Hello all! I was helping a fellow user on HUKD when I had an idea to share all the methods I am aware of to save money on train tickets. There's regularly questions about train tickets, and since I travel by train regularly, but never pay full price because I am really money savvy when it comes to travel, I thought I would create this thread to hopefully help you out!
Links and more info/updates for all of the below will be in comment #1.
1. Railcards
Railcards save you 33% on train tickets, and you can sometimes get discount on buying railcards (RRP is £30). You can also use Tesco Clubcard Points to purchase Railcards to save even more. Remember that you MUST travel with your railcard (I suggest keeping it in your wallet/purse).
2. Split Tickets
On most journeys, it is may be possible to split your ticket to save money. For example, a single from A to B may cost £50, but a single from A to C (a calling point en-route to B) may be £10 and a single from C to B may be £15 meaning the total journey costs £25. Remember that the train MUST stop at the station you split the ticket at.
3. Advance Tickets
Sometimes, it is cheaper to buy 2 singles instead of a return, or to book an Advance ticket rather than buy on the day. On most TOC's search engine, you can usually search for all routes for a specific journey (which shows slower routes). This sometimes brings up cheaper tickets, as well as a wider variety of advance tickets available.
Most Advance tickets go on sale 12 weeks before the date of travel, though some TOC's are 24 weeks.
Some websites charge a fee, though TOC's are not allowed to do this. It's best to weigh up the pros and cons of booking from a particular site.
4. Special Offers
Sometimes, TOC's and official ticket sellers (like TheTrainLine and RedSpottedHanky) run promotional offers, and it is always worth looking for these when booking train tickets as they may allow you to save more money. Try and see which promotional offer will save you the most money.
5. Bonus Offers
Some TOC's (like GWR) allow you to earn Nectar Points or other benefits. I find that I earn A LOT of Nectar Points from booking all of my tickets through GWR. Remember that you can book all UK train tickets from any TOC's website, so consider the benefits of booking from each website. Nectar Double-Up is approaching soon as well :smiley:
Virgin Red - 20-30% off West and East Coast Virgin trains services.
6. Tesco Clubcard
As far as I am aware, you can spend Tesco Clubcard points at RedSpottedHanky (£10 = £20) as well as on Railcards, so if you have points burning a hole in your account, then perhaps consider spending them on your train tickets to save even more.
7. Rail Travel Vouchers
Whenever you travel by train and your service is delayed by 30 minutes or more, you are entitled to claim compensation in the form of a cheque or Rail Travel Vouchers. You can then use these to buy train tickets and save even more (or cash the cheque in, effectively saving money on your ticket).
8. The TrainLine Ticket Alert
The TrainLine offer a Ticket Alert service, so if you know the dates you intent to travel, you can enter your email address and the travel information for The TrainLine to then tell you when the cheapest tickets are "on the market".
9. London Underground
The cheapest way to get around on the tube is with an Oyster Card or with a Contactless bank card (both are the same price*).
*You can add Railcard discounts to an Oyster Card, so if you have a Railcard, it's cheaper to get an Oyster Card than use contactless.
10. Megatrain
Megatrain (owned by Stagecoach) do sell train tickets for some routes, though these are usually select off-peak services, and not every day.
Feel free to add your own methods/suggestions on saving money when buying train tickets...I'll add them to the OP! :smile:
Top comments
Eden0032 to colinmckenna
6 Nov 1622#3
Glad you think I copied this, considering I spend the last hour typing this out from personal experience. In fact, if I check my browsing history, I haven't been to MSE in, well, months!
johnjohn44 to colinmckenna
6 Nov 1615#13
even if he did , does that matter?
he spent time to post it here to help others ( which you could have done but couldn't be arsed too)
nice post heat added
Eden0032
6 Nov 1612#1
1. Railcards
Railcards save you 33% on train tickets, and you can sometimes get discount on buying railcards (RRP is £30). You can also use Tesco Clubcard Points to purchase Railcards to save even more.
On most journeys, it is may be possible to split your ticket to save money. For example, a single from A to B may cost £50, but a single from A to C (a calling point en-route to B) may be £10 and a single from C to B may be £15 meaning the total journey costs £25.
Here's some advise on Split ticketing from "ysm1234":
Split ticketing is a lot of times cheaper when one changes trains even though one didn't have to. E.g. London to Newcastle is often cheaper by taking the Grand Central to York and then Virgin to Newcastle. In this example one didn't have to change at York but the direct train would’ve been £64 (when I booked) but changing and waiting 20mins at York brought the total price down to £26. Manchester to London is available from £13 when splitting and changing at stoke.
The problem with using tickety split is it won't bring up the above examples. I'll explain why that is:
Tickety split will only split journeys that appear on national rail. If one searches on national rail "Manchester to London", national rail only brings up Virgin direct journeys therefore tickety split only attempts to split those journeys. This is despite the fact that taking a CrossCountry to Stoke and then a London Midland to London starts at £13 (I've found this £13 ticket when Virgin wanted £80 direct see more details here http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/manchester-london-13-train-split-change-trains-works-other-routes-aswell-2490012 ) But ticketysplit won't find the £13 Manchester to London as National rail doesn't bring up that journey, as there are direct faster journeys.
Therefore ticketysplit is very good if one wants to keep changing trains to a minimum but there are cheaper options if one is willing to change trains but these splits have to searched manually.
3. Advance Tickets
Sometimes, it is cheaper to buy 2 singles instead of a return, or to book an Advance ticket rather than buy on the day. On most TOC's search engine, you can usually search for all routes for a specific journey (which shows slower routes). This sometimes brings up cheaper tickets, as well as a wider variety of advance tickets available.
Most Advance tickets go on sale 12 weeks before the date of travel, though some TOC's are 24 weeks.
Some websites charge a fee, though TOC's are not allowed to do this. It's best to weigh up the pros and cons of booking from a particular site.
4. Special Offers
Sometimes, TOC's and official ticket sellers (like TheTrainLine and RedSpottedHanky) run promotional offers, and it is always worth looking for these when booking train tickets as they may allow you to save more money. Try and see which promotional offer will save you the most money.
Some TOC's (like GWR) allow you to earn Nectar Points or other benefits. I find that I earn A LOT of Nectar Points from booking all of my tickets through GWR. Remember that you can book all UK train tickets from any TOC's website, so consider the benefits of booking from each website. Nectar Double-Up is approaching soon as well :smiley:
Nectar also sometimes do bonus offers every other week, for example 500 bonus points on your next Virgin Trains purchase. Check the Nectar app for these offers.
Cashback - some TOC's offer cashback with Quidco/TCB, however check the terms and conditions as these can be limited.
As far as I am aware, you can spend Tesco Clubcard points at RedSpottedHanky (£10 = £20) as well as on Railcards, so if you have points burning a hole in your account, then perhaps consider spending them on your train tickets to save even more.
Whenever you travel by train and your service is delayed by 30 minutes or more, you are entitled to claim compensation in the form of a cheque or Rail Travel Vouchers. You can then use these to buy train tickets and save even more (or cash the cheque in, effectively saving money on your ticket).
When it comes to compensation, there are some reasons for delay that are not eligible, however it's always worth trying. Remember that you have to claim within 28 days of travel, and you have to send your tickets off (so don't put them into the automatic barriers!)
8. The TrainLine Ticket Alert
The TrainLine offer a Ticket Alert service, so if you know the dates you intent to travel, you can enter your email address and the travel information for The TrainLine to then tell you when the cheapest tickets are "on the market".
9. London Underground
The cheapest way to get around on the tube is with an Oyster Card or with a Contactless bank card (both are the same price*).
*You can add Railcard discounts to an Oyster Card, so if you have a Railcard, it's cheaper to get an Oyster Card than use contactless.
Sometimes you can purchase a Tube ticket with a train ticket, which does sometimes work out cheaper if you intent to use the Tube a lot (e.g. Brighton to London Zones 1-6 travelcard (with a railcard) is very cheap, compared to a Brighton to Victoria Return).
10. Megatrain
Megatrain (owned by Stagecoach) do sell train tickets for some routes, though these are usually select off-peak services, and not every day.
Feel free to add your own methods/suggestions on saving money when buying train tickets...I'll add them to the OP! :smile:
ysm1234
6 Nov 165#16
I'd like to add some additions to the op.
My numbers correspond to the numbers in the op
1) Railcard discount is a minimum of 33% and not 30% http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/46540.aspx
One can also use a family railcard when a child is under 5. E.g. If one has a family railcard but the oldest child they're traveling with is under 5, it is cheaper to buy 1 adult + 1 child both with a family railcard, and let's say the adult without the railcard cost £100 total journey cost will be reduced to £83 (£67 the adult and £16 the child). http://www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk/help/faqs/25/
2) Split ticketing is a lot of times cheaper when one changes trains even though one didn't have to. E.g. London to Newcastle is often cheaper by taking the Grand Central to York and then Virgin to Newcastle. In this example one didn't have to change at York but the direct train would’ve been £64 (when I booked) but changing and waiting 20mins at York brought the total price down to £26. Manchester to London is available from £13 when splitting and changing at stoke.
The problem with using tickety split is it won't bring up the above examples. I'll explain why that is:
Tickety split will only split journeys that appear on national rail. If one searches on national rail "Manchester to London", national rail only brings up Virgin direct journeys therefore tickety split only attempts to split those journeys. This is despite the fact that taking a CrossCountry to Stoke and then a London Midland to London starts at £13 (I've found this £13 ticket when Virgin wanted £80 direct see more details here http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/manchester-london-13-train-split-change-trains-works-other-routes-aswell-2490012 ) But ticketysplit won't find the £13 Manchester to London as National rail doesn't bring up that journey, as there are direct faster journeys.
