Money Saving Tips to Buy Cheap Train Tickets

Train tickets in the UK have been billed as the most expensive in Europe, but that doesnt have to be the case. With these simple tips you can learn how to buy cheap train tickets.

Buy Two Singles - Even if you”re booking a return journey be sure to check the price of two singles as quite often the savings are huge, so make sure you always check before deciding which to buy.

Travel Off Peak - The train industry, like most, works on a supply and demand basis - so the more demand, the higher the price, which is why if you travel at peak time, i.e. commuter time, youll pay significantly more than travelling on an off-peak train. The exact times for peak travel vary depending on the train operating company, but as a rule of thumb if youre travelling before 9.30am and between 3.30-7pm Monday - Friday its peak travel time. Prices drop dramatically by travelling outside these hours.

Book in Advance - In days gone by, it seemed the only way to buy a cheap train ticket was by buying 12 weeks in advance with an Apex, but today things have changed. Yes, the further in advance you purchase the more likely the cheap train tickets are to be available, but you can still make big savings even by booking one day in advance.

Be Flexible - To buy cheap train tickets you need to balance out the price youll pay for the ticket with the time and day you want to travel. If you want to travel from Birmingham to London on a Monday morning at 7am you can buy a ticket in advance for 39.50 while if you travelled around 9am the price for an advanced single is around 17 and travelling at 11am is just 9.50.

Be Specific - Open return train tickets tend to be the most expensive, so by specifying your train journey times you can be quids in.

Try an Alternative - Sometimes one route can be served by more than one rail operator, so when booking your tickets look at the journey time and youll quite often find that the trains that take the longest will have cheaper train tickets than the fast, direct ones.

For more useful tips on finding cheap train tickets visit www.buycheaptraintickets.co.uk