TrainPal deals

Requires you to purchase any train ticket to activate the railcard

A railcard gets one-third off most train travel and the majority of them cost £35 for one year or £80 for three years. However, if you're new to third-party booking site TrainPal*, you can use the code MSESEP25 to get 25% off a digital railcard (one that's stored on your phone), making it £26.25 for one year or £60 for three years. You'll need to sign up with the code by 11.59pm on Thursday 10 September.

Make sure you create an account and stay signed in when adding the code MSESEP25 or it may show as 'invalid promo code'.

Two important things to note with this deal:

• You'll need to buy any train ticket within 180 days (no minimum spend) to activate your railcard. To avoid forgetting this, it's best to do it as soon as possible after buying your railcard even if you're not planning on travelling any time soon. In this case, buy any cheap train ticket just to activate the railcard – for example, we found a ticket for £1.60 from Stourbridge Junction to Stourbridge Town.

• The railcard can only be accessed via the free TrainPal app which you'll need to download. You can't transfer it to the official Railcard app after purchasing, nor can you add it to your digital wallet (Apple or Android).

How good is this deal?

This 25% off code is particularly strong if you're planning to purchase a three-year railcard, as you're getting £20 off, which is a decent chunk off the usual £80, and is the biggest discount off a three-year card we've seen this year.

While this is also a good deal for a one-year railcard, we recently featured a £10 off code which cut the price to £25 – slightly cheaper than this current code, which gets it for £26.25.

How to get 25% off a railcard:

• Sign up for a free account at TrainPal*. If you're given the option to enter the code while signing up, you can – enter MSESEP25 in the 'Promo code (optional)' box.

• If you don't enter the code at sign-up, select the Account/Member icon and then 'Promo Codes'. Or in the app, go to the 'Account' tab and tap 'Vouchers & Promo Code'. Add MSESEP25 in the 'Enter promo code' box ('Enter code' in the app) to add it to this section.

• The code is valid for 90 days once you've added it to your account. When you're ready to use it, go to the TrainPal digital railcards page* and choose the railcard you want. The discount should be automatically applied.

• Don't forget to purchase a train ticket within 180 days to activate your railcard – there's no minimum spend for this, so you could just buy the cheapest possible fare. If you don't activate your railcard, you'll be issued an automatic refund.

The code can be used to buy one of the following digital railcards:

• 16-17 Saver - one year only (remains valid for a full year even if you turn 18)

• 16-25 - one year and three years

• 26-30 - one year only

• Family & Friends - one year and three years (linked to the purchaser's account only, so it can't be transferred or used independently by the second person)

• Network - one year only

• Senior - one year and three years

• Two Together - one year only

The offer excludes the Disabled Person's Railcard and Veteran's Railcard.

Maximise the discount by getting £5 off your first train ticket costing £5.01 or more

If you're new to TrainPal*, use the code MSE5OFF to get £5 off any UK train ticket costing £5.01 or more – this is ideal for a short journey as you could bag a train ticket for pennies. There are no booking fees. You'll have seven days to book a train ticket after claiming the code. See full £5 off details.

What if I'm not new to TrainPal?

The code MSE23 will give you 10% off, making a one-year railcard £31.50, or a three-year one £72.

See our Cheap train tickets guide for more ways to save on rail fares.

If you've never bought from TrainPal before. Must book within a week, can travel any time

Don't derail your finances... if you've got a train journey coming up, here's a code that'll put you on track for a nice saving.

If you're new to third-party booking app TrainPal*, use the code MSE5OFF to get £5 off any UK train ticket costing £5.01 or more – this is ideal for a short journey as you could bag a train ticket for pennies. There are no booking fees.

You'll have seven days to book a train ticket after claiming, so it's good to have a planned journey in mind. The code can be claimed until 11.59pm on Thursday 31 December, so you don't need to do this right away if you aren't travelling soon.

TrainPal told us you count as a new user if you've never bought anything through it before – so even if you've previously signed up or downloaded its app, but never bought anything, you can still get this deal.

Warning: This discount code will not work on mobile or web browser, it's an app only deal.

How to claim the code:

• You'll need to download the TrainPal app* if you don't have it already, and sign up for a free account. If you're given the option to enter the code while signing up, you can – pop MSE5OFF into the 'Promo code (optional)' box.

• Once signed in, go to the 'Account' tab and tap 'Promo codes'. If you entered the code while signing up, your voucher will appear here. If you didn't, add it in the 'Enter code' box.

TrainPal may not always be the cheapest site, but with the £5 off it's likely to be – though always check.

See our Cheap train tickets guide for more ways to save on rail fares.