If you want to learn how to get cheap train tickets and save money on your travel, you’re in the right place.
Whether you commute by train every day or you’re planning a one-off trip to another city, this guide is packed with tips and tricks to help you reduce how much you spend.
We’ve compiled a complete guide to saving money on train tickets, with tips for frequent and infrequent travel. From booking your tickets 12 weeks in advance to split fare options, keep reading to find out how much you could save on your next trip.
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How to get cheap train tickets for frequent travellers
If you travel by train frequently, there are big savings to be made when you invest in a Railcard or season ticket.
Which option you choose will depend on the type of journey you tend to make. If you make the same journey regularly, a season ticket might be the right choice for you. If you travel to a range of destinations, a Railcard may offer better discounts.
1. Buy a Railcard
Railcards are a great way to save money on train travel across the UK because they aren’t limited by region.
This means customers can use their Railcard to enjoy discounted train ticket prices on everything from their Manchester commute to a city break in central London.
A Railcard entitles you to up to a third off selected train fares. The more frequently you travel and buy train tickets, the more savings you’ll make. According to the Railcard website, cardholders save an average of £192 a year with the 16-25 Railcard, and an average of £258 a year with the 26-30 Railcard.
There are Railcard options for a wide range of groups, from students and families to seniors and veterans. All cards have an annual option. Some have a three-year option, but not all.
Whether you go for a one-year or three-year card, you’ll have to pay the full price upfront. If you’re eligible for a three-year card, choosing this option will save you money, as one three-year card is cheaper than the price of three one-year cards.
Check out the table below to find out which Railcard is best for you.
Railcard types |
|---|
16-17 Saver Who is eligible? 16-17 year-olds 1-year cost: £30 3-year cost: N/A What you get: 50% off Standard Anytime, Off-Peak Advance and season tickets |
16-25 Railcard Who is eligible? 16-25 year-olds 1-year cost: £30 3-year cost: £70 What you get: 1/3 off most rail fares |
26-30 Railcard Who is eligible? 26-30 year-olds 1-year cost: £30 3-year cost: N/A What you get: 1/3 off most rail fares |
Senior Railcard Who is eligible? 60+ year-olds 1-year cost: £30 3-year cost: £70 What you get: 1/3 off rail fares |
Disabled Persons Railcard Who is eligible? People who are disabled or have a progressive medical condition 1-year cost: £20 3-year cost: £54 What you get: 1/3 off rail fares for you and a companion |
Two Together Railcard Who is eligible? Two named people travelling together 1-year cost: £30 3-year cost: N/A What you get: 1/3 off most rail fares when you travel together |
Family & Friends Railcard Who is eligible? <4 adults travelling together with <4 kids 1-year cost: £30 3-year cost: £70 What you get: 1/3 off rail fares for adults and 60% off for children age 5-15 |
Veterans Railcard Who is eligible? Veterans of the UK Armed Forces 1-year cost: £30 3-year cost: £70 What you get: 1/3 off rail fares for yourself and a named companion, plus up to four children |
Network Railcard Who is eligible? Adults (16+) travelling in London and the South East 1-year cost: £30 3-year cost: N/A What you get: 1/3 off rail fares in London and the South East |
You might also have the option to buy a regional Railcard if you go through National Rail where you can get up to 50% off train tickets. These include the Heart of Wales Line Railcard, Cambrian Railcard, Cotswold Line Railcard and Highland Railcard.
Extra money-saving tip:
You can purchase your Railcard right up until a week before you fall out of the age bracket for each card.
For example, you can buy a yearly 26-30 Railcard all the way up until a week before you turn 31. This means you can enjoy ⅓ off rail fares with a 26-30 Railcard up until the week before your 32nd birthday.
How to buy your Railcard
If you head over to the Railcard website, you can buy your discount card online in minutes.
You can choose whether you want a physical or digital Railcard which can be accessed via the Railcard mobile app. It’s important to know that you can't switch card types once you’ve bought your discount card, so make sure you’re happy with your preference for physical or digital.
All Railcard types except the Disabled Persons Railcard and the Veterans Railcard can now also be bought via the Trainline app. If you tend to buy tickets through Trainline, you can store your digital Railcard there. This can be handy, although be aware that Trainline charge a booking fee for Advance tickets.
How to save money on your Railcard
There are a few different ways to get a Railcard discount and save money on your purchase.
If you’re a student looking to buy a 16-25 Railcard, you can enjoy a student discount if you shop via Student Beans. You could also check to see if there are any TopCashback offers available. Past offers have included up to 21% cashback on Railcards bought from Trainline via the TopCashback site.
