Best and Simplest App for Booking Rail Tickets

[Llandudno]

I have always used the Northern App for quick and easy booking of rail tickets via PayPal.

However, the last few times I have tried to use this App the booking just seems to stick and payment by PayPal or Credit Card doesn’t get processed.

Which other TOC app is the easiest and quickest to use for basic tickets without booking fees?

 

[mikeg]

It's a tough question. I use virgin trains ticketing which I find to be good for simple journeys. Can't remember if it supports PayPal but Elon musk doesn't need my money. Either that or my local booking office providing it's open

 

[JaJaWa]

Not a TOC app but Railboard gets my vote:

Railboard - National Rail train times for iPhone & iPad

Railboard is an easy-to-use train tickets iPhone & iPad app. It features split ticketing, no booking fees and UK train times powered by National Rail.

www.railboard.com

 

[YorkRailFan]

Can't remember if it supports PayPal but Elon musk doesn't need my money.

I thought that Musk sold PayPal to Ebay in 2002.

I do use Northern's app a lot, I do like LNER's app (despite it's faults) as it also allows me to be a LNER Perks member. TPE's app is decent, has the same layout as GWR's.

 

[Rail Quest]

Yeahh Northern gets my vote as one of the better ones. I use Trainline if I have to book any other ad-hoc short journey and then trainsplit if I'm booking a longer trip. Trainsplit isn't the easiest or most intuitive but it's almost definitely the best for getting cheaper fairs, though I'm referring to it's website, I don't think it has a mobile app.

 

[Gaelan]

If you're on iOS, Railboard uses the Trainsplit backend and is absolutely fantastic. Sadly no android version of it.

 

[mirodo]

Another vote for Railboard!

 

[fandroid]

I like the way Railboard claims to have "train times powered by National Rail". As if none of the other ticket sites do!

 

[yorkie]

It's a tough question. I use virgin trains ticketing...

Not a TOC; if we are including third party sites, then the forum's site has to be considered, but the advanced options we provide may preclude it being deemed 'simple'.

I note the requirement to avoid booking fees, but the TOCs often charge a premium for longer distance journeys, which the forum's site finds ways of avoiding, and passes on 85% of the savings identified wherever unnecessary premiums are charged by TOCs.

Trainline are good at dumbing things down and appearing 'simple', though this means some information is hidden or not obvious; Trainline power Northern, so if the aim is to avoid fees, get a simple interface, but also be happy to pay the premium for a through fare, then Northern is a good option.

 

[Bantamzen]

I have always used the Northern App for quick and easy booking of rail tickets via PayPal.

However, the last few times I have tried to use this App the booking just seems to stick and payment by PayPal or Credit Card doesn’t get processed.

Which other TOC app is the easiest and quickest to use for basic tickets without booking fees?

I've had the same problem with the Northern app, however I get around it by loading the tickets into Google Wallet once the confirmation email arrives meaning I don't have to rely keeping the app open. Thankfully I don't have the same issue with Flexi tickets, they load just fine.

 

[Deafdoggie]

I guess it depends what you call simple & what journeys you make.
Some people love mixing deck sites, others hate them.
If you're doing the same journey all the time and/or local journeys, then a site offering split tickets isn't particularly beneficial. But if you're doing long journeys then a split tickets app would be good.

 

[James H]

I use virgin trains ticketing which I find to be good for simple journeys.

I had been avoiding VTT because I was under the impression it charged fees but that doesn't seem to be the case

 

[Eladkram]

The UK Railways Forum here has an excellent ticket booking page just go to the menu, top left and scroll down to tickets. Easy!

 

[WSMP]

i use c2c's app, which was recommended to me and I find surprisingly good. Avanti's app isn't bad either. I refuse to use suppliers who charge a fee.

 

[Deafdoggie]

I refuse to use suppliers who charge a fee.

