Cheap Train Fares guide discussion

yorkie2

Assuming you are travelling on either a weekend, or a weekday at times which the Off Peak Day return is valid and assuming you have no Railcard, then the fares are: £28.80 to Stratford, or £37.70 to Wimbledon.

The Oyster PAYG fare via Waterloo, using LU+SWR is £4.40 each way, at off peak times, or £2.80 each way if you stick to LU (e.g. change at Westminster; note this will be very slow)

marmite1979

yorkie2 said:

marmite1979 said:

yorkie2 said:

marmite1979 said:

You avoid the commission going through the train company website

and can get free postage. You can basket each ticket and then choose the seats ensuring the same one all journey.
How does trainsplit ensure you get the best seat you want when it involves multiple splits over many operators? And how is trainsplit faster when you would need to load up each legs carriage diagram when selecting a seat? How does it allow selecting an Avanti West coast seat?
Trainsplit used to allocate a different seat for each split, which is one reason for me going to the TOC's website and selecting them there.

1) It is incorrect to say you avoid commission by going through a train company website; Ticketysplit does not charge any booking fees or commission except for 10% of any saving, which means it will never be cheaper to book the same journey through a train company website. If you wish to avoid the share of saving, you can do this by booking each leg as a separate journey on any website, including Ticketysplit.

2) Not many train companies offer free postage these days and this will cease to be an option soon; indeed I would recommend obtaining e-tickets now, as paper tickets can get lost in the post, and printing errors can be a huge pain if you select the 'TOD' option.

3) It may not get the "best seat" but it has a seat selector, so you can pick a seat that matches your own preferences

4) You do not have to load the carriage diagram for each leg

5) Because it works with all train companies

6) It doesn't do that any more; it will allocate the same seat automatically in most cases, and where it has not done so, you can normally manually change it. If you are unable to do so, this will be a limitation imposed by the train companies, not the retailer!

So you save 10% on not going through ticketysplit that can mount up if its a large difference on a full fare ticket.With National Rail Enquiries you can choose which train company to buy off and avoid the postage fee. You can then gain nectar points to with some operators. And they usually have a counter or a face to deal with.
Who would of refunded me today and waived the admin fees when it was TFW that cancelled the train but Avanti who sold the ticket? Would TrainSplit have refunded me straight away, would they have told me to claim off TFW or Avanti, would there be an opportunity to claim for financial losses incurred due to the cancellations?

1) It's not true to suggest you save 10% by not booking through TicketySplit; whatever journey you search for using TicketySplit will not cost any more than if you searched for the same journey using any train company site.

2) Postage is old hat; which train companies offer free postage and Nectar points? As I said before, postage is being phased out by all train companies anyway. I'd rather save money on my booking and have the convenience of a through itinerary and single PDF for the entire journey, than faff around booking each leg as a separate journey in order to get a few Nectar points.

3) Yes you could buy from a ticket counter, but most train companies instruct their ticket office staff not to issue split tickets unless specifically asked; it is difficult therefore to see how this is going to be cheaper than Ticketysplit?

4) If you choose not to travel, you get the refund from the retailer; so in your case you would get it from Avanti.

1. If you enter the same tickets that come up on trainsplit into NRE you will avoid the 10% that trainsplit adds ''for a share of the saving.You also cannot enter local railcards o trainsplit so you cannot save there either.
2. Still free though on most train operators plus the bonus of Nectar, again better than what trainsplit offer. Saved what? the fares are the same price you look for the split on an app and buy it from the counter.
3. Not a single ticket office will or has refused to sell me a legitimate ticket and all have sold and printed numerous splits. They are also a face to go through compensations claims.
4. Would trainsplit waive the admin fee due to the operator train cancellation? Will they provide a number for loses.

 
 Shouldn't you declare your interest in TrainSplit/ticketysplit so others know where you stand?

Timalay

yorkie2 said:

Assuming you are travelling on either a weekend, or a weekday at times which the Off Peak Day return is valid and assuming you have no Railcard, then the fares are: £28.80 to Stratford, or £37.70 to Wimbledon.

