Amending from and Advance ticket to an Off Peak

[RailAirUser]

Good evening everyone.

I booked some advance tickets in haste last week in standard class and I have realised today that a first class advance would have been much better value as is only a little more than the standard class. The difference is less than seat frog are using as a minimum bid....

I used a Family and Friends rail card on the GWR website to buy the standard class ones so would need to change to a Two Together railcard to get the best first class fare. However the amendment feature of the GWR site won't let me switch railcard types.

GWR can't assist over the phone and are quoting £10 per ticket to do a refund and rebook rather than an amendment which irks me as I am just trying to change the class rather than the actual train journey.

If I change the ticket to a flexible off peak, does the penalty for then cancelling reduce below £10 per ticket or does the original penalties from the Advance ticket stick even though you have upgraded to a more flexible ticket type?

I will avoid booking with GWR in the future as I have always found Uber / Train Pal and this forum's own ticket site much easier to do changes with - but I was lured in with their rewards scheme!

 

[drueberflug]

GWR can't assist over the phone and are quoting £10 per ticket to do a refund and rebook rather than an amendment which irks me as I am just trying to change the class rather than the actual train journey.

Unfortunately, while you could excess your Advance to another ticket type, the conditions regarding an exchange will stick with the ticket.
Be glad about that refund fee, as normally, Advance tickets are not refundable at all, unless there has been e.g. a disruption.
I've added some information from the GWR website below:

Advance tickets​

You can change the date and time of your ticket at any time before your scheduled departure. An admin fee of £10 may be applied. If the price of your new ticket is more expensive, you'll need to pay the difference.

 

[yorkie]

Good evening everyone.

I booked some advance tickets in haste last week in standard class and I have realised today that a first class advance would have been much better value as is only a little more than the standard class. The difference is less than seat frog are using as a minimum bid....

I used a Family and Friends rail card on the GWR website to buy the standard class ones so would need to change to a Two Together railcard to get the best first class fare. However the amendment feature of the GWR site won't let me switch railcard types.

GWR can't assist over the phone and are quoting £10 per ticket to do a refund and rebook rather than an amendment which irks me as I am just trying to change the class rather than the actual train journey.

If I change the ticket to a flexible off peak, does the penalty for then cancelling reduce below £10 per ticket or does the original penalties from the Advance ticket stick even though you have upgraded to a more flexible ticket type?

I will avoid booking with GWR in the future as I have always found Uber / Train Pal and this forum's own ticket site much easier to do changes with - but I was lured in with their rewards scheme!

You could try visiting a ticket office, to see if they will do it for you at a more reasonable price. You may need to 'shop around' until you find one that is able and willing to help.

If you had booked with us, we would have done it for just one fee for the entire transaction.

 

[RailAirUser]

You could try visiting a ticket office, to see if they will do it for you at a more reasonable price. You may need to 'shop around' until you find one that is able and willing to help.

If you had booked with us, we would have done it for just one fee for the entire transaction.

Yes I have used you before and you are generally my 'go to' for rail tickets but I was lured in to booking on the GWR app due to their 'rewards scheme' marketing... Sorry!

 

[yorkie]

No worries!

Train companies are indeed very keen to lure people into booking direct, as they don't want people to benefit from combinations of cheaper fares. I suspect the admin fees are seen as a nice earner by train companies too. A number of people are happy to sacrifice customer service and lower fares for the lure of rewards & cashback, e.g.:

Best place to buy tickets

I am wondering where best place to buy train tickets is from. I want to maximimise buying from any sites that give cashback to bank account or where the trips add up. I have LNER account but despite booking many times via them have never had any rewards

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[RailAirUser]

Once bitten twice shy!