The best ticket deal for rail passengers will expire at 11.59pm GMT on Monday 12 January. Hundreds of thousands of tickets have been sold so far in the Great British Rail Sale, which began on 6 January.
But as the government and the rail industry strives to stimulate extra demand, there are still many good deals available for travel up to and including 25 March.
Almost all of the fares in the sale are for advance tickets, where you commit to a specific train and time. The saving is typically 50 per cent.
Most tickets do not qualify, including anytime, the vast majority of off-peaks (except in a few cases), seasons and flexi-seasons.
For example, booking for non-peak services on Monday 19 January between London St Pancras International and Sheffield has many advance tickets wide open at £25.50 on East Midlands Railway.
Even better value between the capital and Yorkshire is £14 from King's Cross to York on Grand Central.
The five-hour-plus journey from Norwich to Liverpool has lots of availability at £31 on CrossCountry.
Prices are about 6 per cent higher than last year. But one fare that is unchanged is the £7 one-way journey from either Liverpool Lime Street or Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston: there are tickets at that price on a wide range of dates but with a catch. These journeys are not on Avanti West Coast expresses, but on stopping trains as far as Crewe and then London Northwestern Railway, taking over an hour longer. Avanti is available, but four times more expensive.
You can trade speed for savings on other routes. From Portsmouth to London is only £4 on Southern’s longer journey to Victoria via Gatwick airport, rather than the fast South Western Railway service to Waterloo (£10).
While normally advance fares increase in line with demand, the Rail Sale involves a set number of tickets at a fixed price; once they’re gone, they’re gone. Where a participating train company does not offer advance tickets, off-peak fares may be offered as an alternative.
Some deals are available in first class, including LNER’s renowned service on the East Coast Main Line. London to )Newcastle costs £25.10 in standard, and an extra £30.15 for first class.
Booking direct with the operatormakes things easier if there is a problem with the journey and may qualify for a loyalty bonus. But using an independent rail retailer may reveal a saving from using “split tickets”.
While most passengers book online, station ticket offices also sell the Rail Sale tickets.
No railcard discounts apply, but children aged five to 15 travel half-price.
Read more: These are the best deals I can find in the Rail Sale
These are the best discounts in the Great British Rail Sale
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