Trainline booking fee, none for NRE??

[edwin_m]

I was using Virgin's website to book some tickets to visit a friend today, and when the MasterCard security password thing came up, it said I was paying Thetrainline.com...
Interesting considering Virgin don't have booking fees.

Several of the TOCs use thetrainline's web engine, just re-badged to look as if it belongs to the TOC.

I guess the main reason TOCs don't charge booking fees is that it probably costs them more to sell a ticket via a booking office or even a ticket machine than it does on the web.

 

[Tetchytyke]

They've also managed to catch the expenses market, more than once I've seen on this thread that employers demand their staff use thetrainline

Especially for SMEs, TheTrainLine's business website is really quite good. Payment is by invoice and each travel item is individually listed. It takes all the hassle out of accounting for expenses. The service costs money- it's about £3 per booking when paid by invoice- but that cost is outweighed by the convenience.

TTL's business accounts also allow ToD to be collected by any debit or credit card, rather than the card that was used to buy the ticket. That's useful when you don't want to have to send someone out to the station with the company card.

 

[kieron]

Just to mention as well, the verdict of myself and I'm sure many other forum members that the NRE engine is a terrible website.

I wouldn't say something like that, for fear that the government decides that third parties do a good enough job and allow NRE's journey planner to be closed down or outsourced.

I feel that NRE has 3 big advantages over the TOC sites I've used.
1. Most of the details you request for a journey are put in the URL, so you can bookmark a journey you make frequently.
2. It shows journeys which aren't valid with a through ticket (even if it rarely suggests tickets you would use for them).
3. It allows you to impose 3 restrictions on a journey (via, avoid and TOC) at once.

 

[Paul Kelly]

I wouldn't say something like that, for fear that the government decides that third parties do a good enough job and allow NRE's journey planner to be closed down or outsourced.

It already is outsourced - ATOC don't do anything technical themselves:
http://www.transeoalliance.com/case_studies/TranseoCSNRCCOJP.pdf

 

[Bletchleyite]

It already is outsourced - ATOC don't do anything technical themselves:
http://www.transeoalliance.com/case_studies/TranseoCSNRCCOJP.pdf

Its original codebase is Trainline based, isn't it? Unrecognisable now, though.

Neil

 

[Simon11]

To book tickets, all booking engines will be charged a certain amount. Whether they pass some/all of that on to you (the customer) is up to them. Trainline's primary business is selling tickets, so they decided to pass a charge on to the customer as they aren't getting money from elsewhere. This also applies to RailEasy and Red Spotted Hanky.

Bold text above is incorrect as they get commission of 5%.

http://www.atoctravelagents.org/clientfiles/File/RAIL INDUSTRY COMMISSION RATES TO 31 MAR 2016.pdf

 

[DelayRepay]

I was using Virgin's website to book some tickets to visit a friend today, and when the MasterCard security password thing came up, it said I was paying Thetrainline.com...
Interesting considering Virgin don't have booking fees.

Remember that Virgin used to own thetrainline.com so it's no real surprise that they use it as their booking engine.

 

[gingerheid]

Their marketing is good. Even to this day if I want to find train times I automatically type in their url, and then remember I need to go somewhere else to book it once I get to that stage...

 

[fandroid]

Their marketing is good. Even to this day if I want to find train times I automatically type in their url, and then remember I need to go somewhere else to book it once I get to that stage...

I do the same, but with SWT's journey planner. That too is a Trainline clone, and remember that SWT's owner's are Stagecoach who own 49% of Virgin. I'm just used to the Trainline display of results, so it's convenient for testing out routes, times and fares.

Once I've decided, I go over to FGW, where I get Nectar Points!

The really aggravating factor is that there are minor but annoying differences in what the different TOC websites will offer on different routes.

It would be nice to have a 'Sticky' which listed all the websites and told us which ones charged and for what, plus which ones offered perks. Further up someone mentioned that Trainline, RailEasy, and Red Spotted Hanky charge fees. Of the TOC offers, I am only aware of East Coast which gives points (redeemable for tickets, other offers, wifi passes and First Class Lounge passes) and FGW which gives Nectar Points.

