Problem with Trainsplit - offering me journey then saying one ticket not available

[trainophile]

Been looking since about 09:00 this morning, for Southport to Glasgow Central departing earlyish on 29th Sept. It keeps offering me the 0931 departure from SOP, travelling on Avanti from Wigan North Western, which would be ideal. However when I try to continue the purchase it repeatedly comes up with:

We're sorry but the fare between Preston (Lancs) and Glasgow Central is no longer available. Please search again and we'll update the prices.

As I say, I've been trying over several hours, so presumably if the last ticket is in someone's basket they would have bought it or it would have expired by now. The problem is it won't allow me to select that journey even with a dearer ticket for that leg. Flexible produces no services, and it doesn't even work on First Class, getting same error message.

Is there a problem with that particular train, and if so should Trainsplit be including it in the selected services?

I can buy Preston to GLC on the Avanti website but not as part of my overall journey.

 

[yorkie]

I's an issue with the Advance fare from PRE-GLC, which appears to have gone up in price.

Try again later; the price will go up by about £6

 

[trainophile]

Thanks. Is it an issue generally or just on Trainsplit?

 

[Wallsendmag]

Is someone scraping fares?

 

[trainophile]

Is someone scraping fares?

Don't know who that question was for but I don't know what you mean .

 

[Wallsendmag]

Don't know who that question was for but I don't know what you mean .

Some websites work by scraping fares from the TOCs sites to save on their booking engine costs

 

[trainophile]

Oh, that's news to me!

 

[js517]

Is someone scraping fares?

That isn't how trainsplit works.

 

[Wallsendmag]

That isn't how trainsplit works.

Glad to hear it.

 

[yorkie]

You should be able to book it now.

The PRE-GLC ticket has gone up from £12.90 to £18.50

 

[trainophile]

You should be able to book it now.

The PRE-GLC ticket has gone up from £12.90 to £18.50

Thanks. Complete change of plan now though, and ticket not needed.

 

[SickyNicky]

Glad to hear it.

We actually had someone else doing that to us last year. Had to put a captcha in place to stop them.

 

[lightbulb]

I was wondering why captcha suddenly appeared on trainsplit! My various browsers don't allow captcha, so I no longer use any website that requires it. A great shame, as trainsplit has saved me money in the past.

 

[yorkie]

I was wondering why captcha suddenly appeared on trainsplit! My various browsers don't allow captcha, so I no longer use any website that requires it. A great shame, as trainsplit has saved me money in the past.

If you login you don't see it.

 

[lightbulb]

I've never been given the option to login. When I click on "login" I get the following:

Please login to use this site.

This will allow you to save your details, view past purchases and quickly search your common journeys.


We may use your details to inform you if anything changes (such as cancellations), or to contact you for administrative matters (for example, to send you your itinerary).
We won't contact you for any other reasons unless you make a booking with the "special offers" option ticked. We'll never sell or give your details to any third party.

 

[yorkie]

Do you not get an option to login using Google, Facebook or email?

Which web browser(s) have you tried (e.g. Chrome, FireFox etc)?

 

[lightbulb]

I don't see the three login options displayed above. If I did, I would use the "Sign in with email", as I'm not on Facebook or Google. I have four browsers: IE11, Firefox 52.9ESR, Edge 79, and Chromium (ungoogled).

 

[yorkie]

How odd. This is the case with all those browsers? Are you able to provide a screenshot?

 

[erk]

I've never been given the option to login. When I click on "login" I get the following: ...

I once got into a similar black hole (from which there's no escape) with Trainsplit. I think the answer is to clear their cookies.

 

[lightbulb]

How odd. This is the case with all those browsers? Are you able to provide a screenshot?

I've tested all four browsers, and find that IE and Firefox give me the details posted above, but Edge and Chromium give me the login. I've now created an account using my email address, so many thanks for all your help!