I was wondering if online ticket sites are obliged to offer a full range of tickets and make it possible to buy the correct ticket for the journey requested, as would be the case for face to face sales. I had assumed they would be regulated in some way.
I am thinking about the German run Omio site (formerly GoEuro) who I have been using recently due to their generous cashback offer (often 10%-!5%). They have restricted the range of UK tickets available and will sometimes only offer a more expensive option rather than the obvious cheaper choice.
Three examples:
For a simple point to point journey their site is just about usable but when I couldn't find a way to buy an outboundary Travelcard I queried it with them. Their response was that most of their available routes are for inter city journeys but they may add 'public transport' options in the future. i.e. no way to get the ticket I wanted via their site.
Their booking engine also doesn't seem to offer cheaper 'not via London' routes/tickets and they don't have a 'via' option on the search page so it seems impossible to get the cheaper route you may require.
When I'm travelling out in peak and back offpeak I usually add my railcard to the search options in case it's cheaper to get two singles (one discounted on the way back). On any UK run site you would be automatically offered any Anytime Return (with no railcard discount) if it was cheaper than the two singles. Omio doesn't do this and will apply the specified railcard even if there is an obvious cheaper option on the same services. Their suggestion was about 50% more expensive and they leave it to you to enter another search without a railcard (if you realise).
I realise a non UK site may struggle with the complexities of our ticketing system but is there someone overseeing them?
I am thinking about the German run Omio site (formerly GoEuro) who I have been using recently due to their generous cashback offer (often 10%-!5%). They have restricted the range of UK tickets available and will sometimes only offer a more expensive option rather than the obvious cheaper choice.
Three examples:
For a simple point to point journey their site is just about usable but when I couldn't find a way to buy an outboundary Travelcard I queried it with them. Their response was that most of their available routes are for inter city journeys but they may add 'public transport' options in the future. i.e. no way to get the ticket I wanted via their site.
Their booking engine also doesn't seem to offer cheaper 'not via London' routes/tickets and they don't have a 'via' option on the search page so it seems impossible to get the cheaper route you may require.
When I'm travelling out in peak and back offpeak I usually add my railcard to the search options in case it's cheaper to get two singles (one discounted on the way back). On any UK run site you would be automatically offered any Anytime Return (with no railcard discount) if it was cheaper than the two singles. Omio doesn't do this and will apply the specified railcard even if there is an obvious cheaper option on the same services. Their suggestion was about 50% more expensive and they leave it to you to enter another search without a railcard (if you realise).
I realise a non UK site may struggle with the complexities of our ticketing system but is there someone overseeing them?