 

[CockneySparrow]

Because their advertising campaign has been rather successful, so people genuinely believe they are saving money even when they are not.

Neil

Not to mention its a catchy name people wont forget

 

[SickyNicky]

You can buy tickets from train operators instead and most (if not all) of them don't charge booking fees, they absorb the cost instead.

In fact, they're not permitted to charge booking fees at all. I understand that many of them would if they could. Only third parties are allowed to.

But we think the system isn't fair. The ticket price itself is supposed to cover retailing costs but we're still charged extra for every ticket that's sold - LENNON and CTR fees soon add up. In addition, there are a number of other costs, such as data, licensing, accreditation etc. which all have to be paid (and these can be absurdly high). These costs should be included in the ticket price and not charged out to third parties as well - if they want a proper thriving and innovative market, the current system is precisely not the way to go about it.

Remember that the TOCs can also put ticket vending machines and ticket offices in stations they serve. They get some of the CTR revenue for every ticket collected. But can third parties install TVMs or run ticket offices*?

Despite all this, TrainSplit.com doesn't charge any booking or card fees. We can only do this because we charge a fee if you make a saving by using our split ticketing technology. Without that, we couldn't exist, in the same way as without booking fees, other third parties couldn't exist.

* yes - I know there are one or two third party ticket offices such as Ledbury and Chester-le-Street - but it's a general point.

 

[theshillito]

Despite all this, TrainSplit.com doesn't charge any booking or card fees. We can only do this because we charge a fee if you make a saving by using our split ticketing technology. Without that, we couldn't exist, in the same way as without booking fees, other third parties couldn't exist.

Call it what you will, but it's still a booking fee, just under a different name. If anything, it's more sneaky in my opinion. However, with a split ticketing engine like yours, I'd be more willing to pay that fee due to the fact that I'd otherwise have to buy 3 or more separate tickets elsewhere compared to one single transaction. A convenience fee, perhaps.

 

[SickyNicky]

Call it what you will, but it's still a booking fee, just under a different name.

I'm not sure about that - it's not applied to any bookings unless you actually make a saving using our split ticketing system - a standard transaction doesn't attract a fee of any sort.

A convenience fee, perhaps.

OK - I could accept that.

However, with a split ticketing engine like yours, I'd be more willing to pay that fee due to the fact that I'd otherwise have to buy 3 or more separate tickets elsewhere compared to one single transaction.

I'm glad to hear that. The system is, of course, not aimed at the experts here on the forum but at Joe Public who might find it difficult stringing together the correct tickets manually. But if you do use the system, please remember that it costs money to run it and we have to pay for it somehow. The ticket commission alone isn't enough even for straight sales, let alone the complexity of split tickets.

 

[Mike@Raileasy]

If you know a split option yourself and book on a TOC site, fair enough obviously. But, if Trainsplit finds a split saving you didn't know about, can I suggest in your own (and a load of others') long term interest you pay the "convenience fee". Trainsplit needs supporting. If it wasn't around, the TOcs aren't going to pick up the splittos "baton" and people "not in know" will be left with that tosh from MSE.

BTW TOCs don't absorb booking fees, they're included in ticket prices along with all the other costs of "retailing".

 

[jon0844]

If you used a site that revealed a split you weren't aware of, what would stop you buying those tickets elsewhere after the first time? Or indeed, just closing the window and going to another site the first time?

I know people should support a site that does the work to save money, but sadly it's all too common that people will not do that, just like 'showrooming'.

 

[theshillito]

If you used a site that revealed a split you weren't aware of, what would stop you buying those tickets elsewhere after the first time? Or indeed, just closing the window and going to another site the first time?

I know people should support a site that does the work to save money, but sadly it's all too common that people will not do that, just like 'showrooming'.

Nothing at all, however it's more of a pain in some cases. As I said, it's paying for the convenience of doing it all in one go, rather than having to buy multiple tickets elsewhere separately.

 

[Mike@Raileasy]

And potentially getting it wrong as per another thread just now.