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TOC plans regarding advance tickets if destinations become no-go (Coronavirus)?

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Trackman

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Avanti have now said you can change an advance as many times as you want, also opened the advance booking window until mid July.
 
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alistairlees

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My grandad tried to change advance tickets bought on EMR for Tutbury and Hatton- Blackpool and was advised he would need to talk to Avanti.

Do I need to go after EMR then as they are the retailer?
If he bought them from EMR then they should change the date / time of travel for him. It does not matter who he is travelling with.
 

alex17595

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If he bought them from EMR then they should change the date / time of travel for him. It does not matter who he is travelling with.
Cheers. I bought them for him however they will not let him change them so I will have to ring.

He said they told him it will cost £10 to change them however both companies website say they will change them for free.
 

PG

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Seems to be deliberate rather than a mistake.
https://www.trainsplit.com/coronavirus.aspx
Sound like they are stating a perfectly valid reason why they are unable to waive the admin fee.

Back 10 years ago when I joined the forum, having been lurking for a while before that, finding out how the fares system was set up was something of a dark art.
IIRC Trainsplit pioneered the automation of the split ticket process with the involvement of some forum members. Without their early work I doubt we would have reached the situation we have now where a major industry player has finally acknowledged split ticketing as legitimate so it is no longer something frowned upon but an acceptable practice.
 

westv

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That’s not correct; your ticket has to be valid for travel between 17th March and 30th April. You could apply later (within 28 days of the last day of validity of your ticket, if it’s not Advance).
I read the advice as you currently have until 30/4 to amend your ticket for free not that tickets have to be valid before 30/4.
 

tivoli

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I have an advance ticket for early April which involves an underground connection Kings Cross to Paddington, in view of TFL's urge not to use their services for non-essential travel, does my ticket become invalid and therefore refundable?
 

Kite159

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Sound like they are stating a perfectly valid reason why they are unable to waive the admin fee.

Back 10 years ago when I joined the forum, having been lurking for a while before that, finding out how the fares system was set up was something of a dark art.
IIRC Trainsplit pioneered the automation of the split ticket process with the involvement of some forum members. Without their early work I doubt we would have reached the situation we have now where a major industry player has finally acknowledged split ticketing as legitimate so it is no longer something frowned upon but an acceptable practice.

Sadly by charging admin fees to change advance tickets, they have probably lost a good number of customers for when things get back to normal. "Well I would use Train Split, but they were inflexible during the Virus outbreak when other train booking websites were waiving booking fees, they were still charging the fee, so I will use TrainPal instead".

Especially as they have lost their unique selling point of split ticketing, as other websites provide a similar service.
 

E759

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Sadly by charging admin fees to change advance tickets, they have probably lost a good number of customers for when things get back to normal. "Well I would use Train Split, but they were inflexible during the Virus outbreak when other train booking websites were waiving booking fees, they were still charging the fee, so I will use TrainPal instead".

Especially as they have lost their unique selling point of split ticketing, as other websites provide a similar service.
A list of other websites selling split tickets would be useful please. Not just for the reason you mention but in case TrainSplit cease trading given their own statement implies an unhealthy balance sheet.
 

Mike@Raileasy

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Isn't that oversimplistic? You need to amend as far out as possible to a train which is the same price. If you pick a cheaper one you will lose some of the residual value.

(I recall playing this game with sleasyJet flights for work during the ash cloud crisis)
Same operator is good enough in these circumstances. No fees if you then have to change it again (and again) til you actually want/need to travel.
 

Mike@Raileasy

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A list of other websites selling split tickets would be useful please. Not just for the reason you mention but in case TrainSplit cease trading given their own statement implies an unhealthy balance sheet.
We are OK and just trying to ensure we can get thro this. The retailers association is trying to get fees recompensed as part of a TOC bail out. If that happens we will refund fees.
 

Mike@Raileasy

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Sound like they are stating a perfectly valid reason why they are unable to waive the admin fee.

Back 10 years ago when I joined the forum, having been lurking for a while before that, finding out how the fares system was set up was something of a dark art.
IIRC Trainsplit pioneered the automation of the split ticket process with the involvement of some forum members. Without their early work I doubt we would have reached the situation we have now where a major industry player has finally acknowledged split ticketing as legitimate so it is no longer something frowned upon but an acceptable practice.
Exactly, what a great comment, thank you. Difference now is Trainline raised £tens of millions via its IPO so it can afford to waive fees in the hope of getting recompensed. We do not want to take that chance but will refund fees if it happens. If people decide they are not going to book with TS in the future for the sake of this £10, I'd ask how much has TS saved you in the past and wouldn't paying a higher price as a matter of principle be cutting off your nose to spite your face?
 

Mike@Raileasy

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Exactly, what a great comment, thank you. Difference now is Trainline raised £tens of millions via its IPO so it can afford to waive fees in the hope of getting recompensed. We do not want to take that chance but will refund fees if it happens. If people decide they are not going to book with TS in the future for the sake of this £10, I'd ask how much has TS saved you in the past and wouldn't paying a higher price as a matter of principle be cutting off your nose to spite your face?
And of course, it's "no skin off a TOC's face", they are in line for a bail out. Apologies for the anatomical whatsits :)
 

Bletchleyite

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Same operator is good enough in these circumstances. No fees if you then have to change it again (and again) til you actually want/need to travel.

