5 UK Train Ticket Secrets That Will Save You Money

Alyssa Hollingsworth | February 1, 2016

5. Other Secrets (Not That Secret)

Travel will be more expensive during peak times (aka rush hour), and you cannot travel on a peak train with an off-peak ticket. (If you’re caught, you’ll pay the cost of a new ticket and a fee. Unless the conductors are unusually nice and you’ve been traveling from Germany since 4AM and you almost cry when you find out you’re on the wrong train. Not that that’s happened to me.)

Off-peak trains are cheaper and less crowded. TrainLine has a handy feature to help you find off-peak train times.

There are a few types of tickets other than advanced that you may want to know about:

Anytime or off-peak day return: Return at any time (or only on off-peak trains) on the same day you use your ticket.
Anytime return: Both ends of your journey are paid for, but you don’t have to take your return journey until up to 28 days after you travel out.
Off-peak return: Same as above, except you can only return on an off-peak train.
Super off-peak return: Same as above, except you have to return on super off-peak trains.

These last three return tickets are great if you are going for a short stint somewhere else but don’t want to be tied down to days/times of travel (as you would be with an advance ticket).

Alyssa Hollingsworth / Own Work

For instance, if you’re in London but want to do a couple of days in Oxford: You can buy an off-peak return ticket for £27 instead of two singles for £50. Make sure it’s not a day return when you buy it. Then you just travel back within 28 days!

Need more detail? TrainLine has an extensive and fantastic FAQ with some really helpful information about ticket types. It might be worth a short perusal as you plan your trip.

However you choose you travel, just know—there are plenty of ways to save!

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