On line train booking - recommendations?

t0rt0ise

Splitmyfare is not at all transparent. They say there are no charges but there are because they keep some of the savings you make. Understandable but dishonest of them not to say so anywhere on the site until you come to pay, and to particularly say that there is no booking fee.

daveyjp

If you don't want to pay for their service use it for research and buy the tickets they state you need from a TOC.

techno12

I've used the Trainpal app for several years now.

No booking fees, (tiny, but better than nothing) cashback from every ticket, money off vouchers (eg £1 off a £20 spend) fairly regularly.

It also automatically splits tickets as well, though it sometimes misses some obvious splits.

Voyager2002

I always start with trainsplit... it tells me the cheapest way to buy tickets and shows the modest fee that it charges on top of the ticket price. Sometimes I buy from it to support a useful service, sometimes I buy the tickets from any of the Train Operating Companies to make a modest saving.

If travelling with a bicycle then immediately before buying the ticket I reserve a bike space. First Trans-Pennine Express allows me to reserve bike spaces online, simply by saying that I have already bought the tickets.

Sometimes LNER has a promotion with Lloyds Bank or with American Express, so then I buy tickets there. Otherwise, you can earn Avios on buying tickets from Transport for Wales so I buy there, although TfW is a nuisance because there is no shopping basket so you have to enter your card details again for every ticket you are buying.

Since this thread began with someone planning a holiday over a limited time period, I suggest investigating regional rail passes as well.

yorkie2

t0rt0ise said:

Splitmyfare is not at all transparent. They say there are no charges but there are because they keep some of the savings you make. Understandable but dishonest of them not to say so anywhere on the site until you come to pay, and to particularly say that there is no booking fee.

Charging no additional fee, and passing on 85% of any savings they find seems pretty reasonable but if you are unhappy with that model, you could always just book with TOCs and pay the full price.

daveyjp said:

If you don't want to pay for their service use it for research and buy the tickets they state you need from a TOC.

That's dishonourable; if you are desperate to avoid the fees, why not add each ticket into your basket separately from the provider who found them? At least you are letting them have some commission, rather than act in a manner that is akin to using a shoe shop to try shoes on and then buy from Amazon.

Voyager2002 said:

I always start with trainsplit... it tells me the cheapest way to buy tickets and shows the modest fee that it charges on top of the ticket price. Sometimes I buy from it to support a useful service, sometimes I buy the tickets from any of the Train Operating Companies to make a modest saving.

If you want to save on the share of savings fee, it is unfair to use the Trainsplit service to identify the splits and buy elsewhere; it would be much fairer of you to put each ticket into your basket separately on the same site that found the splits. At least then you are letting them have some commission. Otherwise it's like browsing a book store and then buying from Amazon; if everyone did that, we'd all lose out!

yorkie2

skycatcher said:

I use Chiltern Railways app. No fees - tickets in app and google wallet.

Beware Chiltern do split ticketing without telling you what tickets you are getting; someone got a non-flexible Advance ticket as part of a booking which Chiltern purported to be fully flexible!

I always buy from a proper split ticket site, which tells you exactly what you are getting, and consistently finds the cheapest results.

baser999

RedSpottedHanky