Student Advice Service – Money Matters

News from the Student Advice Service at the University of Brighton

Money Week blog of the day – save on travel where you can

As runners up in the national people & planet awards, we know all about being sustainable. We also know all about giving our students as much advice and information about cheap(er) travel. But we don’t know everything, so just ask another student.

 

What’s the best local advice?

The cheapest (and healthiest) options are to walk or cycle. This is manageable if you live near uni, but as we know the hills in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings are a challenge for any budding cyclist, let alone the hazardous cycle paths. The university has a wealth of sound cycling advice in the Sustainability section of the website and links to great deals etc for students. If you’d rather use a cycle for leisure travel rather than the commute to uni, you could either bring your bike from home or buy one second hand. Make sure it’s road worthy (with lights and reflectors) and covered by any insurance you have. As well as excellent service and repair rates, some second hand bike shops such as GWhizz cycles  will buy a used bike back off you when you leave Brighton, so you’re the winner all round!

Organisations such as Sustrans have some really useful bus route maps and guides to reassurethe wary cyclist, and local councils often have handy maps you can order or download via apps

As for buses, there isn’t much choice. Brighton and Hove buses offer student deals and the cheapest multi journey ticket available is via the M-ticket which you download as an app. You choose whether you want a daily weekly, monthly etc option – just make sure your phone is charged before you want to use it! But if you’re old school you can get a scrach card ticket from your SU shop and if you’re just after a one off 23, 25, 25X, N25 route you can get a £4 unlimited day (and night!) ticket. There is also a 60 minute City saver ticket for £2.40, so you’re quids in if you can complete all journeys and errands in 1 hour (as one of our own Advisers can testify).

If you are hopping from one Brighton based campus to another, you can’t have missed the Big Lemon, which is a free bus for University of Brighton students and staff only.

If you’re travelling further afield and you want to avoid the trains, Stagecoach buses offer a £2 single bus fare after 7pm on some routes (eg Brighton – Worthing)

National Express have cheap deals and if you’re a young person (under 26) who likes to use the coach regularly, you can purchase a student card which offers additional discounts.

Trains

When trains run on time, they are usually reliable, but can be a very expensive mode of transport. Full time students can get the Unizone ticket which streches from East Worthing to Eastbourne (and includes Seaford, Newhaven) but you now need a 16-25 railcard first. If you don’t want a railcard, off peak travel is considerably cheaper, but the times can vary from one local station to another. Southern have different offers availble, from cheap family tickets, to cheap advance singles and returns to London, so book as far in advance as you can to get the best deal.

If you are a group on the move, you can get a Groupsave ticket which can potentially save a fortune, but these are always available, so again, check in advance.

The best deals for long haul journeys can be found if you search weeks in advance, so if you’re travelling home for Easter or visiting friends in fabulous cities like Manchester, sign up for Virgin trains best fare finder deals. Typically if you buy singles and avoid returns that span London, you can save a tidy fortune. So for example buying 4 singles Brighton – London, London – Manchester, Manchester – London, London – Brighton may seem ticket heavy, but it’s worth it. Also, from personal experience, use different search engines as some offers can miraculously disappear……………..then reappear. Like magic. If you can be flexible with times and dates of travel, then stick to them, it can make significant difference.

You can also look at companies like the Trainline, Red Spotted Hanky if you like to compare the cost of different companies and routes.

The university is always looking to get students’ input on these issues, so stay in touch with SU and the Sustainability team if you’ve got something to share or say.

2012 Feast of the Hunter's Moon Rob Slaven via Compfight

Looking forward to seeing you at the Money Matters stand today in Eastbourne, at Greynore canteen, between 12 – 2 

Safe travels

Student Advice Service

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helen Abrahams • February 9, 2017


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