Advance Ticket Availability

[user9999999999]

Hi all Just looking for some general advice on a query regarding advance tickets. Apologies if this is a stupid question or the context is irrelevant!

Since December I have had a new job which requires travel to Manchester from Liverpool (I'm hybrid so only go once or twice a week). I've been figuring out since then the best value way to travel (originally I had a flexi season ticket, I think this was around £140 for 8 day passes) which I quickly realised was not the best value (I travel Edge Hill -> Deansgate). I then purchased advance tickets as I usually know at least one day before which days I'll be in the office (always Tuesday and then usually Thursday), these were around £15 per day. I'm eligible for a railcard so purchased this and have used for past few months and have had great savings from this so really chuffed! This has brought my daily travel rate down to about £10 for 2 advance tickets (I of course need to be careful to ensure these are advance tickets so my railcard is eligible for my morning commute). My only issue is - why are advance tickets not always available? Occasionally I will try to purchase my Tuesday ticket on Sunday/Monday but can only purchase an Anytime return. Usually this doesn't bother me as it's around £13 (and still eligible for my railcard discount, as far as I'm aware?) - this has only happened a couple of times.

The reason I'm enquiring, as yesterday, I only needed to purchase a ticket for my morning commute (I was staying late for meetings at work so my partner could pick me up as he finishes work around 4pm, I was finishing around 5.30pm so plenty of time to get to Manchester) and the advance wasn't available, so I had to buy an Anytime return for £12 (inc railcard disc.) which seems ridiculous when both journeys are £10ish when I purchase advance fares! I also cannot now purchase advance fares until the last week of May at the earliest, meaning my next couple of weeks of commutes will be Anytime returns. Do Advance fares sell out? Please note this is ONLY ever an issue on Tuesdays, I never struggle on any other days of the week, would this also be a contributing factor? Again, apologies if this is obvious, I've never been a frequent rail user until this job!

Thanks in advance, and love the forum! Have found great advice on here so far

 

[Sleepy]

Simple answer - yes Advance fares are limited in number by individual train, quota could be 10 tickets per train or 200 depending on how busy a service is expected to be. Recently DfT have gone Advance ticket mad and they have been introduced for shorter journeys eg. under 30 minutes which presumably affects availability too.

 

[Hadders]

Advance fares are quota controlled and do sell out, when they're gone they're gone.

There is no requirement for them to be offered on any trains at all. Historically they wereonly available of 'quieter' trains to encourage people to travel but this is no longer the case - they are 'the' ticket that TOCs want people to buy for many of their services.

Advance fares at peak commuting times are a strange one, we've seen evidence that they wer used during covid to encourage people to get back into the office but now trains are getting busier again they're not always being offered.

I would not rely on Advance tickets being available for a commute.

 

[Sleepy]

You could also argue some Advance fares are set too low eg. Norwich to London for £12 Advance, while Off Peak single is £71.20 which obviously is a big jump if Advance quota all gone or your plans change at last minute. As Hadders says they were never designed for commuting.

 

[user9999999999]

That is so helpful - thank you for your feedback. I think the main thing that was confusing me was that it only seems to be Tuesdays, and with that only some Tuesdays! I was mostly keen for the advance fares to ensure that my railcard discount was eligible - but with the Anytime day return being priced at £20.49 (not including discount) - this would still be fine, even if used before 10am?

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Sleepy]

The discounted Anytime fare is fine, and for any journey where the discounted fare is below £12 you can still buy the fare at £12 anyway.

 

[Haywain]

You could also argue some Advance fares are set too low eg. Norwich to London for £12 Advance, while Off Peak single is £71.20 which obviously is a big jump if Advance quota all gone or your plans change at last minute.

You have conveniently chosen the lowest level of Advance for that journey, so the jump is never going to be as big as you suggest because higher priced Advances will go on sale when the £12.00 level is sold out.

 

[Joe Paxton]

[...]
I would not rely on Advance tickets being available for a commute.

[My bolding.]

This. Any commuters who do manage to take advantage of Advance tickets should regard it as a bonus, not as something to be expected.

 

[Sleepy]

You have conveniently chosen the lowest level of Advance for that journey, so the jump is never going to be as big as you suggest because higher priced Advances will go on sale when the £12.00 level is sold out.

I get what you mean, but it is quite possible to commute for £46 a day on Advances, when you consider pre-covid peak services only had Anytime or season ticket holders on board & the rail industry is supposed to have severe lack of fares income why does Dft have an obsession with Advance tickets ?

 

[user9999999999]

[My bolding.]

This. Any commuters who do manage to take advantage of Advance tickets should regard it as a bonus, not as something to be expected.

Thank you all for your insight! It wasn't more of an expectation that all my tickets would be advance, I just (wrongly!) thought all tickets purchased before the day would be Advance, and any on the day would be Anytime (I obviously now know this is not the case and there is instead a quota for them before they sell out. I suppose it encourages me to be more organised and proactive if I want to try and take advantage of the savings!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Thank you all for your insight! It wasn't more of an expectation that all my tickets would be advance, I just (wrongly!) thought all tickets purchased before the day would be Advance, and any on the day would be Anytime (I obviously now know this is not the case and there is instead a quota for them before they sell out. I suppose it encourages me to be more organised and proactive if I want to try and take advantage of the savings!

This is one of the reasons why the name isn't perhaps the best. It made sense when the fares first came about but it arguably doesn't now. But there have been countless threads on what ticket type names should be and there's never been a consensus.

 

[Pieman007]

I have been using Advances to get to work on Southern from Havant to East Croydon for the last couple of years, the vast majority of the time paying £7 for either the 0746 or 0818 up and the 1623 / 1953 back .....(Excuse to have a small beverage after work sometimes!)

Since Southern opened up the Advances for post May 2025 timetable, most of my tickets for those trains are at least £10......some evening £16.......so Quotas (and fares) have definitely been tweaked on that service!