Great Western Coffee Shop

Partly my fault as i tried to buy from Honiton, but when I asked for Exeter St D I was given the same reply - FGW don't operate that route. I had to explain that I wanted EXT to RDG then onward to GTW!! Several "hold please" later success!!
I read somewhere afterwards that after going through all the tedious, "press 1, press 9, press 47.5 etc" rigmarole, by pressing '2' to buy tickets I was re-directed to the trainline.co? If I'd asked for FGW customer services then I would get some-one with abit more route knowledge??  All in all 1 out of 10 for their phone system, but still please to get the ticket (^141 with no restrictions rather than ^180 off-peak) in the end!

If you let it get to the end of the options it then says or press hold to speak to a member of our team.
FGW call centre is outsourced and operated by Serco in Plymouth. It says for ticketing enquires press one and it will transfer to the trainline.
I have a recent dealing with the call centre and would give the two staff I spoke to 11 out of 10. They were superb.

Why redirect to Trainline don't they charge an fee for tickets?

Yes and no. Trainline also run FGW's web sales, when you select tickets on FGW website he redirects you to The Trainline.
Whether you are charged the booking fee depends on where you originated from.

FGW web sales are provided by ATOS, using their WebTIS 'Mixing Deck' booking engine. FGW moved to them, along with other FirstGroup TOCs, from thetrainline in November 2012.

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Welcome to the forum red cuillen  :)

Thank you for the welcome! I thought the subject worth raising as it was only because of my knowledge of the railway that I perservered. Not sure how many of your average user would know of this ticket, and how best to obtain one.
The line was poor quality, the on hold music very scratchy, I found it very difficult to understand the person. I wondered at the time whether, like other call centres, outside normal working hours calls are handled abroad??

If it isn't on a script then hold for problems!

I've just been asked about these tickets by a neighbour who can't find any details on the FGW website.

I can only find details on the National Rail website, at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/pr7a943fc35ce74101db9503cebaecbe.aspx (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/pr7a943fc35ce74101db9503cebaecbe.aspx).

A search on the FGW website comes up with nothing.

Why are FGW so secretive about these tickets - or are we looking in the wrong place?

The FlyAway2/3/4 tickets do still exist, and can be obtained from the FGW (and others, I guess) ticket booking website.

Just had a check and Southern do not offer it (and use WebTIS like FGW), but do offer a groupsave ticket.

Bizarrely FGW offer a flyaway two for double the price of a flyaway four when inputting 4 adults and the groupsave ticket is greyed out.

...and the SWT website (trainline powered) will happily flog you the lot at full price with no discounts.

Isn't it the same price (i.e. ^60/^80) for two/three or four? So the more travelling in the group, the bigger the saving....

It should be - e.g. Reading to Gatwick out today, return in a week for 4 people a FLYAWAY FOUR is offered at ^45 and a FLYAWAY TWO at ^90.

Reducing the number of people to 2 and you get offered a FLYAWAY TWO at ^45.

Indeed, the cost from Reading is ^45 for the party of up to four. For some reason, the deck offers 2xFlyaway2 (=^90) in addition to the Flyaway4 for ^45. Doh!

Looks like rather a good deal?  I just tried 4 adults + 4 children period return any time Melksham to Gatwick and got ^1068.00 via Reading and Guildford ... looking up Flyaway on BRFares, I think that can be done for 94 pounds?  If so, it's a wonderful thing to tell people about before they drive to Gatport to fly off for the summer.   I think it can be bought on the train, on the day, right?

From an unstaffed station or closed ticket office, yes, but I think only on FGW services as it's FGW-specific fare.

Thanks, Chris - yes, to clarify I was asking about the Melksham to Gatwick ticket and that's an unstaffed station at all times.  Are these tickets available from Ticket Vending Machines?

Ahh, ChrisB has solved the mystery. I didn't notice it was offering a double dose of flyaway twos.

I've seen FGW guards issue these tickets on the train and people are pleasantly surprised at the fare. Cannot say I have ever seen a poster at a North Downs Line station advertising it.

IIRC the previous incarnation used to include a taxi from selected postcodes.

I am fairly certain I checked this on a TVM and it is not available, nor groupsave. The FGW website states that groupsave is available on selected machines, but does not tell you which ones, but I'd bet even if you were to find one of these the flyaway ticket would not be available.

They're an FGW product only, so I doubt it.

National Groupsave has changed, don't forget, to 34% off each individual fare, rather than 3 or 4 for 2.

If the TOC takes part in Groupsave, it ought to be on TVMs - but the FGW-specific Flyaways won't be.

Chris - the TVM at Hanborough does not sell Groupsave tickets.

On Saturday I was on a Gatwick train from Reading, and the guard advised a group they should but their tickets on board and get 1/3 off, since the machine at the station didn't sell Groupsave. I don't know where they started their journey, though obviously not Reading - presumably one of the little unmanned stops.

Ticket Vending Machines generally do not offer the facility to buy GroupSave tickets.  ::)

I do not know a TVM that would sell a groupsave be that GS3-GS4 or the 'new' GSV.

I believe Chiltern's do - buut only the new GSV - look under railcards (which ought to be explained somewhere!) - however, I might be wrong as I haven't checked. GS3/4 is no longer an ATOC product, and not supported by the TVM Software people any longer.

And yet Chiltern still offer a variation on the old GroupSave with their 2 Pay 4 Travel (http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/tickets-and-times/grouptrav), on journeys to London. Something they have had to continue doing as it's written into their franchise.

They offer the newer, less generous, GroupSave on all other journeys.

Too costly (& confusing) to add both to their TVMs.

Back in, when was it, 2008? We had 'Fares Simplification'.

A noble aim and it made some inroads into the myriad fares issues caused by privatisation. Seems like that has been forgotten and we have a new round of changes across the UK that are again 'complificating' (I made that word up) the fares available.

• GroupSave changes, with one TOC having to keep old rules and other TOCs not joining in.
• Northern Rail introducing an evening peak on Off Peak fares. But only applicable in some PTE areas.
• Northern Rail re-introducing APEX (7 days ahead purchase) fares.
• Myriad different e-fares (Print-at-Home, mobile etc), with different rules.
• Buy on board in some places but not others.
• Part-time Seasons.
• Carnets where one pen stroke in error can see you in court.

Just a few examples, there are more. I'm not denying that they have their positives, but the constant tinkering really does make life hard for the average punter.