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Train tickets
I am trying to arrange train tickets for my Mum, they are Off Peak Return travelling from London Paddington to Hungerford. I have looked on both Raileasy and Thetrainline.com and worked out the timings and cost for both parts of the journey. However either or both of them add booking fees, postal charges and credit card charges, Mum doesn't want to have to queue up at the start of her journey and just wants the peace of mind that she has got the tickets in her possession before travelling. Can I go to a nearby mainline station and buy the tickets for her there, even though this station is not on the route she will travelling on. I have checked this station on Network Rail and the ticket is staffed at convenient times for us to collect. Many thanks for any help given.
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The last time I used The Trainline, just a few weeks ago, the only extra I paid was a £1 arrangement fee. There were no card fees (I used a debit card) and the tickets arrived just a couple of days later. Alternatively, if your local station has a ticket collection machine, you can get them from that using the card you paid with. That way you get the advantage of the online price your mum should have her tickets on time. Hope this helps.
First Great Western website shows a day Return @£23 or a One Month return @ £30. If your mum is over 60 and has a Seniors Rail Card (£26 pa) then she'll get 1/3 off the price. You can select at which station you wish to collect the tickets. As far as I am aware the price you pay at a ticket office would be considerably more than on line and the chances are that the clerk either would not know the best fare or if he/she does know wouldn't tell you so that they can rip you off.
It is a complete myth that you pay more at the station than you do on line. Yes, if you choose to buy on the day of travel when there might have been advanced purchase tickets available. However, any rail station equipped with central reservation facilities has the capacity to sell the full range of tickets. If you are looking for and Advance Purchase ticket and book early enough you will pay exactly the same price at the station as over the phone or on line. In fact it might be cheaper as there will be no hidden charges.
The trainline can post them, or they can be picked up at the station of departure, but see below. Even with fees they are way cheaper than getting direct. The proviso to picking them up is that the same card MUST be used to collect them (automatic, nothing to do with booking office) so this might be impractical.
Thing is, I used them some weeks back. The tickets arrived next day, and because of the savings, I even upgraded to first class cos the times I chose to travel, the first class fare was only about a tenner more. The one snag to that is I was tied to the return journey, and was kicking my heels waiting for an hour. That's because if you are booked on certain trains, it is only those trains any discount applies to.
Thing is, I used them some weeks back. The tickets arrived next day, and because of the savings, I even upgraded to first class cos the times I chose to travel, the first class fare was only about a tenner more. The one snag to that is I was tied to the return journey, and was kicking my heels waiting for an hour. That's because if you are booked on certain trains, it is only those trains any discount applies to.
The ONLY site that you should ever use for rail times and bookings is National Rail.
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
That site directs you to purchasing options which don't add any charges.
For the route you refer to, your request to purchase tickets will be routed to the First Great Western website.
However, as you've suggested, any staffed station throughout the UK can sell you tickets for almost any route. (There might be a few, very limited, routing exceptions, relating to 'special offer' tickets from specific rail operators, but they wouldn't apply in your situation).
Chris
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
That site directs you to purchasing options which don't add any charges.
For the route you refer to, your request to purchase tickets will be routed to the First Great Western website.
However, as you've suggested, any staffed station throughout the UK can sell you tickets for almost any route. (There might be a few, very limited, routing exceptions, relating to 'special offer' tickets from specific rail operators, but they wouldn't apply in your situation).
Chris
What a lot of disinformation, garbage even, you've been given amongst a few good facts.
The tickets you are proposing to buy (off peak returns) will be exactly the same fare whether you buy them in advance or on the day, online or at the station. The only difference you will find is that the trainline and raileasy will charge you a fee of some sort - train company websites won't.
The tickets you are proposing to buy (off peak returns) will be exactly the same fare whether you buy them in advance or on the day, online or at the station. The only difference you will find is that the trainline and raileasy will charge you a fee of some sort - train company websites won't.
Certain train companies on certain routes have a limited number of cheaper tickets which are quota controlled and must be purchased in advance (AP). Other than that the ticket will be the same price whether purchased on a train company's website or at the station. The tickets shown for the OP's original journey are not AP tickets so the OP can purchase them at any major rail station for the stated price. The whole concept of AP tickets is to fool the public into thinking that if they buy in advance they will necessarily get it cheaper. Not so; these tickets are usually on sale up to 12 weeks in advance of the booking deadline and are often sold out well before then. When I worked for the railways this was a major headache; people thinking that just because they booked a week in advance they were guaranteed a cheaper ticket.
This is just for information purposes. I wanted to buy tickets online for a trip home for a family member. I was going to organise and pay for the tickets with my debit card. If you book online you are given a booking reference number to take to the station where you depart. however, the person who is travelling with that reference number, ALSO has to produce the card that was used to make the payment. Obviously, my family member (who was at the other end of the country) couldn't do that, as I have the card here. So the booking could not be made online. It was pointless trying to buy the tickets and send them (arriving too late to travel), and ended up transferring money for them to purchase the tickets at their end. Put me off trying again. Too much hassle.
As Mike says, 'Advance' tickets (offering significant discounts) are offered on SOME (but by no means) all routes. However it still shouldn't make any difference as to whether they're purchased online or at a rail station. The prices should be exactly the same (apart, of course, for the booking fees charged by some online agencies).
When I ran a railway station I frequently encountered people who had been issued with completely worthless tickets by the independent online agencies. For example, passengers would have tickets issued for travel on a service operated by company A, but with a ticket type which was only valid on the services of company B. They'd even have numbered seat reservations shown on their tickets, despite the fact that the train which they'd booked on didn't even have numbered seats, yet alone accept reservations! In my opinion, nobody should ever consider using those agencies.
With possible exception of some Megatrain fares (which only apply on a few routes operated by the Stagecoach group of companies), all fares will be exactly the same (excluding booking fees) irrespective of whether they're booked online through a third party company, booked online through the website of the relevant train company, or purchased at a rail station. (Yes, SOME fares are cheaper when purchased in advance but those cheaper fares will still be available from all three sources).
Chris
When I ran a railway station I frequently encountered people who had been issued with completely worthless tickets by the independent online agencies. For example, passengers would have tickets issued for travel on a service operated by company A, but with a ticket type which was only valid on the services of company B. They'd even have numbered seat reservations shown on their tickets, despite the fact that the train which they'd booked on didn't even have numbered seats, yet alone accept reservations! In my opinion, nobody should ever consider using those agencies.
With possible exception of some Megatrain fares (which only apply on a few routes operated by the Stagecoach group of companies), all fares will be exactly the same (excluding booking fees) irrespective of whether they're booked online through a third party company, booked online through the website of the relevant train company, or purchased at a rail station. (Yes, SOME fares are cheaper when purchased in advance but those cheaper fares will still be available from all three sources).
Chris
Thank you for all the help given. Just to say that I went to the nearby mainline station today armed with the info, what type of ticket, train times, etc and bought the tickets there at exactly the same price as seen online with no credit card charge, booking fee or postal charges. Mum is happy and no longer stressing about getting her tickets.
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