At all? Neither Trainline not the forums site charge fees on every transactions, just certain ones.
[Insert argument here that the forums site doesn't charge "fees" at all, it just charges a percent of the savings]

 

[yorkie]

i use c2c's app, which was recommended to me and I find surprisingly good. Avanti's app isn't bad either. I refuse to use suppliers who charge a fee.

Although c2c and Avanti do not charge fees, they do charge premiums for many longer distance journeys.

At all? Neither Trainline not the forums site charge fees on every transactions, just certain ones.
[Insert argument here that the forums site doesn't charge "fees" at all, it just charges a percent of the savings]

Our site does not charge booking fees.

It charges a share of savings fee, but of course that would only apply where a saving is identified; if there is no saving, there is no fee!

TOCs just pocket the entire amount of the difference in fares; we pass on 85% it back to the customer. We typically charge less than c2c, Avanti etc, not more!

[Insert argument here that it's better to pay 100% of the additional fare to a TOC than to pay 15% of the additional fare to website such as ours]

And this is before you consider the fact we come up with itineraries which allow for cheaper fares in many instances; a lot of work has been put into providing that.

 

[Deafdoggie]

Although c2c and Avanti do not charge fees, they do charge premiums for many longer distance journeys.


Our site does not charge booking fees.

It charges a share of savings fee, but of course that would only apply where a saving is identified; if there is no saving, there is no fee!

TOCs just pocket the entire amount of the difference in fares; we pass on 85% it back to the customer. We typically charge less than c2c, Avanti etc, not more!

[Insert argument here that it's better to pay 100% of the additional fare to a TOC than to pay 15% of the additional fare to website such as ours]

And this is before you consider the fact we come up with itineraries which allow for cheaper fares in many instances; a lot of work has been put into providing that.

Most people would rather have 100% of something than 85% of it.
Trainline charge a flat fee and that can work out a lot cheaper than 15%.
As you say, these things cost money to work out, which is why Trainline & Trainsplit both charge fees. Sometimes the fees of one is cheaper than the fees of the other. Sometimes the fares of one are dearer than the fares of the other. It pays to shop around, the best money saving is made by shopping around, not just blindly using one site everytime. But not everyone is price conscious, and some people will be happy to only get 85% of something

 

[Grumpy Git]

I use the forums site/App about 80% of the time, however, I use LMR trains alot and when a Euston trip is needed (changing at Crewe), its virtually impossible to get ANY App to offer the LM only cheap day returns (and the fantastic Travelcard return at only £1.75 extra with Senior Railcard).

Unless I'm actually away at the time, I always use a website for booking, apps are MUCH to restrictive.

 

[Glaswegian]

Not a TOC; if we are including third party sites, then the forum's site has to be considered, but the advanced options we provide may preclude it being deemed 'simple'.

I note the requirement to avoid booking fees, but the TOCs often charge a premium for longer distance journeys, which the forum's site finds ways of avoiding, and passes on 85% of the savings identified wherever unnecessary premiums are charged by TOCs.

Trainline are good at dumbing things down and appearing 'simple', though this means some information is hidden or not obvious; Trainline power Northern, so if the aim is to avoid fees, get a simple interface, but also be happy to pay the premium for a through fare, then Northern is a good option.

Is it possible to give more information about the premiums charged by TOCs? When do they apply, how are they explained?

 

[yorkie]

Most people would rather have 100% of something than 85% of it.

OK fine, you build a website that achieves that

Trainline charge a flat fee and that can work out a lot cheaper than 15%.

Trainline charge a booking fee for all transactions, except where the app is used on the day of travel (and maybe they've extended it slightly; I am sure you will be quick to identify any other circumstances where a fee is not charged).

Trainline do not charge a share of savings, but if there is no saving, then you are unnecessarily paying a booking fee; most short distance journeys would therefore attract fees unnecessarily.

Furthermore, Trainline do not typically find cheaper itineraries; they tend to only identify the fastest itineraries (and direct trains) and then price them up, rather than go looking for cheaper options.

