Cheap Train Fares guide discussion

geordie_taxi

marge20 wrote: »

can anyone help I have a family and friends rail card but iam not taking my children on my journey with me but adding the rail card makes it cheaper could i buy it with the child on it and go alone or would I get in trouble

well know scam used by chancers on a daily basis. the guard wud have see this many times b4 and saying the child is in the toilet wont work either

wud u get into trouble? no just be made to pay for the full undiscounted fare or given a unpaid fares notice

yorkie2

jd87 wrote: »

thelawnet wrote: »

I wonder if there is any chance of this article being rewritten by someone with expertise in train ticketing.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets

The article is not accurate, and is missing much info on how to save money.

Perhaps you could be more specific?

Hmm, I can think of many things, but I wouldn't have time to list them all!

geordie_taxi wrote: »

well know scam used by chancers on a daily basis. the guard wud have see this many times b4 and saying the child is in the toilet wont work either

wud u get into trouble? no just be made to pay for the full undiscounted fare or given a unpaid fares notice

Or possibly be prosecuted. You cannot guarantee that someone won't "get into trouble"

TheCookieMan

thelawnet wrote: »

Well for instance the season ticket section could be a whole guide in itself, and the section on split ticketing suggests that if your train is delayed on a split ticket journey, subsequent tickets might be invalidated. This is incorrect under the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, which provide that split tickets can constitute a single journey - the actual tickets used are irrelevant.

Maybe you should rewrite it - you've obviously had chance to look through the conditions of carriage?

There is slightly better split ticket information at fareferret.co.uk

Jeff_Bridges_hair

thelawnet wrote: »

A partner gold card is just a Network Railcard, available to anyone for £28.

You can get an Oyster loaded with Gold card discount, which automatically discounts off peak fares.

Cheapest NS-area gold cards are £156 per year, i.e. Pevensey Bay - Pevensey & Westham, Newhaven Harbour - Newhaven Town, Ryde Esplanade - St Johns Road. Also possibly Exeter Central - Exeter St Davids at £128 for a ticket valid 3 weekdays + weekend, but not sure if this one counts.

I would avoid the Ryde one, cos it's such a well-known loophole, and on the Isle of Wight. Still valid, but the others are better choices.

Not sure iff the Exeter - Exeter one is valid is it?

Also whilst the IOW one is well known I dont think they sell many of them per year so its still going to be odd for any staff member to come across one being used.

The problem with cheap annual seasons is that you really do need to use the train a lot to gain any sort of benefit from the discounts. Its still a lot of money to pay out compared to just £28 for the N/RC

miller

Jeff_Bridges_hair wrote: »

The problem with cheap annual seasons is that you really do need to use the train a lot to gain any sort of benefit from the discounts. Its still a lot of money to pay out compared to just £28 for the N/RC

It is only going to be a relatively small set of people IMO. Basically there is no point if you:
-qualify for another type of railcard
-are not travelling inside the Network railcard area
-are mainly doing peak time journeys
-would normally take a journey with a discounted fare above £13 mon-fri

So it's real benefit is only to people doing a lot of short/medium distance off-peak weekday journeys that don't fall into the categories above.

Jeff_Bridges_hair

Exactly and im not sure there are that many of that sort of people about.

miller

Seeing as we have got onto the topic of the Network Railcard, probably worth chucking out one of my tips that extending the destination might be favourable sometimes. For example:

Travelling out from Southampton Central to Bournemouth after 1000 on Monday, returning on Friday. Minimum fare of £13 applies with a Network Railcard so it is of no use:

2 x Anytime Day Singles = £25.00

However, extend that to Poole and the Off-Peak Return becomes available which is discountable:
1 x Off-Peak Return (Network Railcard) = £17.30

(valid to/from Bournemouth on both legs)

one_step_at_a_time_3

New to train travel... need help please?!

Am intending to travel Wigan to London departing sat 23 /2 returning Mon 25/2. My child is 4 years old. I understand the operator is Virgin. How do I find the best deals? As my child is 4 and therefore essentially travels free does this mean I cannot book him a seat so we can sit together? I will pref need use of a power socket so I can use a laptop to keep him entertained - any advice gratefully received as never done this before!!

dzug1

Vrgin's web site will be as good as any - or visit the station

You cannot book your child a seat unless you pay a child fare for him

thelawnet

You may wish to purchase a family + friend railcard, which is currently available for £20.

http://www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk/saving/

This will reduce your fare by 1/3, and the child fare by 2/3, so the total saving is therefore 1/6 compared with buying an adult ticket alone, but he will get a seat.

A flexible, walk-up, off-peak, fare is £77.30, so you would save £12.88 using the railcard costing £20 (but valid for a year).

I would suggest you check the Virgin website for lower (Advance) fares. You will need to find a fare lower than £38.65 (for an adult), one-way.

If you do, then you can book it in combination with a flexible off-peak single (£38.65), or if you can find Advance fares for less than £38.65 BOTH ways, then by all means book them both as Advances.

You would want to book your tickets on Virgin Trains website. Never use the trainline.con

A quick look on the Virgin site suggests that there are few good advance fares (there's £26 on the 25th, at 8:30pm), so you may want the off-peak return for £77.30. You can make a seat reservation, but you are free to catch any train on Saturday (not just the reserved train), and when returning on Monday you can catch the 9:30 through 14:43 trains, inclusive, plus the 18:46, or later trains.