Cheap travel tickets

Train travel:

Martin Lewis, celebrity money saving expert, has written an article on how to get the cheapest deals on trains.

Top tips:

• Buy train tickets as early as possible. All journeys have to be set 12 weeks in advance so this is the best time to try and get your hands on the cheapest advance tickets. Advance tickets are limited in numbers and go quickly. Act fast!
• Try and get advance tickets up until the day. Certain types of advance tickets can be purchased very late on. It is always worth a try.
• Get a railcard. A young person’s railcard is only £24 and gives you a third off all journeys. These are available to all full time students regardless of age.
• Check for hidden promotional specials -

-The National Rail website has a special promotions index page

-Some routes have Megatrain fares for £1 if you book early

- Virgin Trains (click e-ticketing and m-ticketing) have mid-week singles from Manchester to London for £1

-Chiltern Railways have a similar promotion from London to Birmingham.

• Check the prices of single tickets when booking in advance – two singles are often cheaper than the return fair.
• Split your tickets. Martin Lewis demonstrates on his website, how the return fare from London to Penzance, on the same trains, at the same time, can be cut from £257 to £48 simply by buying tickets to midway destinations and then from them to the final destination. See his article for details on how to do this.
• Split your tickets if you start a long journey at a peak time (i.e. before 10am). That way you do not have to pay peak fair for the full thing.
• Get a refund if your train is late. If your train is delayed by over 30 minutes you may be able to get a partial or full refund. Contact the train operator to check.

See www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets for the full articles.

Coach travel

If you are wiling to spend a bit more time getting to your destination coach travel can be a lot cheaper than train travel. If you book in advance you may find incredibly cheap tickets.

· Megabus do tickets from £1 www.megabus.com/uk

· National Express do funfair tickets from just a few pounds. www.nationalexpress.com/coach/offers/funfares.cfm?CFID=5859582&CFTOKEN=77493461

· National express are also currently running an offer on £1 coach tickets. See http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1029585  for more details.