The Oyster PAYG fare via Waterloo, using LU+SWR is £4.40 each way, at off peak times, or £2.80 each way if you stick to LU (e.g. change at Westminster; note this will be very slow)

It would at the weekend (Saturday).

yorkie2

marmite1979 said:

yorkie2 said:

marmite1979 said:

yorkie2 said:

marmite1979 said:

You avoid the commission going through the train company website

and can get free postage. You can basket each ticket and then choose the seats ensuring the same one all journey.
How does trainsplit ensure you get the best seat you want when it involves multiple splits over many operators? And how is trainsplit faster when you would need to load up each legs carriage diagram when selecting a seat? How does it allow selecting an Avanti West coast seat?
Trainsplit used to allocate a different seat for each split, which is one reason for me going to the TOC's website and selecting them there.

1) It is incorrect to say you avoid commission by going through a train company website; Ticketysplit does not charge any booking fees or commission except for 10% of any saving, which means it will never be cheaper to book the same journey through a train company website. If you wish to avoid the share of saving, you can do this by booking each leg as a separate journey on any website, including Ticketysplit.

2) Not many train companies offer free postage these days and this will cease to be an option soon; indeed I would recommend obtaining e-tickets now, as paper tickets can get lost in the post, and printing errors can be a huge pain if you select the 'TOD' option.

3) It may not get the "best seat" but it has a seat selector, so you can pick a seat that matches your own preferences

4) You do not have to load the carriage diagram for each leg

5) Because it works with all train companies

6) It doesn't do that any more; it will allocate the same seat automatically in most cases, and where it has not done so, you can normally manually change it. If you are unable to do so, this will be a limitation imposed by the train companies, not the retailer!

So you save 10% on not going through ticketysplit that can mount up if its a large difference on a full fare ticket.With National Rail Enquiries you can choose which train company to buy off and avoid the postage fee. You can then gain nectar points to with some operators. And they usually have a counter or a face to deal with.
Who would of refunded me today and waived the admin fees when it was TFW that cancelled the train but Avanti who sold the ticket? Would TrainSplit have refunded me straight away, would they have told me to claim off TFW or Avanti, would there be an opportunity to claim for financial losses incurred due to the cancellations?

1) It's not true to suggest you save 10% by not booking through TicketySplit; whatever journey you search for using TicketySplit will not cost any more than if you searched for the same journey using any train company site.

2) Postage is old hat; which train companies offer free postage and Nectar points? As I said before, postage is being phased out by all train companies anyway. I'd rather save money on my booking and have the convenience of a through itinerary and single PDF for the entire journey, than faff around booking each leg as a separate journey in order to get a few Nectar points.

3) Yes you could buy from a ticket counter, but most train companies instruct their ticket office staff not to issue split tickets unless specifically asked; it is difficult therefore to see how this is going to be cheaper than Ticketysplit?

4) If you choose not to travel, you get the refund from the retailer; so in your case you would get it from Avanti.

1. If you enter the same tickets that come up on trainsplit into NRE you will avoid the 10% that trainsplit adds ''for a share of the saving.You also cannot enter local railcards o trainsplit so you cannot save there either.
2. Still free though on most train operators plus the bonus of Nectar, again better than what trainsplit offer. Saved what? the fares are the same price you look for the split on an app and buy it from the counter.
3. Not a single ticket office will or has refused to sell me a legitimate ticket and all have sold and printed numerous splits. They are also a face to go through compensations claims.
4. Would trainsplit waive the admin fee due to the operator train cancellation? Will they provide a number for loses.

 
 Shouldn't you declare your interest in TrainSplit/ticketysplit so others know where you stand?

1) NRE does not sell tickets and will re-direct you to a train company site; it isn't true to suggest that a search on NRE will be 10% less than that charged by Trainsplit, if that is what you are suggesting? If you search for each leg separately, the price will be the same, and it is untrue to suggest otherwise.  It's unclear what you are referring to regarding local Railcards; perhaps you can provide an example?