Therefore ticketysplit is very good if one wants to keep changing trains to a minimum but there are cheaper options if one is willing to change trains but these splits have to searched manually.
4) TPExpress have special offers for advance tickets booked with TPExpress:
50% off with a 16-25 railcard (usually 33%) and 50% off if one is is aged 16-18 or has a jobcentre railcard (see more details here http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/50-off-tpexpress-advance-train-tickets-age-16-18-jobseekers-hold-a-16-25-railcard-2492146
Virgin trains have a very good family offer where one chooses the outbound train and is then able to take any train back within a month and surprisingly both the outbound and return are valid in peak times. Manchester to London NO railcard upto 2 adults and 4 children for £95 return. See more details here https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/family-offer
Redspottedhanky and thetrainline charge between £1-£1.50 extra per booking so unless they have an offer or one is using clubcard vouchers on redspottedhanky, avoid both.
5) Download the Nectar app as every second week there seems to be another bonus, last week I had 500points with a Virgin trains east coast booking. Or triple points when booking TPExpress with a 16-25 railcard.
TopCashBack/quidco offer cashback on train ticket purchases but read the T&C's carefully as most TOC's only offer cashback on ticket purchases for their own services and not other TOC's.
6) Clubcard redemption are worth upto 4 times the amount, so look at all the redemptions that are possible before deciding to redeem them for railcard or redspottedhanky which only get you twice the amount. (days out gets you 4x, magazines, ferries, restaurants, hotels, etc 3x, railcard and redspottedhanky only 2x)
7) Very soon one would be entitled to compensation for a delay of just 15mins. Compensation only applies if it was the TOC's or network rail's fault. By trespassing etc they’re not obligated to give compensation but it's still worth a try as many TOC's would still compensate. One has to apply for compensation within 28days, and by law if one requests a cheque, they're not allowed to send a rail voucher.
Before I get an angry response about copying from money-saving-expert, 95% of this is not from money-saving-expert especially the part where I explain what's not good about tickety split.
All comments (113)
Eden0032
6 Nov 1612#1
1. Railcards
Railcards save you 33% on train tickets, and you can sometimes get discount on buying railcards (RRP is £30). You can also use Tesco Clubcard Points to purchase Railcards to save even more.
On most journeys, it is may be possible to split your ticket to save money. For example, a single from A to B may cost £50, but a single from A to C (a calling point en-route to B) may be £10 and a single from C to B may be £15 meaning the total journey costs £25.
Here's some advise on Split ticketing from "ysm1234":
Split ticketing is a lot of times cheaper when one changes trains even though one didn't have to. E.g. London to Newcastle is often cheaper by taking the Grand Central to York and then Virgin to Newcastle. In this example one didn't have to change at York but the direct train would’ve been £64 (when I booked) but changing and waiting 20mins at York brought the total price down to £26. Manchester to London is available from £13 when splitting and changing at stoke.
The problem with using tickety split is it won't bring up the above examples. I'll explain why that is:
Tickety split will only split journeys that appear on national rail. If one searches on national rail "Manchester to London", national rail only brings up Virgin direct journeys therefore tickety split only attempts to split those journeys. This is despite the fact that taking a CrossCountry to Stoke and then a London Midland to London starts at £13 (I've found this £13 ticket when Virgin wanted £80 direct see more details here http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/manchester-london-13-train-split-change-trains-works-other-routes-aswell-2490012 ) But ticketysplit won't find the £13 Manchester to London as National rail doesn't bring up that journey, as there are direct faster journeys.
Therefore ticketysplit is very good if one wants to keep changing trains to a minimum but there are cheaper options if one is willing to change trains but these splits have to searched manually.
3. Advance Tickets
Sometimes, it is cheaper to buy 2 singles instead of a return, or to book an Advance ticket rather than buy on the day. On most TOC's search engine, you can usually search for all routes for a specific journey (which shows slower routes). This sometimes brings up cheaper tickets, as well as a wider variety of advance tickets available.
Most Advance tickets go on sale 12 weeks before the date of travel, though some TOC's are 24 weeks.
Some websites charge a fee, though TOC's are not allowed to do this. It's best to weigh up the pros and cons of booking from a particular site.
4. Special Offers
Sometimes, TOC's and official ticket sellers (like TheTrainLine and RedSpottedHanky) run promotional offers, and it is always worth looking for these when booking train tickets as they may allow you to save more money. Try and see which promotional offer will save you the most money.
Some TOC's (like GWR) allow you to earn Nectar Points or other benefits. I find that I earn A LOT of Nectar Points from booking all of my tickets through GWR. Remember that you can book all UK train tickets from any TOC's website, so consider the benefits of booking from each website. Nectar Double-Up is approaching soon as well :smiley:
Nectar also sometimes do bonus offers every other week, for example 500 bonus points on your next Virgin Trains purchase. Check the Nectar app for these offers.
Cashback - some TOC's offer cashback with Quidco/TCB, however check the terms and conditions as these can be limited.
As far as I am aware, you can spend Tesco Clubcard points at RedSpottedHanky (£10 = £20) as well as on Railcards, so if you have points burning a hole in your account, then perhaps consider spending them on your train tickets to save even more.
Whenever you travel by train and your service is delayed by 30 minutes or more, you are entitled to claim compensation in the form of a cheque or Rail Travel Vouchers. You can then use these to buy train tickets and save even more (or cash the cheque in, effectively saving money on your ticket).
When it comes to compensation, there are some reasons for delay that are not eligible, however it's always worth trying. Remember that you have to claim within 28 days of travel, and you have to send your tickets off (so don't put them into the automatic barriers!)
8. The TrainLine Ticket Alert
The TrainLine offer a Ticket Alert service, so if you know the dates you intent to travel, you can enter your email address and the travel information for The TrainLine to then tell you when the cheapest tickets are "on the market".
9. London Underground
The cheapest way to get around on the tube is with an Oyster Card or with a Contactless bank card (both are the same price*).
*You can add Railcard discounts to an Oyster Card, so if you have a Railcard, it's cheaper to get an Oyster Card than use contactless.
Sometimes you can purchase a Tube ticket with a train ticket, which does sometimes work out cheaper if you intent to use the Tube a lot (e.g. Brighton to London Zones 1-6 travelcard (with a railcard) is very cheap, compared to a Brighton to Victoria Return).
10. Megatrain
Megatrain (owned by Stagecoach) do sell train tickets for some routes, though these are usually select off-peak services, and not every day.
Feel free to add your own methods/suggestions on saving money when buying train tickets...I'll add them to the OP! :smile:
colinmckenna
6 Nov 165#2
You could have just put the link to the money saving website you copied this from.
Eden0032 to colinmckenna
6 Nov 1622#3
Glad you think I copied this, considering I spend the last hour typing this out from personal experience. In fact, if I check my browsing history, I haven't been to MSE in, well, months!
oUkTuRkEyIII to colinmckenna
6 Nov 164#5
Why so mad? We all copy and paste from other sites.
johnjohn44 to colinmckenna
6 Nov 1615#13
even if he did , does that matter?
he spent time to post it here to help others ( which you could have done but couldn't be arsed too)
nice post heat added
nathan3007
6 Nov 165#4
How to save money on train tickets- take the bus or drive :smile:
leewills8 to nathan3007
6 Nov 162#8
And don't live in the South East where we are bullied by Southern Rail and are pushed into using the already over conjested road network. Ps I know work from home!
I buy through virgin usually no matter where I'm travelling . 2% cashback plus nectar points
Roger_Irrelevant
6 Nov 161#14
I saw someone waving their phone (e-ticket) at the ticket inspector, it had some squares changing colour on it as extra 'security'.
But I did think to myself it's be easy to write an app to show exactly the same thing, as there were no barcodes or anything on it..
Andi Keane to Roger_Irrelevant
7 Nov 16#21
Little bit more to it than that, and guards have scanning devices as they use a specific QR code depending on the ticket type
dribspak
6 Nov 163#15
good effort and good advice but not sure if this is a deal or general tips.
Like if i were to make a post saying "save money on toilet paper" then list:
1. use a bidet
2. use the works toilet before leaving work
3. use of of the odd socks you always seem to accrue
4. etc
5. etc
6. etc
toonarmani to dribspak
7 Nov 162#38
Don't forget to put "megathread" in the title :wink:
ysm1234
6 Nov 165#16
I'd like to add some additions to the op.
My numbers correspond to the numbers in the op
1) Railcard discount is a minimum of 33% and not 30% http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/46540.aspx
One can also use a family railcard when a child is under 5. E.g. If one has a family railcard but the oldest child they're traveling with is under 5, it is cheaper to buy 1 adult + 1 child both with a family railcard, and let's say the adult without the railcard cost £100 total journey cost will be reduced to £83 (£67 the adult and £16 the child). http://www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk/help/faqs/25/
2) Split ticketing is a lot of times cheaper when one changes trains even though one didn't have to. E.g. London to Newcastle is often cheaper by taking the Grand Central to York and then Virgin to Newcastle. In this example one didn't have to change at York but the direct train would’ve been £64 (when I booked) but changing and waiting 20mins at York brought the total price down to £26. Manchester to London is available from £13 when splitting and changing at stoke.
