Money saving travel techniques

WITH many students heading cross-country to attend university they need to be able to get home. On those quiet weekends, reading weeks, holidays or family birthdays. But with the rising price of travel and everything in between, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for students to be able to afford to get home.

There are initiatives out there such as Student Rail Cards in order to save students a little bit of money. But costing £25 for the year and saving a few quid here and there has students questioning whether it’s worth the money.

Kat Hughes, 19, a student in Liverpool, but is from Worthing in Sussex, said: “ Depending when I want to come home or go back to uni it can cost me up £120 pounds. I know it’s a long way but students just don’t have that kind of money and I think rail companies should be aware of that. I have applied for a student rail card now, not sure it will save me much but every penny helps I guess.”

To save money on trains, remember to book as much in advance as possible and not travel at peak times.

www.nationalexpress.com/coach/index.cfm

Trains have always been popular with students mainly for their speed. However as prices sore some students are turning to coaches. Daniel Jeffery, 19, a student from Cheltenham said: “ To get home or to get to my girlfriend in Canterbury I usually travel by coach, unless I’m really organised and book train tickets way in advance, but to book the journey in one it can cost me up to £60. But I’ve found if I book the two parts of my journey separately I can save a lot of money.  So I book Cheltenham to London, London to Brighton tickets and save some of my precious student loan.”

With petrol prices at an all time high, the lucky students with their cars at university are struggling to fill their cars up to get home, or places they want to be.  So some students have found themselves car sharing and cutting down costs. Ben O Shea and Emily Pilsbury are housemates in their halls. Ben said: ‘‘at the start of term we both had our cars here and were both paying the £10.50 a week parking. Once we became friends and realized we lived about 20 minutes away from each other at home we decided it wasn’t worth us both spending the money. Now we are both insured on one car, share parking costs and petrol money, it’s the best idea we’ve ever had.”

Remember students if all this fails you could always ask Mum for help. 


Click here for more information on student rail cards.