Nearly half of Brits missing out on train travel savings

Nearly half of our fellow Brits are missing out on savings on their train travel so Virgin Trains Ticketing have made it their mission to help.

Today (17 October) in the concourse of Manchester Piccadilly Station, those potential missed savings have been brought to life for passers-by. Virgin Trains Ticketing has installed a giant installation of the iconic MCR lettering - the perfect selfie spot for any visitors spending the day in Manchester. The giant lettering is made out of 248,954 train tickets – the massive number of Mancunians who are missing out on savings when booking their train journeys. It’s also the staggering number of Virgin Points up for grabs, as Virgin Trains Ticketing will be giving away a point for every single Mancunian who has been missing savings, so get down here and come grab yourself some Virgin Points. 

Virgin Trains Ticketing

Even though more than a quarter of Brits travel on a train every week, a massive 46% of them admit to not being fully clued up on the best ways to save money on tickets. Commuters revealed they didn't know they could:  

• Use loyalty points to reduce the cost of a train ticket (16%) 

• Make savings by taking advantage of split ticketing (48%) 

• Book tickets without having to pay a booking fee (28%) 

Almost half of travellers admit they would travel more often if they could save money using loyalty points, which is exactly where Virgin Trains Ticketing comes in. Virgin Trains Ticketing allows travellers to earn three Virgin Points per £1 spent on any train journey – to then use them to save money on future tickets as well as a range of extraordinary rewards.

The research also shows that nearly half of Brits are missing out on making their train travel cheaper, despite a whopping 68% of people believing that finding the cheapest tickets is the most important factor when booking a train journey.  

Virgin Trains Ticketing

Mark Plowright, Director of Virgin Trains Ticketing, said: “We are all guilty of finding the thrill in bagging the best bargain, but many of us are missing out on savings when it comes to train travel. With simple hacks like redeeming points on your travel, using split ticketing and not paying for booking fees, you can make noticeable savings, and the Virgin Trains Ticketing app is seamless as it automatically searches for you to give you the best deal.” 

With more than a quarter of us travelling by train more than twice a month, but only 17% earning rewards when they book, it’s no wonder that three in five would be more selective with where they book if they knew there was a more rewarding way to travel.

The Virgin Trains Ticketing app finds you the best deals on your specific journey and even lets you use your Virgin Points to unlock discounts on your travel. This means Virgin Trains Ticketing has you covered with split ticketing, off-peak offers, no booking fees or earning loyalty points on your travel. Making every journey more rewarding.

With 200 Virgin Points, travellers can save £1, with 500 points the saving goes up to £2.50 and 5,000 points gets buyers a £25 discount.  

Mark Plowright also added: “For instance, we were shocked to see how many people in Manchester were missing out on cheaper tickets, with more than 200,000 travellers not getting the best deal on their train travel. So, today, Virgin Trains Ticketing is giving the people of Manchester the chance to get back some of the points they’ve been missing out on.” 

Virgin Trains Ticketing