Cheap rail tickets: Virgin Trains East Coast launches half-price ticket sale

Saving and Making Money

Updated on 23 August 2017 | 1 Comment

Virgin trains has slashed the cost of rail tickets by up to 50% in its latest sale. We take a look at what deals are on offer.

Virgin Trains East Coast launching a 50% off seat sale yesterday (22 August).

A whopping 500,000 rail tickets will be discounted until midnight on 28 August for train travel between 11 September and 20 December.

Cheap seats are available in both standard and first class to destinations along Virgin Trains East Coast routes.

What kind of deals can I get?

After a quick search, we found lunchtime tickets for London to Edinburgh at £20 one way in standard class, leaving on 27 September.

There are only 80,000 cheap first-class tickets available, so they're a little trickier to pin down. A first-class ticket from Glasgow to Newcastle is £12.80 one-way on 11 December, as opposed to £34.60.

If you fancy a shorter break, you can get a weekend ticket from Leeds to York from £3 one way on Saturday 16 September.

Don’t get too excited about booking tickets home for Christmas just yet, though. The offer extends to trips booked on 20 December, so you can get there, but not back! 

Any exceptions I need to know about?

This offer is better suited to people travelling on weekdays. You can grab a few weekend deals, but they’re only available until 5 November. You also won’t find any deals from 21-29 October either, so you might want to avoid travel during the half-term period.

Look out for planned engineering works before you book as these may put a damper on your trip.

At the moment, journeys travelling between London and Scotland will only be running hourly on 16,17, 23 and 30 September as well as 7 October and there's planned engineering works in Peterborough which will mean there are fewer services to and from London.

Some connecting bus journeys will be put in place on 28 and 29 October and 4 and 5 November. You can find out more about engineering works on the Virgin Trains website.

Just be aware that to get the cheapest tickets, you may have to take an alternative route or travel off-peak with a change or two thrown in. Unfortunately, you can’t use any other discounts or offers such as railcards or e-vouchers on discounted tickets.

Can't find what you wanted in the sale? Have a read Cheap train tickets: cut the cost of UK rail travel for more money-saving tips.

Get rewarded for booking your next train journey by using a cashback credit card

Read more:

Cheap train tickets: cut the cost of UK rail travel

Delay Repay: how to get compensation for train delays

UK train delays and cancellations: how to claim refunds and compensation

How to cut the cost of train station parking

Comments

Be the first to comment

Do you want to comment on this article? You need to be signed in for this feature

Copyright © lovemoney.com All rights reserved.

 

loveMONEY.com Financial Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with Firm Reference Number (FRN): 479153.

loveMONEY.com is a company registered in England & Wales (Company Number: 7406028) with its registered address at First Floor Ridgeland House, 15 Carfax, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 1DY, United Kingdom. loveMONEY.com Limited operates under the trading name of loveMONEY.com Financial Services Limited. We operate as a credit broker for consumer credit and do not lend directly. Our company maintains relationships with various affiliates and lenders, which we may promote within our editorial content in emails and on featured partner pages through affiliate links. Please note, that we may receive commission payments from some of the product and service providers featured on our website. In line with Consumer Duty regulations, we assess our partners to ensure they offer fair value, are transparent, and cater to the needs of all customers, including vulnerable groups. We continuously review our practices to ensure compliance with these standards. While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy and currency of our editorial content, users should independently verify information with their chosen product or service provider. This can be done by reviewing the product landing page information and the terms and conditions associated with the product. If you are uncertain whether a product is suitable, we strongly recommend seeking advice from a regulated independent financial advisor before applying for the products.