In the past, students and apprentices could get a free four year 16-25 railcard when they set up a student bank account with Santander. This deal is currently closed, but we have the latest on student banking deals here on TopCashback.
Another trick is to wait until Black Friday at the end of November to see if there are any Railcard discount codes available for money-savvy shoppers.
TopCashback staff member Amy bought a Railcard recently and decided to look for a promo code to see if she could reduce the cost:
"I found out you can turn your Tesco Clubcard points into Railcard discounts, which is what I did. At the time, £1 in Clubcard points was equal to £3 off Railcards. I used £2 of my £2.50 available (you can only use whole pounds) and got £6 off the cost of my Railcard, which I was pretty chuffed about. This meant I paid £24 instead of £30 (and it's the Two Together railcard, so we were splitting the cost anyway)."
2. Get the most out of your money with a season ticket
Season tickets differ from Railcards in that you pay an upfront fee for a set number of return tickets, rather than getting a discount on future rail fares. If you take the same train journey frequently, a season ticket might be the right choice for you.
These passes can be used on journeys between two train stations. Bear in mind that you can’t change your departure or arrival station once you’ve paid for your season ticket. This is because the price of each season ticket will depend on where your departure and arrival stations are, as well as the type of ticket you choose.
Season tickets can be weekly, monthly or annual, or you can go for their flexible option if your travel plans tend to vary from week to week.
Season ticket types |
|---|
Weekly Season Ticket Unlimited travel between two stations for one week (seven days). This option is perfect for people who buy daily return tickets four or more times a week, as the season ticket works out cheaper. |
Monthly Season Ticket Unlimited travel between two stations for one month. It works out cheaper than buying four Weekly Season Tickets so this option is worth considering if you buy four or more daily return tickets every week. |
Flexi Season Ticket Eight days of unlimited travel between two stations within a 28-day period. This option is great for people who need a bit more flexibility, such as those whose office days vary from week to week. |
Annual Season Ticket For unlimited travel between two stations for an entire year, check out the Annual Season Ticket. This pass is ideal for people who travel the same route most days, and it’s cheaper than buying Monthly or Weekly Train Tickets throughout the year. |
If you live or work in London and travel on the Underground regularly, a TfL Season Ticket can be added to your standard season ticket. This will grant you unlimited travel between your selected London travel zones.
With all of these season tickets, you can travel at any time of day, so you don’t need to worry about avoiding travelling at peak times. This is yet another reason why season tickets suit regular commuters so well.
How to buy your season ticket
In order to buy your season ticket, you’ll need a valid photocard which will serve as your ID. If you need to get a photocard, Trainline will process this for free, or you can apply for one at your local train station’s ticket office. You’ll need to provide your photocard number in order to validate your season ticket.
You can buy season tickets through National Rail or via the rail operators themselves. Trainline are officially accredited by National Rail too, so you can just as easily buy your season tickets through them.
Trainline now offer digital season tickets too, which means you can access all of your tickets straight from your mobile app. All you need to do is head over to the app (or website) and click Search Season Tickets.
You can then input your origin and destination stations and start date into their Season Ticket Calculator. The results will display the price of each available season ticket, so you can pick your preferred option and proceed to the checkout.
While you can’t use a Railcard to apply discounts to your season ticket purchases, there are ways to reduce the cost.
We’ve seen Trainline promotions in the past where they offered discount codes specifically for season ticket purchases, with savings of as much as £15. Future flash sales and offers like this are probably your best bet if you want a discounted price on your season ticket.
3. Get a free Annual Gold Card or Gold Record Card
Rail travellers with an Annual Season Ticket or Annual Travelcard for London and the South of England can claim a free Annual Gold Card and save even more money on their travel.
This Gold Card will entitle you to a third off National Rail standard, First-Class Anytime and off-peak train fares for you and up to three other adults, as well as a third off off-peak pay-as-you-go fares and off-peak daily caps (as long as travel is within the Gold Card area).
You’ll also get 60% off children’s National Rail fares for up to four children when they travel with you, as well as a third off Off-Peak Day Travelcards.
And if all that wasn’t enough, you’ll also get the chance to buy a 16-25, Family & Friends, Senior, Two Together, Disabled Persons or Network Railcard for just £10. This can be for your own use, or somebody else’s.
All of these discounts are on top of the savings your season ticket or Travelcard will get you, which is pretty impressive.
How to get your Annual Gold Card
In order to qualify for your free Annual Gold Card, you’ll need to purchase an adult’s Annual Travelcard or an Annual Season Ticket for the eligible region. You can buy these at your local station or online.
