Why I prefer to use a ticket office and obtain a physical ticket

[yorkie]

Haven't you ever tried to catch a train departing in 5 minutes time when you are still 600 m from the station?

I have been in the situation of being on an XC train arriving into Leeds and waiting until the last possible moment before buying an Advance ticket for a Northern train that wasn't an official connection. I had the ticket in my basket and only pressed purchase as I boarded the train. The doors shut seconds later.

This wouldn't be possible by any other method and saved me a few quid.

 

[Haywain]

People use e-tickets because it's quicker and easier for them. Just as some people leave their paper tickets in the bottom of their bag and hold everyone up whilst they rummage around and get it out

And some people try to use the wrong barcode in the exact same way some people try to use the wrong CCST coupon.

 

[Deafdoggie]

And some people try to use the wrong barcode in the exact same way some people try to use the wrong CCST coupon.

Absolutely. Any system is only as good as the weakest point!

 

[AM9]

People use e-tickets because it's quicker and easier for them. Just as some people leave their paper tickets in the bottom of their bag and hold everyone up whilst they rummage around and get it out.
No one helps TOC profits anymore, they just reduce taxpayer burden.

And people use paper tickets, - even from manned ticket offices because it's quicker and easier for them. For them it might become an accessibilty issue so eventually could be maintained as such.

 

[Runningaround]

What sort of weird wallets do people on here have that won't fit bog roll tickets or folded e-tickets in the notes slot?

When I had 3 spilt return ticket I found them very cumbersome having to pull it out for each barrier and guard, making sure cash or my football ticket didn't fall out with it. It was the last time I chose to buy one.

 

[Runningaround]

That's extremely misleading, anywhere in the South, Wales, or Scotland you're getting a CCST when you a ticket office (except the tiny number of LNER and Avanti ones).

That whole argument doesnt make much sense, a phone is the most common target for theft and is constantly being taken in and out of pockets so far more likely to be lost or misplaced. Unless you spend the time and expense self-printing every single ticket or you're travelling with someone for the entire journey this wouldn't help at all. And at any rate in what I'm sure is a well above average number of journeys I've never lost a ticket (Once thought I had on the Paris Metro but it was just so small I couldn't find it at first).

I don't get why some users here are so keen on taking 'sides' here anyway. Personally I usually buy my tickets at the ticket office, simply because there's no reason to book online. It's more convenient and much faster without needing to select any journeys or make reservations I won't use anyway, plus I can pay cash if I want. Recently also started using Tap2Go for short hops on SWR, as that actually does have the advantages of not needing to do anything except touch in, and not even needing to know whether you'll need a single or a return - or worry about keeping a charged phone. While e-tickets are perceived as more convenient by many, I'd bet that the majority using them are actually spending longer purchasing tickets than they would just gettting them at the station, but I wouldn't try and argue for things should be made harder for them.

As it's been said. You have backup with online tickets, you can print and re-print them, you can use another device to show the ticket. You cannot do any of this with traditional tickets and will have to repurchase them again if you lose them.

When you buy online tickets you can do this wherever and whenever you want in your own time. You will see the options available and if you use a split ticket site may find a significant saving. A Booking office will sell you what you asked for, they will rarely suggest a split they defiantly won't if pushed for time and will move on to the next passenger.
And if you are buying for a future journey the computer won't insist on you having your railcard present at point of purchase, you only need it when you travel.

 

[Runningaround]

I still use traditional tickets bought from the ticket office. I like the simple convenience of having something physical and tangible. No hassle having to mess around printing out e-tickets and using your own printer ink. Same reason why I have walls of shelves full of blurays. I could stream them but I like having physical versions.

You don't have to print them, you can if you want backup, what backup do you have for your physical tickets? And how much hassle is switching a phone on over digging out your RC and tickets from your pocket?

 

[elaine66]

I put the ticket in PassAndroid on the screen just before disembarking, tap the barcode, switch the screen off and put the phone in a pocket. When I pull the phone out again, the screen displays the barcode automatically. Pressing the back arrow displays the full ticket info, upside down ready to show gateline staff more easily without trying to turn the phone. All easier than paper and as easy as card, with the bonus of being able to keep backups and no danger of the barrier retaining a ticket still needed for transfer, expense claim or delay repay.

That's useful to know - does anyone else have a recommendation for an Android app for e-tickets? I made my first e-ticket journey a few weeks ago and did not like it at all. I think the problem was that I was using the Adobe app for the pdf, so between the phone locking and the Adobe app defaulting to showing document information over part of the barcode, I just could not get the gates at either end to scan the ticket. My preference is definitely for paper tickets if there's enough time to get them by post, but I hate being defeated by technology so would like to get a smoother e-ticket experience working as well if possible.

 

[miklcct]

I've just noticed that the LNR app now only offers e-ticket as the only fulfillment option for my upcoming journey - not even Ticket on Departure.

So people are now forced to use e-tickets without being given the choice.

