Trainsplit vs Split My Fare

[miklcct]

I am trying out Split My Fare in addition to my preferred retailer Trainsplit, and bought a ticket from Split My Fare today. Although the user interfaces are totally different, the confirmation and e-ticket emails are exactly the same, and the link to download the e-tickets contains Trainsplit as well.

Are they just two different frontends using the same backend? In particular, if I enter the same search parameters into both, will they return the same journeys and tickets? Do they all charge the same split ticket commissions and no other booking fees? Are Trainsplit, Split My Fare, Raileasy the same entity?

 

[yorkie]

Split My Fare is an affiliate site of Railways/Trainsplit, in a similar way that the forum's site is an affiliate site.

A proportion of the fare goes to the affiliate, so if you book through Split My fare it benefits the company behind that site, rather than the forum.

Other than that, there can be cosmetic differences and there can be additional features on the forum's site (I'm not sure if Split My Fare has boundary tickets yet or not, but ours was the first to have it)

 

[miklcct]

Split My Fare is an affiliate site of Railways/Trainsplit, in a similar way that the forum's site is an affiliate site.

A proportion of the fare goes to the affiliate, so if you book through Split My fare it benefits the company behind that site, rather than the forum.

Other than that, there can be cosmetic differences and there can be additional features on the forum's site (I'm not sure if Split My Fare has boundary tickets yet or not, but ours was the first to have it)

Unfortunately I have found that Split My Fare's UI is much better for straightforward journeys which don't require a multitude of parameters, so I'm switching to it. (I would like to have a journey planner which groups results by geographical routes, if there are multiple routes, but there aren't any yet, so I have to force it to show the results I want, route by route to see how long / how frequent the trains on each route are.)

The main advantage of Split My Fare compared to Trainsplit beta is that the former lists cheapest and flexible fares side by side, while Trainsplit Beta lists Standard and First fares side by side. As someone who never pays a penny extra to take First Class on the vast majority of train operators (such as Southern and Thameslink), the former is much more useful for me to see if the difference between Advance fares and walk up fares is large enough for me to forgo the flexibility given by walk up fares.

 

[JB_B]

...and there can be additional features on the forum's site (I'm not sure if Split My Fare has boundary tickets yet or not, but ours was the first to have it)

I've obviously not been paying attention as I didn't know boundary zone tickets were available. What origin/destination should I be using on the forum site (or trainsplit) to get tickets to/from BZ6?

 

[yorkie]

I've obviously not been paying attention as I didn't know boundary zone tickets were available. What origin/destination should I be using on the forum site (or trainsplit) to get tickets to/from BZ6?

It's under 'More Options', then 'Existing Travel card held':

(it only works for 'outboundary' travel, to extend beyond Zone 6, or the relevant limit of validity beyond Zone 6 where applicable for the pass held)

 

[JB_B]

It's under 'More Options', then 'Existing Travel card held':

(it only works for 'outboundary' travel, to extend beyond Zone 6, or the relevant limit of validity beyond Zone 6 where applicable for the pass held)

Thanks - that's really useful to know.

 

[Adam Williams]

Are they just two different frontends using the same backend?

Yes, it's the same Raileasy API underneath.

In particular, if I enter the same search parameters into both, will they return the same journeys and tickets?

For the most part, yes. SMF do set some slightly different search parameters that as a user you won't see, but could impact itineraries kept by the journey planner.

Do they all charge the same split ticket commissions and no other booking fees?

SMF's commission structure is slightly different, but will usually result in the same fee as the other brands you mention. Importantly, the forum site and TrainSplit will never be more expensive than SMF, but the opposite is not necessarily always true.

Are Trainsplit, Split My Fare, Raileasy the same entity?

TrainSplit is a brand that Raileasy owns and operates web applications, mobile applications and other services using. It was previously an independent company.

SMF is a completely separate entity. They have their own brand and UI, maintained by their own frontend developer. They have their own support team based in Nigeria (though for any query that you'd be likely to ask, @miklcct, it'll be sent to Raileasy to deal with).