Rivers Travel

Save Money on Train Fares by Booking In Advance

Everyone knows book early and you can get cheaper fares yet often these disappear quicker than empty seats on a commuter trip. The key stat is, that under contract terms, Network Rail must have the timetable set 12 weeks in advance; therefore this is commonly (though not definitely) when tickets are released. So if you can, try and book 12 weeks ahead to bag super bargain fares.

Early booking is still cheaper even when it’s not so early. Advance tickets can be available as late as 6pm the night before; so it’s worth a call to check.

Book online using thetrainline.com These sites always seek out any cheap seats that may still be available.

Save Money on Train Fares by Split Ticketing

One of the best ways to save money on rail fares is to book early and take advantage of those discounted tickets that the rail companies offer. But how can you make a saving if you leave things till the last minute when all the cheap tickets have gone?

Well, there is a way! It is called ‘split ticketing’. This is where you can break your journey into smaller chunks but stay on the same train and pay less than the standard open or saver return, or even on a one way fare.

Many experienced UK rail travellers can save more than 60% on their fares by ‘splitting tickets’. Split ticketing can occur where a journey can be broken into smaller sectors and costed separately.
If you wanted to travel from Station A to Station C, you would expect to buy a ticket direct from A to C. With Split Your Ticket, depending on your route you may find it cheaper to buy a ticket from A to B and B to C. You still complete the same journey from A to C but stay on the same train without getting off – saving money!

Consumer researchers at Which? found a same-day, peak fare rail journey from London Paddington to Swansea would cost £109.50.

However, buying a single from Paddington to Swindon, then another from Swindon to Swansea reduces the overall journey’s cost to £76.70 – a saving of £32.80.

On certain journeys, researchers found, passengers using split ticketing could end up paying up to 60% less for fares but rail firms don’t advertise split ticketing savings.

The reason why split ticketing often works out cheaper is because different rail companies set the prices for different parts of the journey. This is one of the anomalies of deregulation.

For example, a fare from Carlisle to Manchester will be set by Virgin Trains because they are the leading operator on that route.

If you split your ticket at Preston, then the first portion of the trip, Carlisle to Preston, is set by Trans Pennine, while the second portion, from Preston to Manchester, is controlled by Northern. So you may find that the sum of the parts is less than the whole.

Although rail firms don’t advertise that money can be saved by splitting tickets, the practice is perfectly legal. You simply make the same journey with two tickets instead of one – and you do not need to break your journey at the middle station. The only condition is that the train you take must stop at all the places you have bought tickets for, not just pass through them.

It’s perfectly allowed within the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, and has been confirmed by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). The only rule is that the train must call at the stations you’ve bought tickets for.

A London to Penzance return fare could be split into two returns as follows:-
1. London to Plymouth return
2. Plymouth to Penzance return
Or it may work out cheaper to buy four one way fares like so:-
1. London to Plymouth
2. Plymouth to Penzance
3. Penzance to Plymouth
4. Plymouth to London

How much can you save? Well on those Penzance examples above, you could cut a standard return of over £200, to less than £100. It’s the same train at the same time, the difference is that you have four tickets covering the journey not one.

How can you find split ticket bargains?

1. Use the Trainline search engine to find the cheapest standard fare for your journey.

2. Check at which stations your train will stop

3. If your journey involves changing trains, the Trainline itinerary will reveal when and where the train stops; try splitting your ticket there (One thing to watch for when you are buying tickets like this is to make sure that your tickets will be valid for the onward journey if one of the trains is late and misses your preferred connection)

The number of options that you check depends on the amount of time you have. On a long journey with a number of stops there will be a number of permutations.

It is always worth checking a few options. When it comes to saving money on your UK train fares, remember to split your ticket not your journey.

Save Money on Your Train Fares by Buying a Rail Card

If you’re under 26, over 60, or travelling with children, you can cut a third off most ticket prices with a railcard, costing £26 a year.

There is also a railcard for you if you are disabled, for just £18 and a friend travelling with you will also get the discount.

Also a Network Railcard covers London and the Southeast and allows three friends to travel with you at the same discount and up to four children at 60% discount.

These can be bought at stations or better still, online, as then you can upload a Jpeg photo, saving £3.50 on buying a passport photo.

Railcards do come with conditions, so if you do a regular journey, first check whether the card is valid for saving money on that journey.

For journeys costing over £60, always get a railcard. The saving on the fare will cover the cost of the Railcard.

Save Money on Train Fares by Only Paying Peak For The Portion That is Peak

Peak times are usually before 10am and between 5pm and 7pm. If at all possible avoid these times and you’ll find better bargains.

You can still cut the cost by buying two singles instead of a return if only one part of your journey is during peak times or else by using split ticketing (see above), so that if some of your journey isn’t during peak time, you’re not paying a peak price for your whole ticket.

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