 

[Deafdoggie]

That's useful to know - does anyone else have a recommendation for an Android app for e-tickets? I made my first e-ticket journey a few weeks ago and did not like it at all. I think the problem was that I was using the Adobe app for the pdf, so between the phone locking and the Adobe app defaulting to showing document information over part of the barcode, I just could not get the gates at either end to scan the ticket. My preference is definitely for paper tickets if there's enough time to get them by post, but I hate being defeated by technology so would like to get a smoother e-ticket experience working as well if possible.

Whilst many people will shoot me down, you can't beat trainline for ease.
Everything is in the one simple app very easy to display ticket. You can put them in your "wallet" if you want too. You can print them. You get an email too.

 

[OscarH]

That's useful to know - does anyone else have a recommendation for an Android app for e-tickets? I made my first e-ticket journey a few weeks ago and did not like it at all. I think the problem was that I was using the Adobe app for the pdf, so between the phone locking and the Adobe app defaulting to showing document information over part of the barcode, I just could not get the gates at either end to scan the ticket. My preference is definitely for paper tickets if there's enough time to get them by post, but I hate being defeated by technology so would like to get a smoother e-ticket experience working as well if possible.

Using the PDF does tend to give a worse experience in my opinion. Personally my preference is Google Wallet (or Google Pay as its still called a lot of places places), a lot of retailers will give you Google Wallet link so you have choice with that one

You can put them in your "wallet" if you want too. You can print them. You get an email too.

I don't have an opinion about the ease of the Trainline app, but none of these points are even close to unique to trainline, the last 2 in particular are just a fundamental part of e-tickets

 

[Deafdoggie]

I don't have an opinion about the ease of the Trainline app, but none of these points are even close to unique to trainline, the last 2 in particular are just a fundamental part of e-tickets

I should have been clearer. I meant you don't lose any of that with Trainline, but the app is very easy to use, particularly for those unfamiliar with things like that. But you still get everything else too

 

[43096]

That's useful to know - does anyone else have a recommendation for an Android app for e-tickets? I made my first e-ticket journey a few weeks ago and did not like it at all. I think the problem was that I was using the Adobe app for the pdf, so between the phone locking and the Adobe app defaulting to showing document information over part of the barcode, I just could not get the gates at either end to scan the ticket. My preference is definitely for paper tickets if there's enough time to get them by post, but I hate being defeated by technology so would like to get a smoother e-ticket experience working as well if possible.

I don’t know about Android, but on my iPhone I generally save the eTicket PDF to Dropbox. The Dropbox app opens PDFs fine and I also have the option to view on any other device and can also set them to save a copy locally to the phone so if there’s no network I can still get the ticket.

 

[TUC]

I have been in the situation of being on an XC train arriving into Leeds and waiting until the last possible moment before buying an Advance ticket for a Northern train that wasn't an official connection. I had the ticket in my basket and only pressed purchase as I boarded the train. The doors shut seconds later.

This wouldn't be possible by any other method and saved me a few quid.

Same here. If a train is significantly delayed, why would I want to buy a ticket until the moment that I see it approaching the platform and so know it hasn't bern cancelled or further delayed?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Same here. If a train is significantly delayed, why would I want to buy a ticket until the moment that I see it approaching the platform and so know it hasn't bern cancelled or further delayed?

I've done similar when arriving at MKC on an Avanti train and there's a fairly tight LNR connection to Bletchley; if it misses I'd take the bus instead.

 

[ashkeba]

I should have been clearer. I meant you don't lose any of that with Trainline, but the app is very easy to use, particularly for those unfamiliar with things like that. But you still get everything else too

So it will also display tickets on the locked phone? Can you load tickets from email onto it? And does it let you scan tickets into it? (The scanning in by PassAndroid is clunky.)

 

[Deafdoggie]

So it will also display tickets on the locked phone? Can you load tickets from email onto it? And does it let you scan tickets into it? (The scanning in by PassAndroid is clunky.)

If you purchase through the Trainline app they are there. You simply get an email too, but there isn't anything to download.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If you purchase through the Trainline app they are there. You simply get an email too, but there isn't anything to download.

PDFs are either linked or attached (I forget which) to the emails if you prefer those, plus a link for an Apple Wallet PKPASS and probably a Google Wallet whatever-that-is. But the easy thing to do is to just show it in the app, though this won't display on a locked phone I don't see why unlocking it is much of a hardship.

 

[TUC]

It does strike me that many members of the public who know far less about rail than people on this forum are just getting on successfully with electronic and mobile tickets without the concerns and hypothetical issues raised here being a problem.

 

[ThameslinkUser]

I prefer to use ticket offices as they're the only places that I can use the compensation that GTR provides me (RTVs) when they feel BACS is too taxing of a process.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I prefer to use ticket offices as they're the only places that I can use the compensation that GTR provides me (RTVs) when they feel BACS is too taxing of a process.

RTVs are a pain and really need to go away.

 

[Runningaround]

It does strike me that many members of the public who know far less about rail than people on this forum are just getting on successfully with electronic and mobile tickets without the concerns and hypothetical issues raised here being a problem.

