Cheapest Train Fares Discussion Area

MSE_Martin

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Cheapest Train Fares Article

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MylesBetter

I note the article informs The Train Line WEB site charges for credit card transactions and adds the insurance fee.

I use the VIRGIN Trains ticket site which feeds to The Trainline Site and I do not get charged a credit card fee and the insurance is not automatically added. I last booked tickets late December-06 for travel this weekend 12th to 15th Jan. I regularly booked value 1st savers to London during 2006 and never got charged a credit card fee going through VIRGIN trains / buy tickets.

Not everyone has to travel by the cheapest fare option and can I suggest for a treat on VIRIGN trains get Value 1st Saver singles each way for about £30:50 and have a treat all to yourself.

Jonny69_2

I commute across London to work and use Underground and train. I buy my travelcard monthly (circumstances make it pointless to get annual) but save money by getting it from the train company rather than London Underground.

First Great Western operate out of Paddington and, like all ATOCs, have to hit monthly performance targets for Reliability and Punctuality. They fail on one of these every month, which means I get a charter discount of 5% (£5.30) off my Zone 3 Travelcard every time I renew. It wouldn't matter if I didn't actually use their service - I could still buy the ticket from them.

puyarnaud

I used regularly to travel to London for the day from Preston and even though the company paid we still liked a bargain. We found a way of splitting the ticket at Litchfield So bought returns Preston to Litchfield, and Litchfield to London. At peak travel times that saved nearly £100 on the standard fare.

puyarnaud

MylesBetter wrote:

I note the article informs The Train Line WEB site charges for credit card transactions and adds the insurance fee.

I use the VIRGIN Trains ticket site which feeds to The Trainline Site and I do not get charged a credit card fee and the insurance is not automatically added. I last booked tickets late December-06 for travel this weekend 12th to 15th Jan. I regularly booked value 1st savers to London during 2006 and never got charged a credit card fee going through VIRGIN trains / buy tickets.

Not everyone has to travel by the cheapest fare option and can I suggest for a treat on VIRIGN trains get Value 1st Saver singles each way for about £30:50 and have a treat all to yourself.

When I have used this method of buying tickets I had to check the box not to pay for travel insurance, otherwise I would have been charged. I do not remember a credit card charge.

Dreaming_2

Hey.

I just noticed something when trying to buy tickets for myself from York to Leicester (I'm a uni student so go home frequently). I bought myself a student railcard for £20, and am not elligible for the very cheap £11 advanced super saver singles, so instead have been buying a saver return for £25. I'd looked on single fares, but if I have elected to buy with my railcard (on https://www.thetrainline.com) they are all apparently sold out except for the £24.30 saver single.

So if you have a railcard, always check without as you may save yourself a bundle too, I didn't realise until today (had to buy a single because I left my railcard at home!) that it's cheaper to travel without it.

With Railcard: 1 x SAVER RETURN @ £24.95
Without Railcard: 1 x VALUE ADVANCE SINGLE A @ £11.50 + 1 x VALUE ADVANCE SINGLE C @ £8.50 = £20.00

I suspect it may be a con, as if you go on 'buy singles' with your railcard selected, the single fares come up at cheaper rates (for example, value advance single a is £7.60) but it's mysteriously become unavailable. Perhaps it's buried in their T&C somewhere that you can't book advanced tickets with a railcard, still seems a bit fishy to me as it's advertised that if you travel frequently you can use it to save on all journeys.

Jeannette_2

I too have taken advantage of the split ticket method Manchester to Inverness return in conjunction with the money saver C ticket (which are normally not available until about 3 weeks before travel at least this was the case just before Christmas- so keep checking website and by phone). Orignial return price would have been £96.00 - my combined method reduced cost to £42.00!

tryhard_2

there is another railcard in the south - NETWORK railcard - 1/3 off all off-peak travel; costs £20 but a if you make trips to london well worth it. If travelling to london during peak hours, works out cheaper to take a single in the morning and a cheap single for the return using the network card. also get discount on zone 1-6 travel card in london

alanrowell

If you book a GNER single ticket on a GNER train via the GNER website you save 10%.

wjsdunne

I am not sure if this is old news but a method I often use to find cheaper tickets using thetrainline is as follows:

Enter your journey details as normal
Select your ticketing (and railcard) requirements

Once you go through to the price options page, there is a link above the journey details summary:

"There may be alternative, slower routes with cheaper tickets. Click here for more information."

I often find this gives you one or two cheaper alternatives.

As an example a journey of Bath - London on 11th Jan at 11:00 with Young Persons, thetrainline defaults to Bath - London Paddington for £30.35. But if time is less important than cost there is the alternative of going to London Waterloo via Salisbury for £16.55!!!

Hip_Priest

Having bought your ticket make sure you claim a refund if circumstances allow. I've found most Train Companies quite generous. Check out individual passenger charters for specific details, but if there is an hour delay most will give a full refund for that section of the ticket (i.e. full refund for a single, half for a return), you may also get something for half an hour or more. This is particularly useful if you have to catch two or more trains and one delay means you miss your connection. In addition Virgin say they explicity offer free soft drinks in the event of a delay (check their charter for precise terms), they didn't when I travelled with them and was delayed by 40 minutes, a letter of complaint led to a £5 voucher! Some companies offer a free post customer service address so you literally have nothing to lose by asking.