Questions for friends in England and Wales:For train and coach tickets, is thetrainline.com good?

[mappingsupport@m.ai6yr.org]

@dillyd We did a trip last year. Via reddit we learned to buy a "Two together" rail pass which then let us buy discounted train tickets.

[dillyd@turtleisland.social]

@mandy thanks! The TwoTogether thing, do you know if we can apply it via the other booking services?

[miffyhelen@beige.party]

@dillyd I'm using it right now so I can highly recommend using Trainline but it's not essential. Some countries limit the number of tickets that get sold for a train but that doesn't seem to exist here. I've spent the first part of this journey standing up because there aren't enough seats. So you can always just turn up at the station and buy a ticket when you get there.

The Trainline app is useful to see when your train is delayed (I can almost guarantee it will be) and you know that your ticket is valid for the journey you've booked because it tells you. As others have said, the split save function is automatically applied when you buy tickets and is *significantly* cheaper than buying from the specific company. There's a booking fee if you buy in advance but a £1.50 booking fee is nothing compared to the £40-50 you save by using it.

[rollotreadway@beige.party]

@dillyd You *can* show up and travel last minute, but it'll cost you a ton of money. Always cheaper to book in advance.

[liquorvicar@mastodon.social]

@dillyd @mandy Yes, the TwoTogether is a national rail card. Pretty much all train booking services will allow you to select it and get the discount.

[dtl@8bitorbust.info]

@dillyd definitely book in advance, even a day or two can make a significant difference on the price.
Booking a specific train, if you can, rather than open tickets will make a huge difference too.

[kbm0@mastodon.social]

@RolloTreadway @dillyd Yeah +1 to that. Rail ticketing in the UK is a complete mess: Despite most of the rail services having fallen back under state control, they are still left each issuing tickets separately. Beware if you buy an advance ticket, it usually can only be used with the stated rail operator, and not other operators running to the same destination on the same line!
We mostly travel Oop North, and order our tickets from Northern Rail:
https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/

[jerzone@techhub.social]

@dillyd I found this one:
https://www.britrail.com/
Lots of clicking to get to page where they say "hey, buy it from one of these" and then more clicking. I'm not done with the clicking yet so I don't know how it ends. ';^)

[jerzone@techhub.social]

@dillyd
I have no context in which to compare. In 90's when my wife and I took trips to Europe we'd get a eurail pass for 4 days or so. Hop on a train and they punch one day, but we could travel a variety of trains on that day.

[jerzone@techhub.social]

@dillyd Anyways, thanks for starting this thread, we're heading to UK in June and I hadn't looked into train tickets yet.

[jerzone@techhub.social]

@dillyd So if I read that right the pass costs us $65/each per day. Here's a trip we might take, which is $119 at its cheapest?
Update: brain burp, I meant to type in Paddington, suffice to say that is even more expensive

[mikefromlfe@cupoftea.social]

@dillyd
Trainline charges fees on top of rail fares. Rail tickets are available without fees from any of the operators apps - all apps sell tickets for all* rail operators.
LNER and Cross-country are the two I use.

You may know this but - Advance Tickets are cheaper but tie you strictly to specific trains and there are harsh penalties for not taking the train you have bought the tickets for.
Anytime tickets (including off peak) are flexible and more expensive, sometimes much more expensive.

Reservations are not generally required, but can be useful and are normally free.

All rail travel is expensive in Britain compared to the European mainland.
Consider a Eurail Pass or Britrail ticket.

I can't speak for coach travel - but it's stitched up between Flixbus & National Express

*The pointless & expensive Heathrow Express is an exception to everything.
There are a couple of private companies - Lumo and Grand Central that have different fare structures and require reservations

[cybervegan@autistics.life]

@dillyd I always use nationalrail.co.uk it's basic, but no fees. Train travel is usually cheaper when booked in advance, but you can't always book some journeys, and there are sometimes limits on how far ahead you can book too. It's not the booking agent that sets these rules, but the rail company/companies.

[kbm0@mastodon.social]

@cybervegan @dillyd Just to be explicit, I think the concensus here is that any third party "booking service" will charge you more, and that probably includes thetrainline.com.

Booking direct from either nationalrail or the individual rail companies will not incur booking fees, so will always be cheaper.

If you want flexibility on the day, you can't beat a standard saver return or off-peak return. These are sometimes a good idea for shorter journeys, but very expensive for longer distance.

[afewbugs@social.coop]

@dillyd if you're planning just a few specific journeys on specific dates then you should definitely book in advance for cheaper fees. The Trainline is good and I find the QR code tickets it generates save so much on convenience they're worth the booking fee, but other people have different options.

If you're planning to be more spontaneous and just travel around as the mood takes you you might want to look at an Interrail pass: https://www.interrail.eu/en/interrail-passes/one-country-pass/great-britain There are some restrictions on using it at peak time, but if you're planning the sort of trip where you might just decide "I think I want to see Birmingham today" it's worth it

[afewbugs@social.coop]

@dillyd also I recommend https://www.nationalexpress.com/en for coaches

[cybervegan@autistics.life]

@kbm0 @dillyd I assume the third party sites have some kind of benefits, but I've never used them as I'm happy with nationalrail for my limited use of the train system. Have used it since about 2007, I think.

[oneinterestingfact@mastodon.ie]

@dillyd
looks like you already got most of the answers. If you're eligible on grounds of age or travelling with a friend look at getting a railcard - you can save the initial cost on one journey.
And on trains don't forget to look at first class - sometimes the price difference is quite small and you get free snacks and drinks as well as more space.

[mikefromlfe@cupoftea.social]

@dillyd
Seat61 has a guide to British rail travel

https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-britain.htm

[andydearden@mastodon.green]

@MikeFromLFE @dillyd yes - I have NEVER chosen to use the Heathrow Express. Unless you really need to be in Paddington, then the tube from Heathrow into London will probably only take an extra 15 mins and save a packet.