I thought they were saying fee free changes i.e. no £10 admin fee, but the normal situation of value lost if you change to a cheaper train or pay the difference for a more expensive one stood?
 

Mike@Raileasy

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Sadly by charging admin fees to change advance tickets, they have probably lost a good number of customers for when things get back to normal. "Well I would use Train Split, but they were inflexible during the Virus outbreak when other train booking websites were waiving booking fees, they were still charging the fee, so I will use TrainPal instead".

Especially as they have lost their unique selling point of split ticketing, as other websites provide a similar service.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery as they say. The splitting algorithm that powers TS is way better than IPTIS that TrainPal use, not just for splits but alternative journeys too. Obvious really, TrainPal only does one splitting point.

We are a small private company who work with guys on this Forum to offer splits, we are not part of a huge Chinese travel company CTrip with deep pockets. And we want to continue to offer cheaper fares at the end of this whenever that is, that is why we are charging this admin fee.

Not only are TOCs increasing costs by their non refund policy because our call centre has gone ballistic but there's no sign RDG are giving us a break from all the "charge backs" they make on retailers.

Now don't get me started on aren't all the costs of retailing already included in ticket prices....
 

Mike@Raileasy

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I thought they were saying fee free changes i.e. no £10 admin fee, but the normal situation of value lost if you change to a cheaper train or pay the difference for a more expensive one stood?
If they insist people book spurious journeys and continue to do so as booking horizons open up, they can forget about getting matching the cost of the original IMO.
 

E759

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We are OK and just trying to ensure we can get thro this. The retailers association is trying to get fees recompensed as part of a TOC bail out. If that happens we will refund fees.
Sounds good. Thank you for replying here. Your service to date has been exemplary and I wouldn’t be making half the trips I do if it wasn’t for you. I’ll re-book and claim refund as each trip approaches.
 

Mike@Raileasy

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Is it one £10 fee per booking or one per ticket?
per booking and only the first rebook

the other thing I'd like to raise here is that we asked if there could be special dispensation in case the customer or we couldn't rebook before the travel date. Rejected.
 

E759

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Exactly, what a great comment, thank you. Difference now is Trainline raised £tens of millions via its IPO so it can afford to waive fees in the hope of getting recompensed. We do not want to take that chance but will refund fees if it happens. If people decide they are not going to book with TS in the future for the sake of this £10, I'd ask how much has TS saved you in the past and wouldn't paying a higher price as a matter of principle be cutting off your nose to spite your face?
TrainSplit enables me to make more trips. Say I decide to spend £500 a month on trips I spend £500. So 6 trips with TrainSplit or 3 trips without splitting. No brainier for me, more trips please! So yes, THANK YOU for helping me with my Life Goals
 

Mike@Raileasy

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Sounds good. Thank you for replying here. Your service to date has been exemplary and I wouldn’t be making half the trips I do if it wasn’t for you. I’ll re-book and claim refund as each trip approaches.
Thank you for your past and future support.
 

Mike@Raileasy

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TrainSplit enables me to make more trips. Say I decide to spend £500 a month on trips I spend £500. So 6 trips with TrainSplit or 3 trips without splitting. No brainier for me, more trips please! So yes, THANK YOU for helping me with my Life Goals
Wow what a wonderful thing to say! When you make those additional 2 trips you will also be putting more money into the local economies so better for more people.

I will make sure my colleagues see this, it makes such a nice change from the gutter social media that is Twitter. We have just had someone who works with us on TS have to stop, it was affecting her health.

I wish people would keep a little perspective, it's the virus that is potential armaggedon, not a tenner admin fee.

Thank you again.
 

Mike@Raileasy

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You're welcome, credit where credits due :)

When you take the value of your own time into consideration as well, the ease of use and speed of TS saves more than the value of the splits it finds...
Thank you. When this is over, they are going to need cheaper fares to get people travelling again. Like splits :)
 

trainophile

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per booking and only the first rebook

the other thing I'd like to raise here is that we asked if there could be special dispensation in case the customer or we couldn't rebook before the travel date. Rejected.

So if I bought outward and return tickets for two people in one transaction, i.e. four tickets, that's still only one £10 fee to amend? Sorry to keep on but I need to work out what to do.
 

Kite159

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Question for Mike, I've got one transaction for a return London to Liverpool booked for early April which I will probably change for a head up on the Friday night, come back on the Saturday trip in June. Advance tickets for the Friday evening are already available but not for the Saturday. Would I have to wait for the advance tickets for the Saturday to become available to book a return, submitting my original booking for a refund?

Or can I book the Friday night now, wait for the Saturday tickets to become available, booking up when they do become available and submit both new reference numbers with the original booking for the refund? (Only on grounds of being able to secure a good price ticket on the Friday evening which might sell out before the Saturday tickets become available).
 
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