Help & Support

On trains in the UK, children under 5 travel for free. Child tickets are 50% for ages 5-15. Please note, however, that when your children travel for free, they are not guaranteed a seat and are expected to sit on your lap. So, for longer journeys, it may be worth buying a child ticket with a seat reservation.

If you are travelling in Wales, the rules are slightly different. When you buy an Adult ticket, it allows you to travel with up to 2 children under 11 for free or up to 2 young persons under 16 for free on some off-peak TfW services. This means you don’t need to purchase additional child tickets. However, please note this is only available on TfW services and is limited to specific services. Therefore, please check the TfW website before travelling.

Yes, most train tickets allow you to book for someone else. Just remember that if you are booking for someone else, they must have the tickets for travel. If you select ‘Collect at Station’ as your ticket delivery method, make sure the traveller can pick their tickets up from the station with the correct Customer Collection Reference (they may also need your card), or if you chose eTicket delivery, make sure you forward on the correct eTickets.

That is a very good question, and something a lot of people struggle with when travelling. Unfortunately, there is no hard and fast rule. The reason we provide journey times and the restriction code in the Order Summary is to help you understand more about when you can travel. The trains that you can catch and the times that you can travel with an Off-Peak ticket vary depending on the journey being made, the day/date of travel and the train company that you are travelling with.

National Rail say that ‘a general rule of thumb is that Off-Peak will begin at 09:30 Mondays to Fridays in cities and large towns, and 09:00 across the rest of the network. Weekends and Bank Holidays are Off-Peak all day’

Some routes offer what is called GroupSave when between 3 and 9 passengers are travelling. Don’t worry about selecting GroupSave as a Railcard, our system does it automatically for you. If a GroupSave discount has been applied to your tickets, this will show as a G within the fare and in your Order Summary. Sometimes, if you have added railcards but we can find you a deal with GroupSave instead, we will display that. Please remember to travel together.

Yes, although not all trains in the UK have seat reservations available.

Post-Covid, a lot more train companies are requiring seat reservations but remember there is usually an unreserved carriage if you need to travel on a different train (covered by your ticket) than the train your original reservation is for. In the future, we hope to have the ability to allow you to change your seat reservations yourself…watch this space!

Advance tickets are typically the best value fares for longer journeys. Selected Advance tickets may be available on the day of travel, but we recommend you get them up to 12 weeks before your journey as the further ahead you buy, the lower the fare. Advance fares are quota controlled (similar to airline fares) and can run out — hence why we suggest you book in advance. These fares are non-refundable but can be changed at a price.

It all has to do with time and when you can travel. In general, super off-peak tickets tend to be available between around 10:00 to 15:30 and from 19:15 onwards Monday to Friday. You can also travel Super Off-Peak during weekends and bank holidays. Remember, times differ between train companies.

An Open Return ticket allows you to be flexible about which trains you decide to travel back on. These tickets can be Day Open Returns which allow you to be flexible with your travel that same day or Period Open Returns which allow you to travel back within a calendar month.

On Quno, there are two ways to buy your open returns. You can select an outward date and a return date, which allows you to pick two different journeys and make reservations (if available on these trains). Or you can select an outward date and then select the ‘Open Return’ tick box. Quno will then find you available open return fares and allow you to pick your outward journey only.

The benefit of selecting both your outward and return journeys is the ability to book seat reservations. If you aren’t bothered by seat reservations and don’t know when you are going to return, pick the ‘Open Return’ route.

Both ways to buy will give you access to different types of Open Return fares. For example, ‘Anytime Return’, ‘Anytime Day Return’, ‘Off-Peak Return’, etc.

Not all routes have open returns available, which are return tickets where you can return on a different date. Therefore if you are returning on a different date, two singles might be the only option available to you. Also, sometimes it’s cheaper to combine two single tickets than to buy a return. For example, if you are travelling out during peak hours (usually early morning) you can buy an Anytime Single. If you know what time you are returning in the evening, and it’s outside peak hours, you could purchase an Off-Peak Single or Advance fare and even use a railcard if you have one. This can work out cheaper than getting a return if you are flexible.

Some ticket types look like the same ticket but are priced differently. This is usually to do with the route that the ticket is valid on. For example, you may have two Anytime Day Single tickets where one is ‘Any Permitted’ route (allowing for more flexibility) and the other may be restricted by route, for example ‘Via High Wycombe only’, and therefore cheaper because it’s restricted to fewer trains.

