Great Western Railway Deals

Get discounted advance fares for travel between January and April

If train travel features in your New Year plans, here's a deal that might suit your schedule. You can get up to 50% off the most popular advance fares from Great Western Railway (GWR) until 11.59pm on Thursday 9 January 2025 for travel between Thursday 9 January 2025 and Sunday 13 April 2025.

If you want to take advantage of it, don't hang about. Discounted advance fares are limited to 150,000 – 100,000 standard-class tickets and 50,000 first-class tickets. They're available for journeys across the GWR network, which covers south-west England and Wales. When we checked, we found London to Oxford one-way for £5 (more examples below).

What you need to know before booking

The discounted fares are available via the GWR website and GWR app (free for both Android devices and iOS devices), as well as other ticket-booking websites and apps. They must be booked at least seven days before you want to travel and are non-refundable. You cannot use a railcard in conjunction with the discounted fares, or any other offer.

As they're advance fares, they're only valid for the time and date you book for, and they can only be used on GWR trains. They may not be available for some peak times (Monday to Friday before 9am and between 4pm and 7pm for all routes to and from London, though variations may apply).

How to find discounted fares

You've more chance of finding discounted fares if you're flexible about when you travel. As they're advance fares availability is likely to be greater the further in advance you book. If you want to book a discounted return trip, you'll need to book two singles. Check fares are discounted before buying – they'll be marked as 'Jan Sale' like this...

GWR says they're available for "selected journeys" only, so you won't find them for travel between every station on its network. Finding them can involve a bit of trial and error – if you're using the GWR website or app, it seems to be easier if you enter the exact stations you want to travel from and to (eg, 'London Paddington' instead of 'London terminals') and then use the 'Cheapest fare finder' tab to see which dates they're available for, like so...

Here are some discounted fares we found when we checked on Tuesday 7 January 2025:

• £5 standard-class single London Paddington to Oxford (next cheapest non-discounted fares we found on the GWR website ranged from £13.50-£34.30)

• £10 standard-class return (two singles) Exeter St Davids to Penzance (next cheapest non-discounted fares we found on the GWR website ranged from £20.80-£57.40)

• £21 standard-class single Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington (next cheapest non-discounted fares we found on the GWR website ranged from £34.50-£43)

• £36 first-class single Reading to Cardiff Central (next cheapest non-discounted fares we found on the GWR website ranged from £60-£163.60)

Finding fares discounted by more than 50%?

GWR says its up to 50% off claim is based on the average discount available across all routes involved in its promotion, so some fares may be discounted by less than 50% and some by more. It says the discount per route is based on the most popular single advance fare typically sold for each route.

For more ways to save on train travel, see our Cheap train deals page and our Cheap train tickets guide.

Discounted advance fares for travel between January and April

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.