Discounted train passes?

I take the train occasionally but we usually just pay for a ticket on board.  I have two friends who are coming to the UK next month. They are staying for 6 weeks and will be using the train extensively all over the country and in Wales.

Is there any kind of pass or mega-savings option for them?

Thanks for any info!

How old are your friends?  If aged 16-25 they could get a Young Person's railcard, or if aged over 60 there is a senior railcard.  Also, if they are bringing children, they could get a family and friends railcard.  All details here:

http://www.railcard.co.uk

If you will be travelling with them then some train companies offer a group travel discount for groups of 3-4:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/46506.aspx

Also found this with Google, but I don't know anything about it:

http://www.britrail.com


Also, it can sometimes be much cheaper to 'split' your ticket.  You can still buy on the day, but it can save loads:

http://www.splityourticket.co.uk

I've had friends and family use britrail but its been a few years now so not sure what the prices are now.  If its still the same they have to purchase before they get to the UK as they are only sold outside.

From what I remember it was good value because you could just hop and off as you pleased for the day then they would "punch out" a day so ended up being really cheap for the longer journeys  (ie Newcastle to London) and not having to deal with advance tickets and schedule times.

Depending on how much they're going to use it

http://www.britrail.com/

Thanks for all this great info, everyone! I will pass it along. One friend is either 24 or 25 and the other is 29. So at least one could get the "youth" fare.

Oh my, my friends are so young. I hope I can keep up with them. Haha!

Thanks again!

Have you also looked at http://www.seat61.com/?

We bought Britrail tickets this year before we left the USA.  Not as good as a deal as it used to be, but still well worth it

When we are in the UK and don't have Britrail tickets you can still save a ton of money over same day prices by using thetrainline.com.  You can book and pay for tickets ahead of time and either have them delivered by mail or pick them up from a machine at the station.  This year our daughter came to visit us while we were staying in Cornwall.  From California she booked her tickets between London and Newquay and back, then after arriving in London, picked up her tickets from the train station.

http://www.thetrainline.com/buytickets/?href=ppcg_generic_train&WT.srch=1&WT.mc_ev=click&gclid=CMz49a-e-6cCFcod4QodPjPhrg

When we are in the UK and don't have Britrail tickets you can still save a ton of money over same day prices by using thetrainline.com.  You can book and pay for tickets ahead of time and either have them delivered by mail or pick them up from a machine at the station.

And you can save even more on advance fares by buying them from the train company's own websites.   You'll save training's service fees, and you'll find prices can be even lower - for example First Great Western have been selling their own advance tickets 10% lower through their own web site than they've been available elsewhere.