Can someone explain to me why there are absolutely zero Advance tickets between London and Chester???

[Doctor Pepper]

Unless you change. Direct services are all walk-up tickets only. One of the worst things the government ever did to the railway was get rid of Virgin. I used to be able to travel first class on this journey, with a railcard, for thirty or forty pounds, now they want over a hundred!!

 

[Bletchleyite]

There aren't absolutely zero such tickets. They are just selling out. Book earlier and you will get one.

 

[Doctor Pepper]

There aren't absolutely zero such tickets. They are just selling out. Book earlier and you will get one.

All tickets for every single train? Absolute nonsense.

 

[RedKing]

EDIT: Screenshot from Avanti West Coast website showing available tickets between London Euston and Chester on Tuesday 22nd July

 

[Doctor Pepper]

View attachment 182715

And?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think the OP is more bothered about the lack of cheap First Class Advances, and as per that screenshot they have indeed gone up, but that's because Avanti have introduced Standard Premium which has replaced any cheap First Class tickets. Unfortunately though the 5 car units do not have it.

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And?

It clearly shows available Advance fares.

 

[RedKing]

And?

You asked "why there are absolutely zero Advance tickets between London and Chester" - the screenshot shows there are in fact advance tickets between London and Chester

 

[Bletchleyite]

You asked "why there are absolutely zero Advance tickets between London and Chester" - the screenshot shows there are in fact advance tickets between London and Chester

To be fair the one you show is on an indirect service which the OP stated still exist.

I'm sure there will be some on direct services however, just not many if they can fill the trains without!

 

[Doctor Pepper]

You asked "why there are absolutely zero Advance tickets between London and Chester" - the screenshot shows there are in fact advance tickets between London and Chester

And how is that a direct service?

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To be fair the one you show is on an indirect service which the OP stated still exist.

I'm sure there will be some on direct services however, just not many if they can fill the trains without!

So they can fill every single train to the max can they? More nonsense.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There certainly don't seem to be many but here's an example of one on sale. Screenshot shows Trainline screen grab of an Advance fare at £56.50 on a direct Euston-Chester service on 6th August at 1500.

 

[RedKing]

EDIT: Screenshot showing tickets available on Avanti West Coast website between London Euston and Chester

 

[Ollie29]

To be fair the one you show is on an indirect service which the OP stated still exist.

I'm sure there will be some on direct services however, just not many if they can fill the trains without!

 

[Bletchleyite]

So they can fill every single train to the max can they? More nonsense.

The policy is not to fill trains, it is to maximise income. This is nothing new.

 

[Doctor Pepper]

I think the OP is more bothered about the lack of cheap First Class Advances, and as per that screenshot they have indeed gone up, but that's because Avanti have introduced Standard Premium which has replaced any cheap First Class tickets. Unfortunately though the 5 car units do not have it.

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It clearly shows available Advance fares.

You mean the "Standard Premium" that doesn't exist..................?

 

[Sun Chariot]

@Doctor Pepper which date(s) and departure time(s) were you looking at?

The £79.80 Avanti ticket (post #4) is a direct service, isn't it?

 

[skyhigh]

AND HOW IS THAT A DIRECT SERVICE?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

How about this one? A week today, and not at a random time of day. It is total rubbish to say there are zero Advances available on direct services.

 

[Ollie29]

You can't moan about there being no advance tickets if you're looking for a train next week - clues in the name, gotta book them well in advance!

 

[Bletchleyite]

You mean the "Standard Premium" that doesn't exist..................?

Yes, I clearly said that.

So what you are moaning about is the lack of cheap First Class Advance fares, which is not a policy Avanti now pursues. Maybe look at Seatfrog?

 

[Doctor Pepper]

The policy is not to fill trains, it is to maximise income. This is nothing new.

So it's perfectly acceptable to have zero Advances to travel to one of the most visited cities in the UK? As opposed to thousands of other journeys that have them.

@Doctor Pepper which date(s) and departure time(s) were you looking at?

The £79.80 Avanti ticket (post #4) is a direct service, isn't it?

I was looking at the 1st or 2nd of September.

How about this one? 2 weeks time, and not at a random time of day. It is total rubbish to say there are zero Advances available on direct services.

One train out of the entire day by the look of it.........

You can't moan about there being no advance tickets if you're looking for a train next week - clues in the name, gotta book them well in advance!

September is not next week.

Yes, I clearly said that.

So what you are moaning about is the lack of cheap First Class Advance fares, which is not a policy Avanti now pursues. Maybe look at Seatfrog?

