Student discounts on travel

--_Steve_--_2

My daughter is 17 and has just started college. The college is about 30 miles away and her journey involves the Underground, then C2C, then a bus ride.

I always thought that students got a good discount on travel, but we cannot seem to get any such discount. Her weekly travel card is almost £40 per week and that doesn't include the bus, which is another £2.70 per day! The only discount we can get is with Oyster, but this only includes bus travel within the London region, which is no good as the bus she needs is outside this region.

We're finding it difficult to afford this. Any tips on saving some money?

Thanks in advance,

Steve.

hostie

It is hard to say without knowing where you are but I can tell you what is available in London.

Student Oyster card.
If she is buying a monthly or longer travelcards or season tickets then the student Oyster card gives about 30% off. If she buys her tickets daily then she won't get this discount with the Oyster and it doesn't give any other extra discounts.

If she can't afford to buy a month at a time then perhaps the tube is too expensive for her? Lots of students have to get by with bus passes. This, I admit, often means much longer journey times but a weekly buspass with a student discount is less than £10. A normal one was £9.90 about a year ago when I was living in London and so the student one was only about £6.00 per week.

Young person's railcard - this will get her 33% off every train journey after 9.45 or maybe it is 9.30. There are lots of train services from outside london that go straight to the centre and they are MUCH nicer than the tube. First Capital Connect for example goes from areas in the North and South. In the South it goes from Brighton, through Gatwick and East Croydon and then to London Bridge, Blackfriars, Farringdon and Kings Cross. These stations are only walking distance from universities (UCL, Kings College, BSE, SOAS, etc). If she is at Goldsmiths then going through central London is crazy as a train or bus going to East London which avoided zone 1 would work out much cheaper.

Also, does she have classes every day? If not, perhaps she could study in her local library one day a week. If she is living at home then she really should consider applying for a late place at halls of residence since she will get so much out of university if she does this. She won't make nearly as many friends and won't be able to participate in as many things with all that travelling from home.

The halls have places now as many students who get offered a room, drop out or cancel at the last minute (especially the overseas ones I suspect). Rooms in university run student flats in London are as cheap as 59 per week plus bills and a shared room in central London halls will only be about £300 per month. Usually these halls have a susidised canteen or for around £400 include meals in the prices.

C_Ronaldo

have you tried your local council

Snow_Angel

to add to what hostie posted above ..... if she opens a student bank account with NatWest she can get a 5 year young persons railcard free as a joining incentive. They're great things these railcards and can save you a lot of money if you buy tickets well in advance.

PabloNeruda

Steve......which college? I travel into London on C2C also, to attend Queen Mary, University of London. I may be able to offer some tips.

PabloNeruda

Feel free to PM me. If you are anywhere near the Grays area, I am also happy to offer a lift to Barking, where I catch C2C into London. This would save a fortune.

--_Steve_--_2

She is travelling from Dagenham (Essex) to Benfleet (Essex). She gets the Underground from Dagenham to Upminster and then C2C from Upminster to Benfleet, and finally a bus to the college.

I'll tell her about the student railcard thing, but I think 9:30 may be too late for her to leave to get to college at a reasonable time.

Thanks for the reply! All the best, Steve.

--_Steve_--_2

Hi there,
Yes, we've tried, but no luck!

--_Steve_--_2

Thanks for the very kind offer but she's travelling from Dagenham to Benfleet.
Thanks again!

Steve.

PabloNeruda wrote:

Feel free to PM me. If you are anywhere near the Grays area, I am also happy to offer a lift to Barking, where I catch C2C into London. This would save a fortune.

--_Steve_--_2

Excellent advice. Thanks a lot.

Cheers,

Steve.

Snow_Angel wrote:

to add to what hostie posted above ..... if she opens a student bank account with NatWest she can get a 5 year young persons railcard free as a joining incentive. They're great things these railcards and can save you a lot of money if you buy tickets well in advance.