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Special Offers Discussion

Mojo

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Mod Note - This post is no longer updated.

I'd like to compile a list of discounts or cheaper tickets which are only available through certain websites (ie. those which you would not get by booking through other Toc websites or at ticket offices), perhaps for inclusion in a help thread or FAQ. This list will not be extended to include cashback websites, etc. or any short-term offers

I've just put together a few off the top of my head, please reply with any more and I'll add them to my first post:

East CoastCrossCountryEast Midlands TrainsSoutheasternSouthernFirst Great WesternVirgin Trains
  • Cheap tickets with Advance-style restrictions for certain journeys (need to obtain reference number to travel) at http://uk.megabus.com/
South West Trains
  • Cheap tickets with Advance-style restrictions for certain journeys (need to obtain reference number to travel) at http://uk.megabus.com/
Grand CentralTransPennine Express
  • 50% discount (including Railcard discount) on TPE Advance fares booked through http://www.tpexpress.co.uk/ if you hold a 16-25 Railcard
London Midland
 
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142094

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TPE give a further discount for advance tickets when bought with a YP railcard.

Cross Country do the same if you have an NUS card.
 

transportphoto

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Cross Country do the same if you have an NUS card.


IIRC - I may be wrong - haven't checked... but XC only do it with a NUS extra card :) something you have to pay extra for but it also helps as it is a uniform entitlement card and not a different design per college / uni :)
 

142094

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IIRC - I may be wrong - haven't checked... but XC only do it with a NUS extra card :) something you have to pay extra for but it also helps as it is a uniform entitlement card and not a different design per college / uni :)

An NUS card and NUS Extra card is the same thing.
 

ian13

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An NUS card and NUS Extra card is the same thing.

It's not. My university card is an nus card (and carries the nus logo), but is NOT eligible for 'NUS extra' discounts. The NUS extra card costs £11/year (and in my view isn't worth it).
 

SS4

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Excellent thread, will have to look at these if I ever decide to split tickets.

Perhaps this should be a sticky? <D
 
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dzug2

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I thought Chiltern's barcode/e-mail tickets fell into this category but a browse of their website seems to indicate it's no longer the case - just another method of delivery now
 

oversteer

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I thought Chiltern's barcode/e-mail tickets fell into this category but a browse of their website seems to indicate it's no longer the case - just another method of delivery now

Yes, certainly you can get the £5 fares on thetrainline now.
 

142094

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It's not. My university card is an nus card (and carries the nus logo), but is NOT eligible for 'NUS extra' discounts. The NUS extra card costs £11/year (and in my view isn't worth it).

Your university card is exactly that, a university ID card. The only reason it will have NUS on is that your students union will be a part of NUS. It will be issued by your uni and is nothing to do with NUS. Some uni ID cards don't carry the NUS logo when they should, and some do when they shouldn't (take Durham as an example there).

But I agree, it isn't worth the £11!
 

cuccir

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Your university card is exactly that, a university ID card. The only reason it will have NUS on is that your students union will be a part of NUS. It will be issued by your uni and is nothing to do with NUS. Some uni ID cards don't carry the NUS logo when they should, and some do when they shouldn't (take Durham as an example there).

But I agree, it isn't worth the £11!

It might if you were booking an advance from Aberdeen to Plymouth and back. Also Durham reaffiliated to the NUS this year!
 

142094

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It might if you were booking an advance from Aberdeen to Plymouth and back. Also Durham reaffiliated to the NUS this year!

My friend who is at Durham told me they hadn't, although you coudl be right!

Just to clarify, I don't see a university ID card as being an NUS card seeing as not all universities are affiliated with NUS, and the only discount you get is a normal "student" discount and not anything in the way of an NUS Extra discount.
 

142094

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If it has the NUS logo, then it's a card that shows you are a member of a union that is affiliated to the NUS.
What else would 'an NUS card' mean?

Not necessarily, you don't get student ID cards every year, only issued with one that last you for the duration of your course. In the case of Durham, when my friend first started it was affiliated with NUS, so had the logo. In the middle it disaffiliated, and now apparently they are affiliated again. Here in York our students' union has been affiliated with NUS for as long as I can rememeber, yet my uni ID card does not show the NUS logo. In any case the discount I get with my ID card is the same discount given to any otehr holder of a uni ID card, whereas an NUS/NUS Extra card has further discounts.
 

Deerfold

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Is that right ? Virgin trains selling tickets via Megabus ?

Yes. Has been for some years - it's promoted as megatrain, but if you type in megatrain.co.uk you will redirected to the uk.megabus.com website.

It's a bit crap at letting you find out where you can travel except by trial and error.
 
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Looking through this thread, the general advice to would-be rail travellers:

book online (if you can), even for a walk on fare
book through the TOC's own web site selling your fare

now, nationally, are we any nearer having tickets delivered direct to a phone or by email DB-style ?
 

island

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now, nationally, are we any nearer having tickets delivered direct to a phone or by email DB-style ?

I seem to recall CrossCountry offering this. Having travelled on them exactly once (from BHM to BHI!) I can't say with any authority whether I remember it right.
 

MKB

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Virgin Trains: 10% off Advance tickets with a Virgin Money credit card: http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/vmoney/ - In practice, I think this is now restricted to just the bottom three tiers of Advance tickets (both first and standard class).

First Great Western: 10% off Super Off-Peak and Off-Peak fares with a Youth Hostel Association membership: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/promotions/pr90239407db4e9d8d1864453d925445/details.html - I'm a lifetime YHA member, but I've not had chance to try this yet to see if it works.
 

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