More distorted ticket prices

[whole diary]

[grahame]

We are unable to fulfil the tickets for this particular journey, as either the ticket cannot be posted in time or the departure station does not offer a collection facility.

That's from the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) ticket site.

Something I wondered about this morning ... if a T.O.C. chooses not to have an appropriate ticket machine at [station in question], why can't the advanced ticket be issued by the train manager?  They're electronically connected, after all, so there isn't a technology problem. Perhaps it's a way of pricing passengers away from the smaller station?

Going on line at the moment, and checking fares.   I can get a 37 SWI^» (Swindon - next trains) - PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) return going on the next available train and coming back at lunch time.  Or I can pay 133 for MKM^» (Melksham (Station code) - next trains) - PAD going on the next available train and coming back on the first train after lunch.

[Tim]

1) because TM^‡(resolve) are too busy; and 2) because it would be seen as undermining the "buy before your board message".

The solution would be to allow you to print your own tickets at home.  I know that there are issues with forgery, but there are ways around this (afterall the Royal Mail lets you print your own stamps and can check to see if they are genuine)

[bemmy]

The solution would be to allow you to print your own tickets at home.  I know that there are issues with forgery, but there are ways around this (afterall the Royal Mail lets you print your own stamps and can check to see if they are genuine)

Like this ticket I printed before leaving for India:



Passenger no 1 has to have the ID card with the stated number, otherwise the ticket is not valid. In Britain, as guards have credit card terminals, it should be sufficient to carry the card used to buy the ticket online.

[super tm]

Something I wondered about this morning ... if a T.O.C. chooses not to have an appropriate ticket machine at [station in question], why can't the advanced ticket be issued by the train manager?  They're electronically connected, after all, so there isn't a technology problem. Perhaps it's a way of pricing passengers away from the smaller station?


[/quote]
No they are not electrically connected so the train manager would not be able to issue the ticket.  Something for the future perhaps but there would be a cost to develop the software / hardware

[Phil]

Going on line at the moment, and checking fares.   I can get a 37 SWI^» (Swindon - next trains) - PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) return going on the next available train and coming back at lunch time.  Or I can pay 133 for MKM^» (Melksham (Station code) - next trains) - PAD going on the next available train and coming back on the first train after lunch.

My advice would be to purchase a Chippenham -> Paddington ticket (and appropriate return) online and collect them in advance at Chippenham station.

I've quite often sat on the 6:45 pm train from Swindon to Melksham, shown the TM^‡(resolve) my return ticket covering me for U1 to Chippenham and explained I'll need a ticket to cover me for the missing part of the journey from Chippenham to Melksham, only for him to smile back and say "that's OK mate, don't worry about it".

On the odd occasion I've been together enough to collect tickets in advance from Chippenham (say for example if I am travelling to London on Tuesday and Thursday, I will collect the Thursday tickets on arrival at Chippenham the previous Tuesday), and got on the morning train up to Swindon from Melksham, the same thing has happened: show the TM my pre-purchased ticket covering me for a return from Chippenham to Paddington, say I need a ticket to Chippenham, and he or she has usually (not always) let me off the Melksham-Chippenham part of the journey.

Really kind of them to do that, and probably completely against regulations, but it's always nice to be on the receiving end of a little goodwill, especially in this day and age.

[Shazz]

You think thats bad. FGW^▸ (First Great Western) wanted ^272 for an anytime return for 2 adults from BPW^» (Bristol Parkway - next trains) > paddington for next week,

I think not.

[John R]

Going on line at the moment, and checking fares.   I can get a 37 SWI^» (Swindon - next trains) - PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) return going on the next available train and coming back at lunch time.  Or I can pay 133 for MKM^» (Melksham (Station code) - next trains) - PAD going on the next available train and coming back on the first train after lunch.

My advice would be to purchase a Chippenham -> Paddington ticket (and appropriate return) online and collect them in advance at Chippenham station.

I've quite often sat on the 6:45 pm train from Swindon to Melksham, shown the TM^‡(resolve) my return ticket covering me for U1 to Chippenham and explained I'll need a ticket to cover me for the missing part of the journey from Chippenham to Melksham, only for him to smile back and say "that's OK mate, don't worry about it".

On the odd occasion I've been together enough to collect tickets in advance from Chippenham (say for example if I am travelling to London on Tuesday and Thursday, I will collect the Thursday tickets on arrival at Chippenham the previous Tuesday), and got on the morning train up to Swindon from Melksham, the same thing has happened: show the TM my pre-purchased ticket covering me for a return from Chippenham to Paddington, say I need a ticket to Chippenham, and he or she has usually (not always) let me off the Melksham-Chippenham part of the journey.

