Come on Thomas! (thetrainline.com)

Member Name: cocorocky

Product:	thetrainline.com
Date:	20/10/09 (39 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fast, cheap

Disadvantages: none!

My friends and I decided to go to Cardiff to see the Dr Who exhibition, well... I decided to drag them there. So as soon as we decided when we wanted to go I decided to look at train prices etc. I looked at various other sites such as nationalrail.co.uk and many others. However, I actually decided to buy the tickets off of this site. Simply because they gave me the cheapest options! I was able to put in search options for the actual day I wanted to go, which was 4th November 2009. The site actually told me which times would be the cheapest for me, and I was happy to see that the site accepted my railcard, whereas the national rail didn't. I clicked the times I wanted and made sure that I then got the right stations etc, I then went to book the tickets. I thought that a return fare from Salisbury to Cardiff for £11 was incredibly amazing! So I booked it! Incredibly easy to book! Although I did have to register my details with the site, which is a tad bit annoying but there again it means that If I wish to use the service again then I can!
I booked the tickets a mere 2 weeks in advance, booked them on the Sunday and they arrived on the Tuesday! When I booked the tickets they gave me an option on how I would like to receive the tickets. If I was travelling within a short time there is an option where I can pick them up at the railway station that you are leaving from, just make sure that you have the card you paid them with! Otherwise there may be a bit of a tiny problem. The other options are that you can have next day delivery, this costs a little bit more (£7 more). I'm not sure how reliable this as I have never used it myself. I chose to have mine delivered by first class post. However, I was a bit panicky about this due to the amount of postal strikes there are at the moment! However, my tickets came through and I can say that I am a very happy Mary.
The only weird thing I thought about this service was the fact that they actually allocate you seating... Now don't let me be fussy or anything but I hate being told where to sit. Plane ok that's fine, but no public, cheapish transit should give you a seat. You should be able to choose where you wish to sit. I haven't been on the journey yet so I will hopefully not sit in that seat; because my friends have been given different seats to me (they booked separately).

Overall, I feel that the service given by the company was really good, and I would recommend them and certainly use them again!

Summary: trainlines, quick and easy!