No!. . . they can't ask me to pay more once I've purchased them can they?
Usually. But not always.so it could just be,as someone said earlier,that the cheapest advance fares aren't always released first?
so it could just be,as someone said earlier,that the cheapest advance fares aren't always released first?
Same date ? Same train ? Same everything ?
But..........there seems to be a growing suspicion that the cheapest Advance fares are not always released first.
Perhaps before the quota on the Scotrail connecting service was available. Scotrail reservations are not open as far in advance as East Coast reservations.yep,both times were on the east coast website.
I repeatedly checked the same journey over a couple of weeks (London Kings Cross to Huddersfield) whilst deciding which ticket to buy. I finally ended up purchasing an £18 Advance on a peak-time train out of KGX just before Easter.
It's impossible that somebody had it "in their basket" all that time, so I'm clueless as to how this cheap ticket appeared when all I was seeing before was £30+.
Some TOCs not releasing their cheapest Advance fares first suggests to me that maybe they are beginning to move towards a level of sophistication in revenue management that hasn't been noticable in the industry up to now. Releasing a fare that they think will sell, and then later introducing a lower fare if the previous higher fare not be selling as well as expected, is a tactic sometimes employed by the airline industry.
I have no direct information to suggest that this is actually what some TOCs have started to do, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were doing so. Moving from a simplistic tier 1 allocation, tier 2 allocation, etc to more dynamic demand-based pricing wouldn't be a bad thing for the TOCs, but would introduce a new level of complexity for customers used to the existing simplistic model rather than airline-style dynamic pricing.
As long as the TOCs are not misleadingly advising passengers that the cheapest fares are always available first, I see nothing wrong and it'd be a logical step towards more optimised revenue management / maximisation.
Andy
That is my understanding.Some TOCs not releasing their cheapest Advance fares first suggests to me that maybe they are beginning to move towards a level of sophistication in revenue management that hasn't been noticable in the industry up to now. . . .
Its not at all clear what you are personally disagreeing with. The rest of your post refers to other people' annoyance and to airline tickets. I'm also unclear what is annoying about finding cheaper tickets closer to the date of travel than at present (unless of course you had convinced yourself that they wouldn't become available closer to the date of travel).I personally disagree with it.
At least the list of possible fares is public knowledge for any given flow so you can know if the fare you're being offered is the lowest possible tier for that journey.
At least the list of possible fares is public knowledge for any given flow so you can know if the fare you're being offered is the lowest possible tier for that journey.
Its not at all clear what you are personally disagreeing with. The rest of your post refers to other people' annoyance and to airline tickets. I'm also unclear what is annoying about finding cheaper tickets closer to the date of travel than at present (unless of course you had convinced yourself that they wouldn't become available closer to the date of travel).
I'll have to add, that I do look forward to opportunities to find low-priced tickets which may become available for journeys booked nearer to the date of travel, and I'd happier if TOCs were doing more to fill some more of their unused capacity.