BE TRAVEL TRAVEL SAVVY

If you're like me than you'll hate spending money on travel in general, never mind train travel...

I actually hop on a train in the UK quite a lot. I'm often popping to Manchester for some shopping (I live near no decent shops!) or down to London to catch up with uni pals. As you can imagine, these journeys could cost me a fortune, but I have some savvy tips which will guarantee you the best fare...

1. Buy Split tickets

It's amazing how if you buy your tickets in split fares, they can actually total cheaper than buying them if you put the starting and end destination in the ticket search. For example, when I was in university in Southampton, it was so expensive to buy tickets HOME -> SOUTHAMPTON. But when I bought HOME -> LONDON in a single, then LONDON -> SOUTHAMPTON in another single instead of buying it in one go, they worked out cheaper - crazy. It takes so time to work out the change over times etc, but it's worth it in the end.

2. Invest in a Railcard

In the UK, if you're between the ages of 16-24 you've probably heard of the railcard you can buy. Most of my friends have it like me, but if you're wondering whether or not to purchase one for a year, it's totally worth it. The railcard takes 1/3 off ticket prices, which can add up to saving a huge amount over a year!

3. Buy Online

I have never in my life bought my train tickets at the station... you want to know why? They're so damn expensive there. Fair enough if you're only going on a short journey, but longer journeys will cost you a fortune if you book on the day. Often online, you can buy tickets that have certain train times that they're valid. These are often cheaper and you could save a fortune.

4. Get food beforehand

One of the things I hate most about train travel is the price of food and drinks - so extortionate. I'd totally recommend buying a meal deal or something similar before you board the train, it'll save you a lot of money.

5. Booking fees

Be warned, some train ticket websites add a booking fee (e.g. tramline.com), to your ticket purchase. Urm... I think not! If you actually buy your train tickets through national rail, then they don't add a booking fee. I collect air miles with Virgin, so I ALWAYS book my train tickets on the Virgin Trains website, even if I'm not travelling on one of their trains - you can still access all other routes on their system too. This avoids having to pay a booking fee and I also earn air miles - bonus!

And there you have it! Those were my top 5 train ticket buying tips. For some inspiration when searching for the best and cheapest train travel see if you can beat this... When I used to travel Colwyn Bay -> Southampton... I could get there one way for under £20... but it took some work and patience to search for these prices...