Booking South West Trains

[Traveller94]

Hi,

I'm trying to book our train tickets from Waterloo to Southampton in order to take advantage of the advanced fares. National Rail redirects me to South West trains. Every time I click the button to proceed to payment I get an error message. I haven't put any personal information in yet, so I don't think it's because I'm in the US. I have tried Safari and Chrome on an iPad and a desktop computer. I would apperiate any help anyone can offer.

 

In case it matters, I'm trying to buy the 10:05 on July 1 for 2 people.

 

Thank you!

Stacy

[yaletownboy]

Possibly you may have to create an account with National Rail. I just did this but only for creating my "basket' of schedules. I haven't proceeded to the "checkout"

[Post Captain]

Hi,

I'm trying to book our train tickets from Waterloo to Southampton in order to take advantage of the advanced fares. National Rail redirects me to South West trains. Every time I click the button to proceed to payment I get an error message. I haven't put any personal information in yet, so I don't think it's because I'm in the US. I have tried Safari and Chrome on an iPad and a desktop computer. I would apperiate any help anyone can offer.

 

In case it matters, I'm trying to buy the 10:05 on July 1 for 2 people.

 

Thank you!

Stacy

 

Stacy ~

 

I just tried a dummy booking via National Rail for your specific journey and date to see if the same problem would arise. Pressing relevant the "Buy Now" button on the National Rail page took me directly to the South West website, and from there was able to proceed to the payment page without any difficulty. (There's no need to create an account on the National Rail website, nor on the South West website.)

For what it's worth, I use the Pale Moon browser (basically a Firefox clone), and am accessing those British websites from the United States. If you have any ad blockers/ java blockers, I'd suggest you temporarily disable them for the South West Trains website. Also, clear your cache beforehand. Not sure if that would help--I'm certainly not expert--but I know that similar problems have been reported with various booking and hotel websites, and that this "fix" has been known to resolve the issue.

 

While I'm thinking of it, here's a tip that will save you money and avoid using the South West trains website altogether: You can book a super-cheap Waterloo to Southampton fare using the Megabus website. See:

 

http://uk.megabus.com/Default.aspx

 

The Megabus ticket puts you on a regular South West Railways train. (In this case, there is no "Mega bus"; rather, the Megabus company simply acts as a seller of discounted tickets for the railway company.) If I'm not mistaken, tickets usually go on sale six weeks in advance, so tickets for your date are not yet available. Also, Megabus tickets are limited to certain trains; I've never seen them for the 10:05, but they are sold for the 9:39 from London Waterloo, arriving at Southampton Central at 11:12. (I've taken the 11:39 to Southampton a number of times, paying as little as £6 for the ticket on the Megabus website.)

[Traveller94]

Thanks so much for the help. I'll try Firefox a try and report back!

[Traveller94]

Well, I downloaded Firefox and enabled pop ups, and it still didn't work. The only thing I can think of is that the website won't work on Macs regardless of the browsers.

[Traveller94]

Well, I just had my sister try on a Kindle Fire, and it didn't work there either. Not sure what else could be the problem.

[Bob++]

You really want to book with megabus to get the very cheap tickets. This is not possible until nearer the date, so you should leave it unto Early June and try again. That might also be the problem with National Rail.

[debsjc]

If you can't use the National Rail website, try booking via either https://www.thetrainline.com/ or http://www.redspottedhanky.com

The prices should be the same, but they may add a £1 booking fee (just check before you pay!)

Edited April 10, 2017 by debsjc

[Globaliser]

I'm trying to book our train tickets from Waterloo to Southampton in order to take advantage of the advanced fares. National Rail redirects me to South West trains. Every time I click the button to proceed to payment I get an error message.

I just tried a dummy booking via National Rail for your specific journey and date to see if the same problem would arise. Pressing relevant the "Buy Now" button on the National Rail page took me directly to the South West website, and from there was able to proceed to the payment page without any difficulty. (There's no need to create an account on the National Rail website, nor on the South West website.)

Three things worth noting:-

1. The National Rail website does not sell tickets. AIUI, it's basically an association formed by the train operating companies to give you a one-stop shop for information. That's why it directs you to one of the train operating companies to book - usually the most logical one to start, hence the South West Trains website for this journey.
   
2. However, there is usually no need to book with the company operating the actual train, as most fares can actually be booked through most of the other train operating companies. So if the South West Trains website doesn't work for some reason, it may be worth trying another TOC, like Virgin Trains (which comes to mind only because it's the one I book on most often because of the route that I'm usually booking for).
   
3. As an occasional train ticket booker, I personally can't see much value in the Trainline's or Red Spotted Hanky's additional fees.
   

[debsjc]

1. As an occasional train ticket booker, I personally can't see much value in the Trainline's or Red Spotted Hanky's additional fees.
   

 

I just mentioned them because the OP was having difficulty booking on the website they were trying.

They usually only charge an extra 75p -£1 .... so not a large amount.

