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Special Offers Discussion

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Adam Williams

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It explains exactly what it's comparing to if you hover over it (the saving vs buying the discounted 1-year price and renewing it twice [at full price]).

It's important customers understand that they're getting a discount by committing to 3 years up-front. Not all prospective customers will know that that's the case.
 
Mikey C

Mikey C

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11 Feb 2013
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8,228
Eurostar have a 50% off sale on at the moment for travel between 28/07 and 23/09 in Eurostar Plus or Premier, until the 13/07.

BUT it has to be for 2 travellers minimum.
 
Tetragon213

Tetragon213

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675
Location
West Midlands
richardderby said:
London Northwestern railway sale, zonal fares from £7.50 and railcard discount allowed too.. book 7 days ahead and travel until 31 AUG
from 'quote' London northwestern railway website

www.londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk

SALE: Off-Peak tickets £12.50 or less

Your perfect summer’s day out starts here! Return tickets to London or Liverpool when you travel between 29 June – 31 August 2025. Sale ends 6 July!
www.londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk www.londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk
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Quite a useful one, this one! Nabbed 3 journeys between home and London, and 2 friends of mine are using this to come visit me from the North before going back up.

I think more of the other TOCs should do sales like this from time to time, and/or maintain a travel loyalty scheme. Doesn't even have to be "amazing". Human psychology will make it so that even a relatively poor set of rewards still becomes quite convincing.
 
H

Hadders

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Associate Staff
Senior Fares Advisor
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18,096
Mark J said:
In the Railcards section.
Click to expand...
It's not a railcard so it really shouldn't be in the section of an app or website about railcards. That's just going to cause more confusion for passengers.
 
P

P Binnersley

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30 Dec 2018
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525
Hey Jude! West Midlands Railway offers free rides to fans amid World Cup fever

Judes (Judahs, Julians, Judiths & Judys) travel free on the Stourbridge Town branch 13th-19th July.
West Midlands Railway (WMR) is celebrating England’s quarter-final triumph against Norway by offering free train travel on its iconic Stourbridge Shuttle all week to any passenger named Jude.

The offer honours Jude Bellingham, England’s 23-year-old star midfielder who grew up in Stourbridge and began his football career playing for Stourbridge Juniors.

Anyone with the forename Jude with valid ID can score the free fare on the line which connects Stourbridge Junction and Stourbridge Town stations. The offer kicks off today (Monday 13 July) and runs until Sunday 19 July - the day of the World Cup Final.

Jonny Wiseman, WMR customer experience director, said: “Along with the rest of the country we’re backing England all the way. Jude’s performances have been outstanding and we’re delighted to celebrate his hometown of Stourbridge with this limited-time offer.

“We look forward to inviting Judes from across the region for a free ride on the Stourbridge Shuttle as the tournament reaches its final stages. We’re sure all our customers – Judes and non-Judes alike - will join us in cheering on the Three Lions in the semi-final on Wednesday and hopefully the final too.”

Bellingham, who grew up in Hagley, joined Birmingham City at under-8s level and became the club’s youngest first-team player when he made his senior debut at the age of 16. Now playing for one of the world's most famous club sides Real Madrid, Bellingham has made more than 50 appearances for England.

As well as being Bellingham’s hometown, Stourbridge Junction station is well known as the home of George the station cat, who is cared for by the station team and has more than 100,000 followers across social media with huge followings on X, Instagram and Facebook.

The Stourbridge Shuttle – also known as the Town Car – came into service in 2009 and is maintained and operated by Pre Metro Operations Ltd on behalf of West Midlands Railway. It operates on one of Europe’s shortest branch lines at just 0.8 miles long.

Terms & Conditions

Any form of valid identification showing the customer has a forename of Jude can be accepted for travel between Stourbridge Junction and Stourbridge Town only between Monday 13 July and Sunday 19 July inclusive. Customers named Judah, Julian, Judy, Judith or Julie who are known as Jude will also be permitted to travel under the offer. The offer does not entitle existing ticket holders to a refund.
Click to expand...
 
Haywain

Haywain

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3 Feb 2013
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24,476
embers25 said:
Can you confirm when the offer ends please as I will need to renew my trainsplit railcard in 2 weeks but it seems this offer doesn't work for renewals unless I'm missing something?
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Is it in 2 weeks that it expires? If so, you should be able to renew it now.
 
7

73128

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Joined
8 Dec 2019
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470
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Reading
Deerfold said:
And discussed in some detail on this thread:

Northern Explorer - new ticket?

I see that some Northern ticket vending machines now offer a type of day ticket called a Northern Explorer, priced at £35 adult and £17.50 child. There doesn't appear to be a railcard discount available. The same ticket is also listed on brfares.com, albeit hard to find. To find it on there...
www.railforums.co.uk www.railforums.co.uk

It's a new ticket, but I'm not sure how it's a special offer.
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and most of the previous day tickets have been withdrawn as well (often cheaper, but for more restricted trips)
 
WesternLancer

WesternLancer

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Deerfold said:
And discussed in some detail on this thread:

Northern Explorer - new ticket?

I see that some Northern ticket vending machines now offer a type of day ticket called a Northern Explorer, priced at £35 adult and £17.50 child. There doesn't appear to be a railcard discount available. The same ticket is also listed on brfares.com, albeit hard to find. To find it on there...
www.railforums.co.uk www.railforums.co.uk

It's a new ticket, but I'm not sure how it's a special offer.
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Occurred to me if the emergence of the Norther Explorer ticket might result int he end of the newspaper special offer version. The current vouchers expire on 16 July - when would the next Newspaper offer one typically have run given it's operated for some years? In the autumn? or not until next spring.
 
