Where To Go For Cheap Train Tickets? Options

[nicki_flute]

I usually use trainline but it's not looking very cheap to get from Durham to places down south (!). Any good sites which people use?

[Deborah]

As far as I know, the price will be the same wherever you buy your ticket, but there are other ways of reducing your costs. Just a few at random from the top of my head:

Durham has a GNER service. You receive a 10% discount booking GNER tickets through the GNER website, and they're sent to you post-free (the post-free bit applies even if you're buying non-GNER tickets on the GNER website).

I take it you have a Young Person's Railcard. If not, get one as this will reduce your train tickets by a third.

Have a look at the National Rail Enquiries website to see if there are any alternative routes or Train Operating Companies you could use. Avoiding travel via London or on the premium fast services might add a little to your journey time but will reduce the travel costs.

If it's a return journey, it may be cheaper to buy two singles rather than a return.

Wherever possible, try to book a long time in advance, as the super-mean cheapo tickets are often limited in number and will be snapped up soonest.

The obvious one - travel off-peak if you can. Fares tend to be cheaper off-peak, and you're not squashed, sardine-like, against regular commuters.

If your local station has tame staff, go in and ask them for the cheapest possible ticket from A to B.

If I think of anything else, I'll post later. Bon voyage! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[rebeccalouise]

Have you tried splitting the journey up into 2 (or more) parts? Sometimes it's cheaper if you buy 2 tickets for the same single journey. eg buy one ticket from Durham to York and another ticket from York to London. I think this is allowed only if the train actually stops at all the places on your tickets, ie the train must stop at York. I found this article which may help too:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/article...0_feature.shtml

[mrbouffant]

I usually use trainline but it's not looking very cheap to get from Durham to places down south (!).

Do you mean Oxford specifically? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[sbhoa]

I think that generally the key is planning ahead.
Advance tickets usually become available 12 weeks in advance and on some routes don't last long as there are limited numbers of them.

[nicki_flute]

As far as I know, the price will be the same wherever you buy your ticket, but there are other ways of reducing your costs. Just a few at random from the top of my head:

Durham has a GNER service. You receive a 10% discount booking GNER tickets through the GNER website, and they're sent to you post-free (the post-free bit applies even if you're buying non-GNER tickets on the GNER website).

I take it you have a Young Person's Railcard. If not, get one as this will reduce your train tickets by a third.

Have a look at the National Rail Enquiries website to see if there are any alternative routes or Train Operating Companies you could use. Avoiding travel via London or on the premium fast services might add a little to your journey time but will reduce the travel costs.

If it's a return journey, it may be cheaper to buy two singles rather than a return.

Wherever possible, try to book a long time in advance, as the super-mean cheapo tickets are often limited in number and will be snapped up soonest.

The obvious one - travel off-peak if you can. Fares tend to be cheaper off-peak, and you're not squashed, sardine-like, against regular commuters.

If your local station has tame staff, go in and ask them for the cheapest possible ticket from A to B.

If I think of anything else, I'll post later. Bon voyage! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Oooh, I didn't know about GNER service, I'll have a look on their website!

I do have a railcard, thanks (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Have you tried splitting the journey up into 2 (or more) parts? Sometimes it's cheaper if you buy 2 tickets for the same single journey. eg buy one ticket from Durham to York and another ticket from York to London. I think this is allowed only if the train actually stops at all the places on your tickets, ie the train must stop at York. I found this article which may help too:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/article...0_feature.shtml

Ooo, thanks, I'll have a look at that

I think that generally the key is planning ahead.
Advance tickets usually become available 12 weeks in advance and on some routes don't last long as there are limited numbers of them.

[BerkshireMum]

I think that generally the key is planning ahead.
Advance tickets usually become available 12 weeks in advance and on some routes don't last long as there are limited numbers of them.

This is most definitely true. My daughter regularly travelled between Newbury and Durham for three years and never paid more than £21 for a single ticket because she kept searching the net (using trainline) until the cheap tickets appeared. However, this time last year my son decided to pay her a visit during half-term, and because we weren't sufficiently on the ball we ended up paying over £80 for his return ticket, even with the Railcard.

So if you want to save on fares, you have to book well ahead. There seems no rhyme or reason to the way train fares are done in this country - if you book ahead you can get a reserved seat for say £10, while someone who turns up on the day may have to pay £40 and stand. It's completely crazy! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

[barry-clari]

I think that generally the key is planning ahead.
Advance tickets usually become available 12 weeks in advance and on some routes don't last long as there are limited numbers of them.

I tend to agree with sbhoa.

My website of choice for train tickets is qjump - it's worth looking at Nicki. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[nicki_flute]

Thankyou all (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[mwl1]

Thankyou all (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Even Mr B? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)