Cheapest Train Fares Discussion Area

humancoin

DerekB wrote:

1. We all need to watch for attempts to do away with the regulated Saver fare. These are the only remaining walk-on (i.e. no need to book ahead or specify a train time) fares which are still controlled by reference to the retail sprice index. The train operators are lobbying government to scrap the Saver because it is the only thing preventing them from introducing an even more crazy fare structure than now. There is no point in trying to market fares between the Saver level and the "premium" standard open fare because nobody in their right mind would pay them. Do away with the Saver and a whole new range of walk-on fares could be introduced making it possible virtually to have a different fare for every train.

My experience and advice may be a little dated as it is a couple of years since I have worked with the trains. I used to work for a company that booked tickets on behalf of virgin and the trainline.com (both the same company really). So any advice I give is related to booking through a virgin trains call centre, or thetrainline.com, or virgin trains web site.

The saver ticket is no longer a 'walk-on' fare on all services. I know that Virgin trains would charge people the standard open ticket price if they just got on the train without a ticket. The saver must be purchased before actually getting on the train. It can be bought up until the time of travel etc, but not on the train.

For virgin services, the 'value' tickets are the cheapest tickets. They are a combination of two single tickets to make a return.

The value 14 day advance ticket is the cheapest, and has to be booked four days in advance, you also get the value 7 day advance, and the value three day advance. There are also value first tickets, that are similar, but first class tickets, and more expensive. You can sometimes find that it is cheaper to get a first class ticket on part or the entire journey if the standard value tickets are no longer available. They are usually the cheaper option than on the saver.

In terms of booking tickets, the value tickets become available usually 4-6 weeks before travel, but depend on the train times being confirmed by network rail. The advance tickets will only be released once seat reservations are available.

I would often say it is worth phoning instead of checking the internet. The people who work in the call centres usually know the dates tickets are released up until, so it can be a lot quicker and better than the web, although in saying that, it does sometimes take longer for the tickets to show up available on the phone than over the net, the central system seems to update the web quicker than the system used in the call centres (by one day) and some of the call centres have been moved to India. When phoning the call centre, it is better to phone first thing in the morning, or after eight pm, once you dial the number say 'help' and you will by-pass the computer automated system. Alternatively you could phone the business booking number instead of the general public number, they use exactly the same system once you are through, it just means that you skip the cues and get straight through to somebody. They will probably say that you have come through on the wrong number, but if you just ask nicely they can check and book things for you just the same.

At times you do get tickets released for peak time trains on the value tickets, but these are scarce, and you have to be quick to get them. People would often phone up day after day looking for the value tickets to be released.

When travelling through London, perhaps to go to Southampton from up north or something, buy separate tickets, treat the north-London and then London-Southampton legs as separate, works out cheaper.

AVOID SUNDAY TRAVEL!!!! I don't know if it as bad as it was, but i would bet its still pretty bad. Value tickets don't get released until a lot closer to the travel time, sometimes only a day or so before travel - if they are even released at all. Be prepared for longer journeys and coach connections.

Refunds: ticket conditions have probably changed since when I left. What I would say is it is better to have booked over the phone if you are then going to cancel, it is less of an admin fee on the virgin site than on thetrainline site, solely because the virgin site is branded... even though they use the same call centres and web technology. If you are lucky you might get less of an 'admin' fee, e.g. if you argue the point that the wrong time was booked on your behalf or something... but thats a bit sneaky really, but it does work at times.

Thats all I can think to add... a bit of a ramble really, but maybe some use to somebody.

mattimpat

I agree that National Rail is the best way to find train prices in the UK. Martin mentions the train timetable links on the website and that you can call a certain number to find out this information. However, neither of these options are ideal. I find the timetables painstaking to trawl through and I can't be bothered to ring the number. Why doesn't National Rail show the intermediate stops directly on their website?

:j There is a better way! :j

Run a search on the German rail website http://bahn.hafas.de and find out where your train starts, where it finally ends up and all the stops in between. The arrival and departure times are also shown. It makes you wonder what the UK rail system is coming to when the Germans know where our trains are going better than we do!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Nigel1

2 points to share with everyone from the above thread.

1. Deutsche Bahn's Hafas system might be fine for weekdays but I don't believe it gets updated with short notice alterations and engineering work. So if you're travelling at a weekend when there is engineering work, for example this Sunday morning from York to Kings Cross, you get pure fiction as only the "normal" Sunday times are displayed. As Kings Cross is actually shut this weekend, Hafas is downright misleading. The UK websites are updated with this information.

