Cheaper train tickets

tomparker95 · 25 Aug 2013 at 13:12

How can I get cheaper train tickets? Return from Brighton Norwich is £44 and that just seems excessive! How can I save abit of money on this? any help please

Glaucus · 25 Aug 2013 at 13:13

Go on trainline and then scroll through the times and see what prices you get and book in advance.

bsoltan · 25 Aug 2013 at 13:19

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets

The other trick is to book shorter journeys on the same route, more hassle but sometimes comes up cheaper.

tom_e · 25 Aug 2013 at 13:26

Get a young person railcard

Participant · 25 Aug 2013 at 13:32

Seems excessive alright; excessively cheap if you ask me! It's a long way.

Skillmister · 25 Aug 2013 at 13:36

Glaucus said:
Go on trainline and then scroll through the times and see what prices you get and book in advance.

Doesn't make a difference for the majority of journeys.

[TW]Fox · 25 Aug 2013 at 13:41

44 quid sounds excellent for a return journey of that length.

[TW]Fox · 25 Aug 2013 at 13:43

Glaucus said:
Go on trainline and then scroll through the times and see what prices you get and book in advance.

Never, ever use thetrainline. They offer exactly the same tickets as everyone else but charge a booking fee which most sites do not. If you like thetrainline interface simply pick a TOC which uses thetrainline as their backend and get the same interface with no booking fee.

TaKeN · 25 Aug 2013 at 13:43

I like trains!

davestar_delux · 25 Aug 2013 at 13:54

The man in Seat 61 has all the advice you need. It seems a good price to me but you could save a couple quid booking fees if you use the Virgin website.

delta0 · 25 Aug 2013 at 15:01

Advance tickets are good. Need to book 1 to 2 months in advance to get the cheapest ones.

Trothy · 25 Aug 2013 at 15:01

[TW]Fox;24827316 said:
Never, ever use thetrainline. They offer exactly the same tickets as everyone else but charge a booking fee which most sites do not. If you like thetrainline interface simply pick a TOC which uses thetrainline as their backend and get the same interface with no booking fee.

There is an exception to this rule. If you want to pay using paypal (useful in some circumstances) as they're the only booking engine that allows it I think.

Theophany · 25 Aug 2013 at 15:03

[TW]Fox;24827316 said:
Never, ever use thetrainline. They offer exactly the same tickets as everyone else but charge a booking fee which most sites do not. If you like thetrainline interface simply pick a TOC which uses thetrainline as their backend and get the same interface with no booking fee.

This tbh. I only ever use the Trainline if I'm feeling lazy and the tab is being picked up by my employer. TL are absolute shysters.

KIA · 25 Aug 2013 at 15:21

Coach?

Schizo · 25 Aug 2013 at 15:26

Thats cheap,it cost me £32 from ipswich to southend.

Now pay the man his money and move on

Lethal` · 25 Aug 2013 at 16:16

Prices do seem a bit ridiculous when you consider it's cheaper to get from London -> Brussels, Paris etc on the Eurostar.

[TW]Fox · 25 Aug 2013 at 16:19

Lethal` said:
Pricequiddo seem a bit ridiculous when you consider it's cheaper to get from London -> Brussels, Paris etc on the Eurostar.

Except of course it's not 44 quid return to Paris by Eurostar.

dpbadger · 25 Aug 2013 at 16:21

This site looks at all the different train companies then takes you to the cheapest.
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
I just use east coast as I mainly travel on that line but I can book all other train tickets through them but still get the reward points.

Hyburnate · 25 Aug 2013 at 16:23

That's not too bad, it costs me £15 to get to London return. But I have a railcard.

Edit: OP How can you think that's excessive, it'd cost your more than that in fuel for one way

[TW]Fox · 25 Aug 2013 at 16:26

dpbadger said:
This site looks at all the different train companies then takes you to the cheapest.
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
I just use east coast as I mainly travel on that line but I can book all other train tickets through them but still get the reward points.

It doesn't take you to the cheapest it randomly picks one as they all sell the same tickets at the same price. The only exception is when operators sometimes offer a promotion on tickets they price themselves, but the nationalrail site cant take that into account anyway.