Avanti West Coast peak/off peak confusion.

[Signal Head]

Asking for a friend, who has been booked a ticket by their work (through an agent) for travel from the North West to Euston tomorrow morning. It's an off peak ticket but there's an itinerary and a reservation on a train approx 3 hours before the 'first off peak ' train shown in the pdf available on AWC's website (for their departure station).

To further complicate matters, that document suggests the best way to know is to use their journey planner.

I've put the journey in that, and sure enough it offers advance, anytime and off-peak tickets for the particular train. However, clicking the 'info' icon against the off-peak brings up information that states "not valid for arrival at Euston before 11:30 (restrictions do not apply on Fridays)"

So is the ticket valid or not, if not how has the agent been able to book it for that train, and if it is, why are there multiple suggestions on AWC's site that it isn't/won't be?

How on earth are ordinary travellers supposed to navigate this lot? I'm beginning to have a lot of sympathy for people who get on a train believing their invalid ticket is actually valid, when attempting to find out beforehand results in "Yeah, but, no, but yeah, but ..."

Thanks in advance etc

 

[alistairlees]

Asking for a friend, who has been booked a ticket by their work (through an agent) for travel from the North West to Euston tomorrow morning. It's an off peak ticket but there's an itinerary and a reservation on a train approx 3 hours before the 'first off peak ' train shown in the pdf available on AWC's website (for their departure station).

To further complicate matters, that document suggests the best way to know is to use their journey planner.

I've put the journey in that, and sure enough it offers advance, anytime and off-peak tickets for the particular train. However, clicking the 'info' icon against the off-peak brings up information that states "not valid for arrival at Euston before 11:30 (restrictions do not apply on Fridays)"

So is the ticket valid or not, if not how has the agent been able to book it for that train, and if it is, why are there multiple suggestions on AWC's site that it isn't/won't be?

How on earth are ordinary travellers supposed to navigate this lot? I'm beginning to have a lot of sympathy for people who get on a train believing their invalid ticket is actually valid, when attempting to find out beforehand results in "Yeah, but, no, but yeah, but ..."

Thanks in advance etc

What station is their ticket from? No one is going to be able to provide any useful info without knowing this. That said I just remembered that it is Easter Thursday tomorrow. There are no peak / off peak restrictions on Avanti.

 

[WAB]

Are they counting Maundy Thursday as a Friday?

 

[AlterEgo]

If it’s been sold by an accredited agent with an itinerary it’s valid by default.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Are they counting Maundy Thursday as a Friday?

Yes, it seems:

Seasonal Variations​
Peak Restrictions will be lifted from Thursday 6th April through to Monday 10th April inclusive.

 

[Signal Head]

What station is their ticket from? No one is going to be able to provide any useful info without knowing this.

It's from Stockport I believe, but irrespective of where it's from, why is there a document on AWCs website which gives a time approx 3 hours later than their booked train as the 'first' off peak? If this ticket is valid, that document is misleading. They've gone to the trouble of listing station-specific times which if that's the only source a passenger finds/uses, could lead to them paying for a more expensive ticket than necessary.

Yes, it seems:

Seasonal Variations​
Peak Restrictions will be lifted from Thursday 6th April through to Monday 10th April inclusive.

That would explain it, thank you very much. I shall pass the information on.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I suspect they've done that so Euston on Thursday evening isn't an utter meat market as everyone tries to travel before the blockade.

 

[alistairlees]

It's from Stockport I believe, but irrespective of where it's from, why is there a document on AWCs website which gives a time approx 3 hours later than their booked train as the 'first' off peak? If this ticket is valid, that document is misleading. They've gone to the trouble of listing station-specific times which if that's the only source a passenger finds/uses, could lead to them paying for a more expensive ticket than necessary.

They probably 'forgot' to update the document. As I mentioned in my post, it's because Avanti have removed restrictions for Thursday 6th April.