 

 

I use Red Spotted Hankey because when they started they gave away a lot of free codes, and now Tesco Clubcard points can be redeemed for RSH credit!

[Traveller94]

Thank you everyone for your help. I knew about Mega trains, but thought £13 was pretty good, and it would be nice to have the train ticket checked off the list, so to speak. It's also my understanding that on the way back to London we won't be able to get a mega train ticket for Saturday morning. I did try choosing Virgin trains as the seller from National Rail, and it said there were no options available, but I'll try another one or go directly to the virgin site. I really apperiate all the help.

[Traveller94]

I just went directly to the Virgin Trains site and was able to book a return! Thank you so much for the help!

 

I do realize I may have spent a couple extra pounds on the outbound trip, but £13 was a good price, I thought, and it was worth it to have the piece of mind knowing my trains are booked.

 

It looks like I will just need to type the confirmation number into a ticket machine to pick up the tickets? Maybe also insert the card I used? Anything else I need to know about this? I'm assuming it's ok to pick up the tickets right before getting on the train? There is no cut off time?

 

Again, I really apperiate all the help I have been given! I probably would have been paying a fortune for walk up fares without it!

[Ergates The Ant]

Check carefully on the information e mailed to you with your confirmation number for your booking. Usually you will need to type in the booking number and also insert the credit card used for the booking.

 

Just in case your credit card does not have a chip, which I understand applies to many cards issued in the US, I would allow extra time at the station in case you need to go to a ticket office to get your ticket issued, if the machine cannot read your card.

 

Good idea anyway to be at the station 20 to 30 minutes before your train leaves. As soon as the platform is announced, you can make your way onto the train and get the best choice of seats and first access to the luggage storage. ( don't forget to check behind the seats, there are often spaces there that will take a suitcase)

(You can often guess which platform will be used, by looking at the arrivals board, it's often the same train that came from your destination!)

[Post Captain]

I just went directly to the Virgin Trains site and was able to book a return! Thank you so much for the help!

 

I do realize I may have spent a couple extra pounds on the outbound trip, but £13 was a good price, I thought, and it was worth it to have the piece of mind knowing my trains are booked.

 

It looks like I will just need to type the confirmation number into a ticket machine to pick up the tickets? Maybe also insert the card I used? Anything else I need to know about this? I'm assuming it's ok to pick up the tickets right before getting on the train? There is no cut off time?

 

Again, I really apperiate all the help I have been given! I probably would have been paying a fortune for walk up fares without it!

 

Glad that worked out for you. There must have been some mysterious incompatibility between your computer and the South West Trains website, but all's well that ends well.

Yes, the process for collecting your tickets from the machine is just as you assumed. In fact, you can use the machines at any railway station, at any time, not limited to the station you're leaving from on the day you're leaving. If you do intend to get the tickets from a machine at Waterloo Station on the morning of your trip, give yourself a little extra time, as Waterloo is a very large station and is often crowded.

This following short animated video shows the process. (This happens to be a "Trainline" video, but the process is exactly the same for all tickets regardless of the original vendor.)

 

[Post Captain]

Just to clarify a bit further:

 

Stacy~ The customer's credit card is charged at the time that the booking is made online. Inserting the credit card into the ticket machine & entering the booking confirmation number on the machine's keypad simply confirms to the electronic ticket system that you are the person who purchased the tickets, and "instructs" the machine to print and dispense the requisite tickets.

 

Ergates ~ All credit cards issued in the U.S. since October 2015 have chips, so they've just about replaced all the old magnetic-strip-only cards by now. The vast majority of American credit cards are chip-and-sign rather than chip-and-PIN, but a PIN isn't necessary when purchasing or collecting the tickets from a ticket machine in the UK with a chip-and-sign card.

 

My US-issued chip-and-sign Capital One card has worked flawlessly in all the railway and Underground ticket machines I've used.

[Traveller94]

Thanks for all the information and the video. We are staying two nights before across from Kings Cross, so I will try and pick up the tickets there to make sure there is plenty of time in case of any issues.

 

It looks like it's about a 10-15 minute tube trip from Kings Cross to Waterloo, so we'll plan to be at the Kings Cross underground station about 9:20. I think this should work out with the timelines suggested.

 

Thanks again for all the help!

[insanemagnet]

 

It looks like it's about a 10-15 minute tube trip from Kings Cross to Waterloo, so we'll plan to be at the Kings Cross underground station about 9:20. I think this should work out with the timelines suggested.

 

If you are using the tube I would allow a bit more time, 25 - 30 minutes.

 

However if you have luggage i wouldn't bother with the tube but would use an Uber.

[Traveller94]

If you are using the tube I would allow a bit more time, 25 - 30 minutes.

 

However if you have luggage i wouldn't bother with the tube but would use an Uber.

 

Thanks! We'll allow a half hour then. We're going to try to just bring carry ons, so the luggage should be manageable. However, if we end up over packing, I'll keep Uber in mind!