Paying to get from A to B is something we all have to do if we want to visit new and exciting places, but the cost of travel can add up to £100s if not £1000s if left to the last minute, or by failing to plan. Follow these steps below to get the cheapest trains and fares to save more of your pink pound to use for the fun things in your destination.
Travelling in the UK by rail can be expensive, in fact, it’s the most expensive railway in Europe, and let’s be honest it’s far from the best railway with all the delays, regular rail works and short notice cancellations, but these delays and cancellations could help reduce your fare! (More on that later.) Follow these top tips to get the cheapest fare possible. To do all this I always use the Trainline.com
1) Travel Off Peak
Peak travel times on the UK rail network are between 06:30 – 09:30 and 16:30 – 19:00, Monday to Friday, not including Bank Holidays. It’s no surprise that train fares shoot up at peak times, it’s simple supply and demand, due to commuters getting to and from work. By travelling outside of these peak times, you can save yourself a lot of money. Take the example below of a real train ticket I looked at booking two days before travelling.
09.20am London – Manchester £163.10
10.19am London – Manchester £64.60
Getting the 10.19am train service already saves you £98.50. If I was to expand my search a little more and get the 11.20am scheduled train service, I can save an extra £15.50, getting the ticket for just £39.50. BARGAIN! Bear in mind these prices are always changing so it’s also always best to book in advance, which brings me on to my next point.
Peak Travel
Off-Peak
2) Book in Advance
If you have planned your trip and travels around the UK well, you should be able to book your tickets well in advance, even if you can only book it a week or even a few days in advance, any advance time will save you money, it’s always better than booking it on the day. HOWEVER, don’t book too far in advance! Train operators normally only release their advance fares 8-12 weeks before travel, so keep an eye out. I would suggest booking 6-8 weeks before travel.
Look at this example, from London to Manchester and the price difference when booking 8 weeks in advance to booking on the day.
Booked 8 weeks in advance – £28.70
Booked on the day – £163.10
A saving of £134.40! Whilst this is a huge saving, prices do change daily so they won’t all be as big as that one. Aside from saving money, there are other big advantages to booking your tickets in advance. First, you are guaranteed a seat on the time train you booked. No one wants to be standing on an overbooked service! Other perks include getting to pick the seat you want. That could be a seat with a plug socket, a quiet coach or a seat near the toilets or luggage racks. Picking your seat is also free of charge.
8 weeks in advance
On the day
3) City to City Splitting Tickets
If you’re visiting the UK to travel, there is a good chance you’ll be visiting the major cities. However, you might want to go away from the big cities and visit some smaller towns off the main lines. For example, a city to city destination would be London to Manchester, but if you wanted to go to Walkden – a town 8 miles north of Manchester – then as Walkden is not a city or main hub station it would normally be cheaper to book separate tickets for each leg of the journey.
London – Walkden £44.00
London – Manchester – Walkden £29.40
By buying the first ticket London to Manchester than the second ticket Manchester to Walkden You would save an extra £14.60 on this fare. However, check both ways because sometimes it is cheaper on selected routes to buy the ticket straight through. I have sometimes seen tickets from London – Walkden at £25.00, giving you the Manchester to Walkden bit free. It all depends on the route and when you book, so do a double check to make sure you get the cheapest fare.
4) Delay Repay
Since the end of 2016, train operators have had to start offering delay repay, which is good news for the traveller, not so good news for the train operators! The only thing is it is on the emphasis of the traveller to make the claim. No one likes a delay, the reason we book a train for a certain time is so we can arrive at our destination on time and to do our plans at the times set out in the new city or town we arrive in.
What if I said arriving 30 minutes late and you can get 50% of your fare refunded or 60 minutes late and you could get a full refund, maybe that short delay would be a welcome one!
So how does it work? If your train arrives between 15 minutes and 29 minutes late into your arriving station or between 30 minutes and 59 minutes, you can claim back 25% and/or 50% of your single ticket fare. If your train is 60 minutes or more, you can claim 100% back, basically travelling free, of your ticket.
It is easy to claim, just go online to the train company you are travelling with and find their delay repay page (or goggle it). Fill in the online form, attach photos with your printed tickets or mobile tickets, and send. If everything is right the money will be back with you in 10 days. EASY! If for some reason they say you don’t meet the qualifying criteria, email them back and tell them what trains you did get because of the cancellations which show you arrived late.
5) Railcards
Depending on how long you’re visiting the UK for if you don’t live here, and how much you’ll be using the trains, to save even more money why not get a railcard. The railcards can be used with all the advanced fares mentioned above and get you an extra 1/3rd off (33%) of your ticket price.
A full list of railcards can be found here on the national rail website. Let’s take an example from London to Manchester on the 13th of October 2021 a fair booked 8 weeks before travel. Remember we got this for £28.70, already saving money by booking in advance. Well with a railcard it’s now only £18.90, saving nearly an extra £10.
Even if you didn’t book in advance and you booked an on the day ticket for £163.10, you would still save 33% with a railcard. Most railcards are £30 a year so if you make 3 or more trips with the advance purchases, or just one trip when paying on the day, the card pays for itself and everything else is an extra saving.
Make sure you read the terms and conditions of the railcards as most don’t let you travel during peak times, but why would you want to travel at peak time!
Are you ready to save £1000s on the British railways?
So, if you follow the above advice, mainly booking in advance, avoiding peak travel and getting a railcard if you’re doing a lot of travel by rail, you’re helping to save your hard-earnt money on what’s important when we travel and that’s seeing the destinations itself. Also, if your trains are more than 15 minutes delayed, make sure you put a claim in to get a 25%/50% or 100% refund as compensation!
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