If you’re buying an Annual Season Ticket, either your origin station or destination station must be within the Annual Gold Card area. Head over to the National Rail website for more information about which areas qualify for this offer.
You’ll need to add your Gold Card to your Oyster card by speaking to a member of staff at a station or Oyster ticket stop. This will entitle you to automatic discounts on your travel throughout London.
Money-saving tips for buying one-off tickets
If you don’t travel by train consistently enough to justify buying a Railcard or season ticket, there are still plenty of tricks you can use to find cheap train tickets.
Using a train ticket splitter service can make saving money feel effortless, and minding what ticket type you buy can also save you a surprising amount.
4. Split ticketing
Split ticketing is a very easy way to book cheap rail tickets online, whether you’re booking directly from your usual provider or through a designated fare splitter site.
Did you know?
Splitting your tickets doesn’t change your journey in any way. It’s simply a way of splitting your ticket so you’re paying for lots of smaller journeys, rather than one full one.
You won’t have any extra changes added to your journey. The only changes you’ll have to make are any that were declared on the original ticket.
A split ticketing tool like Split My Fare or Trainline’s SplitSave feature will break up your journey into sections.
We tried this out for ourselves with a single Avanti West Coast journey. With SplitSave, the journey was split up into an Advance Single from Birmingham New Street to Carlisle, and a second Advance Single from Carlisle to Glasgow Central.
You wouldn’t have to alight the train at Carlisle, however, it’s just the ticket you’re using will change once you pass through the station. Doing this would save you £31 (taking the total down to £41), which is excellent considering the minimal effort this trick requires.
We ran the same search through Split My Fare and found the exact same train journey with the same date and time.
The fare was almost the same as it was with Trainline, at £45.65 after a £26.35 reduction, but the way the ticket was split slightly differed. This fare was split into an Advance Single from Birmingham New Street to Oxenholme Lake District, and from Oxenholme to Glasgow Central.
The same journey was similarly priced on splitticketing.com and Tickety Split, where the former was charging £45.65 and the latter £47.20. However, both of these sites were considerably slower than Trainline and Split My Fare, especially on desktop.
We also looked at an evening train journey between Manchester Victoria and Newcastle to see how much money we could save buying tickets using the split ticketing method.
With a travel time of four hours, this journey has two changes (Wigan North Western and Carlisle). The ticket price was reduced by £37 thanks to Trainline’s SplitSave feature, taking the total down to £38.89.
Split ticketing can be done on both child and adult tickets, and even tickets bought with a Railcard, meaning you can make savings on top of savings.
And don’t worry, split ticketing is totally legitimate and legal; National Rail and Trainline permit rail travellers to do this in order to get the cheapest fares.
If you decide to go down the split ticketing route, it’s important you take into account the fees these sites charge. While some don’t charge booking fees, nearly all split ticketing sites (apart from Trainline) charge you a percentage of the amount you save.
This fee is usually 15% of your savings, so if you saved £5, you’d only actually get a £4.25 reduction on the price of your ticket. Make sure you weigh up the cost of your tickets with this 15% saving fee included, in case it’s not worth it.
There is a way to avoid paying split ticketing fees, which is to use these sites to find your split route, and then actually book your tickets via a fee-free site.
You’ll have to manually split them in order for this trick to work, so that means paying for your single tickets separately (for example, Birmingham New Street to Carlisle, then Carlisle to Glasgow Central).
However, split ticketing sites charge this small fee in order to keep the sites themselves running. So, if everyone stopped buying their tickets through them, the service would eventually cease to exist, which would mean no more savings.
How to split your tickets
If you’re booking through the Trainline app or website, their SplitSave feature will automatically find you the cheapest price, whether you’re booking in advance or for same-day travel.
All you have to do is search as normal and you’ll see the blue Save icon on the fares with SplitSave options. Trainline’s Journey Planner will always show you the cheapest fares that fit your search query, but you can choose whichever ticket option you like. Keep the booking fee in mind when you use Trainline, as it may cancel out some of the savings you make.
Split My Fare works in the same way, although split ticket options will be indicated with an orange SPLIT icon (and they never charge a booking fee).
Once you’ve chosen your preferred journey, you can then select your preferences on seat direction, type and position.
You can also request to be seated in a quiet coach or a seat with a power socket. Trainline has additional options, such as the chance to request a table seat or a seat near a toilet or a luggage rack.
Other sites with a split ticket feature include Raileasy, Trainpal and TrainSplit.
5. Single vs return tickets
Please note: while there are plans to scrap return tickets entirely, these changes haven't yet come into effect. We'll update this guide when they do.
Prices of single and return tickets will vary depending on location, as well as the date and time of travel. The assumption is generally that a return ticket will save you a bit of money compared to buying two standard single train fares.
