Which app is now best for changing Advance tickets?

[johncrossley]

Can someone confirm which app is now best for changing Advance fares?

It has to allow fee free changes, and as close to departure time as possible. The process has to be easy to use and there has to be good customer service.

 

[CarrotPie]

Can someone confirm which app is now best for changing Advance fares?

It has to allow fee free changes, and as close to departure time as possible. The process has to be easy to use and there has to be good customer service.

Does CrossCountry not allow fee-free changes until 6pm the day before, or have they stopped doing that now?

 

[Alex-B]

Fee free changes that I'm aware of:

CrossCountry (https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/tickets-savings/offers-discounts/change-advance-train-ticket). States can be changed for free until 15 mins before scheduled departure. Charges refund fees to change or refund non-advance tickets.

TransPennine Express (https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/help/change-my-ticket). States can change both advance and flexible tickets (as long as origin and destination remain the same) fee free. Deadline for free advance changes given as 6pm the day before. Refunds of flexible tickets without rebooking looks to attract refund fee.

Transport for Wales (https://tfw.wales/help-and-contact/rail/refunds) Changes to advance tickets only fee free until 6pm the day before. Fees apply to refund flexible tickets.

Ticketyboo (https://myticketyboo.com/faqs/refunds-and-compensation/). No charges for refunds or changes to either advance or flexible tickets. Note: no telephone number, email contact only.

RailSmartr (https://railsmartr.co.uk/faq_list/refunds-amendments/) No charges for refunds or changes to either advance or flexible tickets. Also offers split ticketing without additional fee (but the split ticket search may not be as in depth as the RailEasy engine used by services like this forum). Can change advance tickets right up to scheduled departure.

 

[johncrossley]

Fee free changes that I'm aware of:

CrossCountry (https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/tickets-savings/offers-discounts/change-advance-train-ticket). States can be changed for free until 15 mins before scheduled departure. Charges refund fees to change or refund non-advance tickets.

TransPennine Express (https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/help/change-my-ticket). States can change both advance and flexible tickets (as long as origin and destination remain the same) fee free. Deadline for free advance changes given as 6pm the day before. Refunds of flexible tickets without rebooking looks to attract refund fee.

Transport for Wales (https://tfw.wales/help-and-contact/rail/refunds) Changes to advance tickets only fee free until 6pm the day before. Fees apply to refund flexible tickets.

Ticketyboo (https://myticketyboo.com/faqs/refunds-and-compensation/). No charges for refunds or changes to either advance or flexible tickets. Note: no telephone number, email contact only.

RailSmartr (https://railsmartr.co.uk/faq_list/refunds-amendments/) No charges for refunds or changes to either advance or flexible tickets. Also offers split ticketing without additional fee (but the split ticket search may not be as in depth as the RailEasy engine used by services like this forum). Can change advance tickets right up to scheduled departure.

Thanks for that comprehensive rundown. Have you got experience of changing Advance tickets with any of these providers?

 

[Tramfan]

I changed an advance ticket fee free with TPE a few months back, pretty sure I did it on the day as well, as it was due to illness.

 

[dmncf]

CrossCountry (https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/tickets-savings/offers-discounts/change-advance-train-ticket). States can be changed for free until 15 mins before scheduled departure. Charges refund fees to change or refund non-advance tickets.

At CrossCountry for Advance train tickets "Any changes must be made before 18:00 the day before the original travel date."
Source: https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.u...icket-refunds-and-amends#733851959-3022595742
Unfortunately, CrossCountry have failed to update the page linked to by @Alex-B.

 

[CarrotPie]

Thanks for that comprehensive rundown. Have you got experience of changing Advance tickets with any of these providers?

I've changed tickets with XC before (again, the day before) and it was pretty easy and intuitive on the app, so I can vouch for that, at least.

I suppose with third-party sites that offer fee-free changes, the question is: do they charge other fees (e.g. booking fees)?

 

[Alex-B]

Thanks for that comprehensive rundown. Have you got experience of changing Advance tickets with any of these providers?

No problem. I spent time looking into this for tickets I needed to book.

My favourite used to be CrossCountry as their app was quite generous about what changes were permitted; it didn't really check if the "route" was the same as long as the origin and destination stations matched so you could do things like change from a Northern advance ticket to a Transpennine advance ticket. But their new app isn't as good.

My current favourite is Railsmartr. Their website is pretty good for self service changes, but if it doesn't offer you what you're after (or if you prefer) you can just book a new ticket between the same two stations and email them asking for them to refund your original ticket(s). As long as you buy a new ticket and send the email before departure of the original ticket they'll still process the refund fee free even if they only get to the email after departure. They're also really helpful (and responsive same day) by both emails and phone if you need to contact them. They're a brand of Assertis, who've been doing railway ticketing stuff for ages now.

I forgot to add in my original list that I think Uber may also allow advance changes fee free in some cases. I understand they ultimately use Assertis' engine behind the scenes, but I think you have to contact Uber customer services for them to change the ticket manually, so I didn't look into them any further.

 

[td97]

The new CrossCountry website/app is dreadful. The functionality to change a ticket doesn't actual work, and instead one must rebook and then call their customer services who will provide a refund for the cheapest ticket.
Can also corroborate that Advance ticket changes must be completed prior to 18:00 on the day before travel.
A huge downgrade overall.

 

[embers25]

Uber do fee free changes in the app. When they work they are easy. However they dont 100% work in my experience.

 

[Russel]

The new CrossCountry website/app is dreadful. The functionality to change a ticket doesn't actual work, and instead one must rebook and then call their customer services who will provide a refund for the cheapest ticket.