Lack of advance fares full stop - lack of cheap ones is another thing. I want the certainty of a ticket, not playing the lottery with Seatfrog.

 

[Bletchleyite]

So it's perfectly acceptable to have zero Advances to travel to one of the most visited cities in the UK? As opposed to thousands of other journeys that have them.

The purpose of Advances is to sell seats that would otherwise not be sold where that is the most profitable approach. So yes, it's perfectly acceptable. Avanti's walk up Off Peak Return fares are generally very good value compared to other TOCs so why not buy one and enjoy the flexibility? The 80x are good in Standard too.

I was looking at the 1st or 2nd of September.

Clearly all sold out then.

Lack of advance fares full stop - lack of cheap ones is another thing. I want the certainty of a ticket, not playing the lottery with Seatfrog.

There is the certainty of a ticket - a walk up fare. The "sold out" thing is rubbish, and you can always force one by specifying WMT to Crewe then TfW to Chester even if you intend to use Avanti.

 

[Ollie29]

September is not next week.

Well of course i know that, i was just giving you an example!


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if you want to travel on the 1500 there is an advance single in standard at a decent price - but that might not be good enough for you

 

[Benjwri]

Although worth mentioning there are advances even for next week. In my very first search I found a £37.50 Advance Single on the 12:32 direct to London Euston next Wednesday. The exact same price is also available on this train on the 1st September.

 

[Doctor Pepper]

The purpose of Advances is to sell seats that would otherwise not be sold where that is the most profitable approach. So yes, it's perfectly acceptable. Avanti's walk up Off Peak Return fares are generally very good value compared to other TOCs so why not buy one and enjoy the flexibility? The 80x are good in Standard too.



Clearly all sold out then.



There is the certainty of a ticket - a walk up fare. The "sold out" thing is rubbish, and you can always force one by specifying WMT to Crewe then TfW to Chester even if you intend to use Avanti.

So this journey is special how?

Everyone knows the standard seats in those new trains are back breakers. Besides I prefer the single seats you get in first.

How the hell can they ALL be sold out???????????????????????????????????

I don't know what the last part means?

Well of course i know that, i was just giving you an example!


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View attachment 182724

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Friday at 11:40 ==

if you want to travel on the 1500 there is an advance single in standard at a decent price - but that might not be good enough for you

Needle in a haystack.................

 

[Bletchleyite]

So this journey is special how?

It's operated mostly using five-car trains which have considerably less capacity than Pendolinos. This means they do want to price you onto the indirect services. If price is important why not do that, anyway (ensuring a Manchester service) - Pendolino first class is nicer anyway!

Everyone knows the standard seats in those new trains are back breakers.

They're actually quite popular.

Besides I prefer the single seats you get in first.

Then pay the going rate or upgrade using Seatfrog.

How the hell can they ALL be sold out???????????????????????????????????

By people having purchased all the ones that were offered.

I don't know what the last part means?

If you want to travel you can. Buy a walk-up ticket.

 

[Trainbike46]

Are we sure Avanti has released advance fares for those dates in September?

They at least used to not release them too long in advance if the timetable wasn't confirmed yet, pending for example engineering works.

If you're making the journey in both directions a standard-class off-peak return ticket is usually reasonable value on avanti routes

 

[Bletchleyite]

Are we sure Avanti has released advance fares for those dates in September?

With fake compulsory reservations in operation, the train wouldn't be selectable at all if they weren't. So either there never were any or they all sold. I suspect the latter, though they were probably few in number.

If you're making the journey in both directions a standard-class off-peak return ticket is usually reasonable value

That Avanti's Off Peak Returns are 20-30% lower than a pair of LNER"s Super Off Peak Singles makes Advances much less important on the WCML.

 

[Benjwri]

It's operated mostly using five-car trains which have considerably less capacity than Pendolinos. This means they do want to price you onto the indirect services. If price is important why not do that, anyway (ensuring a Manchester service) - Pendolino first class is nicer anyway!

To be fair I'm wondering if this is a case of them not being released yet, or an unintentional error. The 13:00 Euston to Chester is a 10 car, and has only 2 reservations made on it total, yet is not offering any advances. There are lots of very cheap advances on all the services in the Chester to London direction on the same day.

 

[Djgr]

I travelled on an Advance Single (Chester to Euston direct) this time last week!

 

[superalbs]

Bit confused as to what the point of this thread is. You've come on here to ask a question, and get angry when someone replies. Very weird.

 

[Stuwhu]

@Doctor Pepper You seem very angry about this