We had a look at single and return ticket prices on trains to Manchester with Northern. If you were travelling from Warrington Central to Manchester Oxford Road and returning on the same day, two single tickets will most likely be more costly than an Anytime Day Return.
The cheapest single fare for travel between these two stations when we looked was £5.60 each way. This would make the cost of your return journey £11.20. However, book an Anytime Day Return and you’d pay £9.90 instead. This ticket is valid on the exact same trains that your two single tickets entitled you to but costs £1.30 less.
In other circumstances, the savings made when booking a return journey (compared to two singles) are much bigger. We found an off-peak same-day return journey from Newcastle to York for £34.09, whereas the single fares cost as much as £24.10 each.
However, don’t just assume Return tickets will be the cheapest. Sometimes there’s no difference between the price of two singles and one return, and sometimes a pair of singles may actually be the cheapest option.
We looked at a same-day return journey from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly. The outbound trip was priced at £41 and the return trip was £32. Added together, the two Singles cost £73.
While you might ordinarily expect a return ticket for the same trip to be cheaper, it was actually priced at £109, which is £35 higher.
Even more surprising was the price of an Anytime Return ticket. This ticket entitles the passenger to return at any time of day within one month of arriving but would cost a whopping £369.49. With single tickets starting from under £20, it makes no sense to fork out this much on a return.
With this in mind, make sure you always check your options before booking, in case you miss the cheapest train tickets.
When you book your tickets and when you travel matters
To improve your chances of finding cheap train tickets, you should try to book ahead and be flexible about when you travel if possible.
If you’re able to travel off-peak, you’ll increase your chances of finding the cheapest fares. As well as travelling at quieter times, booking early will get you access to cheaper advance fares compared to booking last minute.
6. The best times to travel
The times when off-peak and super off-peak services run are the best times to book cheap train tickets. Travelling when trains are at lower capacity gives you sizable rail travel discounts.
Off-peak train travel occurs at the quietest times of the day, as well as at weekends and on bank holidays. Tickets are often more expensive at peak times when people are commuting to and from work (first thing in the morning and after around 4pm).
Off-peak train tickets are generally available Monday to Friday for travel between 9.30am and 4pm and then again after 7pm.
You may also find you can book a Super Off-Peak ticket if you time it right, although timings can vary between operators.
Weekdays | Weekday evenings | Weekends and bank holidays | |
|---|---|---|---|
Off-Peak | 9.30am to 4pm | 7pm onwards | All day |
Off-Peak times:
Weekdays:
9.30am to 4pm
Weekday evenings:
7pm onwards
Weekends & bank holidays:
All day
These times vary between operators, but follow similar trends nationwide.
So, whether you’re travelling on a weekday or at the weekend, the time of your train journey will affect the price you pay.
If you do have a bit of flexibility when it comes to your travel plans, you can save money by travelling outside of peak times. Another advantage of this is that your trains will be quieter due to there being fewer passengers onboard.
7. Only pay peak prices for the parts of your journey that are peak
If your journey crosses over both peak and off-peak times, you can sometimes save money by splitting your journey to separate the off-peak part.
We tried this on an afternoon journey departing Leeds on a Monday just after 3pm and arriving at Birmingham New Street just after 5pm. Bought as a Standard Advance Single ticket, this journey costs £65.70.
However, if you break your ticket up into a single from Leeds to Derby (arriving at just gone 4.30pm) and then a further single from Derby to Birmingham, the price is reduced to £39.20.
These split train tickets make no change to your actual journey and you won’t need to switch trains at any point, so you’ve just saved over £20 in a matter of clicks.
8. The best times to book
Generally speaking, the closer to your travel time it gets, the more expensive your tickets will be. In other words, booking early increases your chances of finding cheap train fares.
Advance tickets can be booked up to 12 weeks before travel, which is the optimum time to book train tickets if you want to get the best deal. In fact, according to Trainline, passengers who book Advance tickets can enjoy average savings of as much as 61%.
To keep on top of future train times and ticket availability, you can sign up to Trainline’s Advance Ticket Alert tool. This tool will keep you clued up on the best times to buy cheap train tickets by sending you email updates about your route.
Trainline also have Last Minute Tickets available on certain trains. Rarely, they will have advance tickets for sale up until 15 minutes before departure. Their journey planner will display these cheaper tickets, but there’s no guarantee. Keep an eye out if you’ve got flexible travel plans and you might score some last-minute cheap train tickets.
It’s also worth remembering that buying two Advance Single tickets can sometimes get cheaper train tickets than booking a return, so make sure you check all ticket types for your chosen dates.
