MSE TicketySplit app discussion

Livingthedream · 7 June 2012 at 9:34AM

mattyw82 wrote: »

Does anyone have any advice how this would work from London Kings Cross to Durham. I can't seem to find a split fare. Also how does it work? Do you need to change trains each time?

The App says split at Darlington and save 20p and as those tickets are Super Off Peak Singles you can stay on the same train.

The only time you would have to change trains is if you booked Advance tickets and the itinerary dictated that you had to get on another train to complete your journey.

Anytime, Off Peak and Super Off Peak tickets you're normally OK unless there's a restriction on the ticket ie. states travel by a certain Train Company only; Virgin Trains Only or London Midland Only.

idlemarvel · 7 June 2012 at 7:25PM

I used the web app to split a journey from Ascot to Warrington. The turn up on the day fare was about £160, the cheapest advance fare was £82, and the app said split at Banbury and it came to £20 + £44 = £64. So far so good. The difficult part was actually buying the ticket. Trainlines don't let you select operator, and from Banbury to Warrington there are a few options, and it insisted on using Chiltern rather than X-Country. However Chiltern don't go as far as Reading, which is where I have to go from as I was starting at Ascot. So I had to log in to National Rail to find out which stations the X-Country train stopped at that Chiltern didn't (e.g. B'ham International). Then back to trainlines to specify "via B'ham International" to get it to select the X-Country route. So I managed to get the ticket I wanted at the lower price, but it took about 30 minutes and you have to be a bit of an expert. Oh for a natiional fares system. Competition is good in general but it shouldn't be so hard to get the best fare.

dzug1 · 8 June 2012 at 4:50PM

I think you've over-complicated things. The whole point of the anytime tickets you bought is that they are neither operator specific nor route specific. (Yes I know that's an oversimplification but it is true in this case). You just get on a train and go. Whether you go from Banbury to Moor Street and cross to New Street or on a direct service it's the same fare, same ticket

But avoid thetrainline - they sell tickets, they don't direct you to other sites. And they charge a fee or fees. Most other sites don't

And the turn up on the day fare for your journey is £82 (anytime single Ascot to Warrington via Banbury). If the application is saying it's £160 ish it's assuming you travel via London at peak times. You still saved though.

blanik · 9 June 2012 at 3:31AM

dzug1 wrote: »

I think you've over-complicated things. .

The problem is the ticketing prices are so complicated.

I tried checking the Ascot to Warrington journey on east coast trrains website, for travel on 11th June

Via London - about 3.5 hrs
Clicking slower routes via banbury - taking about 4.25 hours
SW to reading, XC to wolverhampton, VT to warrington

The 06:40 via London is the only train I could find at £168
An off-peak ticket via London at 07:47 or later is £81 ( I am surprised that an off-peak ticket is valid at that time in the morning! )
walk on fare via Banbury £82 ish.
Split ticket via Banbury £70 for departures before 09:00
Split ticket via Banbury £64 for departures after 09:00

So to obtain maximum savings idlemarvel took 30 mins to book, had to travel on a 45 min longer route and could not leave before 09:00. As the automatic ticket machines will not book split tickets instantly he would also have to either book the tickets on-line in advance for collection, or queue up at the counter.

Of course it depends on individual circumstance but in terms of value and flexability the walk on off-peak fare via London looks like a winner.

If you decided to booking the split tickets on-line for collection then take the opportunity to look at advance fares, On a Saturday morning it was still possible to book for Monday an £11 walk on fare Ascott to London, £2 oyster tube, then 1st advance single on either 10:30 or 12:30 from Euston to Warrington on Virgin.
Total = £75 but this includes a 1st class seat, light meal / breakfast / coffee. free wifi etc.

idlemarvel · 12 June 2012 at 8:23PM

As dzug1 said I may have overcomplicated it, but to get the a seat reservation you have to select the correct train. Cross-Country trains especially are often full and I have had to stand before now.

Ref blanik's point, as it happens I did not need to get to Warrington particularly early, so although going via London is quicker, it wasn't worth the premium to me. Had I known it would take so long to book though I might have thought again, but by then it had become a matter of principle!

Thansk to both for your comments.

alanrowell · 12 June 2012 at 9:07PM

dzug1 wrote: »

One minor niggle - and it may be a feature rather than a fault - is that I can only look up tickets from now (well the current hour so 0900 actually) until 2359 tonight

Hear hear, makes it impossible to find early morning trains unless you stay up after midnight which means a short night's sleep

Tirian · 14 June 2012 at 3:06PM

Just used this to book a journey from London to Bristol and then on to Bournville. Successfully saved quite a bit of money - but noticed that East Coast's booking system appears to have changed ...

1) They now make you process and pay for every ticket you save into your basket individually, whereas I am pretty sure you used to be able to do them in one go.

2) They also enforce a 3 minute wait between making any payments

3) Once I had booked my final leg I was presented with a message saying "You have now made the maximum allowed number of purchases today (4). You will not be able to purchase any more tickets today."

Is it me, or is this an cynical way of trying to dissuade people from splitting their journeys?? The last one in particular is very puzzling - why else would they possibly want to impose a limit of 4 ticket bookings a day?

Livingthedream · 14 June 2012 at 4:37PM

Tirian wrote: »

Is it me, or is this an cynical way of trying to dissuade people from splitting their journeys?? The last one in particular is very puzzling - why else would they possibly want to impose a limit of 4 ticket bookings a day?

With the online publicity the app has had for split ticketing it wouldn't surprise me, however, lucky for us there's lots of other online ticket sellers to buy from.

dwl99 · 18 June 2012 at 6:49AM

Whenever I try to use the mobile website I get an error "please select a valid departure station" no matter what I type in - any ideas?

alfiesmum · 18 June 2012 at 8:18AM

I'm getting the same thing this morning too. Probably just a glitch. I'm gonna try again in a few minutes time. x

MSE TicketySplit app discussion

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