The problem with using tickety split is it won't bring up the above examples. I'll explain why that is:
Tickety split will only split journeys that appear on national rail. If one searches on national rail "Manchester to London", national rail only brings up Virgin direct journeys therefore tickety split only attempts to split those journeys. This is despite the fact that taking a CrossCountry to Stoke and then a London Midland to London starts at £13 (I've found this £13 ticket when Virgin wanted £80 direct see more details here http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/manchester-london-13-train-split-change-trains-works-other-routes-aswell-2490012 ) But ticketysplit won't find the £13 Manchester to London as National rail doesn't bring up that journey, as there are direct faster journeys.
Therefore ticketysplit is very good if one wants to keep changing trains to a minimum but there are cheaper options if one is willing to change trains but these splits have to searched manually.
4) TPExpress have special offers for advance tickets booked with TPExpress:
50% off with a 16-25 railcard (usually 33%) and 50% off if one is is aged 16-18 or has a jobcentre railcard (see more details here http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/50-off-tpexpress-advance-train-tickets-age-16-18-jobseekers-hold-a-16-25-railcard-2492146
Virgin trains have a very good family offer where one chooses the outbound train and is then able to take any train back within a month and surprisingly both the outbound and return are valid in peak times. Manchester to London NO railcard upto 2 adults and 4 children for £95 return. See more details here https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/family-offer
Redspottedhanky and thetrainline charge between £1-£1.50 extra per booking so unless they have an offer or one is using clubcard vouchers on redspottedhanky, avoid both.
5) Download the Nectar app as every second week there seems to be another bonus, last week I had 500points with a Virgin trains east coast booking. Or triple points when booking TPExpress with a 16-25 railcard.
TopCashBack/quidco offer cashback on train ticket purchases but read the T&C's carefully as most TOC's only offer cashback on ticket purchases for their own services and not other TOC's.
6) Clubcard redemption are worth upto 4 times the amount, so look at all the redemptions that are possible before deciding to redeem them for railcard or redspottedhanky which only get you twice the amount. (days out gets you 4x, magazines, ferries, restaurants, hotels, etc 3x, railcard and redspottedhanky only 2x)
7) Very soon one would be entitled to compensation for a delay of just 15mins. Compensation only applies if it was the TOC's or network rail's fault. By trespassing etc they’re not obligated to give compensation but it's still worth a try as many TOC's would still compensate. One has to apply for compensation within 28days, and by law if one requests a cheque, they're not allowed to send a rail voucher.
Before I get an angry response about copying from money-saving-expert, 95% of this is not from money-saving-expert especially the part where I explain what's not good about tickety split.
Eden0032
6 Nov 161#17
Thank you - I've updated comment #1 with information you have provided! :smile:
Babsy Baby
6 Nov 161#18
Don't forget "Ticket Alert" at the bottom of the trainline page if you know your dates you want to travel in advance.
I think you can do this up to 3 months in advance. It has saved us a lot of money in the past. :smiley:
Apologies for not explaining how it works,
You tell them your dates, give then your email address then they alert you when there is cheap tickets.
Don't rely on TicketySplit and similar services. They do miss things.
As a good example, I've recently travelled from Stafford to Dundee. The journey breaks at Crewe and Edinburgh. TicketySplit found nothing cheaper than the £125 standard Advance Return. By checking the splits myself and buying tickets from Stafford to Crewe, Crewe to Edinburgh, and Edinburgh to Dundee (then in reverse) I was able to cut that down to £75 return with the middle leg in First Class (Standard would have been £60 total).
This is something TS should be finding, but clearly didn't. It wasn't a complicated split. It used the same trains, the same changes. Yet TS found nothing. Manual searches are still better.
mocmocamoc
7 Nov 16#22
I used to go Preston to Nottingham to watch football, much cheaper to get a day return to Manchester and then another one to Nottingham, it was about 40% cheaper to do that.
Another one I've got I'm unsure of the legality, if I catch the 7.39 from Warrington to London it costs me about £200 return, if I get the same train at Lancaster it is classed as an off peak return and I can get it for £90. Man on the train didn't quibble (how would he know I didn't get on in Lancaster), the only issue I can see is if they check tickets at Warrington station and stop you getting on the platform
ysm1234 to mocmocamoc
7 Nov 16#26
This is illegal according to National Rail's conditions of carriage. The way to make this legal would be to take a train from Warrington to Lancaster and then the Lancaster off peqk down to London which's probably add an hour to the journey time but still saves £100.
lanc1979
7 Nov 16#23
It's worth mentioning the magic 12 weeks on advance tickets.
Advance tickets go on sale exactly 12 weeks before the travel date. So today 30th January went on sale, or will by tomorrow morning. You'll never get a cheaper advance than on release day, prices only go up not down.
Also Family and Friends railcards are a con. If you don't believe me, compare the tickets prices in advance for 1 adult and 1 child, or 2 adults and 1 child, to the exact same journey for 2 adults and 2 children. You'll find the price magically jumps up when adding the second child (by about 25%) which nullifies any discount.
ysm1234 to lanc1979
7 Nov 16#27
Please explain clearer the issue with the family railcard. I've used family railcards often and have never had any sort of issue that you mention. When booking tickets 2 adults and 1 and then adding a 2nd child, the price jumps by 13% - that 13% is the cost of the second child (which is exactly the same price as the cost of the first child). Family railcards do work. I just checked as you requested and the price will always jump by 13% when adding the second child. Please explain.
tom00 to lanc1979
7 Nov 162#29
I've noticed with East Coast, it's not exactly 12 weeks before the travel date, rather they release a week (12 weeks away) at a time around midday on a Friday.
Also everyone is aware you can split a journey?
I.e. need to travel from Carlisle to Preston for 9am meeting, onto Manchester for a 1pm meeting, before returning to Carlisle.
Buy a Carlisle to Manchester return, no need to buy two/three separate tickets.
A while ago, I didn't know you could break a journey for a significant period of time and bought separate tickets, so thought I'd make others aware.
Dealier to lanc1979
7 Nov 16#36
You can't break a journey with all ticket types. You can't with Advance tickets - you have to use the specified trains, and there are some other tickets that won't let you break your journey. You always can with anytime tickets, but some off peak tickets have different rules, so it's best to check before buying.
And your Carlisle to Manchester example is a very bad example.
If you buy a Carlisle to Manchester ticket that allows a break of journey, the cheapest return ticket that would get you to Preston by 9AM and allow you to break your journey then continue to Manchester is £55.80.
But if you get a Carlisle to Preston ticket (£38.90), and a Preston to Manchester off peak return (£12), you save nearly £5.
Gentle_Giant
7 Nov 16#28
Fairly new money saving advice for visitors to London, you DONT need an Oyster card to get the cheap fares on London Transport now, and no worrieds about getting on the wrong train, or wandering out of zone.
You can use your NFC enabled card exactly the same way as an Oyster card; "bonk" your card on the Oyster pad on the way in, and again on the way out. If you make multiple trips during the day, the Oyster system calculates the cheapest fare for you.
We were in London last week, the cheapest non Oyster ticket for one of the 5 underground trips we made was £12.70 each, and an family card was ~£28 for the day; we paid £11.20 total.
chalkieboy
7 Nov 16#30
Just remember if you are split ticketing ATOC's conditions state the train must stop at that station on route otherwise it's a new ticket. Something I have not seen mentioned but witnessed.
ysm1234
7 Nov 16#31
London - Newcastle/Edinburgh or vice versa on East Coast, Monday to Friday tickets are released 24wks before travel.
chalkieboy
7 Nov 16#32
Golden rule never ever forget your railcard. Keep in your wallet or purse as it will be very expensive mistake.
supermann
7 Nov 161#33
Nice. It's not a deal though so should be in Misc.
W_jelly1
7 Nov 16#34
be careful which site you buy from some have fees, some don't e.g. Virgin is fee free, trainline is not
Can (oddly) be cheaper buying from your local station rather than on-line.
If you travel frequently look at weekly tickets - my day return to work of over £60 - a weekly card is only £120.
Virgin sometimes do upgrade to 1st class for £10 on a weekend - a sandwich and a drink and it's worth it, plus at odd times during the week it's cheaper to go first class on a fixed time than second - go figure!
Eden0032
7 Nov 16#35
Thanks all... I'll add updates to comment #1 when I'm next on my laptop
Dealier
7 Nov 161#37
The train companies aren't allowed to charge booking fees, so it's always cheaper to buy from them than it is from Trainline. The only reason Trainline stay in business is because their misleading adverts make people think they're cheaper.
lanc1979
7 Nov 16#39
I tried to edit post but not working on mobile. It doesn't seem to happen anymore.
Tried to book an advance to Manchester Airport two years ago (12 weeks in advance) and the advance was £6.50 for one adult. Decided at that price to book tickets and therefore seat reservations for my kids <5 who didn't need tickets, to get seats. When I added 2 adults and 2 children, the adult advance price changed from 6.50 to 8.80, can't remember what the kids price was. Which would've returned to close to 6.50 with FF discount. So I removed the child tickets and the 2 adults were both getting the 6.50 tickets again.
Played around with options (1A2C, 2A1C) then dates and found that it happened on most dates with cheap advance tickets; adding the second child changed the adult advance price to about 25% more in most cases, nullifying the FF discount. Sent my findings to MSE to see if they would look into it, heard nothing.
Always check 1 adult price first now, to check there is no price tweaking going on.
Dealier
7 Nov 16#40
Has anyone mentioned Megatrain yet?
They're owned by Stagecoach, and have cheap print at home tickets for some of the train companies they own, and can be much cheaper than buying proper tickets.
At the moment I think they only do tickets for East Midlands trains between London and Leicester/Derby/Nottingham/Chesterfield/Sheffield, and South West Trains to/from London.
