Group save on Northern??

[DaveB10780]

I was just looking at the cost for 5 Adults day return at 1600 from Furness Vale to Manchester Piccadilly on National Rail Planner. The planner seems to apply group save even though as far as I know this is not available, cost £26.50. Is a group save indeed available? What would the position be if I bought one?

 

[Haywain]

It would be a surprise if you could get redirected to a website that would sell you tickets with a GroupSave discount.

 

[DaveB10780]

It would be a surprise if you could get redirected to a website that would sell you tickets with a GroupSave discount.

Good point, Northern and Virgin would charge £40. However if I click on Great Northern it is still OK with the £26.50. Pretty awful to be offered a non existent fare I think.

 

[A Challenge]

The fare exists, the question is why it exists when you can only use the Stockport (Hazel Grove on limited services) to Manchester Piccadilly on EMT (and possibly TfW as although that isn't on the Groupsave page there is one for Stockport to Manchester Piccadilly routed TFW ONLY).

Actually, would the TFW ONLY groupsave ticket be valid at all?

 

[Haywain]

Pretty awful to be offered a non existent fare I think.

The fare exists,

The fare is the Off Peak Day Return, it is the discount that should not be shown and should only ever be shown in conjunction with a journey for which it is entirely valid. So, the fact that GroupSave could be used between Stockport and Manchester Piccadilly on EMT services does not mean it should be shown for a journey from Furness Vale. To show a GroupSave discount for a journey on Northern is, simply, wrong and should not be happening.

 

[yorksrob]

It would be a step forward if Northern were to offer a proper groupsave offer, rather than the current duo thing, which seems to miss out most journeys one would wish to make.

 

[Paul Kelly]

It would be a surprise if you could get redirected to a website that would sell you tickets with a GroupSave discount.

I disagree; the TOC restrictions on Groupsave seem to have been deleted from the fares data so on the contrary it would be a surprise if a website that supports Groupsave wouldn't sell the tickets, and might imply that it is either using out-of-date data or putting in some manual hack which I presume would mean the site is not compliant with its accreditation.

 

[yorkie]

I was just looking at the cost for 5 Adults day return at 1600 from Furness Vale to Manchester Piccadilly on National Rail Planner. The planner seems to apply group save even though as far as I know this is not available, cost £26.50. Is a group save indeed available? What would the position be if I bought one?

It would be valid; you would have a booking confirmation including the itinerary, which is evidence of a contract.

Staff inspecting the ticket on your journey may choose to note down the details of the ticket, take a photograph, or even withdraw the tickets and issue free of charge replacement tickets, and they may complete a ticket irregularity report (TIR), but they cannot deny you the contractual right to make the journey at the agreed price.

If you were incorrectly charged an excess or new fare, you would be entitled to a full refund and I would also encourage you to seek further compensation for the inconvenience.

A good retailer would back you up also.

 

[Wallsendmag]

I disagree; the TOC restrictions on Groupsave seem to have been deleted from the fares data so on the contrary it would be a surprise if a website that supports Groupsave wouldn't sell the tickets, and might imply that it is either using out-of-date data or putting in some manual hack which I presume would mean the site is not compliant with its accreditation.

Brtilliant !!!!!!

 

[DaveB10780]

It would be a step forward if Northern were to offer a proper groupsave offer, rather than the current duo thing, which seems to miss out most journeys one would wish to make.

Quite, they even have this nonsense "Valid every day except weekends in December." I also have checked the time restrictions on the Northern web site duo page and they do not prevent Furness Vale to Manchester duo tickets in the 16:01-18:29 window. The wording is "Restrictions apply to journeys that start and finish on routes marked in blue from 16.01 - 18.29". You cannot buy them online presumably due to the fares database and specified restrictions in it. That should be reflected on the Northern page methinks. What I also fail to understand is that most train companies regard afternoon peak only for the actual peak flows not the other direction.

 

[DaveB10780]

It would be valid; you would have a booking confirmation including the itinerary, which is evidence of a contract.

Staff inspecting the ticket on your journey may choose to note down the details of the ticket, take a photograph, or even withdraw the tickets and issue free of charge replacement tickets, and they may complete a ticket irregularity report (TIR), but they cannot deny you the contractual right to make the journey at the agreed price.

If you were incorrectly charged an excess or new fare, you would be entitled to a full refund and I would also encourage you to seek further compensation for the inconvenience.

A good retailer would back you up also.

I would do it just to see what would happen apart from knowing it would spoil a family night out in Manchester if they had arguments on the train.