When is the best time to book train tickets?

Mark Wilshin

Published: August 14, 2026

With Advance tickets, the cheapest fares on most long-distance routes, knowing when the best time is to buy UK train tickets matters more than most travellers realise. Book too early and your plans might change, leaving you with a ticket you can't use. Leave it too late, and the cheapest fares will already be gone, with prices stepping up noticeably as your departure date approaches.

While booking early generally means paying less, for Advance fares on long-distance routes the picture is more nuanced. The right time to book depends on the type of journey you're making, how much flexibility you need, and whether Advance fares are available on your route at all.

This guide covers the best time to book depending on your journey type, how pricing behaviour works in practice, and the strategies most likely to reduce the cost of your ticket.

What is the best time to book train tickets?

For Advance train tickets, the best time to book is as soon as they become available. And on most long-distance routes, that means around 12 weeks before departure, when the cheapest fare allocations are released.

The 12-week window, however, isn't consistent across the network, and the best time to book also depends on your operator. While most long-distance operators open Advance fare sales around 12 weeks out, some regional operators only release their Advance fares closer to departure. – Northern, for example, opens its Advance ticket window around 6 weeks prior to departure rather than 12.

For flexible tickets such as Off-Peak and Anytime fares, when you book makes no difference to the price of your ticket, as these are regulated fares that cost the same whether you buy 10 weeks out or on the morning of travel.

Why booking train tickets early usually saves money

Advance tickets are released in pricing tiers, with the cheapest seats on any given service made available first. Once those sell out, the next tier then becomes the lowest price available. This pattern continues until only the most expensive Advance allocation remains, or until the service sells out entirely.

The result is that two people travelling on the same train on the same day can pay very different amounts, depending on when they bought their ticket. Someone who booked the week the window opened may have paid a fraction of what someone booking a month later would pay.

Prices, however, don't rise evenly across the booking window. Instead, they depend on how many tickets have sold. On many routes, the difference between booking 12 weeks and 2 weeks out can be modest, with the sharpest jump often coming in the final days before departure, when only the most expensive allocations remain.

Is there a “sweet spot” for booking?

For busy long-distance routes, the best time to buy is around when the booking window first opens for Advance fares – usually about 12 weeks ahead. On intercity services between major cities, demand is high, and the cheapest tiers can sell out quickly, so getting in early really pays off.

For quieter routes and regional services, it’s a different story. Advance prices on less busy trains tend to stay stable for longer, and it's often possible to find competitive fares just a week or two before travel without paying significantly more than you would have at 12 weeks out.

The right balance between price and flexibility also varies by journey type. If you know your plans well in advance and can commit to a specific service, booking close to the window opening makes sense.

If, however, there's a chance your plans might shift, an Off-Peak ticket, which allows you to take any eligible service on the day, might be better value overall even at a slightly higher price.

Does booking last minute ever work?

On busy intercity routes, last-minute booking rarely works to your advantage. By the time you're within a week or two of departure, the cheapest Advance tiers have typically sold out, and prices in the final days can be substantially higher than when the window first opened. Advance tickets can't be bought on the day of travel either – from that point on, only the more expensive flexible walk-up fares are available.

On quieter routes and with certain operators, last-minute fares can be more forgiving. On some regional services, Advance allocations are large enough that competitive fares remain available until a couple of days before departure, simply because demand hasn't been high enough for the cheaper tiers to sell out. On these routes, booking late won't necessarily cost as much as it would on a busier intercity service.

How timing interacts with travel dates

When you travel matters just as much as when you book. Busy travel periods, including bank holidays, event weekends, and the start and end of school holidays, can see higher demand and faster sell-through of cheaper Advance tickets. On these dates, booking as soon as the window opens really is worth it, as the cheapest allocations can sell out within days of being released.

There’s generally less pressure around weekday travel outside commuter hours and during standard term time. Weekday journeys, particularly mid-week services, tend to hold their Advance prices for longer and may still have availability even close to departure.

Regulated fares are also typically reviewed each January, with any increases applied in the first quarter. So, if you're planning to travel around that time and have flexibility around when you go, booking before the annual adjustment takes effect means locking in that year's lower price.