As many of you are probably wondering where do I manage to Manage to find the best price for when it comes train ticket prices. I have put a few tips and details below to help in finding that cost saving.
Train Travel - Option 1
use the website or App Trainsplit.
Trainsplit will search for all the different travel options available and present the cheapest price options available for you to chose from. Note railcard discounts can be applied here but any individual operator specific discounts such as NUS/Totum discounts are not applied here. Trainsplit does not charge a booking fee but Trainsplit will take a 10% or 20% cut of the savings it has found you if you chose to book with Train split. You could use Trainsplit as a search engine to help locate you the best train route and ticket price then book the various tickets directly with the operator to take advantage of any individual operator discounts but make sure you leave plenty of connection time if changing trains since if you miss your connecting train you will need to purchase a brand new ticket to continue to travel to your end destination whereas if purchasing through Trainsplit you will be guaranteed your connection since this is a through ticket.
Train Travel - Option 2
use the website or App Trainpal.
Trainpal will search for various different travel options available and present the cheapest price options available for you to chose from. note Trainpal's search of the cheapest price and route isn't as extensive compared to Trainsplit. Note railcard discounts can be applied here but any individual operator specific discounts such as NUS/Totum discounts are not applied here. Trainpal does note take a cut of the savings it has found you so Trainpal can be more beneficial then Trainsplit if it find the same routes as Trainsplit but without taking a cut of the savings. Note Trainpal does run offers from time to time including the option to purchase vouchers to use towards the cost of purchasing train tickets i.e. a £1 discount on any train tickets priced over £15 and the voucher only costs 19p to purchase.
Train Travel - option 3
Use the website or App
Trainline will search for generally the fastest different travel options available (not the cheapest) and present the different options available for you to chose from. note Trainline's search of the cheapest price and route isn't as extensive compared to Trainsplit or Trainpal. Note railcard discounts can be applied here but any individual operator specific discounts such as NUS/Totum discounts are not applied here. Trainline does charge a booking fee so Trainpal or Trainsplit can be more beneficial if it is for the same routes as Trainsplit or Trainsplit but without paying the booking fee.
£1 Flash sale Northern trains
Northern trains do a flash sale each year around January and September time for a 72 hour period with fares coasting as little as £1 or 50p for children under 16. To get your hands on one of these fares sign up to the below Northern trains website for notification on their next £1 flash sale! note the £1 fares are only available to book via the Northern trains website or Northern train App and isn't available form any other website. note the £1 fares are generally only available at off peak travel times and only for certain route on the northern train network which operates between the areas as far north as Carlisle, as far south as Nottingham and as far east as Hull/Scarborough and as far west as Liverpool/Blackpool.
https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/offers/sale
Avanti West coast - Club Avanti
Do you travel regularly on the Avanti West coast trains which operates between Glasgow and London Euston on the west coast of the Uk? If so Club Avanti may be just for you which launched in March 2023 and proving a huge success so far! with many perks along the way as much as a free 1st class return ticket if you make 21 qualifying journeys a year this may be the club to join! more information is available from the Avanti west coast website below! you must sign up to the scheme via your account and journeys must be over 75 miles and booked via the Avanti west coast app or website to be a qualifying journey. Superfare by Avanti are excluded from this scheme.
https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/tickets-and-savings/club-avanti
Avanti West coast - Superfare
Are you planning to travel on Avanti West coast trains between London to Manchester or London to Liverpool or London to Preston or London to Birmingham or London to Glasgow or London to Stafford or London to Crewe or London to Stoke-on-Trent or London to Warrington Bank Quay or London to Macclesfield or London to Wilmslow or London to Stockport or London to Wigan North Western or London to Lancaster Or the other way round and have time restrictions on when you want to travel? If so Avanti west coast's superfare may be just for you! with tickets costing between £9 - £25 this is a method to match travellers wanting a cheap train ticket with a empty seat of trains that are less busy.
Superfare tickets aren’t available everywhere and every day. To buy, search for Superfare tickets only at avantisuperfare.co.uk. Some days may not be available if there are no empty seats to fill. Superfare tickets are valid on Avanti West Coast (TOC Code: VT) services only. You must travel on the specific train Avanti West coast book for you.
Just as important
- You can only buy Superfare tickets from avantisuperfare.co.uk.
- Superfare tickets are subject to availability and certain blackout times and dates apply, for example days when there are engineering works. Availability is higher on weekdays and more limited on weekends.
- You can book up to 21 days before your departure date, but no later than 7 days before.
- You must choose between a morning (07:00 to 11:59), afternoon (12:00 to 16:59) or evening (17:00 to 21:00) time slot at time of booking. 24 hours before you go, we’ll match you to an empty seat and you’ll get an email confirming your train departure time.
- Break of journey is not permitted, so you can only go on the train we book for you. This means you can’t break your journey by hopping off and getting on another train later.
- You must travel to and from the destination on your ticket. You cannot get off or on at an earlier or later stop.
Available only from the Avanti West coast website with full terms and conditions (link below)!
https://www.avantisuperfare.co.uk/
Student discounts on trains
Did you know that the following operators offer student discounts to NUS/Totum members or students that have a valid university email address.
TransPennine express Trains offer 50% (instead of the normal 33%) for 16-25 railcard holders. Just purchase your tickets from the below website or enter "TPESTUDENT" in the promo code if purchasing via the TPE APP. Note the discount is only available via the TPE Website or TPE APP.
https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/special-offers/student-train-tickets
Cross Country Trains trains offer 10% NUS/Student discount which can be used in conjunction with your railcard. Just purchase your tickets from the below website or enter "ONLINE" in the promo code if purchasing via the Cross Country APP
https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/special-offers/nus
LNER Trains offer a whopping 40% student discount for students who have registered with Unidays. Sign into your Unidays account to request a LNER discount code (only 1 discount code is provided every 24 hours). Purchase your ticket from the below website and enter the promocode to received 40% of LNER trains!
https://www.myunidays.com/GB/en-GB
https://www.lner.co.uk/travel-information/travelling-later/guide-to-student-travel/
Grand Central Trains offer a whopping 25% student discount for students who have a valid University Email address. This student discount can be used in conjunction with a railcard. Complete the attached online form to receive your unique student discount code. Purchase your ticket from the below website and enter the promocode to received 25% of Grand Central trains!
https://www.grandcentralrail.com/student-discount
Tip - generally try not to book your tickets through Trainline as there is a £1 or £2 booking payable per transaction and any individual operator discounts won't be applied from this checkout. Book either directly with the operator or Avanti west coast wherever possible though at Times Trainline may have some special offers which would offer more beneificial savings i.e. purchasing the 1 or 3 year railcard at a discounted price from time to time
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