Four-day interrail pass cheaper than London-Manchester ‘anytime’ return train ticket

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Train travellers could save hundreds of pounds by buying a Europe-wide interrail ticket instead of an “anytime return” ticket from a UK-based firm, one traveller has claimed.

Durham University student David Frankal revealed the hack on Twitter, with his claim backed up by research by The Independent.

He suggested that it could be cheaper to buy a “global” interrail pass than an Anytime return ticket from Avanti West Coast for travel between London and Manchester.

The cheapest multi-country interrail pass allows the ticketholder to travel in second class on UK trains for two journeys – as part of four days’ worth of permitted travel within a month of the first day it’s used.

The pass costs €246 (about £215) for an adult and €185 (£160) for a “youth” aged 12 to 27. People aged 60 and over pay just €221 (£192), while children aged 11 and under travel free with an adult.

To compare, Avanti West Coast charges £369.40 for an anytime return ticket – for use during both off-peak and peak times – between London and Manchester.

Two single Advance tickets could be cheaper but the hack appears to allow travel on any service.

Mr Frankal wrote: “Just had a slightly crazy thought about Avanti West Coast’s £369 anytime return from Manchester - London...

“A 4-day Interrail pass costs €185. What’s stopping you from buying one and just using the inbound/outbound portions as tickets?”

Buying a four-day interrail ticket instead saves £155 for an adult and as much as £208 for a “youth” ticketholder, when compared to buying a return anytime ticket from Avanti West Coast or National Rail.

The savings are bigger when travelling further afield. An Avanti West Coast anytime return ticket between London and Scottish cities such as Edinburgh and Glasgow is £393.

For these journeys, buying an interrail ticket instead can save an adult about £178 and a “youth” passenger as much as £233.

The interrail ticket can be used on many British trains including those run by Avanti West Coast. It allows train travel on four separate days within a month from activation.

Passholders are allowed to use two journeys for “outbound” and “inbound” travel in their country of residence.

The website says: “We want our Passes to be as flexible as our travellers, so if you’re travelling with an Interrail Global Pass, you can now use it to travel in your country of residence during one outbound journey and one inbound journey that occur during travel days at any point in your trip (outbound and inbound journeys are not extra travel days).”

It continues: “If you need more than one outbound and inbound journey, you can always buy additional point-to-point tickets from your country’s rail carrier.”

Interrail also offers a cheaper one-country pass – but a customer cannot use this in their country of residence.