I like the engine used by East Coast for booking and it can be used to book a journey anywhere in Great Britain.
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The Train Line
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But that's buying different products in different places. The beans you buy in Lidl are unlikely to be the same as Tesco, but some brand that looks very similar. (And, Waitrose actually matches most of the prices at Tesco on the 'bread and butter' items now incidentally!).
It would be like Trainline simply selling Tesco products for the same prices as Tesco (including any offers Tesco might do), then adding on a booking fee. They could still say that they can offer beans that are xx% cheaper, but the saving will only be on the difference between Tesco's own beans and Heinz - a discount that exists if you just cut them out of the loop and go direct to Tesco in the first place.
There's nothing wrong with Trainline existing, but they should be negotiating discounts of their own if they want to advertise savings. These advertised savings should be unavailable anywhere else.
moonrakerz
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Do they use the Trainline engine ? quite a few of the TOCs do (all, ???), FGW for one - and they are still better value than Trainline !
Why should they do anything? What it says in the advert is completely true. Buying from thetrainline.com in advance is cheaper than buying at the station on the day, on average.
No company is obliged to advertise other companies products, or point out that tickets can be bought even cheaper elsewhere. If the TOCs dont wish to advertise their own websites and advance fares, then thats their problem, not thetrainline.com's.
If I was to sell my car, I could say its a bargain at £3,000, because the local dealer is asking £3,500. But I wouldnt be obliged to say "But by the way, the bloke in the next street has the same car at £1,500"!
Not the Trainline one, the other one (can't think of the name at the minute!).
EDIT Webtis sounds along the right lines.
East Coast use Webtis which in my view is a much better system than The Train Line powered system.
That's not in any way relevant at all, or even similar. This isn't about another car - it would be the same car. It's more like you advertising your car for £3,000 and I advertise the exact same car for £3,000 - and then when someone comes to me, I give them a lift to your house and charge them £50 for the ride.
Trainline just sells the same tickets everyone else does. If there's a ticket that's 50% cheaper than a walk-on fare, there's a ticket that's 50% cheaper and you can get it from, presumably, anyone that sells rail tickets. That's the whole point - they haven't negotiated special deals or tickets you can't get anywhere else (such as an exclusive allocation of cheap tickets on certain train services). If they did, they'd actually have an edge.
Even though you quoted the bit where I said the ASA couldn't do anything, you then asked why I thought they could!! Did you read it all, or just click reply as soon as you read about five words?!
I don't care if Trainline wants to spend a fortune advertising to get people to buy their tickets from them (and many TOCs do indeed use them too) and claim to find you the best ticket, but the advertising IMPLIES that you'll only save money by going to them. That isn't true, and the wording doesn't actually say that they are exclusive in any way either, but it's pretty obvious to anyone that it is what they're trying to make people think.
In any case, once you add on the booking fee, they'll always be more expensive than some other places. And since when did it become impossible to get advanced tickets from a train station, in advance? You can't claim that the only way you can get advanced tickets is to go to Trainline?
OK, lets assume that we have 3 IDENTICAL cars, then the analogy holds.
Also, nothing in the advert says you cant buy advance tickets from the station. But why would they need to? An advert for thetrainline.com is paid for by thetrainline.com to advertise THETRAINLINE.COM . They are not there to advertise other peoples products! A bank will advertise its high interest rates on savings, pointing out that you get better interest on their savings accounts than on a current account. But they wouldnt then be expected to say that other banks might offer higher returns for savings! so why should thetrainline.com be subject to extra rules on advertising?
Do you work for them or are you deliberately missing the point?!
Who said they must say tickets are available elsewhere? However, it's pretty obvious that the advertising IMPLIES you will save money buying from them - and thus, you would pay more buying the SAME ticket elsewhere. They don't say that but people will think that. If the public make that mistake, it's not the fault of Trainline - but it won't have been a mistake on the part of Trainline.
If you bought an advanced ticket at a train station, East Coast, a travel agent or Trainline it would in fact be the same price. The saving is on a ticket that you might not have ever intended to buy anyway.
This is no better than the media comparing £1 easyjet flights with a first class walk-on single for the train to say low cost airlines are better.
So, for another time, nobody wants Trainline to say there are other places you can buy a train ticket from - but the small print in their own ad makes it clear that they're only saying you can save money if you buy a cheaper ticket.. and that they can help you find that ticket. No problem in that, but when they add a booking fee they become more expensive.
Can you detail an example where they could ever be cheaper than going to a mainline station or buying from somewhere like EastCoast? I don't mean cheaper than buying a more expensive ticket as that's not like for like - I mean the very same ticket.
Who said they must say tickets are available elsewhere? However, it's pretty obvious that the advertising IMPLIES you will save money buying from them - and thus, you would pay more buying the SAME ticket elsewhere. They don't say that but people will think that. If the public make that mistake, it's not the fault of Trainline - but it won't have been a mistake on the part of Trainline.
If you bought an advanced ticket at a train station, East Coast, a travel agent or Trainline it would in fact be the same price. The saving is on a ticket that you might not have ever intended to buy anyway.
This is no better than the media comparing £1 easyjet flights with a first class walk-on single for the train to say low cost airlines are better.
So, for another time, nobody wants Trainline to say there are other places you can buy a train ticket from - but the small print in their own ad makes it clear that they're only saying you can save money if you buy a cheaper ticket.. and that they can help you find that ticket. No problem in that, but when they add a booking fee they become more expensive.
Can you detail an example where they could ever be cheaper than going to a mainline station or buying from somewhere like EastCoast? I don't mean cheaper than buying a more expensive ticket as that's not like for like - I mean the very same ticket.
A £1 booking fee is cheaper than going to a mainline station if you would have to take a bus or taxi just to get to the station. thetrainline.com saves you the time and expense.
