East Coast rewards after February 2015?

[Deerfold]

At last! The details we've been waiting for.

Well, some useful news but not all the details we've been waiting for - these are:

How the conversion will wait work from existing points to new points.

How many points you'll earn from buying tickets.

How many points it'll cost to redeem points

What availability of Rewards tickets will be like after the transfer.

 

[CockneySparrow]

Looks like you will only be able to collect the worthless Nectar points on journeys booked on a Virgin train like their other site?

 

[JaJaWa]

Looks like you will only be able to collect the worthless Nectar points on journeys booked on a Virgin train like their other site?

It's very strange considering the First sites let you collect them with a booking for any train, do they offer a worse rate?

 

[NottsPhil]

More here

Any pending points converted on 1st March, all bookings for free travel must be made by 30th September.

 

[Tetchytyke]

It's very strange considering the First sites let you collect them with a booking for any train, do they offer a worse rate?

First also offer 2 points for every £1 spent (on any ticket, not just theirs), but if you book from First TPE's website via Quidco they also give you 1% cashback as well as Nectar.

Looks like I'll be switching to TPE then!

 

[shinkansen1966]

Despite the DfT fanfare about the exciting new East Coast operator, the current East Coast rewards scheme ends next month.

Before 30 September 2015, you will need to both redeem and use your rewards points.

http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/rewardsnews

 

[johntea]

'Virgin Trains East Coast' is a bit of a mouthful isn't it?! Bet they'll do a terrible job of trying to merge the Leeds woman 'Virgin Trains' and 'East Coast' soundbites together too

 

[embers25]

And yet another decent ticket purchasing site becomes worthless. Nectar points are sooooo worthwhile....not. Almost time to resort back to Southern as at least they have Rainy Day Guarantee.

 

[7Pinza]

Email just received...

Dear xxxx,

As you may be aware, the Department for Transport (DfT) recently announced that a company led by Stagecoach and Virgin will take over the East Coast Main Line franchise from 1 March 2015. The new company will be called Virgin Trains East Coast. We are emailing you to let you know about the new owner’s plans for the existing East Coast Rewards loyalty scheme.

Virgin Trains East Coast will be rolling out a new rewards scheme that will deliver a wide range of benefits for Virgin Trains East Coast customers. Nectar, the UK's largest loyalty programme, will replace the existing Rewards scheme. It will be launched on 1 March 2015 and customers will be able to start collecting Nectar points straight away. Nectar points can be collected on any Virgin Trains East Coast journey booked through the Virgin Trains East Coast website. Customers will also be provided with the option to collect Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points.

Customers will be able to use their Nectar points when booking a Virgin Trains East Coast Advance ticket through the Virgin Trains East Coast website, which is a first for the rail industry. Nectar also offers a range of other exciting rewards for customers to spend their points on with options for days out, entertainment and charity donations.
Many existing Rewards members will have Rewards Points they want to use, and whilst the scheme will close on 28 February, existing Rewards Points can be redeemed up to and including 30 September 2015 against the current range of rewards. Alternatively, existing Rewards Points can be converted into Nectar points. Virgin Trains East Coast will contact all members of the existing East Coast Rewards scheme from 1 March to provide information on Nectar and how they can redeem their existing Rewards Points or convert them to Nectar points.

Further details about Nectar and the closure of Rewards can be found by clicking on the following links:

• Closure of the existing Rewards scheme
• Rewards for Season Ticket Holders
• Business Rewards (Rewards for Business Travel Agent bookings)
• Nectar

We look forward to providing you with more information about Nectar from 1 March 2015. In the meantime, if you have any questions about the existing Rewards scheme please contact us.

Kind regards,
The East Coast team

 

[CallySleeper]

Here it is in full:

As you may be aware, the Department for Transport (DfT) recently announced that a company led by Stagecoach and Virgin will take over the East Coast Main Line franchise from 1 March 2015. The new company will be called Virgin Trains East Coast. We are emailing you to let you know about the new owner’s plans for the existing East Coast Rewards loyalty scheme.

