Comparison

Reed & Mackay vs South Western Railway

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Reed & Mackay

Manage all your business travel needs seamlessly, from booking flights and hotels to accessing live itineraries and receiving real-time trip updates. Get 24/7 human assistance and personalized booking with securely saved details.

Highlights
  • Book air, hotel, rail, and car hire
  • Live itinerary and e-ticket access
  • Real-time notifications for trip safety
  • 24/7 in-app travel team assistance
  • Profile-fuelled, personalized bookings
  • On-the-go profile updates
Features
Read full description

Streamline every business trip – from booking to arrival – with Reed & Mackay’s mobile app. Ease. Efficiency. Value – all in the palm of your hand Fast, Friction-free travel Browse, compare, book and manage travel arrangements Book air, hotel, rail and car hire with great value content at your fingertips Live itinerary, boarding pass and e-ticket access – skip the queue with everything you need in your pocket Stay informed and trip-safe with real time notifications, from gate changes to bad weather Contact your R&M travel team 24/7 from within the app for fast human assistance Personalised, easy booking Profile-fuelled bookings – passport and billing details securely saved and auto-filled On-the-go profile updates – update preferences anytime, knowing your travel team will see them immediately Consistent no matter how you book – start a trip on your mobile – and pick it up on R&M/Book or with your travel consultant – no duplicate entries, no admin delays. Not a Reed & Mackay client yet? Get in contact: https://www.reedmackay.com/contact-us/ Note: The Reed & Mackay app is exclusively available to Reed & Mackay clients.

About

South Western Railway

Purchase UK train tickets without booking fees and access live travel updates. Save money with advance tickets and earn rewards on every purchase. Easily store e-tickets on your phone for convenient travel.

Highlights
  • Buy UK train tickets
  • No booking fees
  • Advance ticket savings
  • Rewards program
  • eTickets for mobile wallet
  • Live train times
  • Platform details
Features
Read full description

Download the official South Western Railway (SWR) app to check train times and buy cheap train tickets on any train line in the UK* - and we don’t charge booking fees. Why choose the South Western Railway app? • Buy train tickets to and from anywhere across the UK* • Save up to 51% with Advance train tickets • No booking fees every time • Get rewarded every time you buy direct with SWR. With over 100 rewards to choose from including days out, cheap theatre tickets, shopping discounts and much more! • Get the cheapest SWR tickets. With our price promise if you see a cheaper price for the same train ticket travelling with SWR, we'll refund the difference • eTickets - download and store your tickets in your phone’s wallet for easy access Live information • Check Live Train Times Across the UK* • View departure and arrival times for all National Rail services • Check live train times, locations and where to be with platform details • Save your frequent journeys for ease of checking again later • Check onboard facilities and see how busy your SWR train is Information to note: You’ll need to create an online SWR account or sign-in before you can purchase your train tickets. * Excludes Northern Ireland Got a question? Here’s our FAQs: https://www.southwesternrailway.com/contact-and-help/faqs Need to get in touch? Find the best way to here: https://www.southwesternrailway.com/contact-and-help Follow us: • Message/ “tweet” us at: https://twitter.com/SW_Help • Instagram • Facebook • X • YouTube • Google News

Screenshots

Reed & Mackay4 screens
South Western Railway4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Reed & Mackay at fortnightly against South Western Railway's every 2 months. Reed & Mackay also leads on review sentiment (29% vs 15%). South Western Railway's advantage is iOS requirement (16.6 vs 18.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Reed & Mackay ships an update fortnightly, South Western Railway every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 9, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Reed & Mackay versus South Western Railway: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReed & MackaySouth Western Railway
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (1.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews28.6% of reviews — better15.4% of reviews
Number of ratings1.2K — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.016.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB133 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperReed and Mackay Travel LtdFirst MTR South Western Trains Limited

Customer experience

Reed & Mackay

Written reviews21 reviews
Positive28.6%
Neutral4.8%
Negative66.7%

South Western Railway

All ratings1,246 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral3.0%
Negative3.8%
Written reviews286 reviews
Positive15.4%
Neutral7.0%
Negative77.6%

Bugs and requests

Reed & Mackay

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

South Western Railway

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Constant log-outs and inability to stay signed in
  • Tickets not appearing in app after purchase
  • Technical errors when trying to buy tickets
  • App crashing on launch after updates

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add tickets to Apple Wallet
  • Improve communication during service disruptions
  • Introduce a favorites/frequent journeys feature
  • Allow saving of payment and railcard details

In-app purchases

None

Reed & Mackay

No in-app purchases

None

South Western Railway

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Reed & Mackay free?
Reed & Mackay is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is South Western Railway free?
South Western Railway is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Reed & Mackay or South Western Railway have ads?
Neither Reed & Mackay nor South Western Railway shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Reed & Mackay or South Western Railway?
Reed & Mackay ships an update fortnightly, and South Western Railway every 2 months. Most recently, Reed & Mackay was updated on September 9, 2026 and South Western Railway on September 23, 2026.

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