Seatfrog: Book Train Tickets 4+

First class at a fraction of the price

If like me you travel regularly for work this app is brilliant! I’ve upgraded for a fraction of the usual price several times on my way between jobs - generally when work have bought my ticket and I don’t mind upgrading with my own money. Always worth it for the extra space and services (cup of coffee/snacks etc) and means I arrive in a much better mood! My only slight problem now is that as it gets more popular it’s harder to win the upgrades at auction. There’s the option to outright buy one at a set price though which I’ve done a few times - pricier but less anxiety about whether I’m going to get it! I hope more train companies start to use it too so I could use it on more of my journeys. Would be great if it could be used on other forms of transport too - I take a lot of flights!

Great Stuff!

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!

Developer Response ,

Hi John, thanks for the 5 star review, it's great to know that you've had some success in bidding for upgrades. Don't forget we now offer upgrades on GWR routes and services too!

Great in theory substandard support

The concept is great but the support is terrible, they don’t state that Amex isn’t supported but their system doesn’t validate the 15 digit card length, even using a debit Mastercard I authenticate in my banking app but the seatfrog app doesn’t validate the card number and fails, after several rounds of uninstall and reinstall the app it seems that I’ve exhausted the ‘skill’ of their business and after a couple of weeks of nothing I’ve uninstalled the app and given up. With the reviews I’ve ready it’s probably for the best! I would avoid this app

**and the dev response is not helpful either, this step was done, it’s obviously a problem your side which from research loads of people are having**

Developer Response ,

Hi there, we support Amex, Mastercard and Visa payment types. Once your card details are entered we'll connect to your bank and you'll need to go through the card authorisation processes you have set up with them. If you're still having problems with this step it may help to contact your bank.