2) It isn't true that postage is free on most train operators sites. Yes, some train companies will provide Nectar points, however train company sites do not offer split ticketing, so for many people searching for a longer distance journey, the cost will be higher on a train company site, compared to the same search on a split ticket site. It seems a bit unfair to laud the Nectar points available on sites that charge many passengers a higher fare. It's also untrue to suggest that if you ask at a ticket counter that you will be offered "the same" rate as a split ticketing site; ticket office staff are specifically instructed not to offer split tickets.

3) Ticket office staff are supposed to issue what you ask them for and they are not supposed to actively offer combinations of tickets where a through fare is available. Some staff do go against their employers instructions, but they are taking a risk, and many will not do so. Even if they do so, their results may not be as good as a ticket splitting site can offer. It is unlikely that if you make the an enquiry at a ticket office that you will end up paying a lower overall fare than if you were to make the exact same enquiry at a ticket splitting website. It is not true to suggest that compensation claims can be made at a ticket counter. Compensation claims need to be made by post or online. If a ticket office will accept a compensation claim, all they would do is put it in the internal mail to the relevant department. You cannot speak face to face directly with the staff who issue compensation.

4) What is my interest? TicketySplit is officially endorsed by this website according to https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4849064/ticketysplit-feedback-official-discussion/p1

Kite2010

Sometimes TrainSplit will generate a ticket which you can't get manually, unless you play around with settings.

For example, using two examples:

London to Glasgow, changing trains at Crewe (Leg 1 - Euston - Crewe on a Chester service, Leg 2, Crewe - Glasgow) for a significantly cheaper fare, try booking on NRE and it would only give you prices for the Glasgow fast service which overtakes the ticket I was using.

Newcastle to Reading, multiple splits along the way due to XC, one of the splits was at Burton on Trent, however due to the timetable there was a 170 from Nottingham between the HST departing towards the South West and the voyager from Derby, so if you tried to match the splits manually you would end up on that 170 service as it provided the connection for the Reading voyager and that was more expensive.

Others I've come across is forcing a step-back to a later service if that later service is cheaper (using XC again, Manchester to Birmingham on a Bournemouth train, stepping back to a 'Derby' - Reading service to carry on to Reading.  Yes it gets you into Reading around 30 minutes later than staying on the Bournemouth train but can saves you £10+.

Yes for some splits you can use TrainSplit to do the hard work and then book separately to avoid paying for the saving fee, but sometimes it's worth paying the fee if it's a multi-split as you don't have to mess around with seat selectors to make sure you don't end up shifting seats, or even in the case of operators who don't offer a seat selector (Avanti West Coast), you can be sure of getting your favourite seat reserved (rather than having the Avanti random seat reservation generator which sometimes ignores your preferences)

Mr_Benn

Hello all.  I'm going to be travelling down from Solihull to Wembley Stadium a couple of times in June. For several reasons im trying to balance between booking early for cheaper tickets, or waiting till much nearer the time. May I ask what  the best solution is regarding getting money back if i do have to cancel ( I realise there may be a fee to do this).  I have a few reasons why may need to cancel. Thanks in advance.

Mr_Benn

2 trips are on Sunday's and 1 on a Fruday afternoon. 

yorkie2

If you book Advance tickets, the cost to re-book the journeys is generally £10; some retailers may do this for free, while some will charge £10 per ticket and some £10 per transaction (covering all tickets).

If you choose to cancel entirely, no refund is available.

Advance fares typically go on sale around 12 weeks before departure, though this window can be greatly reduced on Sundays.

edwhow

Yes, you can get a refund - rebook the journey for a standard refundable ticket for any date to the same destination (one way is enough) at an equal or higher cost, (which cancels your advance ticket less £10), then an hour later cancel the standard ticket, when you will get a refund (possibly losing a second £10). 

yorkie2 said:

yorkie2 said:

If you book Advance tickets... If you choose to cancel entirely, no refund is available.

yorkie2

@edwhow to clarify: you agreeing with me, is that right?