public transport to and from Sheffield station as the TravelMaster ticket is valid on all buses and trams as well whilst the season ticket between Sheffield and Leeds is valid on trains only, and the cost of a FirstMonth ticket on the bus will cost an additional £39 per month.

This combination of tickets satisfy condition 17(c) because the Moorthorpe to Leeds season ticket is the season ticket required and the South Yorkshire TravelMaster ticket is the 'other' ticket when the condition says clearly that it is not to be regarded as a season ticket for this purpose.

My other favourite ticket is the Derbyshire Wayfarer ticket when it can be used in conjuction with a Cheap Day Return ticket from Burton on Trent for travel to Birmingham.

Derbyshire Wayfarer - valid between Sheffield and Burton on Trent: £7.50 (includes a free child place!)

Cheap Day Return from Burton on Trent to Birmingham: £5.90 - making it £13.40 in total.

A full saver return between Sheffield and Birmingham costs a wapping £27.30 - plus half fare for a child if you are taking one.

By buying a combination of ticket as above, a saving of at least £13.90 can be made just for one day out! However, in this case, the trains that you travel must call at Burton on Trent station as neither ticket is a season ticket and so condition 17(b) applies.

How does this work, Is this legal? I have been told by the staff at sheffield station that the train MUST stop at Darton as that is the "Boundry Station" or I would have to buy a ticket from Barnsley to wakefield on the leeds fast train or a ticket from sheffield to wakefield on the virgin train...

Help please?!?!

Roland

bananakinz wrote:

Thanks for that - do you know roughly when Virgin release these fares?

Looking at www.nationalrail.co.uk, you should be able to get £20.00 each way via Euston. The cheaper £16.00 appears to be via Reading and Birmingham. These fares are currently available until about early February. So, keep checking every week, the price will eventually drop.

nedchester

I notice that in the Sunday Times Martin quotes the following about tickets from Wales to London as compared to Chester to London. For example a Chester to London Saver is not valid on peak trains whereas a Shotton to London (7 miles further) is:

"Saver fares are often less likely to be available on more popular routes, especially commuter routes. This means it’s sometimes possible to buy a ticket for a longer journey that incorporates your route at a cheaper price and make some serious savings.

For example Chester to London peak times saver fares aren’t usually available, but they are for some journeys starting in Wales, going via Chester, meaning it’s absurdly actually substantially cheaper to travel further. Many people do this, it’s known as travelling 'short', but sadly it's a no go as it's against the ticket's terms and conditions, and you can get kicked off a train if you do"

Not strictly true the conditions of a Saver ticket are that you cannot 'BREAK' your journey on the outward portion. If you start your journey at Chester rather than Shotton then you can't 'break' your journey as you haven't started it yet!!!!!!