Virgin Trains East Coast will be rolling out a new rewards scheme that will deliver a wide range of benefits for Virgin Trains East Coast customers. Nectar, the UK's largest loyalty programme, will replace the existing Rewards scheme. It will be launched on 1 March 2015 and customers will be able to start collecting Nectar points straight away. Nectar points can be collected on any Virgin Trains East Coast journey booked through the Virgin Trains East Coast website. Customers will also be provided with the option to collect Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points.

Customers will be able to use their Nectar points when booking a Virgin Trains East Coast Advance ticket through the Virgin Trains East Coast website, which is a first for the rail industry. Nectar also offers a range of other exciting rewards for customers to spend their points on with options for days out, entertainment and charity donations.

Many existing Rewards members will have Rewards Points they want to use, and whilst the scheme will close on 28 February, existing Rewards Points can be redeemed up to and including 30 September 2015 against the current range of rewards. Alternatively, existing Rewards Points can be converted into Nectar points. Virgin Trains East Coast will contact all members of the existing East Coast Rewards scheme from 1 March to provide information on Nectar and how they can redeem their existing Rewards Points or convert them to Nectar points.

 

[trainophile]

I've just had the same email. What I'm wondering is what will happen with pending points that were earned on tickets bought for travel after 28th Feb? I've got nearly 90 points pending, for a trip on 27/28 Feb and 1st March.

Also any new points added to 'pending' for journeys booked between now and 28/2 for travel post-1/3.

More questions than answers...

 

[blackfive460]

From: http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/rewardsnews

Members will continue to earn Rewards Points for bookings made at eastcoast.co.uk up to and including 28 February 2015. No Rewards Points will be issued for bookings made after that date
Points which are still ‘pending’ on 1 March 2015 will be made live and available to redeem shortly after that date
Any unused Rewards Points will need to be redeemed and used up to and including 30 September 2015 (for example, a Rewards travel ticket will need to be both redeemed and the journey booked by that deadline).

 

[GNER 91128]

Not the news most of wanted to hear, but it was expected :cry:

 

[jamesontheroad]

Not the news most of wanted to hear, but it was expected :cry:

Sums up the whole East Coast re-franchising process really.

 

[trainophile]

Oh, thanks for clarifying. Doesn't seem too bad then, and at least we won't lose anything, except maybe odd points that are not enough to convert to anything.

So if we can redeem and book up to 30th September, presumably we can use the tickets for travel almost to the end of the year.

 

[itsjustmyjob]

Best use I've found for nectar points is to use them for ebay purchases.

 

[Kite159]

Oh, thanks for clarifying. Doesn't seem too bad then, and at least we won't lose anything, except maybe odd points that are not enough to convert to anything.

So if we can redeem and book up to 30th September, presumably we can use the tickets for travel almost to the end of the year.

Although from what it sounds like any existing points will be given the chance to convert to worthless nectar, probably 1 point to 1 point. (So 0.5p each).

Probably the nectar points need to be transferred to an e-voucher via the nectar site and used to pay towards advances (only?).

Farewell east coast for booking other tickets, maybe even for east coast advances if they get rid of the small discount.

 

[cf111]

A real shame and it will mean my custom for tickets going elsewhere, but that's just the way things go I suppose. Not the end of the world.

 

[ModernRailways]

Just read the email. Not great news, but is arguably better than we expected since you will still be able to redeem points until September (presumably meaning travel in December will be possible).

I will be continuing to use Southern to purchase my tickets. Fingers crossed another TOC decides to offer a similar reward service to East Coast in the future though. I do wonder just how many people VTEC will lose because of this change?

 

[Adam0984]

I need 12 more points for a final STD class freebie if I buy a £10 e voucher will that do it?

