Trainpal now allows customers to resell their tickets

[James H]

We've discussed Trainpal (and their slightly odd translations) on this Forum before.

They've now added a feature allowing the resale of tickets.

From the release notes for the iOS app:

With Resell Tickets, you can sell your unwanted tickets to other travellers. If the sale goes through, you'll get a full refund and pay no admin fees, while the buyer will get their ticket at a lower price. Everyone wins!

 

[Haywain]

We've discussed Trainpal (and their slightly odd translations) on this Forum before.

They've now added a feature allowing the resale of tickets.

From the release notes for the iOS app:

Everyone wins? Not if the ticket doesn’t resell.

 

[toffeedanish]

I'm not a user of Trainpal. Two things: Can one resell a ticket for a value higher than the face value? I hope not. Rail tickets are generally not transferable. How is this legally side-stepped?

 

[James H]

The National Rail Conditions of Travel do allow resale of tickets, but not for more than face value.

 

[Haywain]

The National Rail Conditions of Travel do allow resale of tickets, but not for more than face value.

It wouldn’t prevent Trainpal imposing a reseller’s fee or something similar though.

 

[greatkingrat]

If the seller gets a full refund, and the buyer gets the ticket for a lower price, are Trainpal covering the difference?

 

[DelayRepay]

If the seller gets a full refund, and the buyer gets the ticket for a lower price, are Trainpal covering the difference?

Presumably the seller doesn't get the full (original) price, but the difference (discount to the buyer) is less than the admin fee for a refund, hence everyone's a winner.

 

[Haywain]

Presumably the seller doesn't get the full (original) price, but the difference (discount to the buyer) is less than the admin fee for a refund, hence everyone's a winner.

A full refund with no admin fees strongly suugests the full original price, and wouldn't stand up as anything else in court.

 

[Flying Snail]

The only tickets anyone would want to buy "second hand" would be advances no longer available as they would be cheaper than available anywhere else, presumably this is what they mean by buyers getting tickets cheaper.

It all sounds a bit odd.

 

[Adam Williams]

The only tickets anyone would want to buy "second hand" would be advances no longer available as they would be cheaper than available anywhere else

I don't follow. If they let you sell a walk-up for less than face value, and you sell it for $faceValue-£8 but the face value is greater than £15 so you'd otherwise incur a £10 admin fee on a refund, it's still better to sell the walk up (and the buyer gets a discount) - no?

The text about "full refunds" makes it unclear as to whether they actually do allow sale at below face value, though.

 

[XAM2175]

I'm fairly sure that what they mean is that the seller gets the full amount of the ticket's cost back, and the buyer pays face value for the ticket. The reference to "lower price" reads to me as meaning that the buyer saves money compared to buying a higher-tier advance or a flexible ticket.