Rail users should book their tickets now to visit loved ones over the festive season. Failure to do so could result in them facing much higher costs in tickets for their destination.
Train strikes may have been scaled back for now – but unless mostly Christmas travellers book an ‘advance’ ticket in the next few days they could pay up to ten times as much for exactly the same seat if they wait until the day of travel to make a purchase.
With ‘essential engineering and railway improvement work’ planned between December 23 and January 3, fewer services will be running – meaning cheaper advance tickets are soon gonna run out. Even delaying a purchase by a week could result in ticket costs doubling.
In some cases, it will be a bit cheaper to book a first-class ticket in advance rather than paying for a standard ticket on the day.
Train travellers, are already contused by recent strikes and pared-back services on non-strike days, should also consider ‘splitticketing’ – for example, where two tickets are purchased for specific legs of one journey, resulting in a cheaper overall fare.
Websites like as TrainSplit and Split Ticketing will calculate potential savings while ticketing website Trainline will show split ticketing prices if they are cheaper. Trainline imposes a £1.50 booking fee.
The National Rail Enquiries website also offers details of advance ticket discounts as well as other special deals through its ‘cheap fair finder’ tool.
You can also, check the website of the train company you are travelling on for special offers.
Another good way is of cutting the cost of train travel is to purchase a railcard. These cost £30 a year and can knock a third off the price of an off-peak ticket – for those travelling after 9.30am.
Offers include a 16 to 25 Railcard, a 26 to 30 Railcard, a Senior Railcard for those aged 60 and over – and a Two Together Railcard for two named people.
Families can also opt for a Family & Friends Railcard that allows up to a third off the standard price of a ticket for up to four adults and half price for children up to the age 15.
Travelling by train is not getting cheaper. Standard fares have risen by an average 4.8 per cent this year and will soar again in March with yet-to-be-decided hikes.
- Swiss regulators stress the importance of regulating digital currencies.
- Over 100 Twitter employees layed off from Slack for not responding to Elon Musk’s email
- Republicans Are Breaking With the N.R.A., and It’s Because of US
- How We Can Manage Our Co-workers overbearing behavior?
- Trump in trouble: Republican support for his 2024 bid falls amid political, legal setbacks