They used to do Virgin West Coast tickets but stopped earlier this year.
Fair do, bad example. Should've said on a standard ticket.
It was just something I genuinely didn't know you could do, so used to buy two return tickets on the day for work (my journey was LAN > PRE > CRL), so started buying one LAN-CRL return instead.
lanc1979
7 Nov 161#42
Fair do, bad example. Should've said on a standard ticket.
It was just something I genuinely didn't know you could do, so used to buy two return tickets on the day for work (my journey was LAN > PRE > CRL), so started buying one LAN-CRL return instead.
JonMiller
7 Nov 16#43
Also, pay with your Santander 123 card and you get 3% cashback
kpmatthews
7 Nov 16#44
thanks op, got a few trips coming up. used my clubcard vouchers for a railcard and will save £60 by the end of january :smiley:
Ebenezer_Scrooge
7 Nov 16#45
Megatrain is definitely worth a look if it is offered on the route you want. It's worth noting that Megatrain tickets are only offered on selected services outside of peak periods, and not necessarily on every day of the week either, but when they ave been available and I've also then checked the price of a conventional Advance ticket for the same journey, the Megatrain fare has always been cheaper.
They also offer something called Megabusplus - this is a journey combining a train and then a coach. These are offered for journeys between London and Yorkshire travelling with East Midlands Trains to East Midlands Parkway station, then onto a Megabus coach for the rest of the journey. http://www.megabusplus.com
GrahamLondon
7 Nov 16#46
If you have a London Travel Card / Season Ticket you can often buy a ticket from the boundary of the Zone your ticket is valid for to you destination, which can save you a few pounds.
mb1
7 Nov 16#47
TakeTheTrain doesn't use the ATOS booking engine that most train websites are lumbered with and doesn't charge any additional fees either. You often get quirkier routes and cheaper fares as a result.
It offers a third-off rail fares in the south east of England for the holder and up to three other adults and four children (for groups of 3+ the GroupSave discount often does the same job, but this is good for solo or two travellers together).
There are limitations - it cannot be used before 10am on weekdays, and there is a minimum fare of £13 on weekdays too (i.e. if the discounted fare is less than £13 on a weekday, then you'd pay £13 instead). However it can still be really useful.
Sir Charles
7 Nov 16#50
That's a great read, thank you. Never thought of trying to split tickets before to get it cheaper
martinmarv
7 Nov 16#51
Quidco and then via East Midlands Mainline will get something like 2.5% back for their own tickets, 1% back for everyone else's
adhumash
7 Nov 16#52
Thanks Eden0032. Heat added.
fawky
7 Nov 16#53
Thank you so much... I had no idea about this Railcard; just booked one now.
Travel up to London off peak at last 3 times a week at cost of £22 each time, so this'll save me a tonne!
Ebenezer_Scrooge
7 Nov 16#54
No problem :smiley:
Worth noting that the Network Railcard's definition of the "south east of England" is pretty wide - it stretches to King's Lynn, Milton Keynes, Oxford and Weymouth, for example. It applies to journeys on lines within the shaded area on this map: http://www.network-railcard.co.uk/clientfiles/files/Map.pdf
bobmccluckie
7 Nov 16#55
Link your rail card to your Oyster card for further discounts on Oyster costs.
My senior rail card means I am capped at about a fiver a day.
It automatically searches for split tickets for any given journey. It's not perfect but is pretty good. If you buy through them, they charge 10% of any split ticket savings as a commission which I reckon is fair enough given it does the legwork (there's no credit/debit card fees).
trainer88
7 Nov 16#57
This is great for weekend travel, but the problem is the minimum £13 fare during the week. And you only get the 1/3 off the moment over £13. None of the other rail cards have this rule.
ysm1234
7 Nov 16#58
If one travels the same train time/route often, book with them once, see where they split the ticket (which they only show after booking) and then next time check the split yourself manually and save the 10%.
mickgoodie
7 Nov 16#59
students can also do this if you take your Oyster card and valid Railcard to a London Underground station and ask a member of staff to set up the discount on a ticket machine
ysm1234
7 Nov 16#60
There's an new app called traintrick (no space) available from Google play store. When one is delayed, scan your ticket in the app and if your eligible for compensation they'll sort out your compensation and send it you via PayPal whilst retaining 10%. Saw it advertised in a rail magazine.
ysm1234
7 Nov 16#61
Error when I try update my above post but it should train magazine says 10% fee and app itself says it's fee-free, never tried it so don't know who to believe.
djmattybigbig
7 Nov 161#62
I really don't get this kind of mentality, IMHO so many more deals would be posted if we had less Keyboard Warriors.:disappointed:
aing69
7 Nov 16#63
62 posts and no mention of the Dark web yet - I'm surprised!! :sunglasses:
Youngy
7 Nov 16#64
These trips are great, regularly use tesco points and buy via Red spotted hanky
tazg101
7 Nov 16#65
Can find nothing like these when I do a manual search.
kieranbrophy10
7 Nov 16#66
I was booking tickets for me and a friend to Wembley the other day, found it was £23 cheaper EACH if we booked the tickets separate. Requesting 2 tickets at the same time jumped the price up. Unbelievable, I know!
colinmckenna
7 Nov 16#67
Blah blah
ysm1234
7 Nov 16#68
I'm curious which website you were using. Probably wasn't a TOC's.
ysm1234
7 Nov 16#69
So I guess one can use topcashback to get 2% pay with Santander 123 card and get 3% and use a TOC that gives Nectar points and get 1% back in the form of points for a total of 6%.
iamnokia
7 Nov 16#70
I amn't sure whats special in this post, which most of us are aware,plz post if there are any vouchers instead
dudedude
7 Nov 16#71
TicketySplit is obviously rubbish because MSE pay their staff peanuts.
Current offer with Trans Pennine Express for over 55's, unfortunately ends 20th November but they have them quite often you just need to sign up to their emails................"From the 19th of September to the 20th of November, return train tickets are just £19 across the north of England, and £29 to and from Scotland, exclusive to our over-55's." https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/special-offers/club-55/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=crm&utm_campaign=club55.
ysm1234
7 Nov 16#73
Arriva Trains Wales club 55 has already ended. Option to sign up for just the club 55 newsletter to know when the next ATW club 55 offer is out. https://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/signup/
gwapenut
7 Nov 16#74
It's also worth considering a ticket-split at a network railcard boundary for longer journeys. eg Reading to Manchester walk-on return saves about a tenner if you split it into Reading-Banbury with a network railcard and then Banbury-Manchester without.
gwapenut
7 Nov 161#75
Virgin money gives their savers a 10% discount on some Virgin West coast advance fares.
The virgin Red app frequently has 20% or 30% off east or west coast trains, along with a one-time BOGOF on Caffe Nero.
CharlieR123
7 Nov 16#76
Claim compensation depends on the train operator and so is not always 30mins (for example on GWR it is 60mins on inter-city lines). Having said this it is still worth claiming if below this time as you can still be compensated.
Also Santander 123 credit card offers 3% cashback on 'travel' which is useful and is free for first year (or was when I had one).
supermann
7 Nov 16#77
Hypothetically speaking because obviously you don't want to break the law, if someone did they'd probably find out which stations along the line don't have barriers near the destination station and get off at one of those. The no good bloody scoundrels. How dare they not complete the whole journey. They're robbing the shareholders of these large wealthy corporations from a tiny infinitesimal percentage of their dividends. Maybe :smiley:
tom00
7 Nov 16#78
Ooh, I'd never heard of the Virgin Red app. It looks good :smile: 20% off advance tickets showing at the moment.
Eden0032
7 Nov 16#79
Just updated OP and Comment #1 with info and links. Thanks all for your ideas/suggestions!
format
7 Nov 16#80
i'm far from a pro at rail tickets as i rarely travel, but i was pleasantly surprised that i could buy a durham > york on sat lunchtime for half the station price (£16 rather than £32) on trainline 45mins before - i'd always assumed advance tickets meant days in advance. got my return the same way (not tried other sites but theirs is very easy to use and pay on mobile through paypal) but next time i'll try the provider's site directly.
ysm1234
7 Nov 16#81
This has nothing to do with trainline. CrossCountry advance tickets are available upto 15mins before travel. These tickets should also be available to at the station upto 15mins before travel. Had you booked with any TOC or at the station you would've save yourself the £1.25 trainline booking fee. This applies to CrossCountry trains only.
As a side point, one could board a CrossCountry train, find an unreserved seat, and at the next stop someone tells you you're on his reserved seat, since they booked their ticket after you were already on your seat as CrossCountry allow bookings upto 15mins before travel (e.g. you board at Newcastle and find an unreserved seat and at York someone tells you you're on his reserved seat as he's traveling York-birmingham and only made his booking after the train left Newcastle . Therefore all screens by the seats on CrossCountry trains that usually say unreserved, will instead say, "this seat is currently not reserved but may become reserved later in the journey".
Firefly1
7 Nov 16#82
Santander - free Four Year railcard (16-25) if you open a Santander Student 123 Current Account.
ysm1234
8 Nov 16#83
Just adding: Which can only be opened by students.
Nerchio1
8 Nov 16#84
Wow, that's a whole lot of words and trainsplit isn't one of them, which is the only site you'll ever need
juggler1 to Nerchio1
16 Apr 17#110
Wowzer. Well done for holding your nerve and knowing the facts. A lot of ppl would've paid up
Dealier
8 Nov 161#85
If that's the only site you ever use you're paying more than you need to.
Nerchio1
8 Nov 16#86
If that's the only site you ever use you'll save more than everything the OP says
gwapenut
8 Nov 16#87
Only for a small proportion of journeys.