And in addition to all that, the last time I checked Trainline only do one split; they may have changed it again but even on occasions where multiple splits were offered, it was rarely the cheapest in my experience.

As you say, these things cost money to work out, which is why Trainline & Trainsplit both charge fees.

You are very selective in your wording but I don't think it's right to say "charge fees" without context; anyone can use Trainsplit without being charged any fees whatsoever if they turn splits off (i.e. it will offer the same fares as the TOCs, plus cheaper fares for slower itineraries). The only "fees" are a proportion of the savings made by not using a TOC site.

Sometimes the fees of one is cheaper than the fees of the other. Sometimes the fares of one are dearer than the fares of the other. It pays to shop around, the best money saving is made by shopping around, not just blindly using one site everytime.

Yes some people have the time to use multiple sites to shop around. However I would point out that when making any journey, or series of related journeys, there can be very big advantages to using one retailer, in case of disruption to any part of the journey. I'd also aim to do it in one transaction.

If you use multiple sites, you should also ensure you have a record of exactly which site was used for each journey, in case of any issues.

Also you may wish to consider after sales support, especially in these uncertain times with strikes, overtime bans and last minute timetable alterations.

But not everyone is price conscious, and some people will be happy to only get 85% of something

Then turn splits off and avoid any 'fees' whatsoever, while still benefitting from the cheaper itineraries which are slower. Simple!

It's just one click:

 

[Willie Bee]

I recently made a booking and looked at all websites to find the best price.

I've never actually used Trainline before, but this time I was glad I looked there, as that was the only one that actually showed the best deal .. see images.

In the end, I just booked two first class tickets directly from LNER .. Edinburgh to Leuchars and then Leuchars to Dundee.

 

[yorkie]

I recently made a booking and looked at all websites to find the best price.

I've never actually used Trainline before, but this time I was glad I looked there, as that was the only one that actually showed the best deal .. see images.

Thanks for finding this rare example; we'll get this added to the logic, so the split at Leuchars will be found for searches made from tomorrow morning.

If you are aware of, or find, any more, please let me know so I can pass this on. This is the first time we've been made aware of any such examples for many months; any of these we are made aware of, we will get them sorted ASAP.

In the end, I just booked two first class tickets directly from LNER .. Edinburgh to Leuchars and then Leuchars to Dundee.

OK your suggestion is that people do searches using split ticket providers, then establish what fares those providers are finding, and then manually search for each ticket as a separate 'journey' on the LNER website?

 

[Willie Bee]

OK your suggestion is that people do searches using split ticket providers, then establish what fares those providers are finding, and then manually search for each ticket as a separate 'journey' on the LNER website?

Thank you for your nice reply.

I think I was just lucky, or maybe I was bored to be looking on several sites for the same tickets

I actually could have used the Ralforum ticket site to buy those single tickets too, as their prices (I've just checked now) are the same

 

[blueberry11]

Booking through the CrossCountry app should allow you to change an advance ticket for free (except possibly for the difference in price), in addition to the no booking frees

Thanks for finding this rare example; we'll get this added to the logic, so the split at Leuchars will be found for searches made from tomorrow morning.

If you are aware of, or find, any more, please let me know so I can pass this on. This is the first time we've been made aware of any such examples for many months; any of these we are made aware of, we will get them sorted ASAP.

Isn't this forums ticket site and trainsplit.com run by the same software in the same mode as Trainline, EMR, Greater Anglia and Cross Country?

 

[Gaelan]

Isn't this forums ticket site and trainsplit.com run by the same software in the same mode as Trainline, EMR, Greater Anglia and Cross Country?

The forum and TrainSplit are the same. Trainline, EMR, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia, Northern, and ScotRail are all the same with some slight differences (the TOC websites don’t charge a booking fee, but don’t offer splits either). But TrainSplit and Trainline have nothing to do with each other.

 

[Alex365Dash]

I like the way Railboard claims to have "train times powered by National Rail". As if none of the other ticket sites do!

