Is there a railcard for me.... over 26, under 65, able bodied, dont live in the southeast...

[nocluemum]

I just wondered if there was any way of making my trip on my own that I need to make soon any cheaper. No kids either.....

Can you borrow a random child to take with you ?

Otherwise, have you tried megabus.com and thetrainline.com ?

Never thought of megabus......checked it and for my journey although less than half the price takes more than double the time. Guess you can only get cheap in price or short length of time!!

I've used Tesco vouchers via Red Spotted Hanky or cashback from the Trainline or Virgin?

If you are willing to PM me your start and finish train stations, as well as the date of travel, I can check split ticketing for you - it's where you break your journey up into segments to save money (was on the news this morning). MoneySavingExpert has a split ticketing app but it doesn't work with advance tickets (advance tickets will always be cheaper) and because of this it doesn't always tell you the cheapest break point (break points for advance can be different to flexible 'open' tickets). I did a lot some research on split ticketing, have a very good feel for how it works and find it fun

If you'd rather not tell me then here is the app. Basically with train fares you have a start choice: flexible (any time departure, which is what the app deals with & is more expensive even when you split ticket) or fixed departure (advance tickets, non-refundable, tough luck if you miss your train due to your own fault... if public transport fails, rather than you oversleeping, they generally let you on anyway). Train company websites will let you buy multiple tickets but station staff will also sell you split tickets if you go in and say exactly which trains you want to catch (research beforehand).

Some TOCs (train companies) will offer a discount on their own products: EastCoast offers 10% online discount. Hope some of that is useful!

Oh thanks for asking this. I've just checked the app and it's great to give you an idea of the cheapest route for advanced tickets too. iyswim.

Megabus doesn't always work like that - we went to London in June, on the very same Virgin train (direct) that had been quoting me £168 (there were 4 of us) for £48 return (well, £20 one way and £28 the other). Just depends on things like timings and your route.

Haha, stalk away! I am the go-to person amongst friends and family who want a good deal. I find it so frustrating that the system is so complicated ... there are so many benefits to train travel and it makes me angry that it's structured in such a way that people feel fleeced and it puts them off. I should really set up my own website explaining how this works

Oh, and anyone who travels along the East Coast Mainline (EastCoast company, Edinburgh/Aberdeen to London Kings Cross) if you set up an account with them you earn points to spend on train tickets, much like airmiles.