It also appears that booking office staff make it harder to purchase tickets especially ones with railcards, you can get two different outcomes from the clerk depending on how they've interpreted the rules, some won't sell you the cheapest, others will sell you splits with a lot of tutting and some will close the blinds whenever they feel like it and leave the ''real'' ticket passengers left to fend off RPI's and guards who won't believe you it's closed as it's 9 - 5 on their information screen.
Just buy online you save a lot of hassle.

 

[Re 4/4]

It does strike me that many members of the public who know far less about rail than people on this forum are just getting on successfully with electronic and mobile tickets without the concerns and hypothetical issues raised here being a problem.

It's like with lifts and stairs: for most people, if the lift is out of order, you can take the stairs. It might be less convenient, but you can do it if necessary.

For a small number of disabled people, if the lift is out of order and the only other way off the platform is stairs, they cannot get off at all. So the lift option is important even if very few people need it.

There are also a small number of people who, for various reasons, cannot use mobile devices, or sometimes the internet, at all. Not in the sense of they'd have to learn something new, they are physically/mentally unable to do so.

I would hope that, despite the headlines every time a passenger with a wheelchair gets left on a train or similar, people on a rail forum - many of whom are rail staff - are more disability aware than the average person, especially with regard to how disabilities can affect your mobility.

To dismiss these issues as "hypothetical" sounds to me like you are not an expert on this issue.

 

[sor]

I can't speak for most people, but for me a TVM is easier. I'm often passing one anyway, if not I'm already going to be at the station when I get the train and can do it there. It's a quick job.

If I print myself I have to turn on the printer, either fight with the poor WiFi reception in my house or crawl around swapping the cable from my partner's PC to my laptop and back again (or email it to them if they're around), set the scaling to a sensible size and either fold or cut to fit the A4 sheet in a manner that allows it to be stored sensibly. I'd better make sure I don't put the paper down and have it blend into all the other A4 sheets of white paper around, whereas a proper ticket is a very recognisable orange.


As stated before, if there's no alternative I'll switch, until then I have my preference. That preference also extends to event tickets where there is an option.

I am not. Even a pdf requires an app (or computer program) to be displayed electronically even if this is not a ticket retailer's one.


Please just accept that some people don't like etickets and stop trying to convert us. I know what is easier and a more pleasant experience for myself and will continue to use it for as long as it remains an option.

To add the counter view, I *wish* I could have e-tickets (smartcards would be my ultimate preference as it leaves everything in their court) but since my most common long distance trip involves a cross-London element it seems this is not yet possible despite it being on crossrail, so orange tickets it is. I don't go near a train station unless I'm actually travelling, so to be able to print it out (and have it on a phone/tablet, which I need for the railcard anyway) would be more convenient for me.

my only real whinge is that (at least using the Greater Anglia system) they don't offer an option to have two e-tickets (ie two singles, such as when they did their £5 promotion) on the same PDF. I have one of those HP pay-by-the-page printers so this is an actual cost, instead I had to mess around a bit to get them on the same page for printing.

PDFs are a standard format. Readers are built into every mainstream web browser, Android and iOS, and you can download third party ones too if you wish.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's like with lifts and stairs: for most people, if the lift is out of order, you can take the stairs. It might be less convenient, but you can do it if necessary.

For a small number of disabled people, if the lift is out of order and the only other way off the platform is stairs, they cannot get off at all. So the lift option is important even if very few people need it.

With ticketing it is a bit different, though, as you can offer those who can't (not won't, can't) use the TVM or buy online or by phone (telesales) totally free travel. There are not many deafblind people (I think that's the right term) who travel without a chaperone.

 

[tomuk]

PDFs are a standard format.

Rather. PDFs are a format that can follow various standards.

 

[AdamWW]

I've just noticed that the LNR app now only offers e-ticket as the only fulfillment option for my upcoming journey - not even Ticket on Departure.

So people are now forced to use e-tickets without being given the choice.

I thought that recently when booking with LNER, then saw a (deliberately?) obscure link to click on if you don't have access to a phone/printer, which then made the TOD option appear.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've just noticed that the LNR app now only offers e-ticket as the only fulfillment option for my upcoming journey - not even Ticket on Departure.

So people are now forced to use e-tickets without being given the choice.

If you're buying from a mobile phone app, only the most stubborn aren't going to want the ticket on that self same mobile phone. Offering other options is just confusing.

Most LNR tickets are walk-up anyway (though there are a few Advances on some flows). Just cut the phone out and buy it from the TVM you'd collect it from anyway.

 

[AdamWW]

It does strike me that many members of the public who know far less about rail than people on this forum are just getting on successfully with electronic and mobile tickets without the concerns and hypothetical issues raised here being a problem.

They may also be bilssfully unaware of the trouble you can get into if you can't show a valid ticket.

I don't trust any mobile ticket app not to lose my ticket at the wrong moment - which is why it's great to see "pdf" ticketing seeming to become the default, and even if you only have your phone to show it on there are various ways of doing it.

I believe that in Czechia all you have to do is show the reservation code which could just be scribbled on a piece of paper - I think linked to your name and with a requirement to show appropriate ID.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's an awful lot easier if you have compulsory identity - all you'd need to do is enter the ID card or passport number and say the first name as a "checksum" and you'd be able to pull up everything booked under that person.