Does trainsplit get you 20% to 30% off virgin east or west coast? Does it get you into London cheaper from most commuter stations. Nope!
ysm1234
8 Nov 16#88
Using Clubcard vouchers on trainsplit? No.
If I can't split my ticket should I use trainsplit? No. If I can split my ticket and I know exactly where to split it should I use Trainsplit? No. Nectar points on Trainsplit? No. Special offers? No. - I've got nothing against trainsplit, I just disagree it's the only site one needs.
Ferrit
8 Nov 16#89
Travel with Virgin, they will undoubtedly be late, claim compensation, profit.
Dealier
8 Nov 16#90
The train would need to be at least 30 minutes late to make a claim, and then it would only be for part of the ticket cost. Virgin Trains (West Coast) are late enough to make a claim (or the train is cancelled) only 1.7% of the time.
For a much better chance of getting some money back travel by Thameslink/Southern, you have a 7.9% chance of being able to claim from them.
ysm1234
8 Nov 16#91
Virgin trains east coast and west coast give a 25% discount when booking in advance for 3-9 travellers traveling together.
peterstyles75
9 Nov 16#92
Apologies if already been mentioned but I use a site called http://www.brfares.com it shows what the cheapest fare for route is and who sells it, you sometimes save few pounds buying directly from provider than say train line or red hanky, then what you save will get tea or coffee on travel
Ferrit
9 Nov 161#93
Travel with them often enough and you will rake it in. One month I had over £400 out of them.
Their service is utter garbage.
raff97
14 Nov 16#94
Hey guys. Say I have a range of few days I want to travel, is there a website/tool that shows me the cheapest available tickets over that range, without me have to manually scroll for ages like I do on the trainline?
You should never buy from Trainline, they always cost more than buying directly from the train operator.
raff97
14 Nov 16#96
Cheers mate. Just bought my tickets off Virgin without a booking fee :smiley:
Strangely though, in the link you sent I cant change the "Where from?" to what I want (Cambridge). It works on the virgin trains homepage though..
Dealier to raff97
19 Nov 16#100
If you don't like to read things twice, just scroll past the top comments section.
The top comments thing isn't about people needing to be liked, it's about helping people find the best comments. If the best comments appear together at the top it can be useful on really long threads as you can see the most relevant comments without having to scroll through pages of crap.
Dealier
14 Nov 16#97
That's because the link I posted was for the best fare finder, which only searches for tickets on a few Virgin West Coast routes. They don't go to Cambridge so you had to use the standard search instead.
raff97
14 Nov 16#98
I see, shame theres not a similar thing for east coast :/. Doubt there would be anything cheaper than what I found anyway
Ripperoo
19 Nov 16#99
Is there any way to disable the 'Top Comments' on HUKD?
This is something that has bugged me for a long time and I get really fed up reading through a thread only to see the same post I just read further up the page, just because some members 'liked' it.
Seriously, what is it with the modern internet that everyone need to be liked? Are people really that fickle?
Personally, I don't care what others think is a good post, I just want to be able to read the posts as there were added to the thread and make that decision for myself.
I'm on my own here, aren't I? LOL
Ripperoo
19 Nov 16#101
I shouldn't have to! I've usually read a few posts before realising the thread had 'Top Comments' (not all threads do).
Personally, I like to read posts in reverse chronological order and feel the 'Top Comments' should be a feature that can be disabled in a members profile.
Yes, but who has the authority to say what is a good comment?
A few people voting for a post may lift it to the 'Top Comment' section despite the majority of people not agreeing but who just didn't vote.
I know it's not going to go away, I just think it's an annoying and unecessary feature.
mickgoodie
20 Nov 16#102
coming back to the railcard and oyster discount. I got my student railcard discount added to my oyster by asking a guy at kings cross tube, which he logged into the ticket machine, and added my student discount to my oyster. you can also do this for other rail cards. my off peak journey was £2.40, and now its 60p so a massive saving, and just takes 5 mins.
Yash100
3 Dec 16#103
For some reason I got 500 bonus Nectar points today from Virgin Trains and I don't know how I got them. I didn't book anything.
Dealier
3 Dec 16#104
I got 500 points too. They offered 500 points for installing their Beam app, so i think it's from that.
Eden0032
19 Jan 17#105
UPDATE:
CrossCountry have now scrapped the £10 Admin fee for amending Advance tickets!
If you purchase an Advance ticket for travel on any TOC and need to change the date or time, you can do so from the "my account" section on the website (doesn't apply to print-your-own tickets).
alanbrunskill
8 Apr 17#106
I am travelling to Edinburgh from Aintree (Liverpool) it's 36 single put if you travel via Glasgow its cheaper may add a hour to your journey so always check the via routes out hope this helps
HankMcSpank
15 Apr 17#107
Heads up about the scamsters that Main Station concourse rail ticket offices are.
I wanted to travel London Waterloo to Poole last week...checked the trainline ...£14 off peak - decent price. One thing led to another & I never booked but thought I'd just get from the ticket office on the day at Waterloo - I queued for 5 minutes, gets to the ticket serving hatch & the disinterested looking woman browsed up & down on her (android) device (I was shocked - they used to have dedicated ticket machines!) ...anyway she says "that'll be £56" - I said "Eh? the trainline had this journey as £14" ...she said, "To get that price you have to book 24hrs in advance"...so I went out of the ticket office, used my mobile to book a ticket for £14 (for a train leaving in 15 minutes time) via the trainline - the ticket was physically dispensed at the ticket machine using the code the trainline gave me.
So a complete load of BS spouted off by those in the ticket offices....they wanted 4 times the price!!! Shysters.
Maybe there was a glitch on the Trainline website that allowed you to buy it when it shouldn't have been available.
So it looks like you got lucky. But in future don't use Trainline. They charge booking fees that the train companies don't charge. Sometimes the train companies have cheaper tickets not available on Trainline. It's always best to check the website of the train company you're travelling with. But first check Megatrain.com, they have tickets from Waterloo to Poole starting at £1 each, plus 50p booking fee. I've just looked and there are £1 tickets available a few weeks in advance.
HankMcSpank
16 Apr 17#111
I wasn't being so brave....I just figured it was worth checking online again (hence leaving the ticket office) - if the trainline £14 price wasn't still available, I simply would have aborted the trip! (it was a non-essential journey...the decision to travel was based on the £14 ticket!)
Andrews123
9 Jul 17#112
Great tips
buglawton
25 Jul 17#113
My tip is, get a cheap flight, land in Southern or Eastern Europe, relax and enjoy cheap and high quality rail travel wherever you go - no need apply Newtons 3rd law to get a 5% discount.
![Fresh Breakfast Meat Box (Using code) @ Campbells Meat [Haggis / Lorne Sausage / Bacon / Black Pudding & More]](/images/topics/208684_1.jpg)
![Megathread] Top tips to save money on train tickets.](/images/topics/97631_1.jpg)
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Opening post
Links and more info/updates for all of the below will be in comment #1.
1. Railcards
Railcards save you 33% on train tickets, and you can sometimes get discount on buying railcards (RRP is £30). You can also use Tesco Clubcard Points to purchase Railcards to save even more. Remember that you MUST travel with your railcard (I suggest keeping it in your wallet/purse).
2. Split Tickets
On most journeys, it is may be possible to split your ticket to save money. For example, a single from A to B may cost £50, but a single from A to C (a calling point en-route to B) may be £10 and a single from C to B may be £15 meaning the total journey costs £25. Remember that the train MUST stop at the station you split the ticket at.
3. Advance Tickets
Sometimes, it is cheaper to buy 2 singles instead of a return, or to book an Advance ticket rather than buy on the day. On most TOC's search engine, you can usually search for all routes for a specific journey (which shows slower routes). This sometimes brings up cheaper tickets, as well as a wider variety of advance tickets available.
Most Advance tickets go on sale 12 weeks before the date of travel, though some TOC's are 24 weeks.
Some websites charge a fee, though TOC's are not allowed to do this. It's best to weigh up the pros and cons of booking from a particular site.
4. Special Offers
Sometimes, TOC's and official ticket sellers (like TheTrainLine and RedSpottedHanky) run promotional offers, and it is always worth looking for these when booking train tickets as they may allow you to save more money. Try and see which promotional offer will save you the most money.
5. Bonus Offers
Some TOC's (like GWR) allow you to earn Nectar Points or other benefits. I find that I earn A LOT of Nectar Points from booking all of my tickets through GWR. Remember that you can book all UK train tickets from any TOC's website, so consider the benefits of booking from each website. Nectar Double-Up is approaching soon as well :smiley:
Virgin Red - 20-30% off West and East Coast Virgin trains services.
6. Tesco Clubcard
As far as I am aware, you can spend Tesco Clubcard points at RedSpottedHanky (£10 = £20) as well as on Railcards, so if you have points burning a hole in your account, then perhaps consider spending them on your train tickets to save even more.
7. Rail Travel Vouchers
Whenever you travel by train and your service is delayed by 30 minutes or more, you are entitled to claim compensation in the form of a cheque or Rail Travel Vouchers. You can then use these to buy train tickets and save even more (or cash the cheque in, effectively saving money on your ticket).
8. The TrainLine Ticket Alert
The TrainLine offer a Ticket Alert service, so if you know the dates you intent to travel, you can enter your email address and the travel information for The TrainLine to then tell you when the cheapest tickets are "on the market".
9. London Underground
The cheapest way to get around on the tube is with an Oyster Card or with a Contactless bank card (both are the same price*).
