“You won’t find cheaper tickets anywhere else”: that is the bizarre pledge from rail retailer Trainline, which charges fees on top of fares on about one-third of transactions.
A poster campaign outside one of the UK’s busiest railway stations creates the impression that the market-leading ticketing firm is at least as cheap as other sources.
In fact, unlike Trainline, train operators and many retailers are content with the 5 per cent standard commission they earn from online ticket sales and do not add extra charges.
Finding cheaper tickets than Trainline is simple. Train operators always sell at face value, whether at a ticket office or online. They are not permitted to charge booking fees.
In addition, many of the 40-plus other ticket retailers do not levy fees, including Trip.com, Virgin Trains Ticketing and Uber.
A Trainline advertisement makes the bold price claim outside King’s Cross station in London, hub for the East Coast main line to Yorkshire, northeast England and Scotland,
The poster adds the text: “Or we’ll refund the difference.” It also specifies: “Valid 6 Jan-28 Feb 2025 for in-app purchases of LNER, Grand Central, Lumo and Hull Trains only, if a lower price than the price on train line is found for the same train.”
The Independent made a test purchase for a London to Leeds LNER train at 8.03am on Monday 24 February. The standard fare booking direct with the train operator is £68.20.
On both the Trainline app and website, passengers pay £2.79 more than LNER – an increase of 4 per cent.
The traveller could claim a refund of the difference, but it would be much easier booking direct with state-run LNER. Doing so allows the passenger to earn a further 2 per cent credit under the “Perks” loyalty scheme, making the total saving 6 per cent compared with Trainline.
Unlike most platforms for booking tickets, Trainline has a useful feature known as SplitSave. This function exploits the anomalies in Britain’s labyrinthine fares system to provide savings. On routes such as Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington, buying one ticket to Didcot Parkway and another to the capital usually saves cash.
But there is no need to use Trainline; ScotRail has exactly the same SplitSave system, but without the fees, and can be used for journeys anywhere in Britain.
Sakshi Anand, UK general…
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