Advance booking also means you can reserve your seat on the train nice and early (and it’s always a nice feeling knowing you have a reserved seat for a long journey).
Use the nifty Price Prediction tool in the Trainline app to get the best price on your upcoming UK rail journeys. This tool is designed to let customers know when the price of Advance tickets might rise, based on past price changes.
9. Take advantage of flash sales to find the cheapest train tickets
In January 2024, most of the biggest train companies in England participated in the first-ever Great British Rail Sale.
Operators were offering discounts of up to 50% on off-peak train tickets, so big savings were up for grabs. There were also similar initiatives run by Transport for Wales and ScotRail.
The cost of living crisis is ongoing, despite the recent fall in inflation. While the Great British Rail Sale has only happened once, we’d love to see more flash sales happen soon.
Many operators regularly run their own sales too, so keep an eye on your rail company for sales where you can bag some cheap train tickets.
Where you book your train tickets is important too
If you want to avoid paying extra fees, you’ll need to be smart about where you go to buy train tickets. Knowing which booking sites charge a fee when you buy through them can help you shop smarter and ultimately travel cheaper.
You can also save yourself some extra cash by going through a cashback site like TopCashback, where you can earn money simply by booking your tickets via us. Keep reading to discover how this works.
10. Avoid paying the booking fee
Booking sites can be quick and convenient but they sometimes charge a booking fee. This is obviously not ideal if you’re looking to reduce your spending.
Trainline, for example, charge booking fees on most tickets, so we’d recommend avoiding them if you don’t want to pay extra. If you’re booking tickets for same-day travel, you probably won’t be charged, but Advance tickets often have a booking fee added on.
If you book your ticket online directly through the relevant train company’s website, you can usually avoid paying any booking fees. Below is a list of just some of the UK’s fee-free train operators:
- Avanti West Coast
- East Midlands Railway
- Greater Anglia
- London North Eastern Railway
- Chiltern Railways
- Grand Central Rail
- Great Northern Rail
- South Western Railway
Some split ticketing sites like Split My Fare are booking fee-free too. And, of course, you could pay for your train tickets in person at your local station and avoid paying the booking fee that way.
11. Get cashback on your tickets and railcards
Wondering how to get cashback on train ticket booking transactions? Well, TopCashback are here to help.
All you have to do is log in to your account (or sign up if you haven’t already), then visit your train provider's brand page on the TopCashback site. Follow the link through to the provider's site, and then just shop as normal. Savings on top of savings? We love to see it.
In fact, you can earn £15 cashback when you join TopCashback by clicking the green button below and spend £15 or more with any one of our retailers. This means you could treat yourself to a Railcard, earn cashback on your purchase, and a £15 cashback bonus.
Get £15 cashback for joining TopCashback
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Spend £15+ at eBay, Amazon, ASOS or any of 5,000+ brands to get £15 back
It's really simple: our site takes just 30 seconds when you buy online.
You do the shopping, we'll track your purchase, and then you'll get cashback in your account to withdraw to your bank or as a gift card.
Here's how to get your £15 offer;
- Click: Click the green button
- Join: Create an account
- Shop: Browse brands on our site
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How does TopCashback benefit? We make money when you buy from supported brands, which allows us to offer cashback with no hidden fees.
Other money-saving tips for train tickets
The question of how to get cheap train travel is a complicated one. Even besides reliable, everyday money-saving hacks for every trip, there are some specific things you can do to cut down on costs.
These tips depend on how many of you are travelling together, where you’re travelling to and whether you’re hoping to bag any extras for a bargain.
12. How to get cheap first-class train tickets
If you’re booking train tickets for a longer journey, you should always check the first-class ticket option before you buy your tickets. It’s not common, but sometimes first-class train tickets are actually cheaper than a standard ticket on the same train.
When a first-class ticket is pricier than a standard ticket (which will be most of the time) it’s often cheaper to buy a standard-class ticket and then upgrade it to first-class nearer the time.
And don’t forget, if you’re a Railcard holder, you can get a third off the price of first-class tickets too, not just standard tickets.
Use the Seatfrog app to bid on cheap upgrades
The Seatfrog app is a great way to find cheap first-class train ticket upgrades. With this app, you bid on seat upgrades in online auctions and you could get a really great deal.
Whether you’re travelling to Cardiff with GWR or heading to Edinburgh on a Caledonian Sleeper, upgrade bids start from £10.
All you need to do is book your standard-class ticket as usual via the train operator or a third-party site like Trainline.
You can then head over to the Seatfrog app (which is available to download for free on the App Store and Google Play).
