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Cross Country not offering seat reservations

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Nicholas43

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My elderly in-laws have found that they can't reserve seats on the 1216 Cheltenham Spa to York, 23 December 2019. They phoned Cross Country's assistance number, and chap (who they said was definitely trying to be helpful) said that Cross Country don't do reservations on this train, because it is likely to be crowded, and people therefore ignore reservations and start arguing; but they should board at rear, looking out for the train manager, and (s)he will help.
This all seems a bit alarming to me. Any advice, please?
 
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ag51ruk

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Doesn't sound true - it's more likely that train is already fully reserved
 

py_megapixel

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I imagine the train is already fully reserved which is why they will not allow you to reserve a seat. XC departures from Cheltenham often are horrifically overcrowded, and on December 23rd there will be many people travelling to visit family members and so on, plus any changes caused by Christmas engineering works.

Elderley people who have difficulty standing for long periods of time should be able to ask someone to move from one of the unreserved priority seats at the end of each carriage, although not all passengers are respectful enough that this can be relied upon.

Also, the train manager will not necessarily be at the rear - they can be anywhere on the train given that they have various tasks to perform. But they may be able to ask passengers to move from a priority seat if someone who clearly needs it asks for one.

Travelling on that train will likely be a hellish experience whatever happens. If it can possibly be avoided then it would be advisable to do so. But I appreciate that this may not be possible.
 

yorkie

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My elderly in-laws have found that they can't reserve seats on the 1216 Cheltenham Spa to York, 23 December 2019. They phoned Cross Country's assistance number, and chap (who they said was definitely trying to be helpful) said that Cross Country don't do reservations on this train, because it is likely to be crowded, and people therefore ignore reservations and start arguing; but they should board at rear, looking out for the train manager, and (s)he will help.
This all seems a bit alarming to me. Any advice, please?
It will have sold out. It's not going to be a pleasant journey on overcrowded Voyagers sadly.

The 1116 and 1316 don't have seats available for the whole journey either. Can they travel at a different time, or even the day before?

The 0816 has 2 seats together; it does get overtaken so had to specify max changes: 0 on Trainsplit, but it found a decent price. £70.75 for both (undiscounted)
 

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DavidGrain

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I stood all the way from Bristol TM to Birmingham NS a week ago actually in the bicycle rack. I blame this all on Richard Branson who boasted about twice as many trains omitting to mention that they were only half size trains
 

Nicholas43

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16 Jun 2011
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Many thanks to all for prompt and informed replies. I've managed to book them with reservations on their second-best option, leaving from Oxford on the 1010 to York.
 
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