How To Save Money On Train Fares
For most of us travel is probably the furthest thing from our minds. Although at this moment in time I’d be just as excited sitting on a 5 minute tube ride as I usually am stepping onto an aeroplane. Any form of travel fills me with excitment. And I can’t wait to get back out there once the world is back in some form of normality. And when we are able to travel about more freely I want to take advantage of places closer to home. This whole experience has made me appreciate what we have here in the UK. So I’ll be taking a few more trains than planes I’m sure. Trains can be pretty expensive but there are loads of ways you can save money on train fares.
Buy tickets in advance
Buying last minute fares will not save you money and in fact you’ll end up paying so much more. You can book tickets up to 90 days in advance and this is when you can save money on train fares. Companies want to fill up as many seats on trains to make the most money. And if they fill them up far in advance they can justify hiking up the prices for people who left it too late.
Just take a look on a train website for a journey tomorrow and then find the same journey (day of the week and time) in 3 months time. It’s scary how much time can affect the price of a single journey. And that’s not just longer journies, even shorter ones can change price.
By purchasing your tickets in advance particularly for those organising a stay home holiday, you will be amazed at how much you will save. With a number of online companies able to search and show you the cheapest and fastest route for your trip, the addition of tourism and AI can help you get to your intended destination, but at a fraction of the price.
Save money on train fares by travelling off peak where you can
Off-peak travel will always save you money on trains. Avoiding peak times which are about 7-9am and 430-630pm each weekday. This is generally the time you get a lot of commuters so trains are already pretty full. If you travel a bit later in the day you’ll save money on train fares, but you’ll also get more space on the train.
Whenever I travel to Birmingham from Watford I find that if I travel late morning or early afternoon that I can get a ticket for about £5/6. But if I travel on the same train during peak it’s upwards of £35-40 which is pretty mental.
If you have the time take the longer journey
For a lot of routes you’ll find there are different trains that take the same route. Some are quicker and stop at less stations on the way. And some are much slower. You’ll almost always find you can save money on train fares by choosing the longer journey. Even if’s just on one part of your journey. Again when I book from Watford to Birmingham the 1 hour train is generally about double the price than the 2 hour journey. Sometimes I may not want to sit on the train for 4 hours in total. But other times I don’t mind as long as I have music and a good book.
If you travel a lot look into railcards
There are quite a few railcards available depending on your situation. And if you spend over £100 a year on trains the railcards will pay for themselves. They generally work out about £30 and will save you a third off of off-peak travel. And a lot of them let you attach them to your oyster cards.
There’s the 16-25 and the 26-30 ‘millenial’ railcard. A senior railway, two together if you regularly travel with someone else or the network railcard if you’re in the south east. I had all the variations of the young persons railcard, and the millenial one when it came out. And it used to help me save money on train fares a lot.
Save money on train fares by looking at split ticketing
Split ticketing (sometimes known as train hacking) is where your overall journey is split into seperate tickets rather than just one. So for example if you travelled from Watford to Birmingham you may have one ticket for Watford to Milton Keynes, and another for Milton Keynes to Birmingham. As long as the train you’re travelling on stops at the station and doesn’t just pass through you’re good.
By purchasing different tickets you can save money on train fares which can soon add up. Sometimes this can help you get part of your journey off-peak depending on your travel times. You can use sites like TrainTickets or Splitticketing to help find out the best options.
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20 responses to “How To Save Money On Train Fares”
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All About Me
Rhian Westbury
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I always travel off peak, especially if I’m heading into London for a blogger event or a bit of sight seeing. Sometimes I try and make it back a little earlier than I should on the off-peak ticket but usually if I’m polite the guards just let me through anyway 🙂 I save so much money by travelling off peak, I don’t think I have ever travelled at peak time.
Louise | http://www.formidablejoy.com
Agreed off peak is the way forward and to be honest I rarely go in during the daytime in the week so it’s lucky x
I’ve heard trian ticket prices seem to be cheaper 12 weeks in advance, which is helpful to some. Train tickets are so expensive, it’s what puts me off train travel, even though it can be more convenient than travelling by car. Some fab tips! Sim
Yeah sometimes they can be cheaper, especially for longer haul train journeys x
I love using the train but they can be really expensive. I used to have a family/friends rail card and we made such good use of it but since I started driving we hardly ever use it.
I’ll have to check out the split ticketing thing, that’s a really good idea x
Some fab tips here especially since we are thinking about heading to London soon via the train. I will be booking off-peak tickets and way in advance as per your advice.
This is helpful to know. I have never taken any long train ride but it is something I have always wanted to do and still hope to do in the future.
Often leaving it lat minute never saves you money, its weird because its the only sort of transport and travel that doesn’t, I’ve found first class is often fairly cheap at times, especially early as it can be only a small difference like £1, its always worth a look.
Yeah I always look at the difference in price between first-class and normal as it’s worth it if it’s just a few pounds x
This is really helpful and you’ve got some great trips for people who are wanting to travel . Will definitely keep these in mind for the future
I have a family railcard and my teen has a young persons card. It saves so much money
I love this!! Some really good tips here for sure. no doubt I will be using the trains again very soon, so this is really helpful x
I can’t wait until I can get trains more as it’s such an easy way to explore the country x
Yes! These are great tips! I think the cheapest tickets come out 12 weeks before so best to set a reminder!
These are such great tips, I was really shocked when I found out how much you can save by going on the longer journeys or buying a few tickets to cover several stages of a longer journey!
It is madness isn’t it, I’ve saved so much money that way before x
Yes, massive savings to be made by doing all these things. I always shop about to see what si best, a saver ticket or using my Network card. Mich x
I have a 16-25 railcard currently and it really does save money a lot! This was a useful article for me to read, especially as I use the trains a lot!
Thank you so much for posting this! Train fares have been going up and up and up, and they’re getting ridiculous now. Thank you for these brilliant ideas
I don’t tend to use the trains very often but always try to get a good deal when i do as I know there are plenty of ways to save money. Will definitely utilise some of your tips in the future.