Deerfold

Deerfold

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WesternLancer said:
Occurred to me if the emergence of the Norther Explorer ticket might result int he end of the newspaper special offer version. The current vouchers expire on 16 July - when would the next Newspaper offer one typically have run given it's operated for some years? In the autumn? or not until next spring.
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I don't think this ticket will appeal to most who do the offer. They'll just be doing a return or perhaps visiting a couple of places before going home and still saving.

Obviously enthusiasts will use it much more, but they're a minority.
 
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embers25

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16 Jul 2009
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AY1975 said:
Not even if you bought your existing railcard from another outlet, such as the Railcard app or at a station?
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I can't get the £10 saving unless I buy a new railcard sending new pic etc as the offer page at trainsplit doesn't allow for renewing your existing railcard and using this offer.
 
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Edvid

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7 Feb 2008
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c2c are selling promotional £10/£15 off-peak day returns to Southend (oddly named Off-Peak Summer Advance) for the summer holidays.

Railcard, Groupsave and 1/3rd off Saver discounts do not apply.

www.c2c-online.co.uk

£15 Summer special to Southend | c2c Trains to & from London, Southend and Essex | c2c Rail

Explore info on £15 Summer special to Southend at c2c Rail. Book c2c trains to & from London, Southend and Essex at c2c-online.co.uk today! Find live train times, ticket sales, UK rail fares, offers, routes, stations & more.
www.c2c-online.co.uk www.c2c-online.co.uk
  • Off-Peak Summer Advance Terms & Conditions
    • Adult tickets cost £15
    • Child tickets are available for £2
    • Tickets are available only for travel between 21 July and 31 August 2026, with purchase up to 30 August 2026.
    • Tickets must be purchased at least 1+ day before travel
    • Tickets are valid for any Off-Peak c2c train from London to Southend stations and back again.
      • London stations includes: London Fenchurch Street, Limehouse, West Ham, Barking, Stratford, Dagenham Dock, Rainham (Essex) and Upminster
      • Southend stations includes: Leigh-on-Sea, Chalkwell, Westcliff, Southend Central, Southend East, Thorpe Bay, Shoeburyness
      • Tickets between non-London stations (such as Basildon stations or Tilbury Loop stations) and Southend stations will cost no more than £10
    • The £15 fare will not be available on journeys where an Off-Peak return would ordinarily cost less than £15
    • The £15 flat fare only applies to Off-Peak Return ticket types
    • For non-London stations (such as Basildon), a £10 return fare applies
    • These tickets are not available to purchase on the day of travel
    • Tickets may be available on third party retailers and systems
    • No Railcard discounts are available with this ticket type
    • The 1/3 Off Saver is not compatible with this ticket type.
    • GroupSave is not available with this ticket type
    • Ordinary refund rules apply to this ticket
    • This ticket is subject to the National Rail Conditions of Travel
Click to expand...
 
8

87007

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22 Jun 2013
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WesternLancer said:
Occurred to me if the emergence of the Norther Explorer ticket might result int he end of the newspaper special offer version. The current vouchers expire on 16 July - when would the next Newspaper offer one typically have run given it's operated for some years? In the autumn? or not until next spring.
Click to expand...
Next one usually October ending just before half term.
 
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Rail Ranger

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If you become involved in a Station Friends group, Northern provide passes which give free travel on Northern services after 09.30 on Monday to Friday and all day at weekends and on bank holidays.
 
Farigiraf

Farigiraf

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Mark J said:
No, it is in the Trainpal App.

In the Railcards section.

Although I suspect it will be varying discounts and amounts for different people.
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If that's an actual long-term offer and not another case of trainpal shenanigans, then I'm really questioning their business strategies. For a semi-regular regular commuter in London & the Southeast, that's essentially an annual saving of a few hundred pounds a year with no real downside, other than having to use TrainPal.

TrainPal's strategy seems to be centred around luring in customers with loss leader offers and excessive borderline misadvertising, in the hope that the passenger gets used to using them for all train ticket purchases, then paying for the loss leader products by 'saving' through having absolutely abysmal customer service. It's most likely a really successful strategy but completely devoid of any morals. Trainline's in the same boat, although they can't get away with as much because so many people use it.

As much as train ticketing itself can be not particularly passenger-friendly, particularly the advance ticket lottery, at least the various LNER/GWR/National Rail marketing strategies recognise where the real competition should be - not between different railway retailers, but between rail and the private car - and they focus on actual practical reasons why to pick them, i.e. faster and more comfortable than driving (most of the time).
 
L

Lime

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28 Aug 2024
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North
Rail Ranger said:
If you become involved in a Station Friends group, Northern provide passes which give free travel on Northern services after 09.30 on Monday to Friday and all day at weekends and on bank holidays.
Click to expand...
That's interesting, I can't seem to find any information regarding this online. Is it specific northern friend groups only?
 
WesternLancer

WesternLancer

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Jamesrob637 said:
Could I take my pre-16 July voucher to my local station, and use it in September once the kids are back at school?
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I'd wondered this - the spring ones were slightly different than the summer ones (have a different collection deadline printed on the tokens - which is a date that applies tot he publication dates in the paper, not the 'use vouchers by' date), but whether ticket office staff would notice or care probably varies from place to place.
I have tokens left over from both and intend to keep them 'just in case'.
Of course there would be nothing lost by asking at the ticket office and trying. So long as new vouchers had also been acquired.
Cheapest vouchers I found were I think newspapers priced at £1.50 a copy (IIRC one of the Sheffield papers and also the Daily Star northern editions) - there may be others of course at that price or lower.
 
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