2. Martin correctly points out that TheTrainLine charge £1.50 for booking tickets. Some other websites, such as the GNER one don't. In addition, as EP10 reported earlier in the thread, it seems the GNER one has now started offering 10% off the cheapest fares for those who book on the GNER website, but not on the TTL one.
Cheers

System

Nigel1 wrote:

2 points to share with everyone from the above thread.


2. Martin correctly points out that TheTrainLine charge £1.50 for booking tickets. Some other websites, such as the GNER one don't. In addition, as EP10 reported earlier in the thread, it seems the GNER one has now started offering 10% off the cheapest fares for those who book on the GNER website, but not on the TTL one.
Cheers

According to the small print you are not charged for Debit Cards.

barbara_regan

I noticed a couple of errors in the article about train fares. Firstly, the Senior Railcard is valid for travel in London and the South East. The only restriction is that your journey must not start during the morning rush hour Monday to Friday. There are no restrictions at weekends.

The second is that the Trainline does not charge a fee when you pay by credit card (although I agree you have to be careful not to inadvertently buy insurance)

Night-Owl_5

pegeen wrote:

I live in North Wales and often travel to Devon to visit my mother.I've used all booking methods.I always end up going to my friendly helpful local travel agent and without fail get the very cheapest deal.I did try booking in advance over the Internet.It got incredibly complicated as there are several rail companies going from Bangor to Exmouth.

Recently when visiting my sons in Switzerland I booked and paid for several journeys over there well in advance over the Internet. I don't understand why you have to wait for up to 3 months in advance before you even get the times let alone the fares when booking journeys over here. Can anyone give me a logical explanation?

Engineering work on the track is to blame im afraid, working in the industry we sometimes do not know the timings of trains at a weekend until 3 or 4 weeks in advance.

Sunday travel best advice is to ring and check a couple of days before you go (preferably with the actual company you are travelling with and not train line)

The cheapest tickets are off peak tickets and to book as far as possible in advance (treat the trains as you would budget airlines for long distance travel anyway).

Don't try and con the staff on the trains, trust me they have heard it all before, and if you have a genuine problem most will go out of their way to help so long as you don't hurl tons of abuse at them

isasmurf

barbara_regan wrote:

I noticed a couple of errors in the article about train fares. Firstly, the Senior Railcard is valid for travel in London and the South East. The only restriction is that your journey must not start during the morning rush hour Monday to Friday. There are no restrictions at weekends.

Yes, it looks like Martin's got confused. Only morning peak services wholly within London and the South East are restricted. Not peak services, or journeys wholly within London or the SE. link

The second is that the Trainline does not charge a fee when you pay by credit card (although I agree you have to be careful not to inadvertently buy insurance)

Sorry, but they do. link

p1an0player

fredquimby wrote:

Just to throw it in - Quidco is purportedly offering 1% cashback on rail tickets it tracks as purchased on thetrainline.com for sales over £25, although I've not tried it myself (and I don't know if that's over £25 per ticket or per sale in case you're buying a quantity of low value tickets). It also lists cashback on various other transport providers.

Obviously try the alternative methods if it works out cheaper, but if you have to buy through thetrainline.com then it's worth a cheeky punt.

Hope this helps.

I recently bought two unrelated single tickets at about £14 each in a single transaction on thetrainline.com through quidco.

Quidco tracked 1% of the total sale, ie 1% of £28 = 28p.

Thetrainline.com did not charge me any fee for using a debit card but would have charged for a credit card and if I had wanted insurance.

p1an0player

Nigel1 wrote:

1. Deutsche Bahn's Hafas system might be fine for weekdays but I don't believe it gets updated with short notice alterations and engineering work. So if you're travelling at a weekend when there is engineering work, for example this Sunday morning from York to Kings Cross, you get pure fiction as only the "normal" Sunday times are displayed. As Kings Cross is actually shut this weekend, Hafas is downright misleading.

I was disappointed to find exactly the same problem, I had thought bahn.de was infallible.
Unfortunately thetrainline doesn't always seem to get it right either, especially scheduled arrival times.

Ryan,s_Dad

barbara_regan wrote:

I noticed a couple of errors in the article about train fares. Firstly, the Senior Railcard is valid for travel in London and the South East. The only restriction is that your journey must not start during the morning rush hour Monday to Friday. There are no restrictions at weekends.

The second is that the Trainline does not charge a fee when you pay by credit card (although I agree you have to be careful not to inadvertently buy insurance)

Barbara is correct. The T&c's also say: "The Railcard discount isn't available on tickets on morning peak period services Monday to Friday (except Public Holidays) when journeys are made wholly within the London and South East area" Does this mean the card can be used for tickets travelling beyond the south east but starting in the peak Mon-Fri. i.e Brighton to York.