How to save money if you are a train commuter in the UK.
I spend a good proportion of my life commuting to and from work on the train, about 10 hours a week in fact, and so it follows that I spend a lot of time at train stations. I also have a coffee habit and will spend at least 2 pounds a day on my morning latte. This can rise to 5 pounds if I am in need of comfort food such as a sausage sandwich or chocolate croissant (usually on Monday mornings). So, I spend a reasonable amount of dosh at train station cafe’s. In particular I spend most of it at Pumpkin near platform 8 of Sheffield train station.
One day, the nice lady who served me told me that I could get 20% off everything I buy at that cafe by simply signing up for a BiTE card. I am naturally suspicious of such claims and was about to politely ignore her but the guy behind me in the queue said “it’s true – I’ve got one…Look!” and proceeded to get 20% off his breakfast.
It turned out that it was my lucky day because the lady behind him said “I’ve got a spare one – you can have it if you like” and she handed it to me. It was too late for me to get a discount on that morning’s coffee but I have been getting 20% off everything there ever since and that soon adds up to a significant amount of cash.
So if you are like me and spend a lot of money at the cafe in the train station ask them if they offer a discount on presentation of a BiTE card. If they do then sign up for one here – www.bitecard.co.uk
Reminder: This applies to the UK only.
Disclaimer:As mentioned above – I didn’t need to sign up as I was handed a card by a friendly fellow commuter so I have no idea how much email / snail mail you will receive from them as a result.