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Retrieving UK Rail Tickets After Advanced Purchase From U.S.

Posted by (NC, United States) on

I'm looking for feedback from American travelers who have purchased UK rail tickets in advance and picked them up at the station on the day of travel.

I understand this is done using the purchasing credit card at one of the ticket machines.

Does this work reliably? How does it work? Are you given some sort of magic number to key in? Do the machines take a U.S. card or do they expect a chip & pin card? Any risk of a machine eating the alien card? Is a human available if needed?

I've used UK trains a great deal, buying tickets on the day of travel, but this time I'm planning ahead. However, I've seen a good bit of chatter from people who have had problems retrieving those advanced purchase tickets.

Posted by
445 posts

I have purchased UK train tickets in advance and always print out the confirmation and brng it with me. I then go to a ticket counter and show it to them. I have never used a machine. I might be best to do this at a good-sixed station where there is some one at the ticket counter. Obviously you can do this at all London rail stations but I have done it in Reading as well as in Oxford stations.

As I remember, the confirmation has a number on it.
I have a regular USA credit card and have nver had a problem getting my tickets. And I have booked afre in advance to take advantage of the cheaper fares.

Posted by
44 posts

I recently used the ticket machines for a a trip from King's Cross to York. It was very easy. When you print your confirmation at home, there should be a number on there that you will need to have with you. The machines were right inside the door of the station, and there were no lines. You just follow the directions on the screen, credit card goes in a slot, enter the confirmation number, and it prints your tickets. You may get a ticket and a seating assignment-be sure to wait for the machine to print out both!

Posted by
1266 posts

J.C. - We picked up all our tickets for travel at Kings Cross station without a hitch. I don't think it took longer than 10 minutes, and we were retreiving 4 sets of tickets. Just make sure you have your reservation number and the CC you used to purchase the tickets.

Posted by
359 posts

J.C., I almost always pre-book/purchase online for UK rail tickets and pick them up from the train station machines (mostly in London). I've used credit cards without the pin, in April used my new credit card with a pin, and never had a problem. Literally in not much more time than it takes you to insert the card, the tickets/reservations come flying out.

Make sure it's the same card you used to book, and don't forget to get all the ticket/reservation stubs before walking away from the machine. Every station I've used also has a counter within metres if there's a problem and bring your computer confirmation from home in that event.

I've had my card eaten at my local bank's ATM a few times; never overseas at an ATM or train station. Never say never, though.

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