Seatfrog: Book Train Tickets

First of all I think you need to understand what this app is for. This is a way for Virgin and LNER to offload spare capacity in 1st class to people who wouldn’t have bought those seats otherwise. This is perfect for those who travel occasionally for work but are obliged to buy a standard class ticket because of their company’s travel expenses policies. There is NO guarantee you will be able to upgrade (I’ve managed it about 50% of the time) and it doesn’t work at the weekend. So if you are paying for your own ticket and can’t bare to travel standard class then buy a 1st advance ticket. This app isn’t for you... If however you are travelling anyway (probably for work) and are happy to pay a little bit extra (of your own money) for more comfort and a cup of tea etc.. then this is brilliant! If you don’t get an upgrade, well no one has lost anything. The app itself works well, it sometimes struggles to find your booking through the booking reference number but you can now just put the departure time of the train in and add the ticket manually, which takes a second. Just make sure you put the right train in. The staff on the trains are very familiar with Seatfrog and there is never a problem in that regard. So, to sum up, a great little app and a great service. Glad I found it!

I took the opportunity to upgrade, what I thought was the two seats I had purchased. I put bids in for two but only one seat number came through. No- one was able to help at kings cross. I had to go to the train manager and explain what had happened. He was very understanding and said that we could both go to first class and he would sort when he came round for our tickets. It added stress to the journey and the train manager admitted that there had been previous booking problems. First class and service was excellent though. Thank goodness we had a train manager that listened to what I said and resolved the issue.

I travel on cross country about 4 times a week so thought this would be good to check but found it is limited and does not include cross country. I sometime go 1st class and see lots of seats so could be worth it for cross country as well as seat frog to give it a go. We wait and hope Dave Update!! Finally Cross Country on seat frog so gave it a go. Have to say was pleased with it and went without any problems. 3 points would help make it better. 1 you only get notified 1hour before train time so a struggle to print out before you leave, though it does go on phone. 2 As advised above does go on phone, problem is you have to have original ticket and also upgrade ticket to show so can be a bit fiddly, would be better if original was replaced with upgraded. 3 you do not get chance to choose seat so can end up sitting next to someone even when empty seats around, I just chose another seat. Apart from the minor points well worth considering especially if it is busy train

response required

Sounds like a great concept but the app / website lets it down completely. I registered via the app and when I went to the help pages it asked we to re-log in. I tried and failed thinking I must have had a typo in my password. I tried resetting my password on my laptop only to find that this function didn’t work. I re-registered under a different email address thinking it must have been an original typo but alas the same problems occurred. Reading some of these reviews it’s not clear whether someone on a two together / travelling together can upgrade. It seems like this is an important question to be added to the FAQ. Also, the FAQ doesn’t mention what happens if you are on an offpeak ticket with flexibility as to what train you get on and you end up getting on a different train. Great idea, poor execution

Seatfrog is a great idea. Really like the opportunity to upgrade at a good price. First time I used the app I was on the bus to the station to get the train; I submitted a bid and got an immediate yes to getting the upgrade. The second time I used Seatfrog I submitted a bid and just got a response to say bid accepted. I could see a clock counting down but what did that mean? The time until the train leaves? The time I had to wait before I knew if my bid had won? I am not an experienced bidder of any sorts but a bit more feedback telling me what happens (or doesn’t happen) next or to make a higher bid to get a decision immediately would be very helpful. In summary, the chance to upgrade cheaply is very good. For me, the app is not.