*You can add Railcard discounts to an Oyster Card, so if you have a Railcard, it's cheaper to get an Oyster Card than use contactless.
10. Megatrain
Megatrain (owned by Stagecoach) do sell train tickets for some routes, though these are usually select off-peak services, and not every day.
Feel free to add your own methods/suggestions on saving money when buying train tickets...I'll add them to the OP! :smile:
Top comments
he spent time to post it here to help others ( which you could have done but couldn't be arsed too)
nice post heat added
Railcards save you 33% on train tickets, and you can sometimes get discount on buying railcards (RRP is £30). You can also use Tesco Clubcard Points to purchase Railcards to save even more.
16-25 Railcard
Two-Together Railcard
Family And Friends Railcard
Senior Railcard
Disabled Persons Railcard (£20)
Network Railcard
Free 16-25 railcard with O2 Refresh (student offer) - thanks "cchopps"
10% off any Railcard with code SEARCH10 - thanks "psychobitchfromhell"
2. Split Tickets
On most journeys, it is may be possible to split your ticket to save money. For example, a single from A to B may cost £50, but a single from A to C (a calling point en-route to B) may be £10 and a single from C to B may be £15 meaning the total journey costs £25.
Tickety Split (to search for ticket splits for your journey) - Full Version
Tickety Split (to search for ticket splits for your journey) - Mobile Version
Here's some advise on Split ticketing from "ysm1234":
Split ticketing is a lot of times cheaper when one changes trains even though one didn't have to. E.g. London to Newcastle is often cheaper by taking the Grand Central to York and then Virgin to Newcastle. In this example one didn't have to change at York but the direct train would’ve been £64 (when I booked) but changing and waiting 20mins at York brought the total price down to £26. Manchester to London is available from £13 when splitting and changing at stoke.
The problem with using tickety split is it won't bring up the above examples. I'll explain why that is:
Tickety split will only split journeys that appear on national rail. If one searches on national rail "Manchester to London", national rail only brings up Virgin direct journeys therefore tickety split only attempts to split those journeys. This is despite the fact that taking a CrossCountry to Stoke and then a London Midland to London starts at £13 (I've found this £13 ticket when Virgin wanted £80 direct see more details here http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/manchester-london-13-train-split-change-trains-works-other-routes-aswell-2490012 ) But ticketysplit won't find the £13 Manchester to London as National rail doesn't bring up that journey, as there are direct faster journeys.
Therefore ticketysplit is very good if one wants to keep changing trains to a minimum but there are cheaper options if one is willing to change trains but these splits have to searched manually.
3. Advance Tickets
Sometimes, it is cheaper to buy 2 singles instead of a return, or to book an Advance ticket rather than buy on the day. On most TOC's search engine, you can usually search for all routes for a specific journey (which shows slower routes). This sometimes brings up cheaper tickets, as well as a wider variety of advance tickets available.
Most Advance tickets go on sale 12 weeks before the date of travel, though some TOC's are 24 weeks.
Some websites charge a fee, though TOC's are not allowed to do this. It's best to weigh up the pros and cons of booking from a particular site.
4. Special Offers
Sometimes, TOC's and official ticket sellers (like TheTrainLine and RedSpottedHanky) run promotional offers, and it is always worth looking for these when booking train tickets as they may allow you to save more money. Try and see which promotional offer will save you the most money.
GWR 50% off for 16-25 railcard holders
TPExpress 50% off for 16-25 railcard holders and jobseekers - thanks "ysm1234"
Virgin Trains Family ticket offer - thanks "ysm1234"
5. Bonus Offers
Some TOC's (like GWR) allow you to earn Nectar Points or other benefits. I find that I earn A LOT of Nectar Points from booking all of my tickets through GWR. Remember that you can book all UK train tickets from any TOC's website, so consider the benefits of booking from each website. Nectar Double-Up is approaching soon as well :smiley:
Nectar also sometimes do bonus offers every other week, for example 500 bonus points on your next Virgin Trains purchase. Check the Nectar app for these offers.
Cashback - some TOC's offer cashback with Quidco/TCB, however check the terms and conditions as these can be limited.
Virgin Red - 20-30% off West and East Coast Virgin trains services.
6. Tesco Clubcard
As far as I am aware, you can spend Tesco Clubcard points at RedSpottedHanky (£10 = £20) as well as on Railcards, so if you have points burning a hole in your account, then perhaps consider spending them on your train tickets to save even more.
Exchange Tesco Clubcard Points for RedSpottedHanky vouchers (doubled up)
Exchange Tesco Clubcard Points for Railcard vouchers
7. Rail Travel Vouchers
Whenever you travel by train and your service is delayed by 30 minutes or more, you are entitled to claim compensation in the form of a cheque or Rail Travel Vouchers. You can then use these to buy train tickets and save even more (or cash the cheque in, effectively saving money on your ticket).
When it comes to compensation, there are some reasons for delay that are not eligible, however it's always worth trying. Remember that you have to claim within 28 days of travel, and you have to send your tickets off (so don't put them into the automatic barriers!)
8. The TrainLine Ticket Alert
The TrainLine offer a Ticket Alert service, so if you know the dates you intent to travel, you can enter your email address and the travel information for The TrainLine to then tell you when the cheapest tickets are "on the market".
9. London Underground
The cheapest way to get around on the tube is with an Oyster Card or with a Contactless bank card (both are the same price*).
*You can add Railcard discounts to an Oyster Card, so if you have a Railcard, it's cheaper to get an Oyster Card than use contactless.
Sometimes you can purchase a Tube ticket with a train ticket, which does sometimes work out cheaper if you intent to use the Tube a lot (e.g. Brighton to London Zones 1-6 travelcard (with a railcard) is very cheap, compared to a Brighton to Victoria Return).
10. Megatrain
Megatrain (owned by Stagecoach) do sell train tickets for some routes, though these are usually select off-peak services, and not every day.
Feel free to add your own methods/suggestions on saving money when buying train tickets...I'll add them to the OP! :smile:
My numbers correspond to the numbers in the op
1) Railcard discount is a minimum of 33% and not 30%
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/46540.aspx
One can also use a family railcard when a child is under 5. E.g. If one has a family railcard but the oldest child they're traveling with is under 5, it is cheaper to buy 1 adult + 1 child both with a family railcard, and let's say the adult without the railcard cost £100 total journey cost will be reduced to £83 (£67 the adult and £16 the child). http://www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk/help/faqs/25/
2) Split ticketing is a lot of times cheaper when one changes trains even though one didn't have to. E.g. London to Newcastle is often cheaper by taking the Grand Central to York and then Virgin to Newcastle. In this example one didn't have to change at York but the direct train would’ve been £64 (when I booked) but changing and waiting 20mins at York brought the total price down to £26. Manchester to London is available from £13 when splitting and changing at stoke.
The problem with using tickety split is it won't bring up the above examples. I'll explain why that is:
Tickety split will only split journeys that appear on national rail. If one searches on national rail "Manchester to London", national rail only brings up Virgin direct journeys therefore tickety split only attempts to split those journeys. This is despite the fact that taking a CrossCountry to Stoke and then a London Midland to London starts at £13 (I've found this £13 ticket when Virgin wanted £80 direct see more details here http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/manchester-london-13-train-split-change-trains-works-other-routes-aswell-2490012 ) But ticketysplit won't find the £13 Manchester to London as National rail doesn't bring up that journey, as there are direct faster journeys.
Therefore ticketysplit is very good if one wants to keep changing trains to a minimum but there are cheaper options if one is willing to change trains but these splits have to searched manually.
4) TPExpress have special offers for advance tickets booked with TPExpress:
50% off with a 16-25 railcard (usually 33%) and 50% off if one is is aged 16-18 or has a jobcentre railcard (see more details here http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/50-off-tpexpress-advance-train-tickets-age-16-18-jobseekers-hold-a-16-25-railcard-2492146
Virgin trains have a very good family offer where one chooses the outbound train and is then able to take any train back within a month and surprisingly both the outbound and return are valid in peak times. Manchester to London NO railcard upto 2 adults and 4 children for £95 return. See more details here https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/family-offer
Redspottedhanky and thetrainline charge between £1-£1.50 extra per booking so unless they have an offer or one is using clubcard vouchers on redspottedhanky, avoid both.
5) Download the Nectar app as every second week there seems to be another bonus, last week I had 500points with a Virgin trains east coast booking. Or triple points when booking TPExpress with a 16-25 railcard.
TopCashBack/quidco offer cashback on train ticket purchases but read the T&C's carefully as most TOC's only offer cashback on ticket purchases for their own services and not other TOC's.
6) Clubcard redemption are worth upto 4 times the amount, so look at all the redemptions that are possible before deciding to redeem them for railcard or redspottedhanky which only get you twice the amount. (days out gets you 4x, magazines, ferries, restaurants, hotels, etc 3x, railcard and redspottedhanky only 2x)
7) Very soon one would be entitled to compensation for a delay of just 15mins. Compensation only applies if it was the TOC's or network rail's fault. By trespassing etc they’re not obligated to give compensation but it's still worth a try as many TOC's would still compensate. One has to apply for compensation within 28days, and by law if one requests a cheque, they're not allowed to send a rail voucher.
Before I get an angry response about copying from money-saving-expert, 95% of this is not from money-saving-expert especially the part where I explain what's not good about tickety split.
All comments (113)
Railcards save you 33% on train tickets, and you can sometimes get discount on buying railcards (RRP is £30). You can also use Tesco Clubcard Points to purchase Railcards to save even more.
