Can you buy Northern Rail season tickets online?

[phil35]

Ideally through a website that does cashback? Or can I only buy it from a station? Thanks in advance.
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Also, if I buy it from a station do I need to bring a passport photo? It says so on Northern's website, but I didn't know whether that was actually enforced.

 

[wilsontown]

If it's the first time you've bought a season ticket, you need to get a photocard: this has a number on it that should match a number on the ticket, to try to cut down on fraud. That's why it says you need to bring a passport photo. In this case you definitely need to go to a ticket office.

Not sure about renewing online, but I'm pretty sure for anything longer than a week you'd need to go to a ticket office. The ticket machines don't sell season tickets for longer than a week either, as far as I know.

 

[phil35]

Yeah, this would be my first season ticket. Okay, I'll take a photo with me then, thanks!
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I asked in a similar thread last week, but my plans have changed now. The journey is from Manchester Piccadilly to Gatley. I'll be doing this journey for a few months to commute to work and back every day. Would a standard season ticket be the cheapest option? I had a look at various GMPTE passes and things, but nothing worked out cheaper than the £20 a week. I don't require any buses. Thanks for any info!

 

[pemma]

Rail ticketing sites offering cashback generally don't include season tickets as qualifying purchases for cashback.

Southern seem to offer the full range of rail only season tickets: http://tickets.southernrailway.com/sn/en/JourneyPlanning/SeasonMixingDeck

I think you can buy the reverse of your Manchester-Gatley journey and get the Manchester CTLZ option allowing city centre tram travel at no extra cost.

 

[phil35]

That's really handy to know, thanks for the suggestion!

 

[kieron]

I don't think anyone offers cashback on season tickets (although East Coast offer points for season tickets on some of the routes they serve), but you can buy a season ticket on-line if you wish. You have to obtain a photocard at a ticket office, but you don't need to pay anything there and then.

The advantages of buying on-line are that you can buy in advance and don't have to visit a ticket office. The disadvantage is that ticket offices are more likely to claim not to be able to handle ticket refunds or changes, if you ever need to change or cancel your ticket part-way through.

Not sure if you know this, but the cheapest season ticket is likely to be one for just over a month, with extra days to fit in with your working week.

 

[phil35]

Not sure if you know this, but the cheapest season ticket is likely to be one for just over a month, with extra days to fit in with your working week.

Can you explain this point a little further please? So you're saying that I should purchase a season ticket for a duration of, say, 1 month and two days and it will work out cheaper? I don't quite understand.

 

[MikeWh]

Can you explain this point a little further please? So you're saying that I should purchase a season ticket for a duration of, say, 1 month and two days and it will work out cheaper? I don't quite understand.

When you buy monthly or longer tickets you pay a fixed rate per day where a month is 30 days. So if a monthly costs £300 then one month and two days would cost £320. If you only use your ticket M-F then by not having a ticket for the 5th weekend you save a couple of days each time. It gets better if you can time it to run out just before a bank holiday or a week off. It has been calculated that if you can time things right you'll pay about the same price as an annual (40 weeks) but not have to fork out the whole sum up front. It does depend on how flexible your holiday arrangements can be and whether you ever need a ticket at the weekend. Also, buying an annual at the end of December usually works out cheaper because you get the whole year at the old price. However, if your choice is between buying 12 monthly tickets or say 8-9 with a duration of 5 or 6 weeks then the latter will be cheaper.

 

[phil35]

Hi. I'm still a little confused. I purchased a 7 day Gatley - Manchester ticket temporarily while I work out what your previous post means for me.

So I'm going to be doing this journey M-F for six months. Can you help me work out what the best duration of season ticket I should buy is to save the most money? Any advise is appreciated.

 

[maniacmartin]

First calculate what date a monthly season ticket will take you up to. Then buy a ticket that's slightly longer than a month, up to the Friday after the date you calculated.

Once this runs out, buy the next season in the same way, starting on the Monday after the previous one expired. This way, you do not have a season ticket for the Saturday and Sunday in between, so you aren't paying for two days which you won't be using.