Train Ticket Purchase Saving Ideas (non split-ticketing)

principlecounts

Split ticketing doesn't work for me, since my journey is only 30mins and is a direct journey from one station to the next. I either purchase travel after off-peak or during peak, but not during the two boundaries (8:30am is when off-peak kicks in for my journey).

Right now I either:

- buy an off-peak return ticket which is £9.00 a day or a peak return ticket which is £15.20 a day. Which one I get depends how early I need to get into the office that day.

- buy a 7 day season ticket which costs £65 if I know I need to be in early all week.

I work Monday to Friday, and use Santander's Credit Card 123 to claim the 3%*. Can I make my ticket purchasing saving more optimal? I've tried broker websites like trainline, but no different than buying at the ticket office.

I'm unsure if further savings can be achieved by:

- Using Santander 123 Credit Card online to purchase a ticket and then collecting at the ticket office.

- Related to the above, augmented saving going via Quidco.

I always clock watch the train delays, and get my refund. I'm aware some people have made this process easier, after all time is money

*Has there recently been a cap on this? Can some kind soul to elaborate on this.

dzug1

The 123 card seems to have a cap of £100 a month spend on petrol/fares combined. AFAIK it's paid automatically - you don't have to 'claim' it. I don't think there are any changes to this in hand though it's always possible


There's nothing extra to be had by buying online and collecting at the ticket office ( they much prefer you to collect from the machine anyway. )


Pass on the quidco question

Quentin

You can get cashback and nectar points (and use the Santander card) at cashback sites buying tickets from first transpennine express

martindow

On some routes you can buy carnet tickets which may work for you

http://www.mytrainticket.co.uk/carnets

has a list of companies that offer them.

yorkie2

principlecounts wrote: »

...buy a 7 day season ticket which costs £65 if I know I need to be in early all week.

I work Monday to Friday...

Buy an odd-period season to last 5 weeks, typically starting on a Monday and finishing on a Friday.

This is most effective when you have a Bank Holiday or annual leave at the start or end, for example you may want it to commence on a Tuesday after a Bank Holiday Monday.

bootedsw

Trainline and red spotted all charge a booking fee, I use FGW to book all my tickets you don't get charged a booking fee and you can grab nectar points in the process.
Shame on MSE to suggest using trainline!

wealdroam

bootedsw wrote: »

Shame on MSE to suggest using trainline!

Can you please point out where MSE have made that suggestion.

If you are talking about thriftymanc's post above, then you need to re-read his last paragraph:

thriftymanc wrote: »

The one thing to remember is that on RSH there's a booking fee to pay of £1 per transaction. To make the fee go further you can book a load of journeys at once if you know you're definitely going to make them. You would need to consider the costs of the journeys you're making and decide for yourself the amount of loyalty points you're earning outweighs the fee. However if you're obtaining credit in the form of Tesco Clubcard vouchers or shopping on other sites, then it would definitely outweigh the £1 booking fee and make the site worthwhile.

Quentin

thriftymanc wrote: »

You can use Tesco Clubcard vouchers to buy Redspottedhanky credit for double the value (i.e. each £2.50 of points buys £5 of credit)......

Getting double the value of Tesco Vouchers but paying booking fees to RSH doesn't look a great deal!


You can easily get far more than double the value on other offers, or simply use the regular Tesco "boost" to get double value off shopping, and buy train tickets from places that don't charge any booking fees (and also get cashback/nectar points/loyalty points etc)

Quentin

wealdroam wrote: »

Can you please point out where MSE have made that suggestion....

MSE make it clear they have an "arrangement" with trainline which is the MSE "Technology Partner", and state this on the cheap train tickets page where you are "encouraged" to use trainline when using ticketysplit:

...we get commission from TheTrainline's ticket sales...

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

principlecounts

Ladies and Gents,

Thanks for each of your suggestions. I've since evaluated all the suggested options.

Assumption: 7 day train ticket, normally £65 per week from the station.

- Santander 123 credit card: 3% up to £9 a month under Santander's new 123 regime:

"Existing customers will continue to earn 1% unlimited cashback at supermarkets, 2% unlimited cashback at department stores, and 3% cashback up to a maximum of £9/month on petrol, national rail and Transport for London." - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/banking/2015/09/santander-to-shake-up-123-current-account-and-credit-card-fees-whats-happening

So 3% of £65 is a saving of £1.65 per month

For the others, they are just aren't compelling enough, mostly because of booking fees combined with lower percentage cashback vs. hassleness. Red spotted hanky maybe worth looking at, if I decide to get daily tickets, and book in bulk.