? buying train tickets on line

[triplets]

Hi my son is a junior soldier at Harrogate and has been given a long w/end leave this Thurs. He will travel from Harrogate to Deal in Kent a 5 hour journey. He has a forces rail card. Looking at sites like mytrainticket.com or trainline.com the ret price for 3 nights is between £86 and £130. The lowest price says you are restricted to travel on that service only. The Army are notorious for changing things at the last minute. I f he books it on the day the price is £130, its a lot of difference. Advice appreciated pls.

Book online at the price advertised. The ticket is then bought and any dealings are between the buyer and the train company, whatever the army says or does the ticket will be valid at the price paid.

Thank you. What I am worried about is if he books it and it says valid for the 18.05pm service only, the army don't let him out until late and he misses it will they let him travel on the next train? He is only just 17 and has never travelled a long distance on his own before.

Hmm.. i think that they can be quite strict on being for that train service only. So, if he misses it - would have to buy another ticket.

BUT perhaps call the train company and find out for sure. It can be easy to misread the wording online sometimes.

If you book through some sellers like the Trainline, you will pay a booking fee on top of the ticket cost. Book via National Rail to avoid the extra cost. If you have a ticket for a specific service, it will not be valid for any other train unless your train has been cancelled.

ok thank you both for your replies. It will be safer then for him to buy his ticket when he gets to the station as you never know with the Army when they are going to change their minds. The down side is the ticket will cost him over £40 more :(