It looks as though I’ll be buying a fair few rail tickets for work for the foreseeable future.

If I buy through the Virgin Trains website I can get Nectar points but they don’t seem to worth much unless you have millions of them.

The old East Coast rewards scheme was good but (sadly) is no more.

Are there any train ticket websites that have a decent rewards scheme?

Red Spotted Hanky is quite good. Less good now they charge a transaction fee, but better than nought. You can convert Tesco points into RSH loyalty points at 2x face value too.

The old East Coast rewards scheme was good but (sadly) is no more.

No kidding! Besides Etihad, EC was the only rewards scheme I benefited from significantly in the last few years but I’ve banked a few points through a booking spree on Friday for consumption between now and September.

Will follow the thread with interest.

Quidco and Topcashback have a few companies that offer higher cashback (2.5-4.5%) for tickets booked on that companies’ trains and around 1% otherwise, so as good as RodSpottedHanky and the money transfers back into your bank account (rather than having to choose a redemption). Obviously you need to check the T&C of your companies policy with regard to how you book tickets and loyalty reward programs.

If you are spending lots, getting a good cashback credit card will probably be as beneficial (assuming you will pay it off in full every month).

EC was the only rewards scheme I benefited from significantly in the last few years but I’ve banked a few points through a booking spree on Friday for consumption between now and September.

Will follow the thread with interest.

+1

Cashback no use for me as it’s all paid for on corporate credit card 🙁

I have 5,000 EC points to use, it seems they’re only good for EC journeys now though, all the other rewards things seem ‘out of stock’. Still… a couple of first class returns to Edinburgh!

Cashback’s typically not connected to the card you buy the tickets on. Providing it’s you that makes the booking and you click through to the website via the recognised method, then the merchant pays the cashback to Quidco/whomever and then they pass it on to your registered bank account for Quidco/whomever. I suspect it’s different for the retailers who pay cash back ‘in store’ though where the identity isn’t your cashback account ID but the card you’re buying stuff with.

I think.

EDIT> But you were referring to cashback credit cards so forget this.

Topcashback etc could work though – I assumed the cashback was credited to the card used (which wouldn’t work), if it’s into a nominated account then it would – although does it show on any statements or anything that you’ve gone via TCB/Quidco? Not sure how that would be viewed…

Sorry OP, rather hijacked your thread, as I’ve been wondering the same myself!

I use a Tesco credit card (and clear it every month) and that gives a reasonable level of clubcard points, even better if you can find a double points deal when using them.

I think this works out better than a cashback credit card for me.

Most train ticket sellers appear to give in the region of 1.5% through Topcashback.

njee20, the fact you have gone through a cashback website does not show on the credit card statement, in my experience. However, I have always used a personal credit card, in my name. If the corporate card is not in your name, then you may not get the cashback. Also, as I said, it is worth checking the wording of your employer’s policy.

Corporate card is in my name, statement comes to me, I claim back, it gets paid monthly by DD from my own current account. Probably not an issue, can just imagine it being viewed suspiciously if it came back saying “Virgin West Coast Trains VIA TOPCASHBACK” or similar. I tend to spend rather a lot on train fares, so that could work quite nicely!