Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright
UK
On trains you can get discounts in the UK if you have:
Freedom Pass
A Freedom Pass - in London, residents over a certain age can apply for a Freedom Pass which in 2012 give free travel in London.
Senior Railcard
A senior Railcard on the mainline networks cost me about thirty pounds but saved about thirty pounds. No real saving for one journey. Why waste time applying for it? I was taking just one journey to Wales.
But I applied for it anyway. Just in case I needed to take a second journey. It would also be quicker to renew the following year if the price or travel was higher than the cost of the discount card and I wanted to pay again. The senior railcard also acted as a second form of identity and age verification if I did not have my Freedom card or lost it or mislaid it. I might find that I could get discounted or free entry to a museum by showing it to the ticket office.
Singapore Travel Cards
The community centres have a membership card which doubles as a railcard. This gets you through the turnstile without the wait to buy a ticket every time. You get discounted travel.
I was also able to ask for a card which you can show somebody when requesting a seat. you don't have to breathe over them, or speak through your mask. Just show them the card.
Seasonal Offers
In London Christmas shopping often goes on to lunch time the previous day, when some shops shut so their staff can go home for Christmas eve. the Catholic churches hold christmas eve Midnight mass. We have attended a midnight mass in London where there was a concert, as well as in Prague in the Czech Republic. Christmas day in London is a dead day with most people at home opening presents and having family dinners. Non-Christians such as Jews and Moslems are increasingly taking different days off for their festivities and standing in for Christian staff on Christmas Day.
Over Xmas and New Year you might find there are no trains, or that extra trains run all day or all night with free travel. Did they find it was cheaper to keep the driverless trains running and not pay the staff overtime? Or that staff wanted Xmas and New Year off? Keep an eye out by looking at the online news, free newspapers on the stations, posters on the underground train lines, station leaflets, and apps.
USA & Canada
In the USA in the sixties we had an offer on greyhound buses for 99 dollars for 99 days. That has long gone. However, the trains with
the see-through roofs periodically make offers. Get on their mailing list to be alerted.
One year in Lake Tahoe everything was closed or fully booked over New Year. So we ended up taking our son to McDonalds which seemed to be the only place open.
Europe
In Spain we drove across the border from Portugal and had to have an early sitting dinner in Spain on Christmas Even. They asked if we could finish eating by 9 pm. No problem.
However, they were already sitting down to their staff Xmas eve dinner while we were still eating. We were a bit surprised. Even more surprised next morning when we just got into breakfast before the restaurant closed. Spain was on a different time zone, an hour different!
On New Year's Eve some areas of the USA, as in the UK have free travel on trains or free travel on taxis.
Japan
I have vivid memories of arriving at a Japanese station in Hiroshima wanting an overnight train back to Tokyo to see my American boyfriend (who I had met on the plane and became a lifelong penpal and phone and internet contact) who was passing through Tokyo for one day. The ticket seller told me that all seats on the overnight train were sold. Oh no!
What to do? Go to a student hostel for the night? pay for hostel overnight as well as the train fare. Where was it?
I went back to ask. It was too far to walk. No bus. I would have to pay for a taxi there - and back next day.
I sat down, disconsolate. After a couple of minutes, the ticket seller beckoned me over. What was he trying to tell me? Train? Yes. Bed? That I could not sleep on the bench? Bed on train? Three beds. Six beds. Train. Only low bed. That I could buy a couchette, a bunk bed!
But more expensive than a seat. It was three times the price of the seat.
But it let me sleep flat overnight! The cost was less than the youth hostel plus two taxi fares. And it got me to my destination in time to see my boyfriend! I was ecstatic. Yes, yes, yes. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Arigato.
If you tell the ticket sellers your budget, and ask for alternatives. Or go back when they are less busy, or have thought about it, in my experience there is often a cheaper alternative and a second option.
Compare the cost of planes, trains, long distance coaches, overground trains, local suburban trains, city buses, all night buses. taxis.
The same applies on ferries. And sometimes a return ticket is cheaper than two singles, especially if bought weeks in advance. On cruise ships and holidays, however, you can often get a last minute bargain.
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About the author
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer, English teacher, author, and a member of Toastmasters International, a speakers' training and leadership self-help, co-op, not for profit international organization.
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