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Advance Train Tickets for England - Buying By Phone from U.S.?

Advance Train Tickets for England - Buying By Phone from U.S.?

Old Sep 17th, 2014, 04:15 AM
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Advance Train Tickets for England - Buying By Phone from U.S.?

Has anyone in the U.S. purchased train tickets for England by phone in advance? The English train system seems so byzantine after the relative simplicity of buying advance train tickets online for Italy (who knew??) Earlier forum participants have experienced problems and complexities buying on the English websites and/or actually picking up the tickets from machines in the station. Allegedly one can telephone a central number from the U.S., 011-44-20-7278-5240, and order the tickets and have them mailed from England to the U.S. (this information found in a widely used guide book whose author shall remain nameless but the initials are RS...) Before descending into Dante's fifth circle of hell and navigating telephone menus, I thought I would see if any wise Fodorites have used the telephone method of ticket-buying. Many thanks!
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 04:27 AM
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no, start with http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ and follow the links to the charging cos. It is easy, far easieer than say buying a plane ticket in the US
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 04:29 AM
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I've used the National Rail site several times and have never ever had any problems picking up tickets. I would not waste time and costs on the phone.

You ASKED. We TOLD you.

What is "by
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 04:30 AM
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There is nothing byzantine about it. You're listening to too many of the overwrought types.
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 04:37 AM
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All good news. So I can disregard some of the earlier posts about the evil station machines refusing to disgorge the tickets when one inserts one's credit card.
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 04:42 AM
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I pick up tickets weekly, never a problem. Do you have modern credit card though or are you stuck in some backwater of technology? ;-) That issue is nothing to do with the rail system.
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 05:06 AM
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Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Bilbo.
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 05:24 AM
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>>So I can disregard some of the earlier posts about the evil station machines refusing to disgorge the tickets when one inserts one's credit card.
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 05:42 AM
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picking up tickets using the automated machines is real easy. just have the card you booked with and your reference code. put card inn machine and then enter your code, tickets will be printed. As Janisj says If you have difficulty just go to a ticket booth and show your reference code and they will print the tickets off for you.
I use this system often including a few days ago and never had a problem.
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 06:10 AM
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You might have to allow a bit of time for collecting from a staffed window at the major terminals, though. They can get a bit crowded sometimes.
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 08:30 AM
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I have bought plenty of tickets online from the national rail site and have never had a problem. The larger stations will have plenty of machines and, if in a smaller station, there are seldom any lines for the staffed ticket counters.
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Old Sep 18th, 2014, 04:43 AM
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Very helpful comments, thanks so much.
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