Title: BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | 10 legit ways to get cheaper rail fares
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Content: BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | 10 legit ways to get cheaper rail fares





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Last Updated: Tuesday, 13 March 2007, 11:55 GMT
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10 legit ways to get cheaper rail fares
Seeking a cheaper ticket? Ticketing arrangements on the UK's railways are notoriously arcane, but you can use the rules to get cheaper fares. Independent rail expert Barry Doe details 10 popular journeys on which you can save money by asking for your ticket in the right way. If you turn up at Penzance and ask for the cheapest return to Birmingham for immediate travel, the clerk will sell you a saver return at £106. That seems a good buy compared with the single of £85.50, and the saver return can be used either way on any train, any day, without restriction. If, however, you ask for a saver return from Penzance to Cheltenham and a saver return from Cheltenham to Birmingham, it will be a lot cheaper. Up to 0900, the saver to Cheltenham will cost £68
After 0900 (or any time weekends) it will cost £59
The saver from Cheltenham to Birmingham will cost £17.50
So before 0900 the total is £85.50 - saving £20.50 over the originally-asked-for £106 - and after 0900 or at weekends, the total is £76.50, saving £29.50. These are not "fiddles" but perfectly legitimate savings, because it is the customer's right to ask for any combination of tickets. However, it is also the clerk's duty not to advertise them, should he or she know they exist.