Railcards

Season tickets

Carnets

Cycle reservations

Sleeper cabins (we sell seated sleepers)

Tickets in exchange for warrants

Tickets including admission

Privilege tickets for railway staff

Rail station car parking

Cycle storage at stations

PlusBus

Visit www.railcard.co.uk to purchase your UK Railcard. Railcards are a great way to save up to 33% on train tickets. In fact, 16-17 Saver and Jobcentre Plus give 50% off if you are eligible.

Yes, you can use up to three different types of railcards. Depending on the group size, Quno will find you the best discount available.

Railcard discounts aren’t available on all ticket types and may not be valid at the time you have searched for. Also, if you have added multiple railcard types, Quno will use the combination of Railcards that finds the best discount which might mean discarding a Railcard.

If you cannot get a seat reservation at the time of booking, it will be for one of the following reasons: The train service you are travelling on does not have reservable seats (usually on shorter routes). You can reserve seats on almost all long-distance trains and many shorter-distance ones too. The train operator has not made seat reservations available for this service on this date. Even though they are usually available, this might be because of engineering works or altered timetables. Seats that are reservable have all been booked already.

Seat preferences cannot be guaranteed but we do our best to ask for your given preferences.

If the train is busy, the reservation system will allocate seat reservations as near as possible to each other within a group. Sometimes this isn’t possible.

No, your reservation will be for a specific train. But remember, if you have an Off-Peak or Anytime flexible ticket, you don’t have to travel on that specific train. You can travel on any train valid on the route of your ticket.

Yes, on most long-distance train companies there is an unreserved coach available to customers. Just ask when you get to the station, and a station staff member should be able to point you in the right direction.

Not all train operators provide seat reservations. Therefore, if your ticket says ‘No specific seat reserved’ then you can sit anywhere in the class of accommodation your ticket is for. You might also see Coach ** Seat ** or ‘Counted place’.

No, all seat reservations come as part of the ticket cost, except for Sleeper tickets which are slightly different.

All payments are processed in GBP (£) and can be made with the following:

Credit and Debit cards (Mastercard, American Express, Visa, Maestro)

PayPal

Coming soon - Apple Pay and Google Pay

No, there isn’t any VAT on train tickets in the UK.

Yes, you can buy for someone else. Remember, if you ‘Collect at Station’ the same payment card is required to collect your tickets.

No, we don’t charge any booking or card fees on Quno.

This feature is coming soon. We hope to launch a ‘My Account’ feature where you can store your card details and self-serve after-sales is available.

If your payment did not complete successfully, please check all the card details that you entered are correct (card number, expiry date, cvv, address, postcode) and retry. If the payment is still unsuccessful, please contact your bank to enquire why payment was declined. Alternatively, you could try to make the purchase with different card.

If your ticket purchase was unsuccessful, you may still see a pending charge on your credit card account. Whilst the charge is in pending status, you have not actually been charged, and in most cases pending transactions will be automatically removed after 7 days.

Some stations do not have a ticket vending machine to collect your tickets. But not to worry, you can collect your tickets from over 1000 train stations that have a self-serve ticket vending machine. When booking your ticket, Quno will tell you if your origin station has a machine for collection.

If you selected ‘Collect from Station’ as your ticket delivery option, we will provide you with an 8-digit, alpha-numeric Customer Collection Reference. We will provide this on your confirmation page, and in your confirmation email, once you have paid for your transaction. Please be sure to enter your email address correctly. To pick up your tickets, you will need a physical payment card. The ticket vending machines do not allow you to pick up with a card stored in your phone wallet. Please enter your payment card into the machine and follow the instructions, entering your reference and picking up your tickets. Check your tickets once they have printed, to make sure you have all the coupons. If you have problems with the machine, please talk to a member of station staff.

We are sorry to hear you have not received your eTickets. Your eTickets will be attached, in PDF format, to your confirmation email. Please allow time for your confirmation email to come through and remember to check your junk folder just in case. If you have not received your email or think you may have incorrectly entered your email address, please contact us with your name on the booking and your booking reference. Once we have located your booking, we can resend your eTickets.

Unfortunately, not all journeys allow for eTickets. We know the ideal way to travel is to get your ticket straight to your mobile, so where possible we will offer eTickets. If not, Collect at Station will be available for you

One of the main reasons that eTickets aren’t on all journeys is because they are not accepted on the London Underground (Tube, London Overground or DLR). So, any journey crossing London cannot be delivered as an eTicket.

