Train ticket machines are known for overcharging customers – in some cases charging more than double what you would pay at the ticket office or online.
Rather than simply rage at the machine, we reveal some useful tips to ensure you get the cheapest fares.
Book in advance
Advanced tickets are usually cheaper because they are not flexible and only allow you to travel at a certain time. However, according to a report last week, two-thirds of train ticket machines don’t sell them, so you’ll often have to book at a ticket office or online via a website such as Trainline or the train company’s own.
If you book up to 12 weeks in advance, you pay just a tenth of what you would pay if you booked on the day. You can purchase cheaper tickets in advance from ten minutes before the departure time of a standard ticket.
Consumer organization Which? says: ‘Train station machines charge up to 154 per cent more – with the best fares unavailable or difficult to find. We visited 15 different ticket machines and found that 10 were not selling advanced tickets.”
Smart saver: Train ticket machines are notorious for overcharging customers
Be flexible about travel time
Ticket machines tend to withhold details about the price difference between peak and off-peak travel. Instead, they show prices based on the time of your search.
This means that if you arrive at the station, for example, 30 minutes before the end of the ‘peak time’, you may not realize that by waiting for a slightly later train you can get a cheaper deal. Off-peak and super off-peak tickets can cost less than half the price of a ‘standard’ peak ticket.
Ask at a ticket office or browse train websites such as National Rail Inquiries. Research by Which? discovered that during peak times a machine in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, was only offering an ‘all-time single’ to York for £133. But by booking the ticket on the Trainline website, Which? found an off-peak ticket for £55.
Buy tickets before March
Train fares will rise by as much as 4.9 percent from March 3, as railway companies bombard travelers with inflation-reducing price increases.
You may be able to protect yourself if you buy tickets in advance – season tickets or an advance booking made up to 12 weeks before travel. For travel after March 3, you should have access to this year’s lower prices.
Buy as a group
Another little-known trick to save a third on off-peak travel – and one that ticket machines might not tell you about – is to travel in a group of three to nine people.
You do not need to purchase a Train Card, but must request a so-called GroupSave at the ticket office or with your online purchase. One passenger must book all tickets.
For example, four separate non-peak return tickets from Cardiff to Bristol cost a total of £128.80 on Trainline. But buying from the same website with the GroupSave option drops the total to €84.80 – a saving of €44.
Buy a little-known train ticket
National Railcards have long been popular among the over-25s and over-60s, but there is a whole range of lesser-known Railcards that also save a third on the cost of off-peak travel.
Machines should accept them, although discovering the ability to use them can be tricky.
If you are over 25 but under 30, you can buy a 26-30 Railcard for £30 and get a third off eligible fares.
The Two Together Train Card is intended for couples or two people who regularly travel together, such as friends, colleagues or family. Said passengers will receive a one-third discount on train tickets when traveling together with the £30 Railcard.
The Family & Friends Railcard applies to groups of up to four adults and four children and also costs £30. Adults can save a third on train tickets, while children get a 60 percent discount. At least one adult and one child must travel together.
Save with split tickets
Buying separate train tickets for different parts of a journey can be cheaper than buying the entire journey in a single ticket.
Mark Price, train expert at website The Man in Seat 61, says: ‘You don’t have to change trains, but your carriage must stop at the station where separate tickets were purchased.’
This trick could save even more if part of the trip falls outside peak hours or during the super off-peak period, he says.
A ticket machine can’t handle such money-saving complexity – but a specialist website like Trainsplit, Split Ticketing or Trainline can.
For example, a day return train journey from Manchester to London could cost £375.50, but if you buy split tickets with Trainsplit that stop in Crewe you could pay £87.88.