Just booked a trip to York in May. I couldn't decide whether to go for P@H or ToD. I plumped for P@H, but a thought just occurred to me: I used my credit card as ID. What happens if I don't have it any more, eg if I loose it or it's stolen?
Just booked a trip to York in May. I couldn't decide whether to go for P@H or ToD. I plumped for P@H, but a thought just occurred to me: I used my credit card as ID. What happens if I don't have it any more, eg if I loose it or it's stolen?
Just booked a trip to York in May. I couldn't decide whether to go for P@H or ToD. I plumped for P@H, but a thought just occurred to me: I used my credit card as ID. What happens if I don't have it any more, eg if I loose it or it's stolen?
The terms make clear that if you cannot produce the card that the ticket was booked with, a full single fare will be charged as if no ticket were held. I think East Coast policy is the same as the others, but may be mistaken...
As Gadgetman says, if there is clear evidence that the traveller is genuine, good staff will exercise discretion, but it's always best to comply with the rule and then the problem doesn't arise.
If a traveller has lost the card that a ticket was booked with and the ticket is still in date, get on to the agengy that it was booked with straight away and see what can be done to help you.
I await the first response from inside the industry along the lines of "Pax have duty to comply with NRCoC"
:roll:Well, don't they? Do they not click that they agree to the retailers terms and conditions as well as the NRCoC?
Although I have never purchased such a ticket, we (staff) have been lead to believe the customer is reminded numerous times throughout the booking process what supporting documents will be required with a print at home ticket.
What good are reminders if the selected ID is no longer available?
I used this system on Virgin last week and the train manager on both legs just took a cursory look at the ticket and didn't ask for the debit card.
As long as the ticket scanning equipment is working that should be fine on EC. No ticket barcode will scan twice.
It is obvious. It states that you are entering the info for the passenger.I was caught out my this yesterday. A friend came down from Edinburgh to see me and I booked him a train ticket to get home. Noticed EC are now offering print at home so thought I would give that a try and save myself a trip to the station to pick up the tickets.
Unfortunately, when I selected print at home I did not notice that the selection of a debit card, its last four digits and name were for ID and not payment purposes. Result is that my friend boarded at KX yesterday with a ticket in my name not his and was stung for a full fare from London to Edinburgh when the gripper came round, at £150 ish.
I am cross about this. It is my fault for not paying enough attention when booking, but I think that it needs to be made more obvious on the EC website that the person named must be travelling or you will be liable for the full fare. Also, if they are introducing these new systems the revenue protection people should show some discretion in these early stages when people are not familiar with the product and can make a genuine mistake.
Oh.That wasn't aimed at you, my previous response covered your opening post.
There is really a simple procedure that they should have on the booking page and then the print out
Nominated traveller ......................
That way it gets filled in online and even if its different to the person who purchased it and as long as the nominated traveller has ID then it should be fine.
The one thing that isnt rocket science is that.
What on earth benefit is there in P@H compared to TOD? Unless you are travelling from a (rare) station with ToD or to avoid queuing for TOD, I guess?
Or do you mean that an individual scanner will reject the same barcode twice - but a second different scanner will not reject it? And if so, how would that help if the ticket was not tied to a specific train? I'll travel on this train, you get the next one....
This seems to be the norm on XC & EMT as well. On maybe 30 journeys my card has only been examined once. Contrast this with Germany, where my card has always been inspected.
My understanding from EC is that your description is an accurate summary of their policy.Not sure on East Coast's policy, but on XC and Virgin, if you are not able to produce the card used to pay for the tickets then your ticket becomes invalid and a new ticket will be sold.
I would be cautious to draw the conclusion "one will be ok" from "in x journey's, one's card debit card has never been inspected".
None. (Of course).What good are reminders if the selected ID is no longer available?
But from a pragmatic point of view, it is worth remembering that P@H tickets are (currently) only Advances, and therefore come with a seat reservation, which should correspond to a reservation on the back of the seat being occupied for the journey. Whilst this is no evidential support whatsoever, it certainly would be evidence of abuse if the passenger was not sitting in the seat identified on the P@H confirmation.
[the suggestion I'm making here is in complete contradiction to sugestions I often make to passengers unfamiliar with EC, that they may sit in seats (or coaches) which are more attractive than their booked seats. The P@H system does tie a passenger to their booked seat in a more binding sense for the purpose of confirming validity].
East Coast Customer Services said:If a situation arose where your card was stolen or lost prior to travel and therefore would render the ticket invalid, this is an option we can action in order to allow you to travel. We require customers to contact the our web support team if they have any issues with the card and they will send an authorisation to travel to be sent to you and then another form of I.D used.
DB offer this service across their network and they just require an acceptable ID that matches the lead passenger on the ticket - whether that is a credit/debit card, ID card or railcard.