The auction for first-class upgrades on your journey will run until just 30 minutes before your train leaves, or you can select their Buy It Now option to guarantee your upgrade for a set price.
Seatfrog discount tickets are also available for groups travelling together.
Their group bidding feature allows you to access last-minute seat upgrades when you travel with family or friends too.
Weigh up the pros and cons of paying for first class tickets
Some train companies offer first-class ticket holders complimentary food and drink, which sometimes includes alcoholic beverages too.
You may even get to enjoy a complimentary three-course meal, cooked by a chef and made fresh to order. This will depend on which company you’re travelling with and the specific service you travel on.
If the train you’re travelling on offers free extras like this, it can be worth upgrading your ticket if you think you’d spend that amount of money on food and drink anyway. At least you’ll be spending the same amount of money but you’ll get to sit in first class (and potentially eat some nicer food).
Check out Weekend First upgrades
Some train companies offer first-class ticket upgrades at a discounted price on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays.
These upgrades are often referred to as Weekend First upgrades and are offered by East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Railway, GWR, South Western Railway, TransPennine Express, Southern Railway, and others.
13. Get cheap tickets with Avanti Superfare
If you aren’t too picky about the exact time you travel, buying an Avanti Superfare ticket is a great way to save some cash on your next train journey.
Avanti Superfare (powered by Seatfrog) aims to fill empty seats on their trains to and from London by offering cheap single train tickets for travellers willing to be flexible.
Simply book at least seven days (and up to 56 days) before you travel, select how many seats you want (you can book up to nine) and what time of day you’d prefer to travel. You’ll be sent your ticket 24 hours before travel at a super low price.
When we last checked, you could travel from London to Manchester for £20 or from London to Birmingham for just £9. Avanti Superfare tickets are subject to availability, location-dependent and are non-refundable and non-exchangeable once purchased.
However, if the timings work for you, they can be a great, cost-effective way to travel to a different town or city without the big price tag.
14. Get a GroupSave discount when you travel as a group
If you’re travelling in a group of three to nine adults, you can get a 33% discount on off-peak train tickets from a wide range of rail companies.
Participating companies include c2c, Chiltern Railways, Great Northern, GWR, South Western Railway, Southern Railway, South-Eastern, and West Midlands Railway.
The good news is you don’t need to own a Railcard in order to enjoy this GroupSave discount.
There are, however, a few conditions to GroupSave tickets. The offer is only available for groups of adults and you can’t combine it with any other discounts. You also need to make sure all members of your group are always travelling together in order for your GroupSave discount to be valid.
Make sure you check the available GroupSave train times with your train operator too, as there will be some services that aren’t included in this deal.
15. Get discounts on Eurostar travel
You can book in advance and save money on your Eurostar tickets, just as you can with ordinary train tickets. In fact, most Eurostar tickets can be booked up to 330 days before departure.
If you regularly travel with Eurostar, you could join their membership scheme and earn rewards for the money you spend on your trips. Club Eurostar rewards members with 1.2 points for every £1 spent on Eurostar travel. You can use your points to save money on future trips.
If you do a lot of European travel, you might want to consider buying an InterRail Pass. The InterRail Global Pass can also be used to travel on Eurostar, but One Country Passes can’t.
You might be able to find a student discount if you’re lucky too. Large groups of travellers can also get in touch with Eurostar for an individual quote.
16. Get 2-for-1 entry to UK attractions when you travel by rail
Did you know you can get 2-for-1 entry to a wide range of the UK’s biggest and best tourist attractions, just by booking a train ticket? The list of attractions participating in this deal includes, but isn't limited to the following:
- Thorpe Park Resort
- Cadbury World
- LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort
- SEA LIFE
- London Eye
- Chessington World of Adventures Resort
- Madame Tussauds
- The London Dungeon
- Tower Bridge
- Wembley Stadium
- The Bear Grylls Adventure
- Liverpool Football Club Stadium Tour & Museum
How it works
All you need to do is buy one of the following types of tickets. Then you can download your promo code to receive a 2-for-1 discount at any of the attractions at your chosen destination.
Valid ticket types:
- Advance tickets (National Rail)
- Off-Peak tickets (National Rail)
- Stansted Express tickets (National Rail)
- Travelcards (purchased from a National Rail station)
- Season Tickets
- National Rail train company issued smartcards
- Anytime tickets (National Rail)
- Rail Staff Leisure Card
- Gatwick Express tickets (National Rail)
- eTickets showing the National Rail logo
- Annual Gold Card
- BritRail passes (depending on the attraction)
If your journey is one-way or you’re returning on the same day you arrive, this offer will only be available to use on the day of travel itself.