I'm glad it's not just me that has had this issue then, I tried about 5 times before messaging XC on social media, only to be told to email them the details.

To add also, it seems to fail quite a lot when actually buying tickets and logs out on a frequent basis too, an XC TM got a bit impatient with me a couple of weeks ago because I had to log back into the app which took two attempts because of no mobile signal to show my tickets, even though I'd had the app open 15 minutes prior to scan the tickets on the barrier at New Street!

Huge downgrade on the previous app all round.

 

[lnerazuma]

Southern apps with paper ticket?

 

[dmncf]

I use the Transport for Wales website and app. The website sometimes fails to load on my Google Chrome browser, so I use Microsoft Edge instead. Otherwise, I am happy with their website and app. I have telephoned them a few times and I consider their staff to be, on average, very good but you do get some outliers.

 

[Pieman007]

I have succesfully moved Advance Paper tickets purchased on the Southern App. Under the ticket is an Amend, you have to keep the same journey and it is subject to availability.

The last time I did this was January this year.

 

[akm]

I use the Transport for Wales website and app. The website sometimes fails to load on my Google Chrome browser, so I use Microsoft Edge instead. Otherwise, I am happy with their website and app. I have telephoned them a few times and I consider their staff to be, on average, very good but you do get some outliers.

Currently having the devil's own job trying to make an amendment on the TfW website (the app has its own problems in that it only shows 5 journeys in the 'Wallet', however many there are...)

Firefox, Chrome, Edge, all fail, server error 422 Unprocessable Content. Maybe it will work tomorrow?

Anyway, after hearing all over that the new cross country system is To Be Avoided, I guess it'll be TPE next for me...

 

[Russel]

Currently having the devil's own job trying to make an amendment on the TfW website (the app has its own problems in that it only shows 5 journeys in the 'Wallet', however many there are...)

Firefox, Chrome, Edge, all fail, server error 422 Unprocessable Content. Maybe it will work tomorrow?

Anyway, after hearing all over that the new cross country system is To Be Avoided, I guess it'll be TPE next for me...

TPE Has been fine the few times I've used it and it probably going to be my default replacement for XC going forward...

Thanks for the warning regarding the TFW system though!

 

[Alex C.]

Uber do fee free changes in the app now - this is a fairly recent change, you used to have to email them. I have never been charged a fee but they don't advertise them as fee-free so I'm always conscious they could start chargin at any time.

 

[dmncf]

Currently having the devil's own job trying to make an amendment on the TfW website (the app has its own problems in that it only shows 5 journeys in the 'Wallet', however many there are...)

You might have tried this already, but in the TfW app 'Wallet' I find that toggling from list by 'Next journey' to list by 'Date bought' reveals more tickets.

 

[akm]

You might have tried this already, but in the TfW app 'Wallet' I find that toggling from list by 'Next journey' to list by 'Date bought' reveals more tickets.

The most recent app update (11 Feb 2026) has fixed one problem - now the app seems able to display all tickets, and correctly sorts them into Current and Expired.

The ability to self-serve changes to Advances still seems to be broken though, whether you try via app or website. According to TfW social media help, the thing to do is to phone up!

 

[akm]

Southern apps with paper ticket?

I have succesfully moved Advance Paper tickets purchased on the Southern App. Under the ticket is an Amend, you have to keep the same journey and it is subject to availability.

The last time I did this was January this year.

So despite it saying at https://www.southernrailway.com/help-and-support/refunds-and-changing-your-ticket that

Advance tickets​

Travel on a different date​

You can change the time or date of travel at any of our Ticket Offices, before the departure of the first reserved train printed on your ticket.


You’ll need to pay any difference between the fare you’ve already paid and the best available fare for your new journey, plus a £10 change of journey fee for each ticket changed.

You're saying if it's an uncollected paper ticket, the change is fee-free?

 

[Bristol LHS]

Uber do fee free changes in the app now - this is a fairly recent change, you used to have to email them. I have never been charged a fee but they don't advertise them as fee-free so I'm always conscious they could start chargin at any time.

oh wow, thats great. I like Uber because of the cash back, and the changes being fee-free; but it’s always annoyed me that I had to spend ages on the phone to change things over.

 

[lnerazuma]

So despite it saying at https://www.southernrailway.com/help-and-support/refunds-and-changing-your-ticket that



You're saying if it's an uncollected paper ticket, the change is fee-free?

Yes it has to be uncollected.

 

[gembercannelle]

Although CrossCountry service has improved a good deal since November, I still have not received any reply to any of 3 complaints related to the chaos and inconvenience the migration to the new booking system has caused me; including hours and hours on the phone I had to spend to amend tickets, being given new set of instructions every time I called, and malfunctioning of the new system. My personal record is 4 minutes 30 seconds phone call to amend an Advance ticket, achieved last week. I would not recommend it to anyone at the moment until they actually sort out online amendments.

 

[Pieman007]

So despite it saying at https://www.southernrailway.com/help-and-support/refunds-and-changing-your-ticket that



You're saying if it's an uncollected paper ticket, the change is fee-free?

Yep......I last did it on the website end of January to move a ticket to end of March......

I haven't been using the Southern app too much for Advances lately for work as they removed the 0746 from Havant to ECR off the Advance list......so I now do Split tickets via Merstham for £28, travel on the 0746 and can travel home in Peak......plus can buy the ticket on my way to the Station.....unfortunately I had started to pay £22.50 / £25 for Advance tickets so not a lot of difference for about 15 mins extra travelling.....