Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

kevtrader

Thanks BB for the link to a band's website! I'm quite enjoying the music lol!

I think the website you meant is www.thetrainline.com!

BTW how do I do smiley's?

AP

Sometimes, you may find that buying a ticket to a local station further away from a main line station will turn out to be cheaper.

E.g. For Standard Day Single Fares:-

Dewsbury to Leeds - £2.50
Dewsbury to Wakefield (via Leeds and change trains at Leeds) - £2.00

Wakefield to Leeds - £2.00
Wakefield to Cross Gates (via Leeds and change trains at Leeds) - £1.90

Wakefield to Doncaster - £5.30
Wakefield to Kirk Sandall (via Doncaster and change trains at Doncaster) - £5.10

Wakefield to Sheffield - £5.80
Wakefield to Dore (via Sheffield and change trains at Sheffield) - £5.50

Condition 15 of the National Rail Conditions of Carriages states that:

Breaking or ending a journey at intermediate stations

You have the right to break and resume a journey covered by your ticket (in either direction in the case of a return ticket) at any intermediate station, as long as your ticket is valid for the trains you want to use. You may also end your journey before the destination shown on your ticket at any such intermediate station. However, these rights may not apply to certain tickets. If so, the relevant Train Companies will state this in their notices and other publications.

girleight@

Does anyone know any cheap ways to get Oxford to Wakefield 18/04 and back 19/04? The train prices just keep going up. I want to travel at night both times. Thanks.

porko

I commute from Basingstoke to Southampton Airport on a daily basis, and for the past six months have been paying £8.60 return. I was wondering whether anyone could help save me money on this journey in the short or long term? Thanks

Jonapet

porko wrote:

I commute from Basingstoke to Southampton Airport on a daily basis, and for the past six months have been paying £8.60 return. I was wondering whether anyone could help save me money on this journey in the short or long term? Thanks

the obvious answer is to buy a season ticket.

Former_MSE_Andrea

The NationalRail site has a list of ongoing promotions here.

miserlite

Hi,

I've read with interest the success stories on this thread. I have tried similar tactics in trying to lower my season ticket costs, but am getting nowhere.

Please could those with much more knowledge and experience in this area guide me in trying to beat the £3,476 p.a. season ticket cost for Oxford to London. This is bloody daylight robbery! Monthly, it is £333 and weekly, £87.

My commute ends at Liverpool St, and my understanding is the above at least cover the necessary Tube travel from A to B. I've looked into driving to Zone 6, say Hillingdon, and then taking the Tube, but this adds an extra hour and the 100miles per day isn't a great saving car-wise.

Any help or advice would be really appreciated!

ML.

BigNeil_3

I remember once when I lived in Newcastle upon Tyne it was cheaper to go Newcastle-Edinburgh-London than go Newcastle-London. Really stupid seing as though the Edinburgh-London train stops at Newcastle. It was to do with Apex availability if I remember it correctly.

Other tips:

Restrict yourself to certain operators. This is particularly true if you're going to London at peak times. Often it is a lot cheaper. I wanted a Peterborough-Staines return (Coming back the same day) but leaving Peterborough quite early. By buying a WAGN only return to London followed by a tube ticket and a return to Staines I saved about £40!

Avoid going via London. This can save a fair bit of money (again especially at peak times) and avoids the hassle of the tube.

If you can get a ticket with a London Underground TravelCard built in and you've got to go via London then it can oftn be cheaper to buy the TravelCard ticket and another ticket out of London. Be sure to use the cheapest station to leave from though.

BigBelly

miserlite wrote:

Hi,

I've read with interest the success stories on this thread. I have tried similar tactics in trying to lower my season ticket costs, but am getting nowhere.

Please could those with much more knowledge and experience in this area guide me in trying to beat the £3,476 p.a. season ticket cost for Oxford to London. This is bloody daylight robbery! Monthly, it is £333 and weekly, £87.

My commute ends at Liverpool St, and my understanding is the above at least cover the necessary Tube travel from A to B. I've looked into driving to Zone 6, say Hillingdon, and then taking the Tube, but this adds an extra hour and the 100miles per day isn't a great saving car-wise.

Any help or advice would be really appreciated!

ML.

Have you looked into getting the Oxford Tube between Oxford and Hillingdon?

http://www.oxfordtube.com/tube_fares.php

£940/year
£1730/2 years

(this includes free travel on Stagecoach buses in Oxfordshire)

miserlite

I have looked at that, thanks. The trouble with the bus is that it will add another hour at least to my journey each way, which is not really an option. It's sort of a lose/lose situation as I see it!

BigNeil, I can't really avoid going via London, but I will look into going as far as the Travelcard zones. Does a TC cover national rail trips as well? I am guessing the way to do it would be to buy a zones 1-6 TC and then a rail ticket (from a station the train calls at) to Oxford?

I really appreciate the advice so far, thank you both.