Rail ticket prices different on different sites

Voyager2002

MSE asks about this on Twitter. I don't use Twitter, so here are my responses:
1. On one memorable occasion I found a great fare on East Midlands Trains site for a journey from Aberdeen to Lancaster (using trains run by East Coast and then Trans-Pennine Express). The ticket office at Aberdeen station could not find this fare (I wanted to buy there so that I could make a cycle reservation at the same time) so I had to go back to my flat to buy on-line;

2. I recently travelled on Southwest Trains (London to Exeter). They offered a good fare for this journey, which was also available from East Midlands Trains (who give cash-back) but, oddly, not from Trans-Pennine Express (who give cash-back and Nectar points).

jbuchanangb

It's also worth looking on the website of the train company who operates the service. I was just looking for single tickets Tottenham Hale to Stansted Airport. Anytime single is £45. Advance purchase single is £9.49. And can be used on any train on the specified date. Not locked into specific train.

That advance single not available on other ticket selling sites, not even Greater Anglia, which actually runs the service!

agrinnall

jbuchanangb wrote: »

It's also worth looking on the website of the train company who operates the service. I was just looking for single tickets Tottenham Hale to Stansted Airport. Anytime single is £45. Advance purchase single is £9.49. And can be used on any train on the specified date. Not locked into specific train.

That advance single not available on other ticket selling sites, not even Greater Anglia, which actually runs the service!

Don't keep us guessing, which site did you find it on?

rhysadams

I've paid recently Derby to Aberdeen by splitting the ticket at York and going for a really really really early train.

miller

Voyager2002 wrote: »

2. I recently travelled on Southwest Trains (London to Exeter). They offered a good fare for this journey, which was also available from East Midlands Trains (who give cash-back) but, oddly, not from Trans-Pennine Express (who give cash-back and Nectar points).

There are generally only 2 flavours of train ticket website regardless of the logo/train operator's name on the front: WebTIS & Trainline (Trainline also offer tickets using, unsurprisingply, the Trainline backend, but charge fees).

East Midlands Trains use the same backend (Trainline) as South West Trains. So for example, I can buy South West Trains' current £16 promotional fare on East Midlands Trains' website, but not on Great Western Railway, TransPennine Express, Southern etc. who use WebTIS backends.

djpailo

agrinnall wrote: »

Don't keep us guessing, which site did you find it on?

https://www.stanstedexpress.com/

There are regularly offers available on the stansted express website to get to the airport. The further ahead you book, the cheaper it is. Looking at 28th Feb 2017, you can get 2 adult single tickets for £15.

yorkie2

jbuchanangb wrote: »

It's also worth looking on the website of the train company who operates the service. I was just looking for single tickets Tottenham Hale to Stansted Airport. Anytime single is £45. Advance purchase single is £9.49. And can be used on any train on the specified date. Not locked into specific train.

That advance single not available on other ticket selling sites, not even Greater Anglia, which actually runs the service!

The train company who operates the sevices is Abellio Greater Anglia, they have two websites, one matching the brand name of the train company, and the other is for their Stansted Express route.

But Stansted Express is not a train operating company; it's just a brand name used by Greater Anglia. This distinction is important because tickets marked 'AGA Only' (or similar) are, of course, valid on all the trains they operate.

In this case the company allows you to book further ahead, and at a lower price, when using their Stansted Express branded website specifically, for journeys to/from Stansted Airport only.

GTR do something similar with their amusingly named Gatwick Express, but the discount is small, and you can still end up paying more than you needed to.

Kite2010

yorkie2 wrote: »

The train company who operates the sevices is Abellio Greater Anglia, they have two websites, one matching the brand name of the train company, and the other is for their Stansted Express route.

But Stansted Express is not a train operating company; it's just a brand name used by Greater Anglia. This distinction is important because tickets marked 'AGA Only' (or similar) are, of course, valid on all the trains they operate.

In this case the company allows you to book further ahead, and at a lower price, when using their Stansted Express branded website specifically, for journeys to/from Stansted Airport only.

GTR do something similar with their amusingly named Gatwick Express, but the discount is small, and you can still end up paying more than you needed to.

Although one key difference between the Stansted Express branded trains and the Gatwick Express branded trains is that they are the only services which head to the airport from London (excluding doubling back from Audley End to the airport via the hourly XC or hourly Cambridge - Stansted GA service), whereas Gatwick has the almost as fast regular 'Southern' branded trains from Victoria.

(if that makes sense, ignoring that Stansted Express calls at at least two intermediate stations on route to the airport)

ColinB

Looking to travel from Dorking to Bath, today 13 Nov (one-way ticket for 2 people using two together railcard). Both Trainline & National Rail say the only option for early pm is the 1338 at cost £82.60. That sounded a bit high, so I tried the GWR website (who actually operate the service), which says there's a train at 1332 for cost of £36.60, so I bought that one instead (there is a rail replacement bus for part of the trip but that shouldn't affect the price). Neither of the two big sites mention that option. This looks like a deliberate attempt to rip off potential customers by steering them towards a more expensive option by hiding cheaper fares. I've not come across this kind of gross discrepancy before, it just seems to underline the hopeless minefield that is buying rail tickets these days.

Hasbeen

ColinB wrote: »

Looking to travel from Dorking to Bath, today 13 Nov (one-way ticket for 2 people using two together railcard). Both Trainline & National Rail say the only option for early pm is the 1338 at cost £82.60. That sounded a bit high, so I tried the GWR website (who actually operate the service), which says there's a train at 1332 for cost of £36.60, so I bought that one instead (there is a rail replacement bus for part of the trip but that shouldn't affect the price). Neither of the two big sites mention that option. This looks like a deliberate attempt to rip off potential customers by steering them towards a more expensive option by hiding cheaper fares. I've not come across this kind of gross discrepancy before, it just seems to underline the hopeless minefield that is buying rail tickets these days.

Both on the trainline site?

ColinB

Hasbeen wrote: »

Both on the trainline site?

No, what I was trying to say was that BOTH The Trainline AND the National Rail websites ONLY listed the more expensive option. As far as they were concerned the cheaper option just didn't exist, they didn't even list the train never mind the price. Hopeless.

Just finished the journey (using the GWR option) which cost £45 less and took an hour less than the alleged "best route and price" available on the two mainstream sites. I've complained to both sites, we'll see what happens.