Cheap Tracks? (thetrainline.com)

Member Name: flutel

Product:	thetrainline.com
Date:	21/10/09 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to operate website. A way to find cheap tickets

Disadvantages: It is irritating when no cheap tickets are available if you book too late or at a busy time

Many train tickets across the UK cost more than plane tickets to Europe - so with this is mind, I am always trying to find a cheap option. The website, moneysavingexpert.com is always recommending booking 2 months early with a site such as trainline.com.


I don't do a lot of travelling by train but now and again go to London and want rock bottom prices. As my visits are for leisure, this means that I can be a little flexible with times/days. Coupled with an early booking time, this usually throws up some incredibly cheap options. I have been able to secure single fares from Nottingham to London for £9! This is a huge difference to a price of around £70 that could be paid for a similar journey.


The website invites you to input the train station starting and ending points, dates and estimated time of departure. It then works out the various trains that are available and will then show you the prices. By selecting your chosen routes, the site will do a final calculation and invite you to buy. This can be done simply, by credit/debit card and the tickets can either be posted or picked up from the station that is the start of your journey. If tickets are picked up from your station, the card that purchased them needs to be used to. It is quite an easy and quick process so it is not too stressful. I would leave for the station some 10 minutes earlier just in case you are in a small queue at the ticket machine.


I usually work out a variety of different times/dates before I settle on my final choice. I also sometimes work out prices to the places where a journey splits because buying separate tickets can be cheaper. For more info on this, go to www.moneysavingexpert.com.



Sometimes buying two singles is better than buying a return ticket - so I always check this out too. When I am satisfied that I can do it no cheaper, I buy the tickets.


When buying the tickets, you will be allocated a seat on all trains you will be travelling on. I have been given options of what kind of seat I would prefer (table/no table). Once, I was travelling alone to London and I climbed aboard a carriage to discover I was the only one in the carriage with my own allocated seat! It did not fill up much either. I ended up just choosing where I wanted to sit anyway and travelled in lonely glory.

Summary: A place to book train tickets on line