 

[dcsprior]

So - here's a comparison of the old vs new for my regular weekly journey (1st Advance KGX-EDB @ £63.20)

Current scheme:

• 1.5 points per pound spent, rounded down (after multiplication) = 94 points
• This is equivalent to 0.24 free journeys (if you buy four for 1565 points), so what I actually get for my £63.20 is 1.24 journeys
• Effective cost per journey = 63.20 / 1.24 = £50.96

New scheme
Either:

• 2 points per full pound spent (i.e. rounded down then multiplied by 2) = 126 points
• Redeem at £0.005 / point (500 points = £2.50 - I don't know if its been confirmed that this will be the rate offered, but it seems to be the most common rate on the Nectar website) = £0.63
• Effective cost per journey = 63.20 - 0.63 = £62.57

So the cost per journey for me will go up by 22.8%, which is rather disappointing.

For the new scheme to be as good as the old, the redemption rate would have to be £48.58 per 500 points - almost 10 times the best rate currently offered by the other Nectar participants.

Hopefully when the details of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points emerge, this will be significantly better.

 

[Romilly]

I didn't get Rewards points on a recently purchased e-voucher, but don't know whether that was because the purchase was of a voucher, or because the amount of the voucher was under £22 (the minimum spend needed in most cases to get Rewards points).

 

[Kite159]

I need 12 more points for a final STD class freebie if I buy a £10 e voucher will that do it?

I'm in the same boat, looks like I need 8 more points to clear 510 points for 2 last freebie STD class tickets.

Might buy one last GRT to London travelcard to push me over leaving 13 or so points spare to change to nectar.

 

[coxy]

I need 12 more points for a final STD class freebie if I buy a £10 e voucher will that do it?

I believe the eVoucher needs to be £22 or more to qualify for points.

 

[Adam0984]

Right so if I buy £23 to be safe I should be okay

 

[CockneySparrow]

I'm in the same boat, looks like I need 8 more points to clear 510 points for 2 last freebie STD class tickets.

Might buy one last GRT to London travelcard to push me over leaving 13 or so points spare to change to nectar.

I have nearly enough for a ticket but problem is most of my points will register on my account after the cut off date
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Just read the email. Not great news, but is arguably better than we expected since you will still be able to redeem points until September (presumably meaning travel in December will be possible).

I will be continuing to use Southern to purchase my tickets. Fingers crossed another TOC decides to offer a similar reward service to East Coast in the future though. I do wonder just how many people VTEC will lose because of this change?

What site are you going to book the ticket from, with the booking engine gone from the current site I wouldn't have thought you would be able to book on the new site

 

[JaJaWa]

I believe the eVoucher needs to be £22 or more to qualify for points.

There's no minimum spend for eVouchers and East Coast Only advances.

 

[ModernRailways]

What site are you going to book the ticket from, with the booking engine gone from the current site I wouldn't have thought you would be able to book on the new site

Huh!? Since December I've just used Southern (there website hasn't changed has it?), I never would have accumulated enough points for a free ticket so to me it was worthless getting points only to see them disappear.

Southern have the best benefit right now, but like I say hopefully another TOC will come up with a similar rewards scheme to what EC have now.

 

[Romilly]

JaJaWa: I used to think that but, while it still seems true for EC Advances, it is no longer true in my experience as regards e-vouchers (and I did check that I was still registered for Rewards when I bought the sub-£22 vouchers). And as it is now some while since I bought a £22+ voucher, I can't speak from experience about whether they still attract points.

 

[Furrball]

From: http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/rewardsnews

Members will continue to earn Rewards Points for bookings made at eastcoast.co.uk up to and including 28 February 2015. No Rewards Points will be issued for bookings made after that date
Points which are still ‘pending’ on 1 March 2015 will be made live and available to redeem shortly after that date
Any unused Rewards Points will need to be redeemed and used up to and including 30 September 2015 (for example, a Rewards travel ticket will need to be both redeemed and the journey booked by that deadline).

So wonder if buying an open 1st class return for travel in say April, wait for the pending points to be credited then cancel the tickets - would cost a tenner but could work!!