How to buy cheap train tickets

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Find out how to travel in a compartment for the price of a reserved seat, fly abroad 30% cheaper and get free tickets to the lower shelf.

Fares on the railroad are often put into a stupor: traveling by train during the season is more expensive than by plane, and the cost of a seat in a compartment carriage may be lower than in a reserved seat. We find out why this is happening and tell you how to get cheap tickets or travel for free at all.

How ticket prices are formed

Until 2013, the cost of a ticket depended on the type of carriage, seat and seasonal coefficient. Now this scheme is valid only for reserved seat cars.

For trips in SV, coupes, luxury cars and high-speed trains, there is a dynamic pricing system, as in airlines. This means that the cost of tickets depends on their quantity and demand.

The more willing to leave, the higher the cost. Someone handed over the ticket - the price may fall.

There is no evil railroad worker who manually winds up tariffs. The system automatically analyzes all factors and changes the cost, sometimes within a few minutes. For example, the price of "Sapsan" on the holidays soars almost immediately after the opening of sales.

On January 20, 2019, Russian Railways began selling non-refundable tickets. So far, you can go along them only in two directions: to Voronezh and Izhevsk. Tickets are 5–20% cheaper than regular tickets, and despite the name, in some cases they can be returned. The reason may be illness, injury due to an accident, delayed train departure or the death of a relative. On the Russian Railways website and app, non-refundable tickets are marked with a special icon; at the box office, you will need to personally ask the employee about the fare.

How to save money when buying

Dynamic pricing is often understood in a simplified way: the earlier you buy a ticket, the cheaper it is, which means you have to watch the start of sales. This is not always the case: if a crowd of travelers buys tickets at once three months before departure, demand will skyrocket, and with it the price.

Here's how to find better opportunities:

1. Do not take tickets 90 days before departure. It is better to observe the price for 5-10 days - during this period it becomes clear whether it will decrease. You can't wait with a purchase only in high season and on holidays: there is a risk of missing out on convenient places.

2. Subscribe to price cut notifications. Russian Railways does not have such a service, so the site "Tutu.ru" will help here. If the cheap tickets are dismantled, we press the button "There is hope" and order a notification. At the same time, it is better to buy on the carrier's website so as not to overpay the commission to the intermediary: on third-party services it will be about 15%.

3. Follow the shares on the Russian Railways website. For example, right after the New Year, on many trains, tickets for the upper compartment shelves are sold at half price. In the reserved seat, there are also discounts on the upper side shelves and at the toilet: in the low season they are 40% cheaper than the lower ones. What RZD considers to be off-season is easy to understand from the fact that stocks most often fall during periods of low ratios. Get ready for the confusing structure of the Russian Railways website: instead of furling sections, check the banner on the main page, where fresh promotions are usually posted, or subscribe to.

4. Check the seats from the previous station, if there are no necessary ones from yours. This is useful for those in the middle of the route. Russian Railways distributes tickets to stations, so that for each there is a part of the seats, and all are visible only from the point of departure. It is more profitable for the carrier if the seats take up the entire route of the trip, and not from the middle. The further from the starting point, the fewer tickets available. Three days before departure, all remaining tickets will still appear on sale and can be bought from any station.

Let's say we are going from Tula to Mineralnye Vody. There are only 29 reserved seats on the site. Our train departs from St. Petersburg, and there are already 98 seats available. This means you don't have to worry and choose your tickets three days before departure.

It should be borne in mind that prices fall after the New Year and in the fall, when schoolchildren and their parents have already returned from vacation. Also, the time can affect the price: trains arriving or leaving at 4-5 am are usually not so popular, so it is cheaper to travel by them.

However, the peak periods and expensive tickets fall on Friday and Sunday evenings, holidays, school holidays and the three summer months.

Which trains are subject to additional discounts

High speed trains

In "Lastochki" and "Sapsan" there is also a dynamic pricing system. The cost changes automatically, that is, Friday and Monday flights, when people go on vacation or return home, are more expensive than daytime flights on weekdays. Economy class is sold out faster, so tickets in it are rapidly growing in price. Consider places in business: they are often more profitable.

There are additional opportunities to save money:

1. 50% discount on birthday. The birthday person can go on a trip at a reduced cost seven days before the birthday and within seven days after it. The discount also applies to three of his friends. You won't be able to get tickets online - you can buy them only at the ticket office of Russian Railways with the birthday person's passport. It is not necessary to carry him with you.
2. Age discounts. Children under 10 years old are ready to throw off 70% of the cost, young people under 21 years old - 30%, pensioners after 60 years old - also 30%. The price is calculated automatically after filling in the data upon purchase.
3. Electronic and road maps. This invention is for those who are constantly moving between Moscow and St. Petersburg. An electronic card for a month costs 1,000 rubles, a plastic travel card - 3,000 for 12 months, and you can get 10% from each trip on the Sapsan. If we take the cheapest basic tickets for 2,500 rubles, then the annual roadmap will pay off after the 12th trip. It makes sense to buy an electronic one if you travel more than four times a month.