Really kind of them to do that, and probably completely against regulations, but it's always nice to be on the receiving end of a little goodwill, especially in this day and age.

Agree re goodwill, but it won't do anything for the footfall count at Melksham.

[basset44]

Yes,

I had to change my advance ticket just before I went and had to pay for a new ticket at the station, could not get a refund or pay extra because it was advanced ticket.

Just travelled on DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) with advance ticket printed with Bar Code and show credit card and because there were no decent fares for London travelling after 9.25 from Cardiff returning about 6.30 on a Monday used Megabus from Cardiff for 24 pounds for 2 people printed at my printer will be using this in future can at least book a couple of buses and still not pay the cost I lost through being unable to change a ticket.

Basset

[vacman]

Yes,

I had to change my advance ticket just before I went and had to pay for a new ticket at the station, could not get a refund or pay extra because it was advanced ticket.

Just travelled on DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) with advance ticket printed with Bar Code and show credit card and because there were no decent fares for London travelling after 9.25 from Cardiff returning about 6.30 on a Monday used Megabus from Cardiff for 24 pounds for 2 people printed at my printer will be using this in future can at least book a couple of buses and still not pay the cost I lost through being unable to change a ticket.

Basset

It's made clear when you buy an Advance ticket that there are no refunds or changes.

[Tim]

Yes,

I had to change my advance ticket just before I went and had to pay for a new ticket at the station, could not get a refund or pay extra because it was advanced ticket.

Just travelled on DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) with advance ticket printed with Bar Code and show credit card and because there were no decent fares for London travelling after 9.25 from Cardiff returning about 6.30 on a Monday used Megabus from Cardiff for 24 pounds for 2 people printed at my printer will be using this in future can at least book a couple of buses and still not pay the cost I lost through being unable to change a ticket.

Basset

It's made clear when you buy an Advance ticket that there are no refunds or changes.

I don't think it IS clear to everyone.  I don't think the conditions are as widely known we sometimes think.  I know the conditions appear on the website when you book, but not everyone reads this (even though they should) When you buy an airline ticket or book a hotel room online the ticket/recipt has pages of terms and conditions.  If you book an advanced ticket on line, the bit that arrives through the post does not say "non-refundanble, non-exchangable, if you travel on another train you will need to buy a new ticket before you board" anywhere does it?  I happen to think that it ought to.  Anything that reduced teh number of people breaking the rules and getting into conflict as a result must be a good thing

[devon_metro]

The ticket says to be used only with reservations. Do some people really suffer from a complete lack of common sense?

[eightf48544]

The ticket says to be used only with reservations. Do some people really suffer from a complete lack of common sense?

Fraid so, that's why it's much easier to run a freight train.

[vacman]

When you buy it at a station you get a little card with it explaining the terms, and like you say, when you buy it online you agree to it by ticking the box, i've got no sympathy for people who can't be arsed to read the small print!

[eightf48544]

When you buy it at a station you get a little card with it explaining the terms, and like you say, when you buy it online you agree to it by ticking the box, i've got no sympathy for people who can't be arsed to read the small print!

A little harsh I think the railways don't help with the complicated fare structure and ticket types.

When you buy a plane ticket or a theartre ticket it is pretty obvious that it is for a particular flight or performance. With plane tickets it usually states if it can be changed and what cost.

Rail sells tickets for anytrain, trains after certain times of day (sometimes with restrictions on return travel  as well) and tickets for particular trains. The latter causing the most trouble, like the post on here about the lady from Manchester who caught the train before after asking staff. With a half hourly service this is likely to happen if the passssenger asks the next train to London assumming theirs is next. It will be interesting to see how Virgin get on with a 20 minute service to Birmingham. After all you don't get a 20 minute service with flights.

Also the differential between the cheapest and anytime tickets is too wide which also exacerbates the problem if someone boards the wrong train.  In many cases you can buy two advanced tickets for conceutative trains cheaper than an anytime ticket, so if you're not sure what train you might catch this could be a cheaper option.

[inspector_blakey]

I think that was part of the rationale behind bringing all of the advance-purchase tickets under a common branding with a common name: at least now passengers aren't faced with a whole different array of silly ticket names. The NRES^▸ (National Rail Enquiry Service) website (and no doubt those of the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company)) clearly state that Advance tickets are available only on the date and trains booked. And it's also printed on the front of them: tickets issued using STAR or similar systems have "booked train only" in the validity section, and I think TRIBUTE-issued tickets have a line of similar text (although these seem to be dying out).

But then again, long experience teaches me that people don't read their tickets, never mind the terms and conditions!