Great Western Coffee Shop

Arriva Trains Wales have details of their next Club 55 promotion available on their website. Booking is open now for travel from 2nd September. The promotion runs until 24th March 2013, except the period 18th December 2012 - January 4th 2013. Other specific dates are also excluded for events at the Millennium Stadium and the Cheltenham Festival.

Little validity in the GW area, except South Wales, Cheltenham and Gloucester, and no add-on fares into FGW territory.

Add-on fares are available for use on Chiltern (Marylebone), Northern (Greater Manchester), London Midland (Crewe-Liverpool, Hereford-Worcester), Merseyrail (any station on the their network) and CrossCountry (Birmingham).

There are three different Club 55 basic fares (http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/Club55/TicketTypes/) excluding any add-on.

Online the 'Arriva Club 55 Website' fare is ^17 return. (^16 return with Disabled/Senior Railcard) if purchased via http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/Club55/.

There are two fares available if purchased from a station. The 'Arriva Club 55 Not Friday' is ^19 (^18) and the 'Arriva Club 55 Anyday' at ^24 (^23).

Terms and Conditions (http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/Club55/TandCs/)

First Great Western's isn't back (yet?)


If I'm optimistic I should check the website every few days .... and if I'm a pessimist or don't have the time, I should give up for the autumn  :-\

Would have been so much better if she (?) had added "I'll email you to let you know" rather than "check the web site regularly".

If I remember rightly, last year FGW's club 55 started late-ish September after being announced about early to mid teen September, so don't give up yet

You can't expect CSAs to follow up on things like this. Their 'pending' box would get so big, they'd continually be checking them to see if responses are now due, rather than answering new emquiries.

I'm with FGW on this one. You renember to check/ask as its only one thing, rather than expect them to remember not just yours, but many other pending queries. I think that's reasonable.

I'd suggest that if there was to be an FGW Club 55 this autumn, it'd already have been decided by someone.

The only harm I can see in not letting your Customer Service team know if and when it's starting is revenue. Losing out on flexible tickets purchased now for dates when Club 55 might be running, as opposed to having the customer wait until they can buy the cheaper ticket.

In '09, '10 and '11 it was around this time that Club 55 on FGW was announced, for a third week of September start.

In the narrowness of that answer, I'm with FGW too. It would indeed be impractical to maintain separate open enquiry boxes in that way.

I wouldn't have thought I would be the first to ask about Club 55 this autumn ... indeed, us "club members" who have made use of it in the past find it's a great way to be able to get around in our twilight years, and we love our club.  All it needs is "I've added your email address for our next club mailing so you'll get an update" or - if data protection is an issue with that - "you can ask for an update when we announce things via the following URL: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx".  Simple!

Its even simpler to check once a week, n'est pas? :-)

You may have the time to check once a week, Chris ... and then only learn about something 6.99 days after it's happened. Personally, I would find it far more efficient simply to get a notification email.   It rather depends on whether you're looking to make it as easy as possible for the operator or the customer passenger  ;) . I have sensed a certain anti-club55 feeling in certain quarters.

Not from me....comments stand on any offer any company might make.

Correct, Chris - I had no intention of linking your name to that comment; my apologies if it appeared that there was a link.