Your customer collection reference, if you selected Collect at Station is available within your confirmation email, as well as on the confirmation page. We recommend you make a note of the 8 alpha-numeric digit code, in case you lose your confirmation email, or enter your email address incorrectly when purchasing.

Remember if you pay with PayPal, you need a physical payment card to pick up your tickets from the ticket vending machine.

If you have lost your eTickets, please contact us with your name and booking reference (if you have it) and we will happily resend your eTickets.

Unfortunately, Quno do not have any control over the ticket vending machines. Please speak to a member of station staff at the ticket office if you are having issues who can help you print your ticket. They can only help you print your ticket if you have your customer collection reference. If the station is unstaffed, please call our customer support team on +44 (0) 3330 34 11 08

Yes, depending on what ticket type you have, you can apply for a refund. Your refunded money will go back on the same payment card your original booking was made on.

You are entitled to a full fee refund if your train is cancelled. Please indicate the reason for the refund as ‘Service cancelled/disrupted’ when filling in your refund form.

Most train companies now offer delay repay compensation if your train was more than 15 minutes or 30 minutes delayed. Delay repay compensation is different to a refund, and is offered by the train companies themselves, rather than the retailer. Therefore please go to the train company who ran your service for compensation.

We hope to add the ability to do self-serve refunds in the future.

Most ticket types are refundable except for Advance tickets, which are non-refundable. Advance tickets are changeable for a fee, as well as any difference in fare between the ticket you have, and the ticket you need.

Anytime, Off-Peak, and Super Off-Peak tickets are refundable.

Please fill in our refund form if you require a refund on your tickets.

Unfortunately, you will need to go to the train company that operated your journey. We cannot offer Delay Repay through Quno. Delay repay is compensation for delays and inconvenience. Depending on the train company this is offered for anything past 15 minute or 30-minute delays. If you are wanting a refund because you were unable to travel, please fill in our refund form.

If you need to change the date or time of travel and have an Advance ticket, you can change it for another ticket but pay the difference in ticket price, plus a £10 change fee per ticket changed. Please follow the guidance on our refunds form.

In the future we hope to have self-serve refunds and changes within the customer Account.

Advance tickets are non-refundable, and we make this clear on the journey and fares results page, so you can make an informed decision as to which ticket type is best for your needs.

To cover administration costs, there is a £10 refund fee per booking. If you wish to change your non-refundable Advance tickets, there is an industry change fee of £10 per ticket.

Therefore, if you are changing multiple Advance tickets, there will be multiple £10 change fees applied.

Thanks for your patience and we are sorry you haven’t heard back from us yet. We will process your claim within 28 working days and it may take a further 5 days for any credit to appear on your statement. Please email help@quno.com or call us on +44 (0) 3330 34 11 08 to enquire about your refund. Please don’t raise a chargeback if you haven’t heard from us, as this will just delay the process of making sure we get your money back to you. Rather than raising a chargeback, make sure you go through the proper refund channels.

You don’t need your confirmation email to travel, but you will need your Collection reference to pick up your tickets at the station (if you selected ‘Collect at Station’). If you selected eTicket delivery, then your eTickets will be attached to your confirmation email. If you cannot find your confirmation email, and therefore don’t have access to your tickets, please contact us

If you see the symbol for an overtaken train on Quno, this means there is a train that departs after the train before but gets to your destination quicker. This tends to happen on routes that have multiple train operating companies. We are just flagging the fact it’s overtaken so you are armed with all the information you need to book the best journey/ticket combination for your needs.

Yes, you can take luggage on trains. You can take up to three items of personal luggage free of charge. Excess luggage, or bulky luggage, may be carried subject to space, and sometimes at an extra charge. Each train company’s luggage policy differs, so please check with the train company before travelling. We’d hate for you to turn up and not be able to travel.

Passengers may take, free of charge (and subject to National Rail conditions) dogs, cats and other small animals provided they do not inconvenience other passengers or staff, and that they do not endanger anyone. Animals may not occupy seats, otherwise a charge will be made. It’s best to check with the individual train companies you are travelling with to avoid disappointment on the day of travel.

Livestock are not permitted on National Rail. Train staff are authorised to remove any animal they deem to be causing an inconvenience. We all remember the passenger that tried to take his pony on a train a couple of years back!

If you have a first class ticket but had to sit in standard class because the train was full, you can claim compensation. Please contact the train operating company you travelled with. Usually, you will be refunded the difference between the Standard and First Class ticket for your journey.