Advance ticket enquiry: changing travel time

[NSE]

Hey guys, got advances to Stafford and back (London), I'm leaving today (25th) coming back Tuesday, however the lecture I was going back for has been cancelled so I don't need to come back so early, I am currently booked to leave at 10:20ish and I'd rather leave at maybe 2/3. I dont get that much time with my mate so I'd like to stay a bit later, is there anyway I could talk to London Midland at Euston tomorrow (I have time to kill) and have my ticket changed for later in the day, I don't mind paying a few quid extra to change tickets, they were a bargain to begin with.
I do however know the rules with advance ticketing so I fully appreciate if that's my ticket and that's that. If not, is there any way I can cheaply go back to London (or at least the oyster boundaries) from Stafford on Tuesday? I have a 16-25 too.

Thanks guys, I appreciate any help at such short notice.

NSE

 

[GadgetMan]

Hey guys, got advances to Stafford and back (London), I'm leaving today (25th) coming back Tuesday, however the lecture I was going back for has been cancelled so I don't need to come back so early, I am currently booked to leave at 10:20ish and I'd rather leave at maybe 2/3. I dont get that much time with my mate so I'd like to stay a bit later, is there anyway I could talk to London Midland at Euston tomorrow (I have time to kill) and have my ticket changed for later in the day, I don't mind paying a few quid extra to change tickets, they were a bargain to begin with.
I do however know the rules with advance ticketing so I fully appreciate if that's my ticket and that's that. If not, is there any way I can cheaply go back to London (or at least the oyster boundaries) from Stafford on Tuesday? I have a 16-25 too.

Thanks guys, I appreciate any help at such short notice.

NSE

You can excess to another Advance ticket (if available) to travel at the time you want, it will cost you the difference in fares plus £10 admin charge. Or you can excess it to a walk up fare paying the difference plus £10 admin charge.

Just had a quick look and there appears to be Advance tickets available traveling on the 14:36 and 15:36 (both direct trains taking about 1hour 20mins) on Tuesday. STD class is £24 (£15.85 with YP card) and 1st Class is £30 (£19.80 with YP card) for both the above trains. If these are still available when you get to a ticket office then you should be able to excess up to those should you wish.

All of the above assumes your original ticket and new one will be with the same TOC. If you are switching TOCs then its a complete new ticket.

 

[GadgetMan]

What's with the advance fare on the last train in the pic, nearly double the Off-Peak walk up fare?

What am I missing?

 

[NSE]

1hr 20 sounds like virgin, I'm with London Midland as the Crewe stopper was cheaper xD Thanks though that's helpful I'll talk to the guys at Euston

 

[GadgetMan]

1hr 20 sounds like virgin, I'm with London Midland as the Crewe stopper was cheaper xD Thanks though that's helpful I'll talk to the guys at Euston

London Midland have £4.95 Advance fares (Including YP discount), for the 14:21 and 15:21 services. So in this case it is cheaper to buy a new ticket than to pay an excess as the admin charge alone is £10 unless you come across a friendly clerk in the ticket office (assuming the system allows the charge to be waived) .

 

[NSE]

London Midland have £4.95 Advance fares (Including YP discount), for the 14:21 and 15:21 services. So in this case it is cheaper to buy a new ticket than to pay an excess as the admin charge alone is £10 unless you come across a friendly clerk in the ticket office (assuming the system allows the charge to be waived) .

Cheers mate, both my tickets cost me £4.95 as it is xD

 

[hairyhandedfool]

If you are changing to another advance fare please remember that you must do so before the day of travel.

 

[NSE]

If you are changing to another advance fare please remember that you must do so before the day of travel.

Ahh thank you very much, didn't know that, so cheers!

 

[dvboy]

If you booked it online at londonmidland.com go and change it there and the admin fee will be waived - you will need to collect your new ticket from a TVM or have it posted out to you and it will be an Excess from the original ticket you already hold.

If not, and you find you have to pay the admin fee, as posted above you may as well just buy a brand new ticket and not use the original.

 

[bb21]

If you booked it online at londonmidland.com go and change it there and the admin fee will be waived - you will need to collect your new ticket from a TVM or have it posted out to you and it will be an Excess from the original ticket you already hold.

It would be appreciated if there is some evidence that this is the case, because LM's own website (http://www.londonmidland.com/tickets-and-fares/tickets-and-fares/advance-tickets/) seems to infer that the admin fee is still applicable.

I would think that such a feature would appear in a rather obvious place on the TOC's website.

 

[dvboy]

It would be appreciated if there is some evidence that this is the case, because LM's own website (http://www.londonmidland.com/tickets-and-fares/tickets-and-fares/advance-tickets/) seems to infer that the admin fee is still applicable.

I would think that such a feature would appear in a rather obvious place on the TOC's website.

It's not obvious, that's the point.

It will lead you to believe you have to pay the admin fee right up to the point you would pay it.

The evidence is my own experience although this was in August. Attached from my bookings history, the detail from the amendment to the outward journey showing I was charged a 50p excess, and the tickets themselves.

 

[bb21]

It's not obvious, that's the point.

It will lead you to believe you have to pay the admin fee right up to the point you would pay it.

The evidence is my own experience although this was in August.

Does this apply only to LM-priced fares or any fare?

 

[dvboy]

Does this apply only to LM-priced fares or any fare?

See above I have attached some screenshots and the tickets (edit: I did but the PDF has disappeared); my example was an XC Advance Birmingham-Durham.

I highlighted the issue at the time to LM by twitter and they told me they were "aware of it "

I seem to recall it was also mentioned in a Which? article some time back so must have been the case for a while (there is this article but I don't think that's the one I'm thinking of as that states the admin fee for a refund on unused tickets is £0.00).

 

[bb21]

See above I have attached some screenshots and the tickets (edit: I did but the PDF has disappeared); my example was an XC Advance Birmingham-Durham.

I highlighted the issue at the time to LM by twitter and they told me they were "aware of it "

I seem to recall it was also mentioned in a Which? article some time back so must have been the case for a while (there is this article but I don't think that's the one I'm thinking of as that states the admin fee for a refund on unused tickets is £0.00).

Yes, I think this is very useful. Thanks.