CrossCountry is the largest rail network in Great Britain, linking major towns and cities like Cardiff, York, Edinburgh, Reading, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Bristol and Manchester. As a train company we don’t operate any stations so often our only contact with our customers before they get on board is through our website, mobile site and app. It’s therefore really important to us that our customers are able to engage with us online and to help we are supporting Digital Unite to help as many people as possible become more familiar with computers, the internet and smartphone technology.
Buying anything online or on your mobile can be a daunting experience – “which site do I use?”, “am I getting the best deal?”, “is this website going to show something different to the app?”… And buying train tickets can seem even more complicated with a variety of different fares, ticket restrictions and different companies involved. Here are some myth busters about buying train tickets online.
- All train websites sell the same tickets! We all use the same database of fares so everyone displays the same prices. The only exception to this is when train companies offer a special discount like CrossCountry does for National Union of Students Extra card holders if they book through the CrossCountry website. Our advice is to check who you will be travelling with and visit that company’s website to see if there are any special offers.
- Not all train ticket websites charge booking fees. Most train company websites like crosscountrytrains.co.uk do not charge booking or transaction fees so make sure the company you’re buying your tickets with isn’t charging you more than your train tickets.
- Train tickets are not cheaper the longer you leave it to book. Train companies release their cheap Advance fares 12 weeks before travel. The earlier you can book, the less expensive it will be.
- If you didn’t automatically get a seat reservation with the type of ticket you bought then you can still make a seat reservation on your CrossCountry train up to 10 minutes before your train departs your station. Full details of how you can take advantage of this can be found on our website.
- If you have to wait until the day you’re travelling to buy your CrossCountry train ticket then it is still cheaper to do this online than compared to buying at the station. With CrossCountry you can buy cheaper Advance train tickets on the CrossCountry website, mobile site and App up to 15 minutes before your CrossCountry train departs. This will always be cheaper than the off-peak or Anytime fare that can be sold at the station. Plus, where possible, you’ll also get a reserved seat too!
At CrossCountry, we think planning and buying tickets should be quick, easy and convenient. So we’ve developed a range of simple tools to help you do just that. For example, our seat selector tool shows all the seats in the train so you can choose where you sit – a window seat or next to a luggage rack is for example. If you need to sit with friends and family around a table then you can pick seat reservations around the table and be reassured that you’ll all be sat together. See how else we can make your train travel simple by visiting our website - crosscountrytrains.co.uk. Everything we do as a business is designed with the customer in mind and hopefully makes your journey from researching, booking, buying to travelling a little bit easier and more enjoyable.
So what’s next for CrossCountry? We’ll keep doing what we do best – putting customers at the front of what we do and keeping up with however consumers want to do business with us.