Is there any way dd can get cheaper train tickets home ?

[Fakeblondie]

DD is at uni and travels home every fri eve , works sat and goes back Sun .
Journey takes just over 2 hours and 3 changes.
Its costing her with a railcard 14.50 return and it only takes an hour in the car ! ( i just cant manage taking and fetching her with 4 dc and working too ).
I keep reading how its so much cheaper to buy tickets in advance ( apparently 12 weeks 0 , yet every site i go on to buy advance tickets will only allow me to buy them for the next 12 weeks and with no difference in price what so ever .
Am i missing something ?

You can only buy tickets 12 weeks ahead. So now you buy for 12 weeks time and next week you buy 12 weeks on from that etc

Just out of interest why the heck is she coming home every weekend taking 2hrs each way? Isn't she happy there? Does she not have friends?? My DD wouldn't hate to have to come home every weekend- she's waaaay too busy to do that- we go and see her! Isn't getting settled away from home part of the whole uni experience?

Just checked out redspottedhanky.com re fares from DD uni town to home- £16 off peak return, same now as in March, but advance single £8.50 (off peak single is £15) so no advantage getting advance tickets.

I have used the chiltern line to london though on an off peak eticket for £5 in the last few months so t is route dependent

Has she got a student card?

Has she looked at getting a coach instead?

Have you looked to see if Megabus/train cover any of the journey?

Also you can exchange Tesco vouchers for x2 face value for redspottedhanky.

I was going to suggest redspottedhanky via Tesco too.

OP, does she book a through ticket? sometimes it's cheaper to book legs separately.

Is there an alternative route? We're in the NW & DS2 is at Sheffield; he can come via Manchester & get another train all the way home, or via Leeds & we pick him up in N Yorks (only about 25 mins away)

Whether or not you can get cheap advance fares depends on where you live and where you want to go. From my town there are no cheap advanced fares to London, as we're pretty much commuter-ville (though quite a long way out of London), though you can get Network South East discounts after 10 AM. However, if you want to travel anywhere other than London (or on the London line) you can get cheap advanced tickets 12 weeks in advance of travel.

It's quite possible there simply are no cheap advance tickets available to your daughter, though she should still get 1/3 off for being a student. But why can't she get a job in her university town? Frankly it's a bit weird that she's commuting for a Saturday job when she clearly can't afford the travel.

I'm guessing that she wants to keep her home job so she can work in the holidays. Jobs for students can be very hard to come by, whether at university or at home.

Thanks everyone.
Theas18 she absolutley loves uni and most of her close friends work at the weekend also . She comes home fri works sat 11-2 and 4 til 8 and shes back home by lunch time sun. Shes paid almost 60 pounds much more in the hols and we are supporting her financially as we will all our children. All we ask is for a contribution to ensure committment from them, be it in the form of a little job here or there. We have only asked her to work for the 1st year but tbh shell prob carry on as a few of them have gor together and will be rentimg a house next year.
And as for busy she is a student with no other commitment other than her degree ! Ive done 3 of them whilst raising 4 kids ! And she has a great attitude to money which im really proud of.
x

Can she not find a job nearer to Uni?

killerh eels . . That's a bit rash. Not at all wierd that she comes home for her Sat job and she CAN afford it otherwise she wouldnt bother . her train fare is 14. 50 but she gets a third off so it costs her a tenner. that leaves her fifty pounds a week to live on plus what we add which is little at the moment. She also manages to earn at least 150 pounds a week during the holidays . i was only asking if i could find a cheaper fare somewhere or her .
She's back at Uni by lunch time Sun. Where on earth would she get a job paying ten pounds an hour like she has ? And if you think she's the only one and it sounds like you think she's just a bit hard done by , your mistaken . most of the people on her course have jobs and she is very lucky she's not working behind a bar until 11 pm the night before lectures like some of her peers. believe me they are mostly at work sat eve and they go out more on a week night because of this. My dd has made some great girlfriends, and I dont think travelling home at the weekend has hindered that in any way ! She loves going back Sun morning, but equally adores snuggling up in bed with her 1 year old baby sister once a week too ! And she doesn't owe anyone a penny so I say good on her ! I'm very proud and glad shes so committed . Hopefully she will give it up next summer, she says not, but we have said we would rather give her the money so she can concentrate on her studies . She's very very happy and has a wonderful relationship with her siblings and new friends despite spending. 2 hours on a train twice a week !

All these cheap train ticket website baffle me never seem to find a saving.

Also train time = great time for studying!