Best and Simplest App for Booking Rail Tickets

[Willie Bee]

Just as a matter of interest.

EDB - DEE on 2nd January at 10:28 for 2 adults first class (with railcard)

Trainline £28.20
LNER £28.20
RailUK £23.36 <<< so well done RailUK

 

[dvboy]

I tend to use CrossCountry mostly because the majority of my journeys are with them anyway, and they allow for easy amendments of advances without a fee.

 

[MrJeeves]

Ditch Northern! LNER, GWR, or ScotRail apps consistently receive praise for speed, ease, and fee-free basic bookings. They integrate PayPal and credit cards seamlessly, avoiding your recent woes. Try them – simplicity awaits!

Yeah definitely ditch the Northern app for the ScotRail app!

(Wait until they find out they are the same app...)

 

[Angmering1974]

Why do apps such as RailBoard interpret “open return” as you wanting a day return? It’s the first shown ticket type in the results after you explicitly select “open return”.

Is there an app that gets this right?

 

[RooseWithAZed]

Yeah definitely ditch the Northern app for the ScotRail app!

(Wait until they find out they are the same app...)

A couple of years ago the Northern app would only let me do TOD for a journey within Scotland, but last time I was up I could get an m-ticket just fine on the ScotRail app.

Why do apps such as RailBoard interpret “open return” as you wanting a day return? It’s the first shown ticket type in the results after you explicitly select “open return”.

The whole "open return" terminology, I believe, contributes to confusion around the conditions on return journeys for people who aren't "in the know" about train ticketing. The average passenger I would suggest doesn't know the difference between an Off-Peak Day Return and an Anytime Short Return or what restriction code 5F means, they just think they've ticked the box that says they can come back the same way whenever. Retailers should either bin that phrase or be clearer about what the return part allows for whatever ticket type the user has selected, which would be simpler than the real solution of reforming fares to be simpler.

 

[MrJeeves]

A couple of years ago the Northern app would only let me do TOD for a journey within Scotland, but last time I was up I could get an m-ticket just fine on the ScotRail app.

That's because Trainline will only sell m-tickets through the ScotRail platform and their own. Other whitelabels don't get the functionality.