TicketySplit feedback - official discussion

JimmyTheWig

two singles are often (not always) cheaper

Do other people ever find this?
I've never found two singles to be anything like as cheap (let alone cheaper) than a return.

dzug1

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Do other people ever find this?
I've never found two singles to be anything like as cheap (let alone cheaper) than a return.

Two advance singles can be cheaper than one full price return which is what I think the article is trying to say

Sir_Alan

richardw wrote: »

It needs "Other train operating companies also sell tickets and they may not charge additional fees"

You could have added "and they may charge less for the tickets."
TicketySplit found no split tickets for the service I searched (Harrogate to Kings Cross, 16 October, 0920, with Senior Railcard) - fair enough. Price from thetrainline.com: £26.40 +£1.50 booking fee. Price from East Coast: £25.90 and no booking fee for the same train. I think that tells you all you need to know about thetrainline.com and its "cheap tickets".:rotfl:

blobthebuilder

I tested a sample single journey from London Kings Cross to Scarborough leaving after 13:00 on Wed 29/10. Tickety Split showed a fare of £55.50 for a departure at 13:30 arriving 16:29 including a change at York, and said the ticket could not be split.


For the same journey and time Eastcoast had an advance single fare of £28.90 from Kings Cross to York and a fare of £7.50 from York to Scarborough - total £36.40. You could do it even cheaper through Eastcoast if you take the 13:08 from Kings Cross (£21.05 for the Kings Cross to York leg instead of £28.90), but the Tickety Split site doesn't show the 13:08 at all.

NewForest_2

TicketySplit doesn't appear to give the best split for this journey:

• Potters Bar (PBR) to Peterborough (PBO)
• Network Railcard (valid only as far as Huntingdon (HUN))
• Sat 18/10/14 (ie. weekend when there is no Network Railcard minimum fare)

The suggested split saves a princely 45p by splitting at Arlesey (ARL). But it is possible to save £2.15 by splitting at Huntingdon (HUN), the last station in the Network Railcard area. I've done this (with return tickets) and I can confirm that it works in practice.

Perhaps TicketySplit is only applying the Railcard discount AFTER determining the "best" split? If so, this is flawed logic, because the Railcard discount can affect the best split point and needs to be applied BEFORE determining the split. ie. Each time you test a split station, you need to apply the Railcard discount if available and then add together the legs of the journey. In this case, the non-Railcard split fares are identical when splitting at either Arlesey or Huntingdon and the tool plumps for Arlesey, but the maximum advantage is clearly gained by using the Network Railcard to the furthest possible point, Huntingdon.

FARE DETAILS:
Potters Bar (PBR) to Peterborough (PBO)

ONE TICKET OPTION:

PBR-PBO super off peak single fare £13.90.
(No Network Railcard discount as PBO is outside the area)

SPLIT TICKET OPTION:

TicketySplit suggests splitting at Arlesey (ARL):

PBR-ARL Super Off-peak Single: £4.55 (with Railcard discount)
ARL-PBO Super Off-peak Single: £8.90
Total......................................£13.45
Saving......................................£0.45

But my best option splits at Huntingdon (HUN):

PBR-HUN Super Off-peak Single: £7.85 (with Railcard discount)
HUN-PBO Super Off-peak Single: £3.90
Total.......................................£11.75
Saving.......................................£2.15

I do appreciate that MSE is dealing with a fiendishly complex fares fares system here. But I don't believe they've cracked it yet. Can I suggest MSE look again at the splitting logic? Or if the tool doesn't work with part-journey Railcards, this should be clearly stated. But then it wouldn't be showing the cheapest fares...

It is also a serious limitation to exclude return fares. MSE says that two singles may be cheaper, but that is a gross simplification and is only true if you buy onerously restrictive Advance singles, which many people are unwilling to do. For everyone else (like me) who prefers the time flexibility of off peak tickets, then returns are ALWAYS cheaper - often little more than the single fare, in fact.

Wattsea

Journey from Staines to Southampton gave me:
Staines to Clapham junction (going away from Southampton!)
Clapham junction to Southampton Central
Cost: £31.90
This is the same result as using National Rail Journey Planner.

Best way to split this and make it cheaper is:
Staines to Reading
Reading to Southampton Central
Cost: £21.20

Not sure if your tricky ticket system can think 'outside the National Rail Journey Planner box', but it didn't work for me, and it was no better than NRJP on this occasion.

