Travel cheap, buy in advance

One of our most popular questions at this time of year is “what’s the cheapest way to get to uni?” It’s a very good question and if you read on, you’ll hopefully find some useful information…….

Trains

If you get a 16-25 Railcard you can get 33% off rail fares. A one year railcard costs £30 (or £70 for a 3 year card). Santander offer a free 4 year railcard with their 123 student current account, but this may not be the best banking option for you. Mature full time students over 25 can still get a 16-25 Railcard – check out the 16-25 Railcard website to find out more about eligibility. However you generally can’t get a discount if you travel before 10am on weekdays unless your journey costs at least £12… so it’s not useful for early seminars/lectures. If you can be flexible with the times you travel to uni, you can get off peak tickets if you travel after 9am. An off peak return is typically only a few pence more than an anytime single.

It’s also worth knowing that if you have a 16-25 Railcard you can get a Unizone ticket, which gives you cheaper travel between Worthing in the west and Eastbourne in the east. It costs £17.40 for a weekly ticket; £66.80 for a monthly ticket and £200.40 for a quarterly ticket. You have to buy it from a staffed train ticket office. You can also save money on train journeys by booking tickets in advance – generally the further ahead you buy them, the cheaper they can be. Visit the National Rail website for further info or the Trainline which lets you set up advance booking alerts for those trips away to visit friends and family in exciting faraway places like Manchester, Norwich or Exeter. You might be surprised to hear that reservations for many companies are now open to advance booking as far ahead as Christmas (which is 11 weeks today!)

Coaches

Coach travel is generally cheaper than train travel. National Express is the biggest national coach company and it offers student discounts. There are also other coach companies which may work out cheaper – Megabus is one of the better known (please note this implies no recommendation!)

Buses

You can get cheaper travel on Brighton & Hove buses if you are a student – for details check out the student bus portal which tells you about app tickets called M tickets which you can get on your phone. A standard ‘saver’ bus ticket (unlimited journeys for a day) costs £5.00, but students can pay as little as £3.20 through the M-ticket app. Unfortunately recent feedback we’ve had from students is that the app isn’t working properly, but this could be teething problems as it’s only recently been rolled out. Do log any faults to info@buses.co.uk.

***Bus top tip*** – trying to get on a 25/25X bus in the mornings can be a nightmare from the Old Steine onwards towards Moulsecoomb and Falmer! You can get the much less crowded 49 to the Moulsecoomb campus and the 28 or 29 to Moulsecoomb and Falmer. The 28 and 29 are limited stop services which don’t go on to the Falmer campus but stop on the main road (the A27), on the opposite side of the road to Falmer train station. The short additional walk you have to make onto the Falmer campus can be well worth it (but don’t tell too many people!)

Uni Free Bus

There’s also a free shuttle bus (UB1) which runs between the main Brighton campuses and Varley halls weekdays only.

Bikes

As well as using your own bike, Brighton & Hove has it’s own bike share scheme like the Santander bikes you see in London and other big cities. You have to register but there are good discounts for annual memberships for students (and staff). There are also a number of bike shops which can sell you cheap second hand bikes in good working order, but do check before you buy and do buy from a genuine vendor with a good reputation. The author has used GWhizz for bike repairs many times over the years but there are plenty of options so do look at reviews. Make sure you invest in a decent lock and keep your bike covered and well serviced if it is has to sleep outside.

Walking

No matter where you live, if you can you will save yourself a small fortune by walking. There are a multitude of beautiful routes by land or sea and lots of place to explore.

Further travel info on the University website:

https://www.brighton.ac.uk/current-students/my-student-life/travel-and-transport/index.aspx

Stay safe however you travel

Student Advice Service