Train ticket question

[Isabelle]

I am planning to catch the train on Thursday. I want to buy my ticket online but the station I am travelling from is unmanned (Chapeltown) so I can't collect my ticket before getting on the train.

Will it be more expensive to buy the ticket from the conductor? I will be travelling on to Doncaster and then York.

I haven't caught the train for a long time, so I'm unsure what to do

[Quik]

If you book it at thetrainline.com its normally about half the price of buying it on the day. You can collect the ticket from the machine on the platform.

[Hambeast]

If you book it at thetrainline.com its normally about half the price of buying it on the day. .

 

This may not apply on all routes, so very bad advice

 

You can buy the ticket online but you may find that the cheaper tickets only apply to specific trains and this wont apply on every route, so the only way to know Isabelle is to go and punch your times into a train ticket website and see what comes back. Do NOT use thetrainline.com, use eastmidlandstrains.co.uk

 

You could always buy a single from Chapeltown to Sheffield on the train and then collect a pre-booked Sheffield-York ticket at Sheffield. This may work out cheaper than buying a Chapeltown-York ticket on the train.

 

What is your preferred departure time and are you coming back the same day?

[Quik]

This may not apply on all routes, so very bad advice

 

You can buy the ticket online but you may find that the cheaper tickets only apply to specific trains and this wont apply on every route, so the only way to know Isabelle is to go and punch your times into a train ticket website and see what comes back. Do NOT use thetrainline.com, use eastmidlandstrains.co.uk

 

You could always buy a single from Chapeltown to Sheffield on the train and then collect a pre-booked Sheffield-York ticket at Sheffield. This may work out cheaper than buying a Chapeltown-York ticket on the train.

 

What is your preferred departure time and are you coming back the same day?

 

I took the precaution of checking the route she requested and yes its half the price. East midlands trains don't even operate those routes so why would she use their site?

[Hambeast]

I took the precaution of checking the route she requested and yes its half the price. East midlands trains don't even operate those routes so why would she use their site?

 

You can use any train operators website, doesnt matter if they operate the route or not, they all use the same ticket system (Avantix). You could use First Great Western if you wanted. I just prefer it to thetrainline as it has an easier user interface, no need to bite my head off

 

Well I just checked myself. Assuming she only wants a single ticket and holds no railcards, A standard single is £18.70 and the cheapest I can find that morning is £11, so certainly not half the price at all. And as said, only on certain trains and she has no means of collecting the ticket at Chapeltown so she would have to either:

 

a) travel to Sheffield to collect, which will cost her fuel/bus fare/train fare

b) pay to have ticket sent out to her special delivery at a cost as no guarantee it will arrive before Thursday morning

 

In this instance she will be better off:

 

1 - Buying a Chapeltown-Sheffield ticket on the train (£3.20)

2 - Buying in advance a Sheffield-York ticket and collecting at Sheffield (the cheapest I can find is still £11).

 

Of course we have no idea when she wants to travel on the Thursday if she wants to travel back, and if she is doing so on the same day, so we cant help her fully until she tells us this.

[Quik]

http://m.nationalrail.co.uk/pj/stations/ticketbuying/CLN

 

That says there is a collect from machine facility at chapeltown. And £11 is a deal cheaper than £18.70 for the same journey.

[Hambeast]

http://m.nationalrail.co.uk/pj/stations/ticketbuying/CLN

 

That says there is a collect from machine facility at chapeltown. And £11 is a deal cheaper than £18.70 for the same journey.

 

It is not half though, as you said

 

I was trusting Isabelle when she said there was no ticket machine at Chapeltown. So there we are then. She can get a single ticket for £11 and collect at the station as long as she ties herself to a specific train.

 

Although if she is returning the same day, there is nothing cheaper than £11 singles on this flow, so she would be best off just buying the standard £20.20 return at the station/on the train (assuming the machine on the platform doesnt also sell tickets) which lets her use any train she wants.

 

If she is coming back the day after or later, 2 x £11 advance singles are cheaper than the £24.40 Anytime Return available, but she would be tied to specific trains.

[stifflersmom]

I took the precaution of checking the route she requested and yes its half the price. East midlands trains don't even operate those routes so why would she use their site?

 

Eastmidlandtrains does not charge a booking fee, whereas trainline does. That's the main reason I don't use trainline.

[Cyclone]

If you book it at thetrainline.com its normally about half the price of buying it on the day. You can collect the ticket from the machine on the platform.

 

If you use the train operator website it will probably be £1 cheaper (as trainline charges).

If it's for Thursday you can have it posted 1st class to you.

 

---------- Post added 20-06-2016 at 09:58 ----------

 

 

I was trusting Isabelle when she said there was no ticket machine at Chapeltown.

 

To be fair, she said it was unmanned. Collecting from the machine there would be the logical solution, I guess she didn't know she could do that.

[El Cid]

Will it be more expensive to buy the ticket from the conductor? I will be travelling on to Doncaster and then York.

I haven't caught the train for a long time, so I'm unsure what to do

 

Some of the short journeys, there is no difference in price, longer trips can be much cheaper, sometimes a £1 charge for postage when you book online.