London Banter - View Single Post

Roland Perry · February 19th 16, 03:25 PM posted to uk.transport.london

In message , at 10:10:00
on Fri, 19 Feb 2016, remarked:

There are web sites providing train fare offers but which are
the best ones? Am I correct in assuming that some will offer
less than ideal rates because they receive a commission from
train companies? Do they all work this angle?

The general rule of thumb is that the best fares are obtainable on the
relevant Train Operating Company's web site. E.g. I just bought some tickets
for a day trip from Cambridge to Derby next month. The same fares (Advance
are usually but not always the cheapest) were 10% cheaper on the EMT web
site compared to East Coast's which I tend to prefer because it uses the
booking engine I find easiest to use.

I thought EMT gave a £1 discount, not 10%

To the OP: You'll get pretty much the same fares and availability from
any site, unless the train company has "Web only" fares, which I don't
believe are available London-Bristol.

The two ways to save money on the "appear on the day, possibly during
the rush hour" fares is to look at off-peak fares which are sold for any
qualifying train, or so-called "Advance Purchase"[1] which are only
valid on the one train you specify when booking.

[1] While you can buy all the tickets before you travel, "AP" is the
industry jargon for the ones where you specify in advance exactly which
train you'll be travelling on. They can only be purchased on the day
before travel, and earlier.
--
Roland Perry