Commuting part time

wallofbeans

Hello All,

I've mostly worked freelance but now have a part-time proper job, three days a week. The problem is I live in London and it's outside so I have to commute those days.

I want to find the cheapest way to do that on the train. Season tickets are cheaper but from what I can see they are all 7 days a week tickets and I'm only travelling 3.

To be honest, I don't understand why they are 7 days - surely 5 is the average - a way to make some more money I suppose...

Any tips on ways to keep the price down when working part time?

Thanks.

DomRavioli

Season tickets are based on 7 days, as there's a lot of professions where 7 day working is the norm (not sure where your 5 is the average comes from) - Nurses, doctors, medical staff, retail staff, food staff, hotels, restaurants are all usually open 7 days a week and although the usual Monday through friday may be busier, shift change at a hospital is pretty crowded. Also shift workers who don't have set days who may work in the above or most other sectors need a 7 day ticket.

Check the prices on one of the many train sites (thetrainline, redspottedhanky etc) and compare with season tickets, then you can find out what is cheapest. Also perhaps research any railcards that you may be able to apply for and use (most come with some restrictions).

You state season tickets are cheaper which seems like you have done some research; season tickets are usually cheaper even for 3 days commuting.

wallofbeans

I assume most people only work 5 days per week, which 5 days may vary for some people but I'd say would be Monday-Friday for the majority (not me though). So everyone is getting charged for a ticket they aren't using for two days a week.

I looked into a monthly season ticket and it works out £3 cheaper than buying a full price day return ticket, based upon 15 days per month, which seems to be the average 3 days per week works out as.

But I know I can get cheaper by buying tickets for specific trains a few days before hand, which would make the monthly season ticket more expensive.

It only works out close to that price if I get a yearly season ticket!

It would be so much cheaper if there was a 3 days option - which I assume would be possible if it worked something like an oyster card that logged how many days you'd used it per week and then locked you out on the 4th until it reset the next week.

I'll look at rail cards but they seem to just be for under 25's or pensioners, or don't work during rush hour times so are pointless.

HappyMJ

The problem with season tickets where your savings are so small is you could lose money. If you're sick you've paid for travel and won't be using the ticket. I'd just go for the 1 day travel tickets although it isn't the cheapest per journey you have the best flexibility. You could look for better paid work or work that is closer to home and cheaper to travel to and can leave at any time without having to worry about wasting an unused travel ticket.

wallofbeans

The cheapest per day with the season ticket is about £26 but that's on the basis I'd be going the same amount of days every month for the whole year (so doesn't take into account holidays etc) and the average for buying a ticket for a specific train the day before is £25 (sometimes less).

The problem with that is I have to get that specific train. There's no flexibility with the times. If I miss the train I'll have to get another ticket.

I looked at railcards but the only possible option was the Network Rail Card but that isn't valid until after 10am so not good to me.

wallofbeans

HappyMJ wrote: »

You could look for better paid work or work that is closer to home and cheaper to travel to and can leave at any time without having to worry about wasting an unused travel ticket.

I'm actually looking into moving home closer to work!

HappyMJ

wallofbeans wrote: »

I'm actually looking into moving home closer to work!

That's a good idea which rules out the season tickets. Just stick with a weekly season ticket and get the train on the other days and take advantage of your free days to find yourself a flat/house to rent/buy. Then move there as soon as you can.

I can't see more than £26 a day being economically viable in the long term unless you are being paid a lot and if you were being paid a lot you wouldn't really be worrying about saving such a relatively small amount. I'd want the job to be paying at least £10 more per hour (assuming 7.5 hours) than a job I could get locally within a short walking distance so that the extra pay covers the cost of travel and enough to cover the extra taxes and NI (assuming 20% tax and 12% NI) that I'd be paying on that higher rate of pay and enough extra to compensate me for the time that I'd be losing in which I could be working if I was working from home or working just down the road (I'm assuming 1 extra hour of extra travel in each direction).

Mids_Costcutter

I don't know which train operator you would be travelling with, but have you checked to see if carnet tickets are available? A carnet is a book of tickets which you use as you need.

Chiltern Railways for example offer 12 tickets for the price of 10, each of which you can use on any train on the days you choose. Normally you have to fill in the date yourself when you use a ticket.

wallofbeans

Thanks for that... I'd just heard about a buy 9 and get the 10th free deal today which could be helpful. Although, it only applies to the full ticket price I think (which is around £33) so wouldn't help me get a better deal...

I also heard that my employer gets a 15% discount on 3 month or longer season tickets. 3 months or 6 months makes my 3 days almost as cheap as getting the specific train tickets and a 12 month makes it £23 per return for my 3 days...

A bit of a saving but not much really! Part-time workers don't get good deals with these season tickets unfortunately...

firesidemaid

hi here.


this is something I have been looking at for similar reasons - working 2 to 4 days a week, but sometimes these might be weekend days - different area of the country to you.


have you looked at splitting season tickets? it can work out much cheaper. I have looked at a multitude of options for my situation, and it varies widely.


for me the best option seems to be to get a cheap season ticket for the first part of my journey and buy anytime (or advance) tickets for the remainder part.


EG: A to D costs £26 daily anytime fare.


But, yearly season ticket for A to B is £4.97 per day (3.5 day average) and then B to D daily anytime fare is £13.20 - so already saving £8 per day.


I have also looked at all the daily and season ticket fares between towns A, B C & D - VERY interesting. The option above works out as cheap as if I purchased an annual Season Ticket for A to D (based on 3.5 days)!!


I can improve on this again if I can pick up advanced fairs. Also, some days I have to stay over (free of charge) and some days I might drive (cheaper again, hour journey). So, I feel this way mitigates risk/losses whilst maximising the savings.


Hope it's helpful & makes sense

wallofbeans

Yes, makes a lot of sense!

I just checked it out and don't think it'll work for me as I can't get a season ticket for my journey if I split it at the only other stop between where I start (London) and where I end up (Colchester). I thought it might work out better if I had two season tickets like you said, one from London to Chelmsford and then another from Chelmsford to Colchester but they don't do a season ticket from London to Chelmsford as apparently it's too close..?

I've just read this Guardian article from a few years ago:
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/jan/08/how-to-cut-cost-rail-fare


I'm not sure how much of what they say still applies but the most interesting bit is this and I wanted to try and understand what they mean:

"If you work one day a week at home and can switch to off-peak travel for the other four days, you can get your annual bill down."

Does this mean I can get a season ticket that is peak travel for some days and off peak for others (ie the ones I won't be using it)?
That would make it cheaper but I don't know if I've got that right!

Thanks for all the advice!