Difference Between thetrainline.com and firstcapitalconnect.co.uk?
 

So I'm looking on the Days Out UK website and noticed that they have a GroupSave link to buy tickets now.

I'm trying to price out my tickets from Paddington to Windsor. The Days Out UK website's link takes me to thetraineline.com. I don't see GroupSave ticket options on there.

I google GroupSave and found a website called firstcapitalconnect.co.uk.

Which one is the "legit" train ticket website, from which I may purchase GroupSave tickets?

Thanks!

First Capital Connect is a train company.

The trainline is a booking site - not a railroad. A better option for that is http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

But IME there is no need/advantage to pre-book tickets to Windsor.

As janis says, you can book tickets from the company operating the route in question or through an agency/booking site. National.rail.co.uk is a portal set up by the operating companies, which will link you through to the company operating whatever route you're interested in. Trainline.com was one of the first booking sites - I think before nationalrail.co.uk got its act together, and I think it's primarily run by Virgin Trains (but I may be wrong).

In this particular case, I don't know how FCC come into it, since they don't operate the routes to and from Paddington - they do the Thameslink route north-south through London between Bedford and Brighton.

In any case, as janis says, a near-suburban route like Paddington-Windsor isn't likely to offer much if any financial advantage for prior booking: but you can play with the options on nationalrail.co.uk to check that out.

Perhaps first capital connect offers a Group Save as well...? I think most rail companies do out of London in off peak times.

I agree with the above, just buy the tickets before you get on the train.

There IS an advantage in prebuying Group Save tickets.

London terminal stations (like Paddington) have relatively few human ticket sellers, and more ticket machines than they normally need. Buying Group Save from a machine isn't terribly straightforward, and in bad light, or if you're in a hurry, requires the kind of fiddling with a touchscreen most of us find tricky enough at our own desktops, and downright intimidating at a public machine with people behind us. Queues at Paddington's manned booths typically take up to 15 mins (or longer if you're in a hurry), and they're even worse at Waterloo (whence a direct train to Windsor)

There's no financial advantage in prebuying, and the tickets aren't time-specific: you can use them on any offpeak journey (though FGW have some idiosyncratic definitions of "peak" during the late afternoon) during their eligibility period. But prebooking online, then collecting the tickets from practically any National Rail machine in Britain, is the least hassle way of getting this discount.

Both are legit. Both link to exactly the same National Rail database of fares and train times.

But thetrainline.com charges fees on top of the ticket cost, train company websites don't charge fees.

So a £20 fare is £20 booked via a train company site, £20+£3 on trainline.

www.nationalrail.co.uk is the National rail enquiry website, which farms visitors out to the various retailers if they want to buy one of the tickets. Always start with nationalrail.co.uk

Thanks everyone. It all makes sense now.

If I pre-purchase tickets online (or even if I buy them at the station), am I allowed to get on any train during off peak times? Or am I stuck with specific train times?

Thanks.

If you buy an Off-peak ticket, you can use any off-peak train.
If you buy an Anytime ticket, you can use any train, any time.
If you buy an Advance ticket, it's train-specific.