Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Which is my point - the problem isn't the restrictions, it's that *people* don't understand them. Computers do though.
So give the people computers.
But the problem is also end users not understanding them and thus finding it difficult to select the right one. Crikey, I helped someone out at a ticket machine at Bletchley a month or two ago and found it hard to work out what he wanted, and I probably know the fare system better than someone who has just started working in a booking office and hasn't had time to build knowledge.
Yes, they can do that with a journey planner, but for short regional journeys it'd be nice if they didn't have to. For IC, well, isn't that for most people near enough equivalent to just having everyone use Advances?
There is, FWIW, a very interesting proposal in the XC direct award of removing the £10 admin fee for Advance changes, which takes them away from being "book in advance and £10 of woe betide you if you change it" to simply a yield management mechanism and nothing more. There is, with that, no penalty for whacking in an Advance as soon as you think you might travel (thus giving the railway some money up front) then changing it, even more than once, when your plans solidify. I thought it was silly originally, but if combined with proper e-ticketing (e.g. the ability to change it while waiting at the station when you change your mind last minute) it might well be a very useful experiment.
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