Cheap train tickets using The Trainline.com

Namloc

I don't know if this works on other journeys but it a train from Adlington (Lancs) to Salford Crescent costs £7.60 on trainline.com. A ticket from Adlington (Lancs) to Deansgate, which is one stop further, is £3.60, over a 50% saving. I presume there are popularity algorithyms at work. I presume getting off early isn't going to nullify the ticket?

James_Londoner

What type of ticket are you looking at? If it's an Advance ticket then no, you wouldn't be allowed to use it for a shorter journey.

Trainline sells the same tickets at the same price as any other rail ticketing website, and if buying before the day of travel will charge you a completely avoidable booking fee.

Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing inherently cheaper about using Trainline - in fact, often the opposite is true.

There are very few occasions when using Trainline is the best MoneySaving option.

DullGreyGuy

Namloc said:

I don't know if this works on other journeys but it a train from Adlington (Lancs) to Salford Crescent costs £7.60 on trainline.com. A ticket from Adlington (Lancs) to Deansgate, which is one stop further, is £3.60, over a 50% saving. I presume there are popularity algorithyms at work. I presume getting off early isn't going to nullify the ticket?

Costs the same on other sellers.

The difference is to Salford Crescent you can only buy AnyTime tickets whereas to Deansgate you can buy Advanced tickets. Comparing apples and apples, AnyTime to both destinations then Deansgate is 20p more expensive. 

Advanced tickets are locked down to a particular train/route which is why they are cheaper on the routes they are available. Your Advance ticket to Deansgate wouldnt be valid at Salford Crescent but have no idea if there are barriers, frequent revenue protection checks etc if you wanted to risk it.

MilesT6060842

Useful official website to find out what you can and can't do with a ticket
https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ticket-types/ticket-validity-finder/

On the booking/ticket there will be a code and/or a name which you can put into the above to get the details.

Most discounted tickets do not allow "break of journey" on single or outbound leg of a return (break on return is more commonly allowed).  Advance tickets never allow break of journey at an intervening station.

What you can do legally to reduce costs in some cases is "beyond and back" tickets (and the split ticket websites don't always spot these).  That's usually an Advance ticket to a station shortly beyond the one you want (where the Advance is not offered for some reason) and then a local ticket to come back;  perfectly within conditions if you actually travel to the "beyond" station and come back on the separate ticket (and vice versa for the return) 

Greater Anglia has a number of these opportunities (on the GEML for accessing stations like Marks Tey/Gainsborough line branch to Sudbury, Witham, etc;  typically the express trains to Colchester/Ipswich/Norwich have the advance tickets, the stoppers unfairly don't).  Related to this is splitting tickets for Network/Gold card card discount boundary (which is surprisingly distant from London in some directions) or peak/offpeak timings around London or other major cities on longer journeys.

And of course you can make sure you have a local ticket to justify being on the platform at your exit station and operate gates.

daveyjp

Namloc said:

I don't know if this works on other journeys but it a train from Adlington (Lancs) to Salford Crescent costs £7.60 on trainline.com. A ticket from Adlington (Lancs) to Deansgate, which is one stop further, is £3.60, over a 50% saving. I presume there are popularity algorithyms at work. I presume getting off early isn't going to nullify the ticket?

If it is an advance ticket and you alight early you have broken Ts and Cs as it is only valid between the stations with no break of journey.

You may receive a demand for £100 plus the standard fare if a Revenue Protection Officer decides to do ticket checks.

As regards Trainline.  Rail tickets are like newspapers and magazines.  There are a number of different types and there are many outlets selling them, but the price will be the same wherever you buy.

 There may be benefits in buying from one outlet over the other (loyalty points etc), but the price won't change across retailers.

alanrowell

The only advantage of thetrainline is that they have a split ticketing option that sometimes does produce lower fares

MilesT6060842

alanrowell said:

The only advantage of thetrainline is that they have a split ticketing option that sometimes does produce lower fares

Many other split ticket websites are available, with varying levels of effectiveness and convenience (in ticketing). 

Some take a cut of the savings as a commission, some fund by other means. 

Always possible to take a split ticket recommendation from Trainline or elsewhere and then buy directly from TOC websites and not pay any fees, although clearly that is less convenience for purchasing and also for compensation in case of delays.

ch3shirecat4

I don't understand how the prices of tickets work sometimes I was once getting the train back to halifax which would usually cost me £4/5 for one way with a railcard, but then one time it cost me £8/9 for one way which made no sense, which I also thought was ridiculous for a one way journey that takes about 40 mins!

daveyjp

Ticket price is based on ticket type.

Different fares means you bought tickets with different restrictions,