Cheap Train Fares guide discussion

wealdroam

Liglig wrote: »

This app does not work for me. Tried Gatwick to Penzance did not recognize either as a station.

Any ideas out there?

Thanks Liglig

I can't get it to recognise any departure station.

From MSE's Cheap Train Tickets article:

Please feed back on the tool
Please add your feedback and successes to the TicketySplit forum discussion. If you spot any glitches, please email splitticket@moneysavingexpert.com (letting us know which mobile phone you are using).

Liglig_2

Tried changing search engines and it worked fine. Must be a glitch with google.

wealdroam

Liglig wrote: »

Tried changing search engines and it worked fine. Must be a glitch with google.

Ah... not sure you are quite right with that, but it did give a clue.

I was using the Google Chrome internet browser, as I imagine you were.

It appears that TicketySplit does not work with the Google Chrome browser.

This is confirmed by changing to a Firefox browser where it works ok.

Thus, it is browser sensitive, not search engine sensitive.

Did you report the problem?

Edited to add:
I've just tried it again with Google Chrome and it now works as it should.

Rara55

Starting from this September, I will be commuting to Leeds from Liverpool, for a year. My average number of journeys per week will be three. I prefer to travel via train. Could anyone give me any advice on cheap options for this? I am a postgrad student and have a railcard. Although I am wondering if it would be possible to book in advance or if there are any other ticket deals available?

Thank-you in advance!

miller

Rainbow Day at Guildford Station
Unlimited travel on the South West Trains network for £10 on Saturday, 20 July 2013.

Submit details and obtain voucher for redemption at Guildford ticket office between Wednesday, 17 July and Saturday, 20 July.

Full details:
http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/rainbowday.aspx
a link to the terms and conditions is also on that page.

sagacity_2

Could someone explain why, when I tried to buy a single ticket from Worcester Shrub Hill to London on Sunday evening, the London Midland automatic ticket machine would only offer me the Off Peak single for £38.50 and not the Super Off Peak single for £29.80?

The only way around this (and I was lucky I had some time to spare before the train arrived) was to buy the Super Off Peak ticket on thetrainline.com app on my phone and collect the tickets from the very machine that would not sell me the Super Off Peak. This incurred booking/card fees with thetrainline.com, though it was still cheaper than paying the Off Peak fare, and also took about 5 minutes.

Surely the machines have to offer the cheapest walk-up (i.e. not advance) fares? Would appreciate any examples of whether other people have had this problem as I intend to report it to Passenger Focus/ATOC.

Thanks.

miller

From the South West Trains website:

We're offering a Day Return, any Saturday or any Sunday from 3 August to 1 September, including Bank Holiday Monday for just £15 (£7.50 for kids)! Go away with the family, or with as many friends as you like for £15 each and £7.50 for the kids – to 195 destinations across the South West Trains network*

http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/fever.aspx#124261

wealdroam

sagacity wrote: »

Could someone explain why, when I tried to buy a single ticket from Worcester Shrub Hill to London on Sunday evening, the London Midland automatic ticket machine would only offer me the Off Peak single for £38.50 and not the Super Off Peak single for £29.80?

The only way around this (and I was lucky I had some time to spare before the train arrived) was to buy the Super Off Peak ticket on thetrainline.com app on my phone and collect the tickets from the very machine that would not sell me the Super Off Peak. This incurred booking/card fees with thetrainline.com, though it was still cheaper than paying the Off Peak fare, and also took about 5 minutes.

Surely the machines have to offer the cheapest walk-up (i.e. not advance) fares? Would appreciate any examples of whether other people have had this problem as I intend to report it to Passenger Focus/ATOC.

Thanks.

Sorry, can't help with your original problem, but from your phone, if you had booked online with London Midland you would've avoided Thetrainline's fees.

From the LM website:

Book your tickets with us and we won't charge you a booking fee, a credit card fee or delivery fee. Unlike some...

miller

sagacity wrote: »

Surely the machines have to offer the cheapest walk-up (i.e. not advance) fares? Would appreciate any examples of whether other people have had this problem as I intend to report it to Passenger Focus/ATOC.

There was an issue in the past with FGW machines not offering super off-peak tickets. I think that has been solved now.

There are still tickets which cannot be purchased from some machines (e.g. Groupsave).

You were lucky using that particular website (cannot bring myself to say the name) or one that is powered using it (e.g. South West Trains). As there can be a delay of up to 2 hours. Much better to use a WebTIS site (e.g. East Coast, Southern) where the ticket is delivered immediately in my experience. Plus no additional fees of course.

But back to the original point, now a lot of people have smartphones the problem of machines not offering the full range of tickets can be avoided. It still sucks though.

dzug1

sagacity wrote: »

Could someone explain why, when I tried to buy a single ticket from Worcester Shrub Hill to London on Sunday evening, the London Midland automatic ticket machine would only offer me the Off Peak single for £38.50 and not the Super Off Peak single for £29.80?

The only way around this (and I was lucky I had some time to spare before the train arrived) was to buy the Super Off Peak ticket on thetrainline.com app on my phone and collect the tickets from the very machine that would not sell me the Super Off Peak. This incurred booking/card fees with thetrainline.com, though it was still cheaper than paying the Off Peak fare, and also took about 5 minutes.

Surely the machines have to offer the cheapest walk-up (i.e. not advance) fares? Would appreciate any examples of whether other people have had this problem as I intend to report it to Passenger Focus/ATOC.

Thanks.

The machine should offer you all the single non advance fares that are available at the time of purchase - was this the only single fare offered? No anytime or first class fares? (There's a button for something like 'more fares' normally. Did you press it? )


I'd complain to London Midland first