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Jimmy1983

Jimmy1983

Jimmy1983

Soldato
Joined
1 Mar 2007
Posts
4,795
Location
Portsmouth
Iam after some advice from you lot, I may need to book two separate train trips, one to Waterloo well Tower Bridge or Greenwich return. I guess Waterloo would be closest. The other a single from Manchester to Cosham.

I live about a mile away from Cosham station in Portsmouth.


Do you think it would be worth while buying a rail card? How much discount do you get? Is national rail enquiries the best site to use? If you buy from NRE do you just print of your ticket?

Appreciate any advice :)
 
Ok here's the deal:

If you're aged under 26 (as your profile suggests) you can get a young person's railcard, this gives 1/3 off assuming you're not travelling at peak hours, there may be a min spend also. It probably still costs £20 so basically if you spend more than £60 on train tickets over the next year you will save money.

There are other railcards available but given your age that's the one to go for. I reckon it's worth it if you think you're likely to do much train travel over the next year or so.

One key point is that when booking single tickets, BOOK EARLY! Advance tickets can give you huge savings, e.g. I just checked Manchester->Cosham for around 6 weeks time and that came in at £16.50 advance fare, but roll up on the day and you will be rooked for £86.50. The downside is of course that you are tied down to a specific train time.

Also take a look at www.megatrain.com for even cheaper advance fares on selected routes, might help for your London trip if you travelled from one of the main Pompey stations rather than Cosham.

Regarding online ticket purchases, I buy through the FGW website, and can choose to either have them posted, or go and collect them from a ticket machine.
 
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Be aware that a significant limitation of the YP Railcard is that it won't allow discounted First Class fares, or at least it never used to.
 
HangTime said:
Ok here's the deal:

If you're aged under 26 (as your profile suggests) you can get a young person's railcard, this gives 1/3 off assuming you're not travelling at peak hours, there may be a min spend also. It probably still costs £20 so basically if you spend more than £60 on train tickets over the next year you will save money.

There are other railcards available but given your age that's the one to go for. I reckon it's worth it if you think you're likely to do much train travel over the next year or so.

One key point is that when booking single tickets, BOOK EARLY! Advance tickets can give you huge savings, e.g. I just checked Manchester->Cosham for around 6 weeks time and that came in at £16.50 advance fare, but roll up on the day and you will be rooked for £86.50. The downside is of course that you are tied down to a specific train time.

Also take a look at www.megatrain.com for even cheaper advance fares on selected routes, might help for your London trip if you travelled from one of the main Pompey stations rather than Cosham.

Regarding online ticket purchases, I buy through the FGW website, and can choose to either have them posted, or go and collect them from a ticket machine.
Click to expand...

Thanks, yer iam 26 in Nov. Hardly go on any trains but yeah it will propably be worth it for £20.

Looking at megatrain they are not very relaxable unfortunately for either journey. But thanks, bookmarked.

FGW are giving me the same price as NRE. Where did you find Manc-Cosham for 16.50?

Do you just scan your card at a ticket machine and the ticket machine prints it off?

[TW]Fox;13859196 said:
Be aware that a significant limitation of the YP Railcard is that it won't allow discounted First Class fares, or at least it never used to.
Click to expand...

Thanks but I wont be using first class.
 
Yep all the train operators should charge the same, I just use FGW because I have some £5 off codes :)

As I said I picked around 5-6 weeks ahead during non-peak hours to get MAN-CSA @ £16.50, if you're travelling soon you'll likely have to pay more.

Regarding the collecting at a ticket machine, you swipe your card and key in a code that gets emailed to you so it knows what ticket you want printed. Be warned though, you have to specify a specific station to collect from and not all stations are on there.
 
[TW]Fox;13859196 said:
Be aware that a significant limitation of the YP Railcard is that it won't allow discounted First Class fares, or at least it never used to.
Click to expand...

That's changed now, I've traveled first a couple of times using my YP card.
 
HangTime said:
Yep all the train operators should charge the same, I just use FGW because I have some £5 off codes :)

As I said I picked around 5-6 weeks ahead during non-peak hours to get MAN-CSA @ £16.50, if you're travelling soon you'll likely have to pay more.

Regarding the collecting at a ticket machine, you swipe your card and key in a code that gets emailed to you so it knows what ticket you want printed. Be warned though, you have to specify a specific station to collect from and not all stations are on there.
Click to expand...

Ok cool, care to share these money off codes?

Will be travelling from MAN-CSA on the 3rd of May.
 
http://www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com/ is better than thetrainline because they post your tickets for free and don't charge any booking or card processing fees. Despite the name they sell the same tickets as the other sites, not just the east coast line.

What is the start and end destinations and time/date? We can try and see what the best price is, splitting the journey can sometimes reduce the cost as well.
 
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I think I read on here prevoiusly that it was possiable to buy a 3 year YP card aslong as your a day under 26-can anyone confirm this?
 
[TW]Fox;15024831 said:
Jimmy1983 said:
As I thought, will I be able to still qualify for a years one bare in mind that my 26th is next month
Click to expand...
No.
Click to expand...
Incorrect. From the horse's mouth:

What happens if I have my 26th birthday before my Railcard runs out?

You can buy or renew your 1-year 16-25 Railcard up to and including the day before your 26th birthday, and your 3-year Railcard up until the day before your 24th birthday - and keep using it until its expiry date. So, even if you turn 26 while your Railcard is valid, you can still make huge savings.
Click to expand...

— http://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/buy-16-25-railcard/faqs/eligibility
 
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