Great Western Railway Deals

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  GWR 'up to 50% off' train ticket sale

  Discounted advance fares for travel between January and April

  Expired

  Until 11.59pm on Wednesday 10 January, Great Western Railway is having a sale on selected trains across its network in England and Wales (see full map), including one-way tickets available between London and Oxford for £5.

  How to get the discounted tickets

  Sale seats are valid for travel from Wednesday 10 January to Friday 26 April. To get the discounted seats, you’ll need to book by Wednesday 10 January online at Great Western Railway, or via its app (available for free on Android and Apple). Tickets must be bought at least seven days before you travel and are non-refundable.

  The cheap fares are randomly spread on trains across its network throughout the sale period, so it can be hit and miss as to whether the train you want is discounted and it may involve a bit of trial and error to find the cheaper fares – but there will be more availability the further in advance you book. GWR says the sale tickets will mostly be on off-peak trains, with limited availability during weekday peak times.

  There are 150,000 discounted advance single tickets available. You may need to be flexible on times and dates to get the cheapest tickets. Once you've selected your travel dates, discounted fares will be marked as 'Jan Sale' (see image).

  

  For return trips, you'll need to book two singles to get the cheapest fare, so check both are at the discounted rate before booking – return fares are offered but these will be a lot more expensive than buying two 'January Sale' singles.

  Here are some cheap fares we found when we checked on Wednesday 3 January:
  

  • £5 single London Paddington to Oxford (we've spotted non-sale tickets for £23-£30)
  • £16 single London Paddington to Swindon (we've spotted non-sale tickets for £33.50-£74)
  • £22 single Reading to Cardiff Central (we've spotted non-sale tickets for £35-£45)
  • £23 single Exeter St Thomas to Reading (we've spotted non-sale tickets for £38.50-£50.80)

  Discounted first class fares are also available, such as £35 between London Paddington and Bath Spa or £51 fares between Paddington and Penzance, but of course that’s not as MoneySaving.

  It's worth noting that these tickets are only valid for the specific train selected when booking, and are non-refundable. Unfortunately, no further discounts are available with a railcard or any other offer.

  For other ways to save on train travel, check our Cheap train tickets guide.

  • More info

    You won't be able to start, break and resume, or end your journey at any intermediate station except to change to or from connecting trains as shown on your ticket.
    

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  GWR train sale, eg, London-Bath £16 return

  Discounted advance fares for mostly off-peak Jan-Mar travel

  Expired

  All aboard... Great Western Railway is having a sale on selected trains across its network in England and Wales (see full map), including one-way tickets available between London and Swindon for £5, between Bath and London for £8, and between Reading and Cardiff for £12 until 11.59pm on Fri 19 Jan.

  How to get the discounted tickets

  Sale seats are for travel until Wed 28 Mar and you'll need to book a minimum of 17 days in advance of travel. To get the discounted seats, you’ll need to book by 19 Jan online at Great Western Railway, via its app, or a GWR ticket office.

  The cheap fares are randomly spread on trains across its network throughout the sale period, so it can be hit and miss as to whether the train you want is discounted and it may involve a bit of trial and error to find the cheaper fares – but there will be more availability the further in advance you book. GWR says the sale tickets will mostly be on off-peak trains, with limited availability during weekday peak times, so you'll need to be flexible on times and dates to get the cheapest tickets.

  There are 160,000 discounted standard and 40,000 first-class advance single tickets available. Once you've selected your travel dates, discounted fares will have a red banner and 'January Sale' above them (see image).For return trips, you'll need to book two singles to get the cheapest fare, so check both are at the discounted rate before booking. Return fares are offered but these will be a lot more expensive than buying two 'January Sale' singles.

  Sale ticket examples

  Strong discounts we found (when buying two standard advance single sale tickets) on Fri 5 Jan include:

  • £10 standard return London Paddington to Oxford, depart 10.15am on Fri 16 Feb, rtn 2.30pm on Sat 17 Feb – next cheapest advance return, £15.90 (norm off-peak return, £29).
  • £10 standard return London Paddington to Swindon, depart 9.36am on Fri 2 Mar, rtn 3.45pm on Mon 5 Mar – next cheapest advance return, £28 (norm off-peak return, £63.20).
  • £16 standard return London Paddington to Bath Spa, depart 9am on Fri 16 Mar, rtn 7.18pm on Sun 19 Mar – next cheapest advance return, £32.50 (norm off-peak return, £79.80).
  • £24 standard return Exeter St Davids to Reading, depart 12.17pm on Fri 16 Mar, rtn 7.30pm on Tue 20 Mar – next cheapest advance return, £62 (norm off-peak return, £73.90)
  • £24 standard return Reading to Cardiff Central, depart 9.42am on Mon 12 Feb, rtn 3.56pm on Mon 19 Feb – next cheapest advance return, £58 (norm off-peak return, £89.20).
  • £24 standard return London Paddington to Penzance, depart 10.03am on Wed 7 Mar, rtn 12.57pm on Tue 13 Mar – next cheapest advance return, £48 (norm off-peak return, £151.30).

  Discounted first class fares are also available, eg, London Paddington to Penzance in Cornwall or vice versa for £60 return (next cheapest first class advance return, £102. Norm off-peak return, £274.30), but of course that’s not as MoneySaving.

  It's worth noting that these tickets are only valid for the specific train selected when booking, and are non-refundable. Unfortunately, no further discounts are available with a railcard or any other offer.

  Are child tickets included?

  Discounted child tickets (5-15 years old) are available in this sale for half the price of the adult sale ticket, so a family of four – two adults and two children – could visit London from Oxford for £30 return (£5 each way for each adult, £2.50 each way for each child).

  How good is this sale?

  Although GWR is only offering half the number of discounted sale tickets compared with its January sale last year, many of its discounted fares are cheaper than a year ago, so if you get on board with this sale, you could make a big saving over regular ticket prices.

  • More info

    Maximum of nine people per booking. You won't be able to start, break and resume, or end your journey at any intermediate station except to change to or from connecting trains as shown on your ticket.

    There are no sale fares available to/from Cheltenham Spa between 13-16 Mar, and to/from South Wales between 3-4 Feb, 10-11 Mar and 17-18 Mar.

    The GWR network stretches from London Paddington in the east to Cornwall and the south west, Bristol and South Wales, Gloucester, Oxfordshire and the South Cotswolds as well as parts of Surrey and West Sussex.

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