16-25 Railcard
Two-Together Railcard
Family And Friends Railcard
Senior Railcard
Disabled Persons Railcard (£20)
Network Railcard
Free 16-25 railcard with O2 Refresh (student offer) - thanks "cchopps"
10% off any Railcard with code SEARCH10 - thanks "psychobitchfromhell"
2. Split Tickets
On most journeys, it is may be possible to split your ticket to save money. For example, a single from A to B may cost £50, but a single from A to C (a calling point en-route to B) may be £10 and a single from C to B may be £15 meaning the total journey costs £25.
Tickety Split (to search for ticket splits for your journey) - Full Version
Tickety Split (to search for ticket splits for your journey) - Mobile Version
Here's some advise on Split ticketing from "ysm1234":
Split ticketing is a lot of times cheaper when one changes trains even though one didn't have to. E.g. London to Newcastle is often cheaper by taking the Grand Central to York and then Virgin to Newcastle. In this example one didn't have to change at York but the direct train would’ve been £64 (when I booked) but changing and waiting 20mins at York brought the total price down to £26. Manchester to London is available from £13 when splitting and changing at stoke.
The problem with using tickety split is it won't bring up the above examples. I'll explain why that is:
Tickety split will only split journeys that appear on national rail. If one searches on national rail "Manchester to London", national rail only brings up Virgin direct journeys therefore tickety split only attempts to split those journeys. This is despite the fact that taking a CrossCountry to Stoke and then a London Midland to London starts at £13 (I've found this £13 ticket when Virgin wanted £80 direct see more details here http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/manchester-london-13-train-split-change-trains-works-other-routes-aswell-2490012 ) But ticketysplit won't find the £13 Manchester to London as National rail doesn't bring up that journey, as there are direct faster journeys.
Therefore ticketysplit is very good if one wants to keep changing trains to a minimum but there are cheaper options if one is willing to change trains but these splits have to searched manually.
3. Advance Tickets
Sometimes, it is cheaper to buy 2 singles instead of a return, or to book an Advance ticket rather than buy on the day. On most TOC's search engine, you can usually search for all routes for a specific journey (which shows slower routes). This sometimes brings up cheaper tickets, as well as a wider variety of advance tickets available.
Most Advance tickets go on sale 12 weeks before the date of travel, though some TOC's are 24 weeks.
Some websites charge a fee, though TOC's are not allowed to do this. It's best to weigh up the pros and cons of booking from a particular site.
4. Special Offers
Sometimes, TOC's and official ticket sellers (like TheTrainLine and RedSpottedHanky) run promotional offers, and it is always worth looking for these when booking train tickets as they may allow you to save more money. Try and see which promotional offer will save you the most money.
GWR 50% off for 16-25 railcard holders
TPExpress 50% off for 16-25 railcard holders and jobseekers - thanks "ysm1234"
Virgin Trains Family ticket offer - thanks "ysm1234"
5. Bonus Offers
Some TOC's (like GWR) allow you to earn Nectar Points or other benefits. I find that I earn A LOT of Nectar Points from booking all of my tickets through GWR. Remember that you can book all UK train tickets from any TOC's website, so consider the benefits of booking from each website. Nectar Double-Up is approaching soon as well :smiley:
Nectar also sometimes do bonus offers every other week, for example 500 bonus points on your next Virgin Trains purchase. Check the Nectar app for these offers.
Cashback - some TOC's offer cashback with Quidco/TCB, however check the terms and conditions as these can be limited.
Virgin Red - 20-30% off West and East Coast Virgin trains services.
6. Tesco Clubcard
As far as I am aware, you can spend Tesco Clubcard points at RedSpottedHanky (£10 = £20) as well as on Railcards, so if you have points burning a hole in your account, then perhaps consider spending them on your train tickets to save even more.
Exchange Tesco Clubcard Points for RedSpottedHanky vouchers (doubled up)
Exchange Tesco Clubcard Points for Railcard vouchers
7. Rail Travel Vouchers
Whenever you travel by train and your service is delayed by 30 minutes or more, you are entitled to claim compensation in the form of a cheque or Rail Travel Vouchers. You can then use these to buy train tickets and save even more (or cash the cheque in, effectively saving money on your ticket).
When it comes to compensation, there are some reasons for delay that are not eligible, however it's always worth trying. Remember that you have to claim within 28 days of travel, and you have to send your tickets off (so don't put them into the automatic barriers!)
8. The TrainLine Ticket Alert
The TrainLine offer a Ticket Alert service, so if you know the dates you intent to travel, you can enter your email address and the travel information for The TrainLine to then tell you when the cheapest tickets are "on the market".
9. London Underground
The cheapest way to get around on the tube is with an Oyster Card or with a Contactless bank card (both are the same price*).
*You can add Railcard discounts to an Oyster Card, so if you have a Railcard, it's cheaper to get an Oyster Card than use contactless.
Sometimes you can purchase a Tube ticket with a train ticket, which does sometimes work out cheaper if you intent to use the Tube a lot (e.g. Brighton to London Zones 1-6 travelcard (with a railcard) is very cheap, compared to a Brighton to Victoria Return).
10. Megatrain
Megatrain (owned by Stagecoach) do sell train tickets for some routes, though these are usually select off-peak services, and not every day.
Feel free to add your own methods/suggestions on saving money when buying train tickets...I'll add them to the OP! :smile:
he spent time to post it here to help others ( which you could have done but couldn't be arsed too)
nice post heat added
http://www.railcard.co.uk/portal/?utm_medium=cpc&gclid=Cj0KEQjwqfvABRC6gJ3T_4mwspoBEiQAyoQPkbhwYQ8JRFqyo4TXpIIjbnvVh2laCk9_40ntWHCBkDAaAteV8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds
But I did think to myself it's be easy to write an app to show exactly the same thing, as there were no barcodes or anything on it..
Like if i were to make a post saying "save money on toilet paper" then list:
1. use a bidet
2. use the works toilet before leaving work
3. use of of the odd socks you always seem to accrue
4. etc
5. etc
6. etc
My numbers correspond to the numbers in the op
1) Railcard discount is a minimum of 33% and not 30%
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/46540.aspx
One can also use a family railcard when a child is under 5. E.g. If one has a family railcard but the oldest child they're traveling with is under 5, it is cheaper to buy 1 adult + 1 child both with a family railcard, and let's say the adult without the railcard cost £100 total journey cost will be reduced to £83 (£67 the adult and £16 the child). http://www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk/help/faqs/25/
2) Split ticketing is a lot of times cheaper when one changes trains even though one didn't have to. E.g. London to Newcastle is often cheaper by taking the Grand Central to York and then Virgin to Newcastle. In this example one didn't have to change at York but the direct train would’ve been £64 (when I booked) but changing and waiting 20mins at York brought the total price down to £26. Manchester to London is available from £13 when splitting and changing at stoke.
The problem with using tickety split is it won't bring up the above examples. I'll explain why that is:
Tickety split will only split journeys that appear on national rail. If one searches on national rail "Manchester to London", national rail only brings up Virgin direct journeys therefore tickety split only attempts to split those journeys. This is despite the fact that taking a CrossCountry to Stoke and then a London Midland to London starts at £13 (I've found this £13 ticket when Virgin wanted £80 direct see more details here http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/manchester-london-13-train-split-change-trains-works-other-routes-aswell-2490012 ) But ticketysplit won't find the £13 Manchester to London as National rail doesn't bring up that journey, as there are direct faster journeys.
Therefore ticketysplit is very good if one wants to keep changing trains to a minimum but there are cheaper options if one is willing to change trains but these splits have to searched manually.
4) TPExpress have special offers for advance tickets booked with TPExpress:
50% off with a 16-25 railcard (usually 33%) and 50% off if one is is aged 16-18 or has a jobcentre railcard (see more details here http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/50-off-tpexpress-advance-train-tickets-age-16-18-jobseekers-hold-a-16-25-railcard-2492146
Virgin trains have a very good family offer where one chooses the outbound train and is then able to take any train back within a month and surprisingly both the outbound and return are valid in peak times. Manchester to London NO railcard upto 2 adults and 4 children for £95 return. See more details here https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/family-offer
Redspottedhanky and thetrainline charge between £1-£1.50 extra per booking so unless they have an offer or one is using clubcard vouchers on redspottedhanky, avoid both.
5) Download the Nectar app as every second week there seems to be another bonus, last week I had 500points with a Virgin trains east coast booking. Or triple points when booking TPExpress with a 16-25 railcard.
TopCashBack/quidco offer cashback on train ticket purchases but read the T&C's carefully as most TOC's only offer cashback on ticket purchases for their own services and not other TOC's.
6) Clubcard redemption are worth upto 4 times the amount, so look at all the redemptions that are possible before deciding to redeem them for railcard or redspottedhanky which only get you twice the amount. (days out gets you 4x, magazines, ferries, restaurants, hotels, etc 3x, railcard and redspottedhanky only 2x)
7) Very soon one would be entitled to compensation for a delay of just 15mins. Compensation only applies if it was the TOC's or network rail's fault. By trespassing etc they’re not obligated to give compensation but it's still worth a try as many TOC's would still compensate. One has to apply for compensation within 28days, and by law if one requests a cheque, they're not allowed to send a rail voucher.
Before I get an angry response about copying from money-saving-expert, 95% of this is not from money-saving-expert especially the part where I explain what's not good about tickety split.
I think you can do this up to 3 months in advance. It has saved us a lot of money in the past. :smiley:
Apologies for not explaining how it works,
You tell them your dates, give then your email address then they alert you when there is cheap tickets.
