The UK could save a whopping £43 million by booking their festive travel in advance this Christmas, according to new data released by Trainline, with savvy Brits able get the best deal and make significant savings by booking Advance train tickets.
While some Advance tickets for Christmas are now available, others will be coming soon. To avoid missing out, travellers are urged to sign up for Ticket Alerts to be among the first to know as soon as tickets for their selected journey and date of travel are released.
Trainline, Europe’s leading train and coach app, surveyed 2,000 adults from across the UK and discovered two-thirds (67%) of Brits are planning to spend less money celebrating the festive period this year. Three out of five (57%) are cutting back on the presents they buy and two out of five (39%) will buy less expensive food and drink.
Many Brits are choosing between presents and quality time, with almost half (46%) prioritising travelling to see family and friends over buying a gift, while 47% have told a loved one not to buy them gifts at all. A third (33%) have even suggested that someone travelling to see them is their present this year and a quarter (24%) have offered to pay for a loved one’s travel so that they can spend Christmas together.
Despite the importance of quality time, a fifth (20%) of Brits say they plan to take fewer trips to see family and friends this Christmas, with a quarter (27%) driving less and a fifth (19%) avoiding taxis. However, just one in eight (12%) plan to book train tickets in advance and only 9% will use a railcard – missing out on huge savings in the process.
Trainline customers could make an average saving of £88 per booking – the equivalent of 480 mince pies or 7 Jiggly Pets Noodle Pups, one of the predicted top toys of Christmas 2022 – by not waiting until the last minute to book their festive travel.
Trainline predicts that the top 10 most popular routes for travelling over Christmas (based on this year’s searches for travel during the Christmas period) and reveals the average savings available for these journeys if you book Advance tickets:
Top 10 Popular Routes
(Lapland Not Included) |
Average Savings By Booking in Advance | |
1 | Manchester Piccadilly – London Euston |
£138 |
2 | Leeds – London Kings Cross |
£138 |
3 | London Kings Cross – York |
£129 |
4 | London Euston – Manchester Piccadilly |
£128 |
York – London King’s Cross |
£123 |
|
5 | Newcastle – London Kings Cross |
£122 |
7 | London Kings Cross – Edinburgh Waverley |
£114 |
8 | Doncaster – London Kings Cross |
£109 |
9 | Edinburgh (Waverley) – London Kings Cross |
£91 |
10 | London Kings Cross – Doncaster |
£84 |
Booking Advance train tickets will not only help those looking to beat the festive travel rush, but also those aiming to have a thrifty Christmas.
For more information and to book your Christmas journey, download the Trainline App from the App Store or Play Store or visit Trainline.com. Advance ticket booking windows are different for each operator – a full list can be found here.