Advice for collecting tickets from East Mids Trains

[daccer]

A little help needed please.

Am looking at booking an Advance ticket with East Mids Trains to be collected from St Pancras. I wont have the credit card I am using with me when I collect the tickets. Can I use a code of some sort instead to collect or must I have the relevant credit card on me when I collect.

many thanks

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Have you tried phoning them for the ticket?

You can buy vouchers for use on the East Coast website and when you select Ticket on Departure it will apparently allow 'any card' pick up.

 

[causton]

You don't have to collect it at St Pancras if you can go to another station which has a machine which allows you to collect tickets in the meantime.

However, you will have to have the credit card with you. You may be able to phone EMT's website customer services who can unlock it to be collected with any card, not to say they will without a very good reason though.

But... I booked a ticket from a website which I believed the same, accidentally binned my old card, put my new card in and the ticket collected fine. Not a gamble I would want to make again, or want anyone else to make though!

Edit: Didn't read you hadn't yet booked the ticket, some good advice from HHF above as well

 

[DelayRepay]

You'll need the credit card.

There is a workaround using East Coast's site to buy Gift Vouchers, which you can then use to buy your ticket from East Coast's website. You can collect this from the Ticket Machine using any credit/debit card.

Obviously check the ticket you want is available from East Coast. This might cost slightly more than booking with EMT because I do believe EMT give a small discount when you book their tickets through their website.

Someone else might have a better idea...

 

[MichaelAMW]

Or you can accept that there is an ideal, which is that you collect the ticket with the card, and since you are unable to comply with this you instead pay the small amount extra to have the ticket posted to you. It's a little bit annoying that it's like that but, when I've had to do this myself, I've found it's not the end of the world.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

and since you are unable to comply with this you instead pay the small amount extra to have the ticket posted to you.

It must vary with ticket provider, but are there not at least some who will waive the cost of postage? If your nearest ticket machine is three miles away and one station down the line, what are the other choices?

 

[daccer]

Hi Guys. Thanks for the replies. I am in Africa at the moment and flying in so the post option probably not an option. As a matter of interest if I booked and paid over the internet could I not collect tickets at the ticket office using ID or would I need to use the machine with the relevant card. The card is in the UK and will not be able to collect it until I am back home so Im in a catch 22. If I am not able to get around this I need to get from St Pancras to Kettering off peak but I believe it is about fifty quid. any better options?

 

[dzug2]

A way round is:

book an east coast advance ticket to Peterborough - and print at home. I believe your passport will be acceptable ID on the train if you specify when booking

Get the X4 bus to Kettering from Peterborough - hourly at xx10 in the day

OK not ideal with the longer journey time but should save quite a bit

Or (if there's time) get the ticket posted to someone in the UK who can forward it to you

Or (again if there's time) book through the dreaded trainline who will (for a fee) post to many overseas countries

 

[hairyhandedfool]

.... As a matter of interest if I booked and paid over the internet could I not collect tickets at the ticket office using ID or would I need to use the machine with the relevant card....

The ticket office should still ask for the card, but EMT offices may have different processes than I have here.

 

[Hadders]

Surely buying an e-voucher on East Coast' website and booking the ticket from them (it will be the same price) will be the best way.

You can even buy the e-voucher for the exact amount of the ticket.

Where are you travelling to and at what time? It may be that we can identify an appropriate 'walk on' fare tha you can buy on the day.

 

[daccer]

Hi I think the E voucher thing is the best bet with east Coast. Just a last question if I buy a voucher and buy the ticket online with East Coast when I collect the ticket from the machine can I pick it up at St Pancras and when I do what will I use to collect - I assume a code of some sort. And tha I promise will be my last question.

 

[maniacmartin]

If you buy from East Coast with a gift voucher, you will be given a code to use. You will still need to insert a card, but it can be any card.

 

[talldave]

If you buy from East Coast with a gift voucher, you will be given a code to use. You will still need to insert a card, but it can be any card.

As I understand it, on Southern machines I can insert any card rather than the actual card used to make the booking, however I've not been brave enough to try it yet. Is that the case with other TOC's machines?

What fuels my hesitation to try is that as soon as I remove the card the machine says "contacting booking database". With a different card there would be nothing in the database, so I worry that things would go pear shaped from there on.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

As I understand it, on Southern machines I can insert any card rather than the actual card used to make the booking, however I've not been brave enough to try it yet. Is that the case with other TOC's machines?

What fuels my hesitation to try is that as soon as I remove the card the machine says "contacting booking database". With a different card there would be nothing in the database, so I worry that things would go pear shaped from there on.

It depends on how the booking is flagged, if the booking is flagged as any card then you can use any card, if it is flagged as buyer's card only (I forget the exact term) then it's the specific card only.

 

[island]

As I understand it, on Southern machines I can insert any card rather than the actual card used to make the booking, however I've not been brave enough to try it yet. Is that the case with other TOC's machines?

What fuels my hesitation to try is that as soon as I remove the card the machine says "contacting booking database". With a different card there would be nothing in the database, so I worry that things would go pear shaped from there on.

If your booking is able to be collected by any card, then inserting a card is necessary to activate the machine. If the machine doesn't find a booking associated with that card, or finds more than one booking so associated, it'll prompt for the eight-character booking reference at that point.

 

[strowger]

Redspottedhanky bookings made with vouchers are "any card, any station" too. I have successfully collected one using a Tesco clubcard

 

[najaB]

A little help needed please.

Am looking at booking an Advance ticket with East Mids Trains to be collected from St Pancras. I wont have the credit card I am using with me when I collect the tickets. Can I use a code of some sort instead to collect or must I have the relevant credit card on me when I collect.

many thanks

I've used the TheTrainline.com to buy tickets for my parents. I paid using Paypal so they were able to collect at the station with any card. I believe this is still the case.

(And yes, before anyone posts it, I'm aware that TheTrainline is the work of Beelzebub himself.)