As a good example, I've recently travelled from Stafford to Dundee. The journey breaks at Crewe and Edinburgh. TicketySplit found nothing cheaper than the £125 standard Advance Return. By checking the splits myself and buying tickets from Stafford to Crewe, Crewe to Edinburgh, and Edinburgh to Dundee (then in reverse) I was able to cut that down to £75 return with the middle leg in First Class (Standard would have been £60 total).
This is something TS should be finding, but clearly didn't. It wasn't a complicated split. It used the same trains, the same changes. Yet TS found nothing. Manual searches are still better.
Another one I've got I'm unsure of the legality, if I catch the 7.39 from Warrington to London it costs me about £200 return, if I get the same train at Lancaster it is classed as an off peak return and I can get it for £90. Man on the train didn't quibble (how would he know I didn't get on in Lancaster), the only issue I can see is if they check tickets at Warrington station and stop you getting on the platform
Advance tickets go on sale exactly 12 weeks before the travel date. So today 30th January went on sale, or will by tomorrow morning. You'll never get a cheaper advance than on release day, prices only go up not down.
Also Family and Friends railcards are a con. If you don't believe me, compare the tickets prices in advance for 1 adult and 1 child, or 2 adults and 1 child, to the exact same journey for 2 adults and 2 children. You'll find the price magically jumps up when adding the second child (by about 25%) which nullifies any discount.
There's a list of which advance dates are available for different operators here: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/44703.aspx
I.e. need to travel from Carlisle to Preston for 9am meeting, onto Manchester for a 1pm meeting, before returning to Carlisle.
Buy a Carlisle to Manchester return, no need to buy two/three separate tickets.
A while ago, I didn't know you could break a journey for a significant period of time and bought separate tickets, so thought I'd make others aware.
And your Carlisle to Manchester example is a very bad example.
If you buy a Carlisle to Manchester ticket that allows a break of journey, the cheapest return ticket that would get you to Preston by 9AM and allow you to break your journey then continue to Manchester is £55.80.
But if you get a Carlisle to Preston ticket (£38.90), and a Preston to Manchester off peak return (£12), you save nearly £5.
You can use your NFC enabled card exactly the same way as an Oyster card; "bonk" your card on the Oyster pad on the way in, and again on the way out. If you make multiple trips during the day, the Oyster system calculates the cheapest fare for you.
We were in London last week, the cheapest non Oyster ticket for one of the 5 underground trips we made was £12.70 each, and an family card was ~£28 for the day; we paid £11.20 total.
Can (oddly) be cheaper buying from your local station rather than on-line.
If you travel frequently look at weekly tickets - my day return to work of over £60 - a weekly card is only £120.
Virgin sometimes do upgrade to 1st class for £10 on a weekend - a sandwich and a drink and it's worth it, plus at odd times during the week it's cheaper to go first class on a fixed time than second - go figure!
Tried to book an advance to Manchester Airport two years ago (12 weeks in advance) and the advance was £6.50 for one adult. Decided at that price to book tickets and therefore seat reservations for my kids <5 who didn't need tickets, to get seats. When I added 2 adults and 2 children, the adult advance price changed from 6.50 to 8.80, can't remember what the kids price was. Which would've returned to close to 6.50 with FF discount. So I removed the child tickets and the 2 adults were both getting the 6.50 tickets again.
Played around with options (1A2C, 2A1C) then dates and found that it happened on most dates with cheap advance tickets; adding the second child changed the adult advance price to about 25% more in most cases, nullifying the FF discount. Sent my findings to MSE to see if they would look into it, heard nothing.
Always check 1 adult price first now, to check there is no price tweaking going on.
They're owned by Stagecoach, and have cheap print at home tickets for some of the train companies they own, and can be much cheaper than buying proper tickets.
At the moment I think they only do tickets for East Midlands trains between London and Leicester/Derby/Nottingham/Chesterfield/Sheffield, and South West Trains to/from London.
They used to do Virgin West Coast tickets but stopped earlier this year.
http://uk.megabus.com/megatrain.aspx
It was just something I genuinely didn't know you could do, so used to buy two return tickets on the day for work (my journey was LAN > PRE > CRL), so started buying one LAN-CRL return instead.
It was just something I genuinely didn't know you could do, so used to buy two return tickets on the day for work (my journey was LAN > PRE > CRL), so started buying one LAN-CRL return instead.
They also offer something called Megabusplus - this is a journey combining a train and then a coach. These are offered for journeys between London and Yorkshire travelling with East Midlands Trains to East Midlands Parkway station, then onto a Megabus coach for the rest of the journey.
http://www.megabusplus.com
http://www.network-railcard.co.uk
It offers a third-off rail fares in the south east of England for the holder and up to three other adults and four children (for groups of 3+ the GroupSave discount often does the same job, but this is good for solo or two travellers together).
There are limitations - it cannot be used before 10am on weekdays, and there is a minimum fare of £13 on weekdays too (i.e. if the discounted fare is less than £13 on a weekday, then you'd pay £13 instead). However it can still be really useful.
Travel up to London off peak at last 3 times a week at cost of £22 each time, so this'll save me a tonne!
Worth noting that the Network Railcard's definition of the "south east of England" is pretty wide - it stretches to King's Lynn, Milton Keynes, Oxford and Weymouth, for example. It applies to journeys on lines within the shaded area on this map:
http://www.network-railcard.co.uk/clientfiles/files/Map.pdf
My senior rail card means I am capped at about a fiver a day.
http://www.trainsplit.com
It automatically searches for split tickets for any given journey. It's not perfect but is pretty good. If you buy through them, they charge 10% of any split ticket savings as a commission which I reckon is fair enough given it does the legwork (there's no credit/debit card fees).
You can try https://raileasy.trainsplit.com/main.aspx instead.
The virgin Red app frequently has 20% or 30% off east or west coast trains, along with a one-time BOGOF on Caffe Nero.
Also Santander 123 credit card offers 3% cashback on 'travel' which is useful and is free for first year (or was when I had one).
As a side point, one could board a CrossCountry train, find an unreserved seat, and at the next stop someone tells you you're on his reserved seat, since they booked their ticket after you were already on your seat as CrossCountry allow bookings upto 15mins before travel (e.g. you board at Newcastle and find an unreserved seat and at York someone tells you you're on his reserved seat as he's traveling York-birmingham and only made his booking after the train left Newcastle . Therefore all screens by the seats on CrossCountry trains that usually say unreserved, will instead say, "this seat is currently not reserved but may become reserved later in the journey".
Does trainsplit get you 20% to 30% off virgin east or west coast? Does it get you into London cheaper from most commuter stations. Nope!
If I can't split my ticket should I use trainsplit? No. If I can split my ticket and I know exactly where to split it should I use Trainsplit? No. Nectar points on Trainsplit? No. Special offers? No. - I've got nothing against trainsplit, I just disagree it's the only site one needs.
For a much better chance of getting some money back travel by Thameslink/Southern, you have a 7.9% chance of being able to claim from them.
Their service is utter garbage.
https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/best-fare-finder
You should never buy from Trainline, they always cost more than buying directly from the train operator.
Strangely though, in the link you sent I cant change the "Where from?" to what I want (Cambridge). It works on the virgin trains homepage though..
The top comments thing isn't about people needing to be liked, it's about helping people find the best comments. If the best comments appear together at the top it can be useful on really long threads as you can see the most relevant comments without having to scroll through pages of crap.
This is something that has bugged me for a long time and I get really fed up reading through a thread only to see the same post I just read further up the page, just because some members 'liked' it.
Seriously, what is it with the modern internet that everyone need to be liked? Are people really that fickle?
Personally, I don't care what others think is a good post, I just want to be able to read the posts as there were added to the thread and make that decision for myself.
I'm on my own here, aren't I? LOL
Personally, I like to read posts in reverse chronological order and feel the 'Top Comments' should be a feature that can be disabled in a members profile.
Yes, but who has the authority to say what is a good comment?
A few people voting for a post may lift it to the 'Top Comment' section despite the majority of people not agreeing but who just didn't vote.
I know it's not going to go away, I just think it's an annoying and unecessary feature.
CrossCountry have now scrapped the £10 Admin fee for amending Advance tickets!
If you purchase an Advance ticket for travel on any TOC and need to change the date or time, you can do so from the "my account" section on the website (doesn't apply to print-your-own tickets).
I wanted to travel London Waterloo to Poole last week...checked the trainline ...£14 off peak - decent price. One thing led to another & I never booked but thought I'd just get from the ticket office on the day at Waterloo - I queued for 5 minutes, gets to the ticket serving hatch & the disinterested looking woman browsed up & down on her (android) device (I was shocked - they used to have dedicated ticket machines!) ...anyway she says "that'll be £56" - I said "Eh? the trainline had this journey as £14" ...she said, "To get that price you have to book 24hrs in advance"...so I went out of the ticket office, used my mobile to book a ticket for £14 (for a train leaving in 15 minutes time) via the trainline - the ticket was physically dispensed at the ticket machine using the code the trainline gave me.
So a complete load of BS spouted off by those in the ticket offices....they wanted 4 times the price!!! Shysters.
Maybe there was a glitch on the Trainline website that allowed you to buy it when it shouldn't have been available.
So it looks like you got lucky. But in future don't use Trainline. They charge booking fees that the train companies don't charge. Sometimes the train companies have cheaper tickets not available on Trainline. It's always best to check the website of the train company you're travelling with. But first check Megatrain.com, they have tickets from Waterloo to Poole starting at £1 each, plus 50p booking fee. I've just looked and there are £1 tickets available a few weeks in advance.