Trainline Tickets Review

By Clare Newsome April 04, 2012 at 18:55 pm

WHAT IS IT?

This excellent app is even slicker than its parent website, thetrainline.com. It allows you to find the perfect train – and ticket price – for your journey, then book your tickets for collection at a station of your choice. It’s secure, fast, flexible and could save you a lot of money – though the booking fees could eat into that windfall.

WHAT'S IT LIKE?

This a sublimely easy app. Simply tell it when you want to travel - return journeys can be left blank – and hit the ‘Find Trains’ button. The app then retrieves any relevant ticket options - and here’s where you can start saving money.

For example, our first search revealed it would be cheaper to buy two separate single tickets for each part of a round-trip (at £22 and £16), rather than the obvious return-ticket option (£54).

The app clearly shows you all your ticket and train-time options – flagging up everything from the price of a first-class upgrade to any relevant restrictions on specific selections. Key information about conditions – for example that a ticket is only valid via a certain route, or that the ticket can only be used on a specified train – scrolls along the bottom of your smartphone screen.

If you already have an account at thetrainline.com, you can view any in-app bookings via your central account, plus generate receipts for your purchases. Likewise, your bookings can be easily viewed by hitting the ‘My Tickets’ option in the app’s main menu.

There is a £1 booking fee for each transaction – though you can book as many tickets as you like within each of these. What stings even more is a £3.50 charge per transaction if you pay by credit card.

You can then collect your tickets for travel from the ticket machine at your departure station (using the same credit card you registered with the app). Yes, this means you may never have to queue at the ticket office again.