Ticketclever

Ticketclever

Industry	Travel
Founded	2016
Defunct	2018 (2018)
Headquarters	Oxford, England
Number of locations	3 (Oxford, London, Cape Town)
Area served	United Kingdom
Key people	Jeremy Acklam (CEO)
Services	Train tickets
Owner	Global Travel Ventures
Website	www.ticketclever.com

Ticketclever (styled as ticketclever) was an online retailer of train tickets for services in the United Kingdom, which traded from 2017 to 2019. Ticketclever was known for creating an algorithm that was used to assess numerous split ticketing combinations and package them together for a given journey. ^[1]

Ticketclever was based in Oxford, with offices in London and Cape Town, South Africa. ^[2]

History

Global Travel Ventures Ltd (GTV) developed TicketClever (initially called FareMaster) in 2014. Ticketclever was launched in January 2017. ^[3] Jeremy Acklam, previously from Trainline, was the co-founder and CEO. In March 2017, ticketclever announced they were partnering with the charity St John Ambulance to donate an amount to the charity on purchase of a train ticket. GTV sold a 20% stake in the company to train operating company Stagecoach Group in June 2017. ^[4]

GTV entered administration in December 2018 ^[5] and Ticketclever Ltd was dissolved in September 2019. ^[6]

Algorithm

Ticketclever used analytics and data science to find the lowest price for a given journey. ^[7] The company employed three Oxford University alumni to create an algorithm that processed datasets from the Rail Delivery Group, which represented 25 train operating companies in Great Britain that were responsible for running trains and setting the price of the fares. Ticketclever used this algorithm to find multi-ticket fare deals.^{[ citation needed ]}

Refunds

Ticketclever was able to issue refunds in accordance with the National Rail Conditions of Travel, if the circumstances allowed for a refund. The eligibility to change or cancel tickets varied depending on the type of ticket purchased. ^[8] Companies could choose to charge an administration fee of up to £10 according to the National Rail Conditions of Carriage for refunds. ^[9]

References

1. "ticketclever the way to put rail fares back on track". The Guardian . 4 February 2017.
2. "ticketclever offices". Globaltravelventures. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
3. Check this fare-splitting website before you buy a ticket Metro 31 January 2017
4. Annual report for the year ended 29 April 2017 Stagecoach Group
5. "Statement of administrator's proposal". Companies House. 4 March 2019. pp. 6–9. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
6. "Ticketclever Ltd". Companies House. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
7. May, Kevin (17 March 2017). "ticketclever gets smart with train travel". Phocuswire.
8. "Ticketclever - Under Maintenance". www.ticketclever.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
9. "National Rail Conditions of Carriage 1st October 2016" (PDF).