Buying a train season ticket

sarah861421

Hi Everyone
Starting a new job in January and the best way to travel is by train, Its quite a short journey, no changes, no alternatives etc. I have calculated that generally speaking a monthly season ticket will be this best option and this will cost £101.
QUESTION - where do I buy this from? I think that the best way will be through Expedia on Quidco, does anyone have a better answer, have I missed anything?

Thankyou

rdwarr

Hi Sarah,
That does sound like quite a short journey. If you can afford an annual ticket these offer the best value as you only pay for 40 weeks. You could also buy your ticket before the price rise on January 2nd.
Other than that a monthly ticket rarely offers the best value as people don't realise you can buy a season ticket for any period between a month and a year which allows you to plan around holidays and weekends. So, if you were starting back at work on Jan 2nd don't buy a monthly as it would expire on Feb 1st which is a Thursday. Buy one for a month and a day until Feb 2nd, then you're not paying over the weekend. You would buy your next one from Feb 5th until March 9th etc.

sarah861421

I dont think that an annual ticket would be a good idea, as the job is not that secure, but I was unaware that I could buy a ticket for different periods if time which is really helpful so thankyou for that.
More interested in where to buy the ticket from really
thankyou

colcheslad

You can just buy the ticket from any train station, make sure you have a passport sized photo for the Photocard if you don't already have one

p00hsticks

colcheslad wrote: »

You can just buy the ticket from any train station,

... one that has a manned ticket office, obviously.

And they can date season tickets in the future, so if you can, I suggest you go at a quiet time a day or to before to buy the first ticket in advance so they can sort out your photo card etc.

I then always used to call in to renew mine on the way home on the day it expired

laird

If you buy the Annual Ticket and then the job didn't work out you get a refund of the difference to the lowest cost season ticket for the period you actually travelled minus a £10 administration fee.
Many good employers will also offer you an interest free season ticket loan if you go via the Annual Route.