International trains

General Tips

In international transportation, Russian Railways faces competition and offers more discounts for each passenger:

• when buying for 45-60 days - 10%;
• on the upper shelves - 5%;
• newlyweds - 35% in a first class and luxury compartment;
• birthday people - 35%;
• children under 12 years old - 50%;
• young people under 25 and people over 60 - 30%;
• groups of travelers from two people - 20%.

But even with discounts, tickets are still expensive and are only suitable for incurable aerophobes. For example, a coupe Moscow - Paris on March 5 costs 24,261 rubles, and a round-trip flight on the same day will cost 12,039 rubles.

Tariffs for domestic and international transportation vary greatly, and when crossing the border, the price skyrockets. Travel by train can be really profitable to three countries: Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania. But even here it will not work to be limited to the purchase of one ticket. Due to the difference in tariffs for trips in Russia and abroad, it is better to split the route to Belarusian and Ukrainian cities into two sections and take a ticket:

• to the first station after the border - on the Russian Railways website;
• from this station to the final one - on the website of the railway company of another country.

Domestic tariffs in any country are always lower than international ones.

Let's say we are going from Moscow to Brest. A compartment ticket on the Russian Railways website costs from 6,156 rubles, which is expensive. We look at the train route and select the first station after the border. In our case, this is Orsha.

The Moscow - Orsha compartment on the Russian Railways website costs 3,769 rubles for the same train. Now we need to get to Brest. We don't even need to get out of the car for this. We can buy a second ticket for the same train and in the same compartment on the website of the Belarusian carrier. A compartment on the Orsha - Brest route will cost 19, 37 Belarusian rubles, which is about 600 rubles.

Nesterovsky train

This is the name of the train that goes from Moscow to Kaliningrad in transit through Lithuania. With its help, travelers usually get to Vilnius. In this case, you need to take a ticket not to Vilnius itself, but a little further - to Chernyshevsky - this is the station of the Nesterovsky district of the Kaliningrad region, thanks to which the train got its name.

An official ticket to the Lithuanian capital on March 1 costs from 4,657 rubles, and to Chernyshevsky - already 1,963 rubles. We take a ticket to the Russian station, but we leave earlier - in Lithuania.

We return back in the same way. The passenger has the right to board the train at any station after departure, so there should be no problems with the conductors.

How to get free tickets for points

The most favorable tickets can be obtained for points that are accumulated in the RZD Bonus program. The passenger registers in it, travels on express trains and long-distance trains, while simultaneously receiving points for an award ticket. The latter can be taken to the lower bunk of the compartment during the peak season. True, you still have to pay real money for issuing a ticket - 140 rubles, which will not be returned if you decide to return it.

The Russian Railways Bonus account is not the same account on the Russian Railways website through which you buy tickets. This system requires a separate registration, you can go to the programs. It will be necessary to fill out a questionnaire, upload a passport photo, and then confirm the registration via e-mail.

Bonus points are awarded for the following actions:

• buying tickets at the rate - three points for 10 rubles;
• passing surveys sent by Russian Railways after the trip - 100 points for each;
• inviting friends who register using your link to the program - 300 points;
• payment with co-branded cards and other expenses from program partners.

In order for points to be credited for trips, you need to indicate the number of the "RZD Bonus" card when buying a ticket on the website or call it to the cashier. If you forgot to do it right away, it's okay: bonuses can be restored through a special form on the program's website. But only a month after the trip and no later than 120 days.

Award tickets are issued on the "How to spend points" tab.

The site goes to the search page, where you need to enter your login and password again, but from the Russian Railways account. Then we proceed according to the usual scheme: we look for and choose a ticket, only instead of rubles we see the cost in points. After filling in all the data and paying the service fee, the purchase appears on the "My Orders" tab.

How much free tickets "cost" depends on the distance. Thus, a trip from Moscow to Tver will cost 4,000 points, to St. Petersburg - 7,000, and to Adler - 12,000.

Having spent 23 380 rubles on tickets, you can get a bonus from Moscow to St. Petersburg for 140 rubles.

It is easier for a family to save up for a trip if they create a family account and combine the points of spouses and children on it. Students participating in the loyalty program win even more: in addition to points, they are given a 25% discount on the purchase of compartment seats.

Outcomes

• Do not take tickets on the first day of sales: the next day the price may fall, because all the impatient have bought up.
• See trains with inconvenient departure and arrival times - at 4-5 am.
• Do not buy tickets directly for the holidays, Friday or Sunday nights. Check out the options the day before or a day later.
• Follow the promotions and use them.
• Check for tickets at previous stations if you can't see anything on yours.
• Sign up for RZD Bonus and accumulate points for trips in the background. Or at least get a discount on coupe rides if you're a student.
• Don't forget about discounts for Sapsan and Swallow.
• Take two tickets for foreign trains: to the first station after the border - in Russia, then - on the website of the railway carrier of another country.