Its not going to be any different from Virgin Trains offering which is 2 miles per £1.Hopefully when the details of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points emerge, this will be significantly better.
Its not going to be any different from Virgin Trains offering which is 2 miles per £1.Hopefully when the details of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points emerge, this will be significantly better.
Its not going to be any different from Virgin Trains offering which is 2 miles per £1.
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.
So pretty much like VWC, Nectar points for journeys which involve a Virgin train at some point.
I wonder how much revenue V-EC will loss out on with the commissions from ticket sales.
Points towards tickets suits me.
Or perhaps trainsplit? They only charge fees if they identify a split (and even then it's only a proportion of the saving).I think I'll be going to southern for my complicated stuff from now on.
Buy tickets through First TPE- who give Nectar and 1% cash back on Quidco- until you have enough Nectar points for a single.
Not ideal, but best option right now.
East Coast do run a scheme that allows you to obtain Rewards points for Seasons, however I suspect Virgin will scrap that.I plan to buy a Lichfield annual season ticket to get a Gold Card when my Network Card expires next weekend.
Can I make that purchase from East Coast to earn reward points ?
I plan to buy a Lichfield annual season ticket to get a Gold Card when my Network Card expires next weekend.
Can I make that purchase from East Coast to earn reward points ?
No. Points are only issued for certain season tickets, priced by East Coast, on certain flows, bought from an East Coast Travel Centre.
Virgin have already confirmed they will scrap that from the point where they take over.
Raileasy offer 2% and TrainLine offer 1.5%, but both charge booking fees.
EMT offer 2.5% for EMT tickets and 1% for all other tickets.
TPE offer 1% for everything, plus Nectar.
Gatwick Express offer 4% "for all sales", but on their webpage only sell tickets for GatEx. Whilst I'm sure some people have said they've gone through to Southern's sales page and it has still tracked, I've not tested it.
I think extendedpaul was asking about buying a season ticket now, before the scheme ends (presumably to top up his points total).
VEC will not pay Nectar points on season ticket purchases, although some First websites will do (do they issue on Gold Card stock?)
ello
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
Frrom East Coast today
But it is going to be something like a 1% reward, about what I would get on my credit card anyway.
Until recently I got a 1st class ticket for every £350 I spent - that is around a 10% return, possibly more.
I think I'll be going to southern for my complicated stuff from now on.
I will miss the First Class lounge passes (although there's only so far been one occasion when I've not had a First Class Advance to use it with so if VTEC adopt a more sensible approach to access that won't matter too much).
I think in all the time I was a member of EC Rewards (which is coming up to 2 years) I earned maybe 325 points, as most of my purchases wouldn't have qualified. At least this way, people like me who make frequent small purchases but can't bunch them all together get rewarded too.
The only lounge you can't access with a 1st Advance is Kings Cross.
But only on purchases for travel on VTEC. I built up my rewards (4000 or so over nearly 3 years) including purchases on many different TOCs (everything except some EMT advances).
Does anyone know if they'll still have the seat selector option on their website? I hope so, as I find it very useful.
Virgin will use Thetrainline.East Coast do for now. Nobody knows if that will remain once it all gets rebranded, but I certainly hope it does.