Using Darwin (the National Rail data feed for next trains) contractually requires developers to add this (or similar) in their software.

You’ll also find this on FastJP/TrainSplit’s timetable pages (the one you get to by clicking Details for a train from the TrainSplit UI).

 

[yorkie]

@Willie Bee just to confirm, yesterday evening I let the relevant person know, the change was indeed made overnight, and we are now offering this journey for £23.54:




This means we now offer the cheapest fare for this journey; the share of savings fee adds £1.04 to the cost of the actual tickets, which is lower than Trainline's £1.19 booking fee.

OK so it's only 15 pence, which is immaterial, but I never want us to be beaten by Trainline (admittedly when they are offering the same combination, but their booking fee is lower than their share of savings fee, then there is nothing I can do about that), so thanks again for pointing this out.

If you, or anyone else, finds any other examples, where Trainline is offering a better combination of tickets than us, please do let me know. Ordinarily, it will be changed by the next morning.

Don't forget, we offer a seat selector, Trainline doesn't. Also, a small proportion goes towards the upkeep of this forum (over the course of the year this does make a very valued contribution and I think - I'd have to check with the finance people - that it actually covers our web hosting costs!)

If anyone really does not want to pay the share of savings fee, I totally understand that; you can avoid the fee by searching for each journey separately, and once all tickets are in the basket, pay for the transaction. We do not charge booking fees, so it won't cost any more than the cost of each ticket to do this.

 

[mangyiscute]

I know people on this forum love to come and talk about what they dislike about the forums booking site - I just want to chime in and say that I think it is amazing - the fares are almost always the cheapest i can find, and the amount of advanced options is super useful when planning complicated trips that involve doing daft routes - trainsplit can almost always figure out what I want to do and find the cheapest fare, other booking sites would have no hope knowing that i want to take a specific train since it stops at a certain station. Finally, if you do ever have any technical issues, the customer support is superb, or you can always just post on here and staff are ready to help you out almost immediately! Whats not to love.

 

[Willie Bee]

@Willie Bee just to confirm, yesterday evening I let the relevant person know, the change was indeed made overnight, and we are now offering this journey for £23.54:

Once again, thank you for your reply and getting the change done so quickly

Although I booked with LNER this time, I have in the past booked with the RailUK ticket site and will do so again in the future.

if I remember correctly, I wanted to book advanced seats for a couple of trips and the LNER tickets were actually available first, so not wanting to lose out I booked. I think I asked a question on this forum about this at the time.

Yes LNER gives you a warning about the possibility of a timetable change, but tickets are available to buy. I suppose it is maybe risky, but I wonder how often major changes take place.

As an example, see the images ... yes, RailUK offers a very cheap price, but if you wanted to use LNER it wouldn't be possible to get any tickets.

BTW .. I'm not complaining .. I actually really enjoy reading the forum comments etc

 

[yorkie]

Once again, thank you for your reply and getting the change done so quickly

Although I booked with LNER this time, I have in the past booked with the RailUK ticket site and will do so again in the future.

if I remember correctly, I wanted to book advanced seats for a couple of trips and the LNER tickets were actually available first, so not wanting to lose out I booked. I think I asked a question on this forum about this at the time.

Yes LNER gives you a warning about the possibility of a timetable change, but tickets are available to buy. I suppose it is maybe risky, but I wonder how often major changes take place.

As an example, see the images ... yes, RailUK offers a very cheap price, but if you wanted to use LNER it wouldn't be possible to get any tickets.

BTW .. I'm not complaining .. I actually really enjoy reading the forum comments etc

Yes, that is a problem, because LNER release Advance fares much earlier than other operators. If we just enabled such searches, without any special logic in place, I think it would create more problems than it solved.

I don't know how practicable it would be to enable searches just for selected journeys, such as those on LNER (only), but as it happens I am meeting the people responsible later on today, so I will ask them!