Save on fares and railcards.
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Ticket discounts
Some regular offers will get you money off your train ticket, and we’ll share the best here. You can also read our guide to the best train ticket booking apps.
LNER: ÂŁ5 credit
Sign up to LNER’s Perks scheme and you’ll get £5 credit. You can use this for bookings made on the app. You’ll also be able to earn 2% credit back on bookings. The credit can only be spent on LNER journeys.
TrainPal: ÂŁ3 credit
Sign up to the TrainPal app with the code acf0edfd to get ÂŁ3 credit to use on tickets. This will be in the form of a ÂŁ1 off ÂŁ15 or more ticket and ÂŁ2 off ÂŁ35. You can only use one credit per ticket purchase and it will expire after two weeks.
Uber: Book your train with Uber and get 10% back in Uber Credits
Uber now lets you buy train, coach and Eurostar tickets through its app. You can also book flights, but that’s not part of this offer.
If you use the app to buy a train, coach or Eurostar ticket on or before 31 August 2024, you’ll get 10% of the booking value back as Uber Credits.
You need to use the credits within six months, and they can be applied to both journeys and towards Uber Eats orders.Â
In addition, if you buy an Uber gift card using a cashback app, you could get further cashback on the purchase (we’ve seen 3-4%).
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Ticket sales
Flash sales and offers run throughout the year on different rail networks here in the UK and sometimes overseas too.
Eurostar: ÂŁ78 returns & 5% off
You can book return fares from London to Paris, Brussels, Lille or Rotterdam for ÂŁ39 each way, making a return possible for just ÂŁ78. This seems to be a regular offer, with the viable travel dates extending every few months. Limited availability at weekends and there are some excluded dates. While reduced fares last.
The code EURO5 will also save you 5% if you book via the Trainpal app.
Great British Rail Sale: up to 50% off tickets (ended)
Until 29 January 2024, you can buy advance train tickets for up to 50% off.
The tickets must be booked at least seven days in advance and be for travel between 30 January and 15 March (inclusive). There are some train strikes between 30 January and 5 February, so look out for restrictions here.
Not all routes are available, but it’s certainly worth a look if you have any planned getaways.
There are more than a million tickets available, and this will run until they’re all sold or on 29 January 2024, whichever comes first.
TransPennine: ÂŁ1 tickets (ended)
You can currently get TransPennine Express Advance Purchase tickets for ÂŁ1, or 50p for children if you book to travel between 22 January and March 2024. This excludes journeys between 29 January and 6 February due to industrial action.
This offer ends on 19 January 2024 and you can only get 4 return journeys or 8 one-way journeys.
You’ll need the code SALE when you make your booking and you have to buy a journey that is fully operated by TransPennine Express
Northern Railway: ÂŁ1 tickets (expired)
From 3 January 2024, Northern Railway is launching 5m £1 train tickets across its network. You’ll be able to see the promotional routes here, where the tickets will cost £1 for adults and 50p for children. The promotion is valid for travel between 10 January and 1 March 2024 inclusive and does not include return tickets (so you’ll need two singles to carry out a return.)
You’ll have to book these tickets in advance, can’t use a railcard and you’ll have to travel on the set time and date on your ticket. You also can’t get a refund on your tickets unless industrial action is announced.
There’s no set end date, but there’s 5m tickets, so this deal will end when they run out.
Trainline: ÂŁ15 off selected Season tickets (expired)
You can get ÂŁ15 off of selected Season tickets when buy one via the Trainline app.Â
To save you’ll just need to enter the code GREAT15 at the checkout.Â
This deal can be used for Flexi, Weekly and Monthly season tickets in the UK which cost ÂŁ40 or more. (Annual tickets are excluded).Â
You can’t stack this deal with any other offers and must purchase a qualifying Season ticket before 23:59 BST on 4 October 2023.Â
Railcard offers
Rail cards are valid for 12 months and should save you a third on most fares if you fit the criteria. You’ll also soon be able to have a digital version of your card on your phone. Most will cost you £30.
Railcards include:
- Friends & Family Railcard
- 16-17 Saver (from 20th August)
- 18-25Â Railcard
- 26-30 Railcard
- NetworkRailcard (South East trains only)
- Disabled Persons Railcard
- Senior Railcard
- Two Together Railcard
Offers to save more run regularly through the year, and I’ll update here if I spot any.
Railcard for ÂŁ5.99 when you book a hotel
If you book a hotel with Trip.com, you can get an annual Railcard for just ÂŁ5.99, saving you ÂŁ24 on the card if you need to book a hotel anyway. You have to make the booking and finish your stay within 30 days of buying the Railcard.
If you can find a room for £24 or less, you could book yourself a night away just for the discount, though there are often other discounts available. We compared the booking costs with other websites and it doesn’t seem like you’d be paying any more by using Trip.com.
We considered whether you could book one of the £2 hotels abroad that it has available and simply never check-in, but with the T&Cs stating “if you don’t book a hotel and complete check-out within the specified time period, the system will automatically charge your account for the task discounted amount on the booking”, we can only assume this means it wouldn’t be possible. If you try it, let us know!
Tesco Clubcard: 50% off railcards
You can get any railcard for half of the price if you have Tesco Clubcard points. You need ÂŁ15 worth of points to get this or any other railcard in full, though you can part pay with vouchers.
Trainline: 20% off student and graduate Railcards
Trainline has teamed up with Student Beans to offer 20% off Railcards for students and travellers who have graduated within the last five years.
To get the discount you’ll need to:
1. Verify as a student with Student Beans.Â
2. Get your discount code from Student Beans.
3. Use your code at checkout.
This offer can’t be stacked with another deal.
Trainline: 30% off any Railcard (ended)
Trainline is offering 30% off all Railcards. You’ll just need to enter the code ILOVETRAINS at checkout.
This offer can’t be stacked with any other deals and will end after 125,000 codes of been redeemed or at 23:50 on 30 November 2023 (whichever comes first!)
TrainPal: 15% off railcards (ended)
The app TrainPal is offering discounts on one and three-year digital railcards that amount to around 15% off.
A one-year card will cost ÂŁ25 rather than ÂŁ30.
You first need to register with the add (use code acf0edfd to get £3 credit – more details on this further up the page). Then activate the railcard offer, which I found on the home page. There are only 1,000 available at these prices, so it might not last too long.