Advanced train ticket purchase while in the United States

Posted by georgeyliu on 07/13/26 05:03 PM

I will be a tourist in London at the end of August and have made plans to attend a theatrical performance at the Royal Theatre Bath on a Saturday afternoon. This will involve a one day round trip (ie return) by train between the two cities. I would like to take advantage of an advanced ticket purchase on Great Western Rail but I don't know how to do this while I am still in the United States. I have the on-line order form to complete but don't know what happens after I have submitted the order form to the rail company. Do I get a paper ticket which I can print and use on the day of the trip? Or do I get a digital version of the ticket which will be impossible for me to use because of differences in cell phone technology (ie, I use a CDMA phone and won't have a GMS unit until I land in London)? Or do I bring the ticket purchase receipt to a train ticket desk at Paddington Station prior to the trip and have it converted to an actual ticket?

Will I lose any price advantage under these circumstances?

Posted by ramblin' on 😎

Angleterre

07/13/26 05:28 PM

2865 posts

Choose the collect at station option - you'll get a code to collect a ticket from a self-service machine at any train station.

No price difference.

Posted by me.crewe

07/13/26 05:29 PM

420 posts

In the final stage of purchase (if direct from GWR) you get the options for ticket delivery, you can select to collect them at the staion in which case you get an email with something like an airline booking code. You go to a GWR ticket machine at Paddington, there will be an obvious place to press for collection, it asks you for the code and probably for your payment card as proof of iD, then it prints real tickets - all the tickets on that booking, so for a round trip you don't have to do it twice. If you buy from a 3rd party reseller like Trainline you should also be offered collection at station but they may charge a fee for this service - which they don't actually provide because GWR will be doing it!!! The collection process takes about 60 seconds so you donlt have to be there way in advance of departure

Posted by Barbara G.

Pennsylvania

07/13/26 05:30 PM

453 posts

We purchased tickets ahead of time from the U.S. we followed the link from national rail.uk which took us to the train provider, GWR (your trip may vary). We were issued digital tickets which we could display on our phone, or print ahead of time. We took printed copies as backups, but generally used our iPhones (add the ticket to your Wallet). Not sure about CDMA vs GMs, as I don’t know what that means.

Posted by briwire

Warrington, England

07/13/26 05:35 PM

241 posts

If your day is set in stone, it's a good idea to buy advance tickets, they will be less expensive than walk up fares. You just need to be aware that Advance tickets are for a specifically timed departure, you will be unable to use it on an earlier or later departure, only the time on the ticket. Unless of course your train is cancelled or delayed.
All train operators sell each others tickets as well as their own. So you could book tickets with a company in say, northern England for tickets in the South East. I do however think it's advisable to use the App or website of the company that operates the train you will be using. Makes things easier in the event of delays or cancellations. In your case, if you are having problems with GWR, you could use another company.
Once you pay for your tickets, you are normally asked the type you want, paper or digital. The latter is very popular these days as they are stored on your phone. If that is not possible, select paper, and once you arrive in the UK, go to almost any station and follow the prompts on the ticket vending machine to collect tickets. You'll need the card with which the payment was made and a reference number that you will have been given for the purchase. The tickets will be dispensed from the machine. Wait until everything has dropped, you seem to get a lot of paperwork for two tickets.