Thetrainline's Latest Research Finds Britain's Students Long for Home Sweet Home

Online, December 8, 2010 (Newswire.com) - It seems there really is no place like home, especially if you're a student and need your washing done. According to new research, the student stereotype is worryingly accurate with one in ten (10%) admitting they regularly return home during term time to get their laundry done.

The research by online train ticket retailer thetrainline.com found that gone are the days of going off to university and not coming home until the end of the semester - today's university students are part of a boomerang generation and will on average return home more than 10 times in a term.

Whilst the majority will go home to see friends and family, for a significant proportion the opportunity to be pampered by their parents seems too good to miss. Nearly a quarter of students admit that this is a significant motivating factor in why they decide to take a trip home (24%).

Around the same number get bored of Pot Noodles and baked beans and make the journey home for some home-cooked food (25%), whilst nearly one in ten simply need to catch up on some sleep (9%).

Despite travelling home so frequently the majority of students still aren't getting the best deal on their train tickets.

Iain Hildreth, Marketing Manager at thetrainline.com said: "Over half of students in the UK use the train to get between home and their place of study, yet we have found only 18% have a 16-25 Railcard. Carrying a Railcard could save you 1/3 off rail fares - essential if you're travelling back and forth so frequently. University costs are soaring at the moment and at thetrainline.com we want to make sure we're doing everything we can to help students get the best deals on tickets - and help them to wear clean clothes."

The research also found that first years are the most likely to regularly travel home, but it doesn't seem to matter what year you're in - having the parents come to visit is strictly off limits. Over a third of students won't let their parents come to see them at university (38%), and almost another third will only let them make the trip once - suggesting they're allowed to help move them in and then that's it (30%).

To help British students stretch that precious loan a little further, thetrainline.com has a range of money saving tools and tips to help your budget go further this term - so how you're going to get home needn't be a worry:

1. Book in advance: If you're planning to travel home for the Christmas holidays, now is a good time to think about booking your train tickets. Advance fares, which are often the cheapest ticket option, are released up to 12 weeks before travel date, so booking now means you can take advantage of some of the best-priced train fares available.
2. Stay single: Two single tickets are often cheaper than a return and on thetrainline.com website it's easy to compare the price of each ticket type on the fare result page.
3. Beat the clock: Save money by specifying your time of travel. Tickets requiring you to travel on specific trains (Advance and Off-Peak) tend to be cheaper than Anytime fares.
4. Be flexible: Best Fare Finder (http://www.thetrainline.com/farefinder/) will help you find cheap train tickets on 400 of the most popular routes in the UK. The tool highlights the cheapest ticket available for your journey on or around your preferred travel dates and with the ability to browse fares over a three month period you can easily see when it's the cheapest time for you to travel.