Cheap train tickets with Daily Mail tokens - starts next week

slonik

It looks like Daily Mail's cheap train tickets promotion is back again this year (for last year's thread see http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=360487&highlight=daily+mail+train).

Virgin Trains, according to their website, are offering single tickets from £2.50 (or £10 if you go across all the 4 zones from London to the Lake Distirct), as long as you collect 3 tokens from the Daily Mail next week.
More details: http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/dailymail/default.aspx?src=homepage
"There are no excuses not to get out and about in Britain this year as Virgin Trains and The Daily Mail have teamed up to offer you great value fares to top UK destinations. All you need to do is collect 3 tokens from The Daily Mail between 09 – 13 February to take part.
Fares are as little as £2.50 (standard, single) per zone travelled, or why not travel in style from as little as £7.50 (First Class, single) for the first zone travelled and then £5 per zone there after. Live it up a little and enjoy complimentary food and drinks served at your seat on weekdays.
Book online starting from 12 February until 29 April 2008 and you can travel from 13 February to 30 April 2008. Travel is excluded over Easter from 18 to 27 March inclusive. Up to 4 people can travel on a set of 3 tokens, but remember to take your tokens with you when you travel as they validate your promotional tickets."

Last year, the offer included lots of other train companies too, so keep your eyes open.

chuckley

my friend used this last year but then i realised i wouldnt save any money, id be spending more...

I use a YPR. To use this deal I would need to buy a travelcard to get to euston to start my journey and go back... so £4.80 x 2 for rtn part of journey, so thats £9.60.

Then my journey would end in zone 2 so thats at £5 x 2 which is £10.

Plus to take part, buying the mail for (im guessing) 50p per day... so £1.50

All together... £21.10 roughly for a rtn all together...

my journey is already £10 each way when i use my YPR from my starting station (including using the tube to get to euston) to my destination. so its a £20.00 rtn altogether...

And to make this offer worse they charge u £5 per zone 4 1st upgrade? when standard upgrade from london ending in zone 2 is £10. Yet this deal is charging £7.50 for zone 1 + £5 for other zones?! so £12.50 all together?? adding a further £2.50 to the standard upgrade price when this is supposed to be a cheaper deal?!

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY!

sharoo

chuckley you seem to be a little confused, you are correct that a zone 2 single is £5, therefore a £10 return. Not sure where you made £21.10 from.

Not everyone has a YPR so for the average traveler it is a good deal. A saver single from manchester to london usually costs £12.50. so a saving of £5 if you use this deal. hardly daylight robbery.

cannyscot_2

This deal does work out more than if you get the best price plus a railcard . It is however brill for an adult travelling normally. Last year you could use it on a number of Mon/Friday trains that you were not able to get the cheap advance ticket so for those times it was a good saving. Like all train fares these days you have to work out all the options and weigh it up rather than just take the first fare given.

chuckley

sharoo wrote: »

chuckley you seem to be a little confused, you are correct that a zone 2 single is £5, therefore a £10 return. Not sure where you made £21.10 from.

Not everyone has a YPR so for the average traveler it is a good deal. A saver single from manchester to london usually costs £12.50. so a saving of £5 if you use this deal. hardly daylight robbery.

erm... like how so? i detailed ALL charges in gettin there and back...

dzug

sharoo wrote: »

Not everyone has a YPR so for the average traveler it is a good deal. A saver single from manchester to london usually costs £12.50. so a saving of £5 if you use this deal. hardly daylight robbery.

???? A saver single from Manchester to London is £61.40 before any railcard discount. Just looked it up.

Value advance tickets can be as cheap as you quote, but not savers.

System

Perfect. I've got 2 Crewe - Glasgow runs to do before the end of March

sharoo

dzug wrote: »

???? A saver single from Manchester to London is £61.40 before any railcard discount. Just looked it up.

Value advance tickets can be as cheap as you quote, but not savers.

sorry, thats what I meant.

nanamags

This is a really good promotion. I used it last year to travel from Liverpool to London and got First class return for £36.00.

:j :j

mystic_bertie

i need to travel from glasgow to Leicester on monday but after reading about this offer does this mean i could buy 3 copies of the daily mail to get 3 token andbook to travel on tuesday and it will cost much less with this offer.

will they accept 3 tokens from the same day

so if i travel on the tuesday i could do it so much cheaper

exil

Sounds a great scheme - but it involves buying the Daily Mail, and I tend to get in "Grumpy Old Man" mode if I even look at the headlines - I suppose I could buy it and throw it straight in the bin....