If you’re staying for more than one day before returning, the offer will be available to use on any day during your visit. So, if you book a return ticket to London and are staying from Monday to Wednesday, you can use your voucher to gain 2-for-1 access to your desired attraction on either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.
You can even visit multiple attractions with just one train ticket, as long as you’re visiting on the days your ticket is valid.
Once you’ve purchased your National Rail tickets as normal (remember, only the ticket types mentioned in the list above will be valid), you’ll need to head over to National Rail’s Days Out Guide.
Click on the attraction you want to visit and then fill out the Journey Details box. You’ll then need to register for an account or log in if you have an account already.
The site will then generate a promo code. Copy and paste this into the promo code option at the booking checkout on the attraction’s own website.
We tried this trick for a few different attractions and had mixed success.
The 2-for-1 deal worked for the Paddington Bear Walking Tour of London, Edinburgh Dungeon and Warwick Castle. However, the Tower Bridge site rejected the discount code National Rail gave us and the code for Cadbury World only entitled us to a 20% discount.
It might be a little touch and go, but a discount is a discount. What’s the harm if you’re booking train tickets anyway?
17. Take your own food and drink onboard
If your journey is quite long, it can be tempting to take advantage of onboard food and drink services for an energy boost. While these are very convenient, this convenience comes at a price.
You don’t have to deny yourself a treat. If you want to save money, however, you could buy your drinks and snacks from somewhere that won’t charge you quite so much. This could be a shop in the train station (why not buy a Boots meal deal and earn Advantage points on your purchase too?) or somewhere near your home before you start your journey.
Even better, bring your own drinks and snacks from home. You could brew your coffee or tea beforehand and store it in a flask to keep it hot. Why not make your own sandwiches if you think you’re going to get peckish?
Knowing when you’re entitled to a refund
Sometimes travel doesn’t go to plan and trains can be delayed or cancelled at short notice. It can be frustrating and disruptive to our plans, but luckily you can claim compensation for the inconvenience.
Whether you’re entitled to a refund (and how much you’ll be refunded) depends on how long the train was delayed for and/or whether the service was cancelled entirely.
18. Ticket refunds on delayed trains
Every train company will have some type of Delay Repay policy where you can get a partial or full refund for delayed travel.
Generally speaking, you should be able to get at least some of your total ticket price refunded if your journey is delayed by 15 minutes or more. However, some rail operators don’t pay out unless the delays exceed 30 minutes and sometimes even an hour.
See the following table for Delay Repay policies of the operators below.
- Avanti West Coast
- c2c
- Chiltern Railways
- East Midlands Railway
- Gatwick Express
- Greater Anglia
- Great Northern Rail
- Great Western Railway
- Island Line
- London Northwestern Railway
- Northern
- Southeastern Railway
- Southern Railway
- South Western Railway
- Stansted Express
- Thameslink
- TransPennine Express
- Transport for Wales
- West Midlands Railway
Delay | Singles | Returns |
|---|---|---|
15+ mins | 25% | 12.5% |
30+ mins | 50% | 25% |
60+ mins | 100% | 50% |
120+ mins | 100% | 100% |
See the following table for Delay Repay policies of the operators below.
- Caledonian Sleeper
- CrossCountry
- Hull Trains
- London North Eastern Railway
- Lumo
- ScotRail
Delay | Singles | Returns |
|---|---|---|
15+ mins | N/A | N/A |
30+ mins | 50% | 25% |
60+ mins | 100% | 50% |
120+ mins | 100% | 100% |
See the following table for Delay Repay policy for Eurostar. Please note that the percentages in the table refer to the percentage of the affected leg of the Eurostar journey.
Delay | Cash | E-voucher |
|---|---|---|
<60 mins | N/A | N/A |
60+ mins | 25% | 30% |
120+ mins | 50% | 60% |
180+ mins | 50% | 75% |
Delay Repay policies for other operators
For information about Transport for London Delay Repay (which includes Elizabeth Line, Overground and Underground), visit the TfL website.
If you're travelling with Grand Central Rail, Merseyrail or Heathrow Express, you'll need to check the website of your operator for more details on their Delay Repay policy.
What to do if your train is delayed
The first thing to do if you need to make a Delay Repay claim is to check if you’re eligible to claim. You can use the table above or search for your individual train operator’s policy online.
As a basic rule, if any train you’re travelling on gets delayed by more than 15 minutes (meaning you arrive at your destination more than 15 minutes later than you should have), you should check to see if you can make a claim.
If your delayed train meets the criteria for a partial or full refund, you’ll need to visit the operator’s website to make your claim.