As for East Coast, if they want people to use their site, they need to advertise better. Its not thetrainline.com's fault if they dont advertise.
So, since I know thetrainline.com's address (its on the advert!), and know how to use the site, it would be much quicker to use thetrainline.com to buy tickets than East Coast (eastcoast.com? .co.uk? eastcoasttrains.com? who knows?) and since time is, of course, money, then I have saved money by using thetrainline.com. cool.
Well fair enough. Pay the higher amount and be happy. Be a sheep (!!).
Maybe it's best that EC doesn't advertise too much, or they might introduce the same fees too. Let's keep it a secret!!
You might be right that the booking fee is cheaper than going to a mainline station, but given EC don't charge that - it's still more expensive. The question is, now YOU know about East Coast, will you continue to use Trainline?
Maybe it's best that EC doesn't advertise too much, or they might introduce the same fees too. Let's keep it a secret!!
You might be right that the booking fee is cheaper than going to a mainline station, but given EC don't charge that - it's still more expensive. The question is, now YOU know about East Coast, will you continue to use Trainline?
Chapeltom
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But most people who are going to buy advance tickets could usually buy at a station on another journey anyway? I don't think more than 50% of rail users will ever use an advance ticket as they have no need to. Those that do buy advance tickets SHOULD know the system and will know not to but from the trainline. When I first bought advance tickets last year (I'm only 18 and had not reason to travel long distance before hand) I knew to avoid the train-line because their £1 booking fee is well known and I do my best to tell those buying tickets to avoid it.
I buy all my tickets at the station. Its a nice short walk.....
Besides, I only ever use rovers and rangers (ALR coming up in 2 months...), so theres no savings to be made.
But, I often use thetrainline.com to check times and connections. Its easier than other sites, as its less cluttered!
CrossCountry do advertise their online ticket sales quite heavily, with "no booking fee" on the posters. I expect plenty of people don't that's what TTL is charging, or think TTL have cheaper tickets available. I'd like to see a TOC claim "Buying with us is always cheaper than TheTrainLine" - I can't think why such a claim would get them in trouble - but can't see it happening myself.
Except that no-one types in the URL any more as far as I can tell - Homepage > "thetrainline.com" > Search > Clicky...
Except that no-one types in the URL any more as far as I can tell - Homepage > "thetrainline.com" > Search > Clicky...
True. I basically type "thet", and the rest appears automatically....
True, but that also works if you've visited east coast more than once. Anyway, the difference between typing a url and typing a search term into your address bar is negligible.
Fact is, that trainline's advert is factually correct and memorable. It's only because we know that there are cheaper options that it irritates us here!
I don't see how there could be any trouble with this, provided it was worded correctly. In fact I think it would make an excellent advertising campaign!
NSE
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To be honest mate, being a member on here for ten months doesn't mean I know everything, I do have a life away from here :P and I have no interest in ticketing. I simply want a cheap ticket. Being able to get four journeys, three of which are first class which should have been £252, for £48, well regardless of how much cheaper it could have been, I think thats perfectly acceptable. As for a booking fee of £1, is that really a problem? Someone mentioned buying it from a station, well I'd have to pay for a bus to get there.
But to be frank, do Joe public really care where their ticket comes from? Providing that some amount of money is saved, I doubt they'd give a monkeys tbh
Yes, but you wouldn't have to buy it from a station. 19 Tocs offer the sale of tickets through their website. With a ticket office, that makes 20 places you could buy a ticket from and pay LESS than theTrainline. Buy it either direct from the Toc if they offer a discount, or from the website of any other Toc if you want to pay less.
If you want to throw your money away, then be my guest, but I don't see why you would choose to use theTrainline when for no extra hassle you could choose from 19 other websites who charge you less, some with exactly the same layout as theTrainline.
NSE
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Like I said, I have no interest in ticketing, so I know only whats advertised. In this case first one I could think of was the train line. It worked for me, you've said TOC's are also handy, so yeah I guess I'll try them next time. But are you really that bothered about being charged £1? I mean in the whole grand scheme of life. A single pound?
NSE
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Yeah I appreciate that. Most of my travel is London based, so Oyster or Travelcard. But providing The Trainline saves you at least a pound, your not losing money due to the booking fee
Yeah I appreciate that. Most of my travel is London based, so Oyster or Travelcard. But providing The Trainline saves you at least a pound, your not losing money due to the booking fee
But then again the price will still be £1 cheaper on a TOC website!
Failed Unit
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It just proves the adds work. A bit like some people always believe Ryanair is cheapest because they say so.
Well you are, because you're paying the booking fee, as well as any other fees (if appropriate) theTrainline doesn't save you any money. The railways do, by offering for sale tickets which are cheap by offering a reward for booking in advance. You don't have to use theTrainline to book in advance. Why not use any of the 19 other websites? What's so good about the one you can find at www.thetrainline.com above www.fgw.co.uk or www.eastcoast.co.uk?Yeah I appreciate that. Most of my travel is London based, so Oyster or Travelcard. But providing The Trainline saves you at least a pound, your not losing money due to the booking fee
If it was a WebTIS based TOC then it would be an excellent idea, not so good if the engine is powered by TTL.com
But providing The Trainline saves you at least a pound, your not losing money due to the booking fee
But the Trainline=Anyone else+£1
So, it may be convenient. It may have a nice website, or an app you can use on your iPhone, but it will always be more expensive! And if there's a £3+ credit card fee on some tickets too (as suggested by the screen grab above), that's even worse!
If you're happy, that's fine. But, you are paying £1 you don't have to pay. Over time, these pounds will add up.
Still, there are more important things to worry about in life so as long as people are aware that Trainline=Anyone else+£1 then let's move on!
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