Just like the UK!

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LondonBikeCommuter
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Joined: 21 Apr 2013, 4:10pm
Location: Swindon

Just like the UK!

Post by LondonBikeCommuter »

Needed some train tickets for Spain & France so did a bit of Googling to check if it was possible to get reasonably priced fares. It was!!!

Popped into my local European train booking place and was told the minimum price for what I wanted to do was 60% odd more than I'd found on the Internet. Woman swore blind that there were no better deals. 20 minutes later I'd booked my cheaper priced tickets.

Station booking staff in the UK never ever seem to be able to find a cheap fare until you point one out.

Is all this done on purpose?
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pjclinch
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Joined: 29 Oct 2007, 2:32pm
Location: Dundee, Scotland
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Re: Just like the UK!

Post by pjclinch »

Used to be the case that BR station staff seemed to have an encyclopedic knowledge of all the wangles that were available and were happy to make sure you got them. Alas "BR station staff" disappeared in the 90s :(
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
Bicycler
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Re: Just like the UK!

Post by Bicycler »

With very few exceptions you can buy all the UK rail tickets that you can buy online at the booking office. Some of the quoted savings of buying online compared to "buying at the station" are frankly deceitful (comparing Advance to Anytime fares) and will actually end up costing you more if you use a retailer which requires you pay a booking fee (trainline etc.). I think trading standards need to look at that one.

Some staff are better than others. I have tended to find them okay but then again I tend to have a particular train/ticket in mind having researched it beforehand and generally ask for that specific ticket. I'd have thought a simple advance ticket would show up as readily as a walk up fare so I wouldn't have thought that they should have a problem quoting the cheapest ticket between two points for a particular date or train. If they did then I think you are right to be suspicious. If you are relying on ticket splits, breaks of journeys or playing around with connection times then the staff cannot really be expected to manually check all the possible permutations which could make your journey cheaper
tyreon
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Joined: 4 Oct 2012, 4:39pm

Re: Just like the UK!

Post by tyreon »

All the above very interesting! When I went to my local station(and itsa city station),they said they knew nothing about booking continental travel(and basically,didnt want to know). The fragmented railway system means they only have direct knowledge of their own region,or railway company,not others. They directed me to London wherein(and I guess)to speak to a human yer on the phone at premium rates or...you journey down to London(by train!)to speak to some individual after more queues. My own thinking goes along these lines: transportation is not a public service,its there to make £££. If it makes money,it privatised. Making losses,the MPs make sure it goes bake to pay off the debts. If anyone is helpful to you...take it as a bonus
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Cunobelin
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Re: Just like the UK!

Post by Cunobelin »

There used to be a guy in the Southampton Uni Travel Shop that had an encyclopaedic knowledge

He would manipulate the system

I remember going to Penzance one year and had a return to Salisbury, day return to Exeter, single to Plymouth and a Day return to Penzance

A combination of offers and "City Breaks" that more than 75% off the normal fare.

Unfortunately retired now, but I still use his trick of looking for cheap offers between cities and splitting a ticket into stages if it saves
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al_yrpal
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Re: Just like the UK!

Post by al_yrpal »

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/split- ... n-tickets/

Shows how to get the cheapest tickets using splits.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
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