You’ll then have to answer a few questions about which train you were travelling on, as well as provide evidence that you paid for that journey (e.g. an e-ticket receipt or a photo of your physical receipt).
A quick note…
If you don’t take a particular train journey due to disruption that’s out of your control, you should claim a refund for the unused ticket rather than make a Delay Repay claim.
If you travel using a season ticket (or a smart ticketing card like a Swift Card), you can still claim compensation for delayed services. Most operators will offer you a percentage refund of your daily travel cost.
This is usually 12.5% of your daily travel cost if your delay was 15-29 minutes, 25% if your delay was between 30 and 59 minutes and 50% if your delay was between one and two hours. A delay of more than two hours will be compensated by a 100% refund of your daily travel cost.
Please note that these figures will vary depending on which operator you’re travelling with.
How to prepare for future train delays
Some train operators offer Automatic Delay Repay services where customers can sign up to get automatic alerts when their journeys are delayed. Avanti West Coast, GWR, LNER, Southern Rail and South Western Railway are just a few of the train companies offering this automated service.
Once you’ve signed up to the relevant Automatic Delay Repay scheme, you’ll receive emails within 48 hours of any delayed journeys occurring. These emails will contain a link that will take you to a page where you can confirm your repayment claim.
19. Ticket refunds on cancelled trains
If your train is cancelled, your ticket will most likely still be valid on the next available service. However, exceptions do apply, such as if the next available service is under a different operator.
If you don’t travel using your ticket at all as a result of a train cancellation, you will be entitled to a full refund.
Refunds of tickets bought directly from the operator will need to be requested via that operator’s website.
Most operators will refund the value of your tickets straight to your bank account, although some operators may offer your refund in the form of a National Rail Travel Voucher. Some services may also charge an admin fee to refund your tickets.
Just like with delayed services, you can claim compensation for cancelled trains if you have a season ticket or a smart ticketing card. Most operators will offer you a percentage refund of your daily travel cost.
A quick note…
If the operator arranges alternative transport such as a rail replacement bus, you probably won’t be able to claim a refund. This is because the provider did offer you an alternative option to the cancelled service.
However, if this replacement service is delayed, you may still be eligible to claim Delay Repay compensation.
Claiming a refund via Trainline
If you booked your ticket via the Trainline app or website, you’ll need to log in to your account and then head over to the My Bookings page. Select the booking where the train was cancelled and you can refund your tickets from there.
When claiming a refund via Trainline for an unused ticket, bear in mind that you will be charged an admin fee. This can be as much as £5 per ticket, depending on the price of the ticket itself. As you can see from the table of charges below, you’ll lose up to 77% of the value of the ticket.
Ticket value | Refund/exchange fee |
|---|---|
Up to £1.99 | Nothing |
£2 — £2.99 | £1 |
£3 — £3.99 | £1.50 |
£4 — £4.99 | £2 |
£5 — £5.99 | £3 |
£6 — £6.99 | £4 |
£7 — £7.99 | £5 |
What refund/exchange fee you'll pay based on the price of your ticket:
Up to £1.99 = No fee
£2-£2.99 = £1
£3-£3.99 = £1.50
£5-£5.99 = £3
£6-£6.99 = £4
£7-£7.99 = £5
You should keep these refund admin fees in mind when deciding where to buy your train tickets from. While you may be able to contact Trainline’s customer service team directly to see if they can waive the admin fee, there’s no guarantee they’ll do this.
20. Ticket refunds on overcrowded trains
If you decide not to travel due to a train being overcrowded, you can get a ticket refund from your train operator.
If you do still travel but have to take a later train, you may be able to use the Delay Repay scheme to claim compensation. Check the Delay Repay table above or check your train operator’s website to see if you’re able to claim.
If you do travel on your intended train and have paid a reservation fee for a particular seat but are unable to find a seat at all, you may be able to claim a partial or full refund. Again, this will likely depend on which train operator you’re travelling with.
Rail against high ticket prices
Hopefully you’ve now got a good idea of where to start saving money on train tickets. Whether you’re planning to invest in a Railcard or Annual Season Ticket, or just want to get savvier at finding cheap fares, these tips should help.
Travelling by train can sometimes be an expensive option, but there are always ways to bring down the costs. If you’re buying train tickets online, make sure to keep an eye on booking and admin fees, and don’t forget to check your compensation rights if your train is delayed or cancelled.
Never assume that any one ticket type will be the cheapest option, as prices can vary, and it’s always worth considering splitting your tickets to make some easy savings.
Wherever you’re off to, we hope you manage to make some great ticketing savings.
Do you have any of your own tricks for snapping up cheap tickets? Let us know in the comments if there’s anything we’ve missed.