Trainline charges to be cut?

[Hadders]

Why would anyone use Trainline ?

I'm sure no sensible person on here would use trainline but the public at large believe that tickets booked through them are cheaper...

 

[radamfi]

Has anyone come across anyone being fooled into buying two Off-Peak or Anytime singles when they want a return, from the Trainline or elsewhere? A colleague at work was complaining that that the fare looked really expensive and when I asked what the fare was it sounded a lot more than I expected and it turned out he had clicked the two single fares.

 

[cjmillsnun]

I just pay cash or use my debit card. Credit cards are bad news. if you don't have the money in the bank don't spend money belonging to someone else!

For those that do have a credit card i can see this could be good news but fear any savings will simply be clawed back elsewhere.

PS don't use the train line.

I disagree that credit cards are bad news. They have their place. They give mortgage lenders a credit profile which allow them to make a forecast of your creditworthiness. This keeps mortgage rates down for high street lenders.

Also you get consumer protection when buying with a credit card when buying goods and services over £100 - you only need to put £1 on the card to be covered. Very useful, and if you pay your bill in full every month, you pay no interest.

Anyway, back on topic. This will make precisely no difference to trainline, as their business model is a booking fee.

 

[sheff1]

Has anyone come across anyone being fooled into buying two Off-Peak or Anytime singles when they want a return, from the Trainline or elsewhere?

Yes, but they didn't believe me when I told them they could have got a much cheaper return on the day - after all "everyone knows it is cheaper to book in advance on Trainline".

 

[RJ]

I just pay cash or use my debit card. Credit cards are bad news. if you don't have the money in the bank don't spend money belonging to someone else!

For those that do have a credit card i can see this could be good news but fear any savings will simply be clawed back elsewhere.

PS don't use the train line.

I spend 4-5 figures a week - I can either pay with Amex/hotel credit cards and get a whole load of points - or I can pay with a debit card and get nothing! Most rewards credit cards I have are free - but those with a fee are well worth it. I.e. I pay £99 a year for the IHG credit card, but get enough points for 2-3 free nights a month, plus an annual free night certificate which can be redeemed at any of their hotels.

These cards are only worthwhile if paid off in full - interest wipes out any value from rewards and then some!

 

[pemma]

Yes, but they didn't believe me when I told them they could have got a much cheaper return on the day - after all "everyone knows it is cheaper to book in advance on Trainline".

When Red Spotted Hanky first launched (when they didn't charge booking fees) I told an admin person about it and she said the fares were 'a lot cheaper than the Trainline.'

One MD (who lives near a Merseyrail station) insists on buying any type of ticket in advance from the Trainline (even a normal day return for a journey where no seat reservations are available) and then driving 5 minutes from the office to the local Northern station to collect his tickets.

The Trainline and 118118 just show the one that advertises the most is the one most people use. (118500 being the replacement for the old BT directory enquiries.)

 

[pemma]

I disagree that credit cards are bad news. They have their place. They give mortgage lenders a credit profile which allow them to make a forecast of your creditworthiness. This keeps mortgage rates down for high street lenders.

Indeed. A lot of financial experts recommend people get credit cards and pay them off in full every month, as that proves to lenders you are able to manage your finances. Although, having multiple credit cards could be seen as a bad thing, unless the other ones have been cancelled. I use a credit card regularly, always make payments on time and never pay the credit card company any interest and have a credit score of 999 (on a range of 0 to 999 with 0 being the worst score and 999 being the best.)

 

[Bletchleyite]

Indeed. A lot of financial experts recommend people get credit cards and pay them off in full every month, as that proves to lenders you are able to manage your finances. Although, having multiple credit cards could be seen as a bad thing, unless the other ones have been cancelled. I use a credit card regularly, always make payments on time and never pay the credit card company any interest and have a credit score of 999 (on a range of 0 to 999 with 0 being the worst score and 999 being the best.)

There's also that if there is fraud on a credit card you lose the use of that card until it is resolved, while on a debit card you may end up genuinely out of pocket for a period of time.

For that reason I vastly prefer using a credit card for spending.

 

[pemma]

There's also that if there is fraud on a credit card you lose the use of that card until it is resolved, while on a debit card you may end up genuinely out of pocket for a period of time.

I had that with a credit card once. They phoned me up and said they'd blocked a transaction which they thought was suspicious and asked if I had made it - I hadn't. Then they asked me if I'd authorised anyone else to use the card - again I hadn't. Then they ran through all the recent transactions which had gone through and asked if I'd made them. They then told me they've cancelled the card and would send me a replacement with a new number.

 

[theblackwatch]

Well it seems Travelex have been quick off the mark - now that they won't be able to charge credit card fees, they are now charging a 'click and collect' fee for currency exchanges under £500, rather than £100 as previously. Looks like they have lost my business (as Trainline did), as I'm not prepared to pay an extra £2.49 on principle. I rarely want as much as £500 worth of money when going abroad!

 

[theageofthetra]

I doubt many people will feel sorry for Amex users who pay their bill in full every month! Having said that, I'm a highly pro-Amex consumer and naturally am disappointed that their ability to cater to their target market is continually being hampered . Would be better if they remained exempt from the interchange fee cap and merchants choose whether or not to accept them as they do now.

Ironically the best rewards card for miles at the moment isn't even a credit card - it's a debit card!

Unfortunately EU interference means that will end shortly.

 

[radamfi]

Unfortunately EU interference means that will end shortly.

But they can only offer their generous benefits because the prices are artificially inflated to pay the high card fees charged to retailers. It also means that non-Amex users are subsidising Amex users as they all pay the same.

 

[Joe Paxton]

But they can only offer their generous benefits because the prices are artificially inflated to pay the high card fees charged to retailers. It also means that non-Amex users are subsidising Amex users as they all pay the same.

Quite. I've never been a fan of Amex for this reason.

 

[swt_passenger]

Quite. I've never been a fan of Amex for this reason.

Remember the original adverts?

https://youtu.be/ZF-U9nL9Ios

 

[DelayRepay]

It also means that non-Amex users are subsidising Amex users as they all pay the same.

It really doesn't, unless the retailer's margins are so tight that they make a loss on Amex transactions (in which case, they probably wouldn't accept Amex).

The retailer chooses to accept Amex because they know some customers want to pay that way and therefore they end up with more revenue and profit overall.

Following your logic, anyone who pays by cash in a large business is being subsidised by people who pay by card. When I worked for a large retailer we would much rather people pay by card. Counting cash, keeping it secure, having it collected, banking it and having to maintain a stock of small change is very expensive. This is why supermarkets were always keen to offer cashback - it got cash out of the tills without the expense of having to bank it.

 

[najaB]

It really doesn't, unless the retailer's margins are so tight that they make a loss on Amex transactions (in which case, they probably wouldn't accept Amex).

Subsidised isn't a synonym for 'loss-making'.

 

[paddington]

It really doesn't, unless the retailer's margins are so tight that they make a loss on Amex transactions (in which case, they probably wouldn't accept Amex).

Subsidised isn't a synonym for 'loss-making'.

Nonetheless, generally non-Amex users do not subsidise Amex users but the retailer merely makes a smaller profit when selling the same item to someone paying by Amex compared to someone who doesn't.

And Amex wants retailers to believe that Amex cardholders do not buy the same items or the same quantity of items as non-Amex users. This may or may not be true for each specific retailer.

Using World/Premium Mastercards, Business/Corporate cards and/or non-UK credit cards often result in much higher charges to UK retailers than a standard personal UK Amex.