Cheap train tickets are what we're all after and you can get them with these top five tips to saving money on your journey.
Buy in advance
The earlier you buy your tickets the cheaper you can get them:, so plan ahead. Once you know when and where you need to be, book as soon as possible to get the best and cheapest advance fares.
Don't pay booking fees
Booking fees can be rather extortionate, especially when they are a percentage of the ticket cost rather than a fixed fee: But you needn't pay them, nor expensive debit and credit card fees either.
Some ticket companies need to charge these fees to pay for their glitzy TV adverts, but the smaller lesser known websites don't impose such charges.
In future, try sites RedSpottedHanky which do not add booking or card fees to your ticket price.
Split your ticket
Sometimes, bizarre as it seems, going direct from A to B is more expensive than stopping off at C in-between. Splitting the fare is a scheme that will see you save money by cutting your journey into two (or more) legs.
Be warned that it may take your journey longer and can get a little complex with certain rules and conditions that must be followed, but if you pay attention to everything you can save quite a bit on long trips.
Try SplitTicket and SplitYourTicket which do all the hard work for you to find the cheapest route.
Get a young persons rail card
A young persons (16-25) rail card gets you 1/3 off your train fares (subject to a few restrictions such as travel in peak times). The card costs £30, so it's not worth it if you only ever use the train once or twice a year, but you needn't use the train everyday for it to save you money either.
Absolutely avoid peak trains
The extra expense of travelling on a peak train makes it well worth avoiding them at all possible costs. If you do need to travel in the early mornings or late evenings, always try to get the first trains before or after the peak period to save money, or better yet, organise your trips so you don't need to worry about it at all.