Although when you headed off to university the first time a month or two ago you couldn’t have been happier to get out from under your parents’ roof, even the most independent-minded and hard-hearted student wants to go back home to visit the folks, even if he or she has got an ulterior motive of getting laundry done or begging for a bank-account top-up. However, the cost of travelling in the UK has never been more expensive, with fares and fuel costs rising every year. So the trip back home can turn into a major expense for the term. However, there are a wide range of ways you can save money on travel costs, whether it’s for visiting the ‘rents or discovering how your school friends are getting on at their new homes.

Unless you’re going on a really long journey (St Andrews students hailing from Cornwall, for example), the train will be your fastest way of travelling. There are two key ways to save money on travel costs if you go by rail. The first of these is a 16-25 Railcard, which will get you a whopping 33% discount on your rail fare. Some people think they’re saving money by not bothering to shell out the annual 20 quid or so on the card, but not buying it is a false economy, as just one long rail journey will probably save you at least what you paid for the card.

The second way to save money on travel costs when going by train is to get yourself organised, plan ahead and book an early ticket online, travelling off-peak wherever possible. Find out which rail operator covers the routes you’ll be travelling on, and then go direct to their website to look for your tickets. This will help guarantee the best deals.

This rule also applies if you need to travel by plane; the earlier ahead you book, using the airline’s own site, the more you’ll save. So it pays not to leave things to the last minute if you want to save money on travel costs.

The railcard isn’t the only way of getting an automatic discount on overland travel, however. You can also travel by coach and save money on travel costs. National Express offers a travelcard that offers the same discount for the same age range as the rail one, for a cost of just £10.00. Megabus, meanwhile, offers discounts to NUS Extra cardholders. And as with rail fares, you’ll save money on travel costs much more effectively by booking as far ahead as possible and travelling at off peak times.

So if you’ve been feeling guilty about not checking in on the folks since you started your new life at uni, now you really have no excuse not to hop on a plane, train or bus and say hi. You’ll probably even find that they’re so glad to see you they’ll spoil you rotten!