I’m a deals expert – here are four ways to get train tickets for less, even if you’re a commuter

TRAVELLING by train can be costly – especially if you’re doing it everyday.

But one expert has revealed four ways to get your rail tickets for less, even if you’re a commuter and the carriage is like your second home.

Yesterday, the Department for Transport announced the “Great British Rail Sale” which set to slash train ticket prices from next Monday by up to 50%.

But Vix Leyton is a consumer expert at , and she’s got tips of her own for cutting down your travel costs and getting train tickets for less.

That’s after fans on the deal hunting forum flooded the site with complaints that the new network-wide sale didn’t quite cut the mustard.

Particularly for commuters.

While some of the discounted tickets advertised did cover peak trains, a lot were only eligible for off-peak travel times – useless if you’ve got to be in the office by 9am.

On hotukdeals one said: “My journey to London is not discounted even if I leave later and travel off peak”, while another said: “I don’t think it’s meant for commuters who have no choice but to use trains and pay the high prices”.

Rail fares rose by 3.8% in March, meaning millions faced the biggest train ticket hikes in a decade.

An annual commute from Oxford to London including a London travelcard increased by £245 to £6,700, for example.

While a yearly ticket from Tunbridge Wells to London including travel card rose by more than £220 to £6,033.

Vix said: “With the cost of living escalating, a lot of Brits are currently looking for lifelines to bring down their daily costs, and with train fares between towns sometimes costing more than a trip abroad, it’s easy to see why the sale initially generated buzz.

“Unfortunately, like an Oasis in the desert, for the majority, the value disappears the closer you get to it.

“While it’s well worth a look if you are completely flexible with your travel times and dates, this is not going to offer much of a solution to the majority, and particularly commuters.”

Vix shared her tips to guarantee reduced rail fare every time – so even if you miss out on the sale prices this time round, or you’re not eligible at all, you can cut costs.

Get a flexi ticket

Flexi season tickets are perfect for part-time commuters to buy, and can save them hundreds of pounds a year.

The tickets offer a cheaper way for workers to get back into the office, especially if they aren’t going everyday of the week.

They went on sale in June last year.

Vix said: “It gives you the flexibility to pick and choose which days you travel so it’s a popular option for people who mostly work from home.”

A flexi season ticket allows you to travel eight out of 28 days, anytime between your two chosen stations.

The Government says workers could save up to £350 a year on their fares by choosing a flexible rail season ticket – but the savings you’ll get depends on your trip and how many times you travel.

To find out exactly how much you can save, head to the National Rail’s  on its website.

Book well in advance

Vix explained that tickets usually goon sale 12 weeks before you even plan to make your journey.

Buying it this far before the departure date means they can be up to 80% cheaper.

If you commute to work regularly you might already have a plan for how you’re getting there 12 weeks in advance so it could pay-off to sort your tickets sooner, rather than later.

Vix said: “You can set a ‘Ticket Alert’ with Trainline so you’re sent an email reminder when your chosen tickets come on sale and you can then take advantage of advance fares.”

Split your tickets

Splitting your tickets is a clever hack to cheat the system and get cheaper train fares too.

Vix said: “Let’s say you’re travelling from Manchester to London on a train that stops in Crewe and Milton Keynes.

“Rather than purchasing a single ticket for your whole journey, you can purchase individual tickets from Manchester to Crewe, Crewe to Milton Keynes and Milton Keynes to London.”

Sometimes apps like the Trainline do it for you, so you don’t even have to lift a finger to save.

Make sure you apply the right destination and start point when you’re buying your ticket, and all you’ll have to do is select the “Split Save” price.

You can still stay on the same train, often in the same seat, for the duration of the journey, but you’ll just have two tickets that apply for certain stretches of the journey.

Always buy a return

Return train tickets are usually better value, explained Vix.

“You will almost always get cheaper train tickets if you book a return in the UK,” she said.

Many European countries have set fares for single journeys with no discounts for returns but in the UK it can often be just a few pennies more to book a return than one-way.

For example, when we looked it cost £18.20 to get a single ticket from Reading to London Paddington during peak times from around 8am.

A single the other way at around home time (from 5pm) cost exactly the same – so buying each ticket individually meant you’d have to fork out over £36.

But if you bought a return ticket – so both in one go, that will get you to and from work on the same day – it cost £31.85.

That means commuters could save almost a fiver on the price.

The Great British Rail Sale even spurred Martin Lewis to reveal his own tips on cutting costs for travelling.

And it doesn’t stop with trains – you can try travelling by coach and more to cut the costs of your getaway.