Booking train seats

[Flying Dodo]

I almost bought a ticket recently through a site called raileasy after mini-munchkin sent me a link. Munchkin major overheard me grumbling about the £2.50 booking fee (booking fees always piss me off - it's like people saying 'that costs £10, but if you want to buy it you'll have to pay a £2.50 buying fee as well.'), which brought the total (with £1 delivery) up to £23.50. She redirected me to trainline, where I bought the exact same ticket for £12.50 all in.

Just book direct with one of the train companies and then you save the £2.50 booking fee. Or you can be really clever and sign up at Quidco and from their website then click through their link to Virgin Trains and get 2% cashback.

 

[martint235]

Just book direct with one of the train companies and then you save the £2.50 booking fee. Or you can be really clever and sign up at Quidco and from their website then click through their link to Virgin Trains and get 2% cashback.

That sounds like a plan.

I am going to go First as well so I tend to ignore the seat they do deign to give me and find a better one.

 

[DaveReading]

Doesn't trainline have booking fees? Use southern's website instead. (I used to use East Coast but I don't think any ticket seller is still publicly owned.)

I don't think so. As far as I recall, there's no difference between what you pay via Trainline and, say. Virgin/ECML.

 

[martint235]

I don't think so. As far as I recall, there's no difference between what you pay via Trainline and, say. Virgin/ECML.

Trainline charges £1.50 booking fee.

 

[Starchivore]

Just book direct with one of the train companies and then you save the £2.50 booking fee. Or you can be really clever and sign up at Quidco and from their website then click through their link to Virgin Trains and get 2% cashback.

Good advice definitely.

For me though my longer journeys tend to use at least 2 different train companies so Trainline is often easiest for me.

 

[Doseone]

Was just looking on Trainline for return ticket to Glasgow from Cardiff. Cheapest return train with 2 changes each way £171. Return flight £80!!

 

[mjr]

Was just looking on Trainline for return ticket to Glasgow from Cardiff. Cheapest return train with 2 changes each way £171. Return flight £80!!

Cheapest return train Glasgow-Cardiff with 2 changes each way (Euston and Paddington) that I found in a few minutes was £100 (timed Advance tickets), plus it's centre-to-centre without extra fares to get to/from airports. Out Tue 22 Nov: 16:40 Glasgow Central[GLC] - London Euston[EUS] 21:25, Tube, 22:45 London Paddington[PAD] - Cardiff Central[CDF] 01:45; return Tue 29 Nov: 10:25 Cardiff Central[CDF] - London Paddington[PAD] 12:29, Tube, 13:30 London Euston[EUS] - Glasgow Central[GLC] 18:01.

Maybe you specified times that weren't the cheapest or maybe Trainline is doing something dodgy and not showing you the lowest fares. Sites that use the "Mixing Deck" like www.gwr.com used to let you search by fare (rather than time) but it's not working for me just now and I don't know why.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

What gets my goat is the amount of tickets you get when travelling with a bike. I recently got a return from London to Welshpool which involves a change at Birmingham, and for me and my bike was given 16 tickets! What a complete waste of card, there must be a better way.

Milford is so much nicer than Welshpool.

 

[booze and cake]

Welshpool is indeed no holiday town of note, it was'nt the destination, just the nearest station. But west Wales is a bit too Royston Vasey for me

 

[Doseone]

Cheapest return train Glasgow-Cardiff with 2 changes each way (Euston and Paddington) that I found in a few minutes was £100 (timed Advance tickets), plus it's centre-to-centre without extra fares to get to/from airports. Out Tue 22 Nov: 16:40 Glasgow Central[GLC] - London Euston[EUS] 21:25, Tube, 22:45 London Paddington[PAD] - Cardiff Central[CDF] 01:45; return Tue 29 Nov: 10:25 Cardiff Central[CDF] - London Paddington[PAD] 12:29, Tube, 13:30 London Euston[EUS] - Glasgow Central[GLC] 18:01.

Maybe you specified times that weren't the cheapest or maybe Trainline is doing something dodgy and not showing you the lowest fares. Sites that use the "Mixing Deck" like www.gwr.com used to let you search by fare (rather than time) but it's not working for me just now and I don't know why.

Thank you. It's a particular event I was looking at going to so I was quite specific about the days that I travel, although not the times. I tried various times of day and it didn't seem to make much difference. The event is on a Saturday so I need to travel on Friday and come back Sunday. I guess it would probably take quite a bit longer to go via Paddington and Euston too, but thanks for taking the time to have a look.

 

[Flying Dodo]

Good advice definitely.

For me though my longer journeys tend to use at least 2 different train companies so Trainline is often easiest for me.

No need to waste money on the Trainline booking fee. You can use any train companies website to book any combination of journeys across any other train operating company's network.

 

[mjr]

The event is on a Saturday so I need to travel on Friday and come back Sunday. I guess it would probably take quite a bit longer to go via Paddington and Euston too, but thanks for taking the time to have a look.

It's about an hour longer via Paddington and Euston - sometimes less, if connections work out - but the problem you've probably encountered is that Sunday is the favourite day for engineering works and that can mean that either no airline-style-pricing cheap tickets are available or that fewer routes are available so there's more demand and the cheapest tickets sell out quickly.

Those in Scotland and Cornwall heading to/via London still have the option of sleeper trains (the Caledonian and the Night Riviera) which aren't cheap but not much different to a train+hotel price, you travel while you're asleep and sleepers are a thoroughly nice way to travel IMO.

 

[NorthernDave]

I normally use www.nationalrail.co.uk, which seems pretty good at being able to find decent prices, plus it takes you to the train company website to book so no extra fees.

Virgin East Coast normally provide the seat the you've requested (top tip, if you have an open ticket, there are no reservations in Coach H so you have a good chance of finding an empty seat there).
TPX can be a bit hit and miss as they fill the seats allocated to the cheap tickets first, so you can find everyone sitting in one corner of an otherwise empty coach - and the bike space is in a different coach to the cheap seats...
And Northern don't do seat reservations, but make you go through the palaver of choosing on the website, then print a seat reservation off stating that you can sit in any unoccupied seat...

 

[captain nemo1701]

Trainline tends to go for the cheap seats at ungodly hours. I go to the station and just book at table seat with better legroom irrespective of which way I'm facing.

 

[DaveReading]

You can use any train companies website to book any combination of journeys across any other train operating company's network.

But beware if for any reason you can't use your ticket and need to arrange a refund.

I was in that situation a few months ago with tickets for a SW Trains service, but I'd booked them via the Virgin website.

Both TOCs maintained that it was the other company who was responsible for processing the refund until I read the Riot Act to them and finally SW Trains coughed up.