How to save money with Greater Anglia

The cost of living is hitting everyone hard nowadays with high inflation and prices of everything from fuel, to food to DIY materials sky rocketing. So here at Greater Anglia, we wanted to show you how you can save money with us, by following a few top tips.

How to get cheaper fares

Get an Advance ticket

You can get some amazing discounts if you buy an Advance ticket with prices starting from as low as £6 for Southend Victoria to London Liverpool Street, £8 from Cambridge and £10 from Norwich to Liverpool Street. With most Railcards you may be eligible for a further third off, making Advance fares even cheaper. You can sign up for alerts for when the cheapest tickets are released, six to 12 weeks before you travel. You’re committed to travelling on a specific train, but the discount makes it worth it. On some routes you can buy an Advance ticket up to ten minutes before your departure.

Check out the discounts on the Greater Anglia website

Find out how to save up to one third on rail tickets by visiting the discounts page on the Greater Anglia website. Special deals include GroupSave – three for the price of two or a third off travel in groups of three or more, and Duo - one person travels at half price on selected weekend journeys when two people travel together.

Join Greater Anglia’s Club 50 for 20 per cent savings on Off-Peak and Advance fares online and 10 per cent off Off-Peak and Advance fares when bought from the station.

London Evening Out/Night Out

London calling? Whether you plan to catch up with loved ones, see the sights or dine in style, you can enjoy London for less with our London Evening Out or London Night Out tickets. Spend an evening in London and return home the same evening or next morning, all for the price of £23. You can go to London from 2pm onwards and return on any train departing London Liverpool Street the same day between 7.05pm and 11.30pm with the London Evening Out ticket. However, if you have planned to stay overnight, you can opt for the London Night Out ticket, which is valid to return on any train the following morning up to midday (except 7am-8.05am weekdays).

London Evening or Night Out tickets are available for journeys between Norwich and Colchester stations (including branch lines) to Stratford or London Liverpool Street.

Buy a Railcard

The 16-25, 26-30, Disabled Persons, Family & Friends, Network, Senior, Veterans and Two Together Railcards can help you save up to a third off prices – even on our discount fares, saving you even more money, while the 16-17 Saver gives a 50 per cent discount. If you’re in full-time education you can get a 16-25 Railcard whatever your age. Most Railcards can be bought online and downloaded digitally. They often pay for themselves after just a few journeys.

For more information about Railcards visit https://www.greateranglia.co.uk/tickets-fares/discounts/railcards

Look out for special offers

We have sales and special offers on throughout the year, including Hare Fares. Keep an eye on our website for more details and be sure to sign up to our mailing list to be first to hear about the offers.

At the station and don’t know which is the cheapest fare?

Our ticket machines have a “cheapest ticket” option to help you find the best value fare or if there’s a ticket office, ask a member of staff to help you.

Cheaper part-time commuting

Flexible season tickets for rail travel and parking

If you’re now travelling into the office to work just two or three days a week, then you may find our flexible season tickets for both rail travel and parking cheaper than paying a peak-time daily rate. Both of them give you eight days travel or parking within a 28-day period – but if you don’t need to wait until the end of the 28 days before buying another season ticket. Flexi season tickets discounts depend on your journey but it’s at least 20 per cent cheaper than a monthly season ticket on the same route. Flexible parking season tickets are available at 23 station car parks and can save you up to 12.5 per cent on parking costs compared to daily peak time rates. Read more about flexible parking season tickets in our news article. Discount rail station flexible parking season ticket now available | Greater Anglia.

Commuter club

Join the Commuter Club to access dozens of discounts to help you gain some valuable “me-time” on your journey to and from work, with special offers from organisations and companies including FutureLearn and The Mindfulness App and discounts on audiobooks and food and drink. Sign up here .

Cheaper tickets for children and students

Travelling with children?

Children under 5 travel for free on all our trains. Children under 15 get half price tickets, but there are simple ways to travel even more cheaply with children. Find out about our Cheap Child Train Fares .

• There’s a number of different £2 fares available: if you buy an off-peak ticket from the ticket office for yourself then accompanying children are just £2 each; Family Day Travelcards allow all children to travel for £2 in family groups on selected journeys to and around London; and up to four children per adult can travel from £2 each within Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Cambridgeshire with Anglia Plus One Day Ranger and Three-in-Seven Day Rover passes.
• Buy a GroupSave ticket if you’re travelling in a group of three or more (including the kids) and you’ll get a third off the price of all your tickets.
• If you’ve got an annual gold card season ticket, you can buy tickets for children with 60 per cent off.
• A Family and Friends Railcard gives discounts of a third off for up to four adults and 60 per cent off for up to four children travelling together on rail journeys across the whole country.

Travelling to school or college?

Academic Passes offer great value for money and we’re offering more and more destinations each year to help with costs for students travelling to school, college and even uni. On average young adults aged 16-18 could save up to 57% off the price of an Adult Annual Academic Pass compared to buying a full priced ticket at the station. Academic passes are available to load onto Smart cards, which are durable and quicker and easier to use compared to paper tickets.

Children aged 5-15 can also benefit from discounted Termly and Annual Academic Passes. And to help get to and from the station, you can also buy PlusBus tickets for 21 destinations alongside your rail ticket. More information is available on our scholars website Academic Pass .

Cheaper tickets for attractions and entertainment

2 for 1 on attractions with your rail ticket

Explore London and beyond for less, with 2 for 1 tickets on attractions with your rail tickets. This offer is valid on top experiences in the capital including the Shard, London Eye and the London Dungeon. Check before you travel as many attractions ask you to book tickets in advance.

A little further afield, we have several great 2 for 1 offers on days across East Anglia out including gin and cheese tasting, steam museum visits and go-karting, so there’s something to suit all ages, tastes and budgets.

See https://www.greateranglia.co.uk/offers for a full list of attractions on offer.

Cheaper parking at many stations

Take advantage of our new hourly parking rates

We now have a £1 pay by hour tariff for short-stay parking at 31 of our car parks. Available for up to four hours, it’s ideal for making shorter trips by train or for visiting places near stations. So if you’re travelling to shop in Norwich, you can now park at Diss, or at Cambridge North for visiting Cambridge, or Hatfield Peverel for going to Chelmsford. If you’re visiting Colchester General Hospital, you could park at Colchester station for just £1 an hour – it’s only a 15 minute walk away. Find out more details including which station car parks are including in our news article. New cheaper short-term car parking introduced at 31 Greater Anglia station car parks | Greater Anglia .