LNER Seat Reservations Policy (prioritising reservations for Advance fares over walk-up fares)

helinlouise · 28 Dec 2018

Hi,

I’m wondering if anyone can shed any light on LNER seating policy as it’s driving me nuts.

I’m a frequent user between KGX and NCL and until Virgin came along, I could regularly book a seat. Now with LNER it’s the same.

If you try and book a seat on the 18.19 on a Friday even weeks out they will say no seats available even though they will sell you one with a different ticket. But this is happening on a very regular basis now.

I conducted an experiment and called up to book a seat and they asked me what ticket. When I replied a off peak single they said no seats available. I put the phone down and rang back and when asked replied ‘standard open’. This got me a seat.

I feel annoyed that nearly £140 doesn’t get me a seat when there are bookable ones on the train.

Has anyone else noticed this is getting much worse and who can I complain to?

Thanks for any replies.

Helen

RailUK Forums

takno · 28 Dec 2018

I've not been able to book a seat on the website when I buy an off peak open ticket the last few times I've tried. I was assuming it was just the website or industry-wide reservation system being useless though. Either way the on train displays weren't working once I got on the train anyway, so I wouldn't say it affected the journey

helinlouise · 28 Dec 2018

I’m a frequent user (2-3 times a week) and this has been happening for a long time now but seems to be getting worse.

I feel there is a policy in place to only give seats to more expensive tickets in order to force you to buy them.

Chrism20 · 28 Dec 2018

Doesn’t look like much has changed since you asked this last year.

They clearly have a policy not to issue reservations for off peak tickets on that service.

Have you contacted them to ask why?

https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...e-on-cheaper-tickets-vtec-from-london.157574/

Tetchytyke · 28 Dec 2018

Same managers, same policy. Nothing has changed with LNER, but then the rot at VTEC wasn't the beardy logo, it was the appalling management rinsing passengers and staff for every penny, and they are all still in their cushy jobs.

They quota reservations for the super off peak, and not just on those trains. Saturday morning trains from Newcastle to Edinburgh are the same. Why? I assume to force people into buying Advances, for which they don't have to share the revenue.

superalbs · 29 Dec 2018

Are they even allowed to refuse seat reservations to certain ticket types?

yorkie · 29 Dec 2018

superalbs said:
Are they even allowed to refuse seat reservations to certain ticket types?

I'm not sure. I suggest:

1) asking LNER if this is official policy
2) ask Transport Focus if they are aware of this, and what their views are
3) ask DfT if LNER have their permission to do this

I believe TPE may be doing this too.

LNER will benefit if people book Advance fares instead, as otherwise a proportion of the revenue goes to other operators, where applicable (e.g. GTR, Grand Central, Hull Trains etc)

helinlouise · 29 Dec 2018

Thanks for the replies. Since I last posted the situation has got much worse and not just on a Friday night.

I travel at all times of day (limited to super off peak times) and weekends and I’m seeing the same thing happening with reservations no matter when I travel.

I wasn’t aware they were allowed to quota seats for specific tickets but I’ll write as Yorkie advised.

As you can see it really annoys me that I’m not allowed to book a seat with a ticket unless I pay for a more expensive ticket!

BluePenguin · 29 Dec 2018

helinlouise said:
Thanks for the replies. Since I last posted the situation has got much worse and not just on a Friday night.

I travel at all times of day (limited to super off peak times) and weekends and I’m seeing the same thing happening with reservations no matter when I travel.

I wasn’t aware they were allowed to quota seats for specific tickets but I’ll write as Yorkie advised.

As you can see it really annoys me that I’m not allowed to book a seat with a ticket unless I pay for a more expensive ticket!

Why not lie about what ticket you have? When the guard comes round I doubt they will make a fuss and say that you are not entilted to your reserved seat unless you pay £200 to upgrade your ticket. That would be shocking.

I am tempted to try this out with my "cheap ticket" on my journey tomorrow actually....

BluePenguin · 29 Dec 2018

I am curious, lets say you call to book a seat and are lied to about none being available. You later find that there are infact lots of empty seats on the train much to your surprise. Would you be able to persue LNER for any compensation because of their outright lie?

Also what happens if you can't book an advance ticket because all of walk up passengers reserved all the seats?

What a shambles!

Megafuss · 29 Dec 2018

Open question. How many seats on a train do you think should be reserveable for open tickets compared to unreserved seats and AP tickets?

Starmill · 29 Dec 2018

Other train companies have the inverse policy, where only walk-up ticket holders get to reserve a seat.

A Challenge · 29 Dec 2018

Starmill said:
Other train companies have the inverse policy, where only walk-up ticket holders get to reserve a seat.

The holders of Standard Open tickets are walk up as well as Off Peak tickets, so I don't understand the relevance of this?

Starmill · 29 Dec 2018

A Challenge said:
The holders of Standard Open tickets are walk up as well as Off Peak tickets, so I don't understand the relevance of this?

Standard Open tickets no longer exist and haven't done for over a decade.

The original poster makes the point that people can get reserved seats with Advance tickets, but not with their Super Off Peak (a 'walk up') ticket. I was making the point that the opposite situation is what prevails elsewhere e.g Transport for Wales.

A Challenge · 29 Dec 2018

Starmill said:
Standard Open tickets no longer exist and haven't done for over a decade.

The original poster makes the point that people can get reserved seats with Advance tickets, but not with their Super Off Peak (a 'walk up') ticket. I was making the point that the opposite situation is what prevails elsewhere e.g Transport for Wales.

The OP is saying that they got a reservation with a Standard Open ticket (whether that is what they said I assume they meant an Anytime Return), but not with a Off Peak Single.

mark-h · 29 Dec 2018

yorkie said:
I suggest:

1) asking LNER if this is official policy

LNER are now subject to Freedom of Information requests. See previous questions asked via What Do they Know?

cf111 · 29 Dec 2018

I suppose it depends on time/where you are but would it be an option to buy the off-peak ticket and then visit a (non-LNER?) ticket office to ask for the reservation?

Not a step I think you should have to make, I hasten to add.

CyrusWuff · 30 Dec 2018

cf111 said:
I suppose it depends on time/where you are but would it be an option to buy the off-peak ticket and then visit a (non-LNER?) ticket office to ask for the reservation?

When a Ticket Office makes a standalone reservation, they're supposed to select the appropriate ticket type so it comes out of the correct quota, thus should get the same result as the OP.

Whether they do or not may require some shopping around...

Jonfun · 30 Dec 2018

That's really poor. I can see why they'd do it to make sure there are enough reservations for the advances, but really reservations should be first come first served regardless of ticket type.

LNER Seat Reservations Policy (prioritising reservations for Advance fares over walk-up fares)

helinlouise

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takno

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helinlouise

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Chrism20

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Tetchytyke

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superalbs

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yorkie

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helinlouise

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Megafuss

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Starmill

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A Challenge

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mark-h

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