On Thursday I flew back home to England after visiting my girlfriend in Germany. I took a British Airways flight from Frankfurt (FRA) to London City Airport (LCY). Once I landed at LCY, I took the DLR to London Stratford railway station. (The DLR or Docklands Light Railway is an automated metro system in east/south-east London).
The next and final part of my journey was the national rail service from London Stratford to my hometown of Great Yarmouth, on the Norfolk coast, and this is really the part I want to talk about. Purchased on the day of travel, a standard class fare would have cost £53.50 (€60.57/$68.26), but by booking well in advance, I paid just £14 (€15.85/$17.86) for a first class ticket:
But here's the really crazy part: the same ticket purchased on the day of travel would have cost a staggering £109.20 (€123.58/$139.27):
This works out at a huge 87% discount. When I booked the ticket, I remember that a standard class fare was just £9, but the extra £5 for more space, free WiFi, access to a power socket, and free refreshments seemed totally worth it, especially on such a long day of travelling.
There are, of course, some things to look out for when purchasing heavily discounted tickets. They are usually non-refundable, so you won't get your money back if you decided not to travel, and they are typically only valid for a specific train travelling at a specific time. Nevertheless, if you are expecting to travel within the UK, you really can’t afford not to book your ticket(s) in advance.
The UK does not have a national train operating company, like Deutsche Bahn in Germany. Instead, services are operated by several different companies, which typically focus on a specific region. For example, services to London from the east of England are run by Abellio Greater Anglia, terminating in London Liverpool Street station. Services between Wales and London, and London and the south-west of England are operated by Great Western Railway, whose London terminus is Paddington station. This Twitter user tweeted a great map which shows how different regions of Britain are served by the different London railway stations.
You can buy tickets through a train operating company directly from its website, or you can buy them through National Rail. Once you’ve paid for them, collecting your tickets is easy: just go to any ticket vending machine with the credit or debit card you used to buy them, and enter your booking code. Happy travels!