JimmyTheWig

Wattsea wrote: »

Journey from Staines to Southampton gave me:
Staines to Clapham junction (going away from Southampton!)
Clapham junction to Southampton Central
Cost: £31.90
This is the same result as using National Rail Journey Planner.

Best way to split this and make it cheaper is:
Staines to Reading
Reading to Southampton Central
Cost: £21.20

Not sure if your tricky ticket system can think 'outside the National Rail Journey Planner box', but it didn't work for me, and it was no better than NRJP on this occasion.

Presumably going via Clapham Junction is quicker?
The ethos of MSE is to buy the equivalent for less.
Here you're buying something that's not as good if it takes up more of your time. So it's outside the scope of this tool.

Still a good find, though. As long as the delay isn't too bad then its worth saving a tenner for, I'd say.

roger958

Sorry, don't get it. Just seems like a funnel into the over-priced Trainline.com site.

I put in Chichester - Exeter. It came up with £48.40 + 75p + £1.50.

Using SouthernRail, whom I usually book with, £48.40.

lambretta44

roger958 wrote: »

Sorry, don't get it. Just seems like a funnel into the over-priced Trainline.com site.

I put in Chichester - Exeter. It came up with £48.40 + 75p + £1.50.

Using SouthernRail, whom I usually book with, £48.40.

Frankly this site has no place on a website that trades in consumer trust, or claims to posses ethics or values its integrity. It is a shame, because it shows potential, but is not fit for purpose in its current state.


I put in London - Dover tomorrow (Saturday) on the High Speed Line. An Off Peak Day Single is £38.50, no split was found. But an Off Peak Day Return is £38.70. For the priviledge of being fleeced for nearly £40 I can pay a booking fee! You couldn't make it up.


The site says: 'we don't yet cover returns, they often aren't cheaper'. Well often they are. You know they are! The technology partner is Trainline, one of the biggest retailers of rail tickets in the country. Its like Tesco claiming not to know the price of milk.


I put in Norwich - London in the rush hour next week. A £65.40 Anytime Single splits into a £15 Advance to Manningtree and an Anytime Day Single of £30.90. But an Anytime Day Return is £52.50 for the last bit. It is giving you a clue and generally try to split tickets at that place, but you are still missing out.


If you have already researched fares elsewhere and decided to buy an Advance Single on a particular train, it can be useful.


I asked it for Edinburgh - Kings Cross 10 days hence, mid afternoon. Advance Single on the 1330 train is £51. By splitting it into 2 Advance fares at Berwick you can save £5 (£46). It would have taken a lot of time to work that one out. It is the same train. Nice.


But East Coast offer discounted Advance fares on their own site, so it is actually £50 reduced to £45.05 there. Their site lets you see far more trains in one go. You can see how much extra it is for First Class. There are no booking fees and they do a loyalty scheme.


To save money on rail fares, buy them from the company that you will be travelling on. They make money from carrying people, Trainline make money from fees. If you know where your train stops try adding up a few different options quickly to see if there are any easy savings. Try putting your journey into the tickety split thing, but only to get an idea of which splits might work on that route.



If Advance fares are the definitely the cheapest on your journey, use the tickety split thing to calculate where to split them. But be careful that the times match up and don't pay any fees!


One day there will be an app that actually cracks this, and then there will be big savings to be made, but this site is more likely to cost you big money if you aren't very careful indeed.

lambretta44

Wattsea wrote: »

Journey from Staines to Southampton gave me:
Staines to Clapham junction (going away from Southampton!)
Clapham junction to Southampton Central
Cost: £31.90
This is the same result as using National Rail Journey Planner.

Best way to split this and make it cheaper is:
Staines to Reading
Reading to Southampton Central
Cost: £21.20

Not sure if your tricky ticket system can think 'outside the National Rail Journey Planner box', but it didn't work for me, and it was no better than NRJP on this occasion.

This shows just HOW complicated it can get.


It seems to be about 25mins slower to go via Reading. Nobody offers Advance fares from Staines to Southampton, although tickets on 'Not Via London' are allowed via Reading.


However Cross Country Trains offer Advance fares for £13 from Reading to Southampton, and it is often still £13 in First Class! I guess because no journey planner will direct you that way as it takes longer, none of the sites ever find the fares, let alone split them.


The clue is that you change train company at Reading. It has long been true, especially when you are doing a trip on Advance fares, that the prices can go all over the place when you change trains, especially when they are run by different companies.


I put in Glasgow to Wolverhampton, which was Advance Single £46, but changing from one Virgin Train to another at Preston. But buy them separately on the same 2 trains, and it goes down to £31.