Explore N & Mid Wales Pass "booklet" - where?

[MKD]

The Arriva website says:...
When you buy a Explore North & Mid Wales Pass, you will receive:
* Your Explore North & Mid Wales Pass ticket
* A Travel Wallet containing an Attractions Guide, discount vouchers and map

Website reference:
http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/ExploreWales/ExploreNorthMidWalesPass/

Their site says can buy at:...
"Station: Tickets can be purchased at most staffed railway stations and National Rail Appointed Travel Agents throughout Britain"
but of course not online and not on phone because after all in 2012 who'd want to sell tickets in such inconvenient ways!

It puzzled me that "most staffed" stations would keep those "travel wallets..." so the other day while passing through London Midland's Milton Keynes Central (MKC) station asked at the counter about it and was told "no, we don't have those wallets".

Planning to use the passes in September starting from a journey from MKC->Crewe (by Advance tix) then "Explore" round the N/Mid area, so am I going to have to wait to buy them in Crewe (and hope the connection time isn't reduced by delays) ?

Any ideas anyone ?

MKD

 

[IanD]

I bought a couple last year at Milton Keynes station for south Wales but they didn't have the booklet. I asked the guy in MKC to give me a note with a station stamp saying that I hadn't received one. He wasn't keen but did it anyway. I was going to try and get them at Crewe or Shrewsbury but ended up picking the booklets up in Llanelli just before the booking office closed. The guy behind the counter was relectant as he said I should have got it when I bought the tickets so I just showed him my note. Felt a bit like being back at school.

In the end I didn't use any of the discounts and the bus information was pretty poor regarding which companies accepted the tickets and which didn't. However, even though I was pretty sure it wasn't valid from Milford Haven to Pembroke Dock, I asked the driver anyway and he said he didn't have a clue but let me on for free. Same with the bus from Neath to Aberdare.

 

[zoothorn]

I bought three at Hertford North a couple of years ago and they didn't have the wallet/booklet but I had no problem picking them up from the travel centre at Chester while changing trains. I just showed the tickets and explained that the booklets were unavailable where I bought them. No problems at all, though they are not actually a great deal of use. I found many bus drivers were suspicious of the pass but took a print out of participating operators from the web and never got refused.

 

[MKD]

Thanks for the responses guyz - helped make the situation clearer.

Do intend to use quite a few of the discounts promised on the Arriva site, so very keen to have whatever is in the booklet to gain/validate them!

Looking like will aim to pick up in Crewe en route, potentially having bought the passes at MKC just in case connecting the 19 minute connection time isn't achieved.

Have also emailed Arriva's help mailbox but their automated response (happy for small mercies!) said along the lines that any smoke signals from them could take a week+ to blow back in my direction.

MKD

 

[island]

Can't really blame MKC for not having the wallet as it's not in the travel area.

 

[cjp]

The Arriva website says:...
When you buy a Explore North & Mid Wales Pass, you will receive:
* Your Explore North & Mid Wales Pass ticket
* A Travel Wallet containing an Attractions Guide, discount vouchers and map

Website reference:
http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/ExploreWales/ExploreNorthMidWalesPass/

Their site says can buy at:...
"Station: Tickets can be purchased at most staffed railway stations and National Rail Appointed Travel Agents throughout Britain"
but of course not online and not on phone because after all in 2012 who'd want to sell tickets in such inconvenient ways!

It puzzled me that "most staffed" stations would keep those "travel wallets..." so the other day while passing through London Midland's Milton Keynes Central (MKC) station asked at the counter about it and was told "no, we don't have those wallets".

Planning to use the passes in September starting from a journey from MKC->Crewe (by Advance tix) then "Explore" round the N/Mid area, so am I going to have to wait to buy them in Crewe (and hope the connection time isn't reduced by delays) ?

Any ideas anyone ?

MKD

I had the same problem buying a Rover at Paddington last year and in the end got a full refund and went by car which of course gave me more flexibility but I could not doze away the journey.
Eventually ATW responded to my telephone calls etc by writing to say booklets are only available in their region but here is a booklet, sorry and all that. Too late but at least they tried.

 

[IanD]

Can't really blame MKC for not having the wallet as it's not in the travel area.

Don't think anyone's blaming them. More like Arriva for assuming that all their customers live in the area that they serve.

 

[MKD]

Can't really blame MKC for not having the wallet as it's not in the travel area.

I don't - it seemed puzzling to me that they would have, but I was relying on what AWT said on their website as personally I have no idea how big any stash of literature/wallets/etc might be behind the ticket desks at MKC, ie AWT did say : "Station: Tickets can be purchased at most staffed railway stations and National Rail Appointed Travel Agents throughout Britain".

They could/SHOULD have gone on to set expectations with something like : ie "... though the travel wallets are only available at staffed railway stations within the area of travel".

MKD

 

[Greenback]

Clearly, it's a bit unrealistic to have stocks of these packs in every staffed station. ATW should really amend their website wording and provide a list of principal stations which do have them.

But, as has been pointed out, they are pretty useless, and I doubt the average person would be heavily disadvantaged if they can't get their hands on one.