All Line Rover
Established Member
- Joined
- 17 Feb 2011
- Messages
- 5,229
CrossCountry have introduced "Ten minute reservations." It allows you to make a seat reservation for CrossCountry services by text just ten minutes before travel, for both First and Standard Class.
Certain seats on each train will say: "This seat MAY be reserved between..." (I noticed this yesterday but didn't know what was going on.) When a seat is reserved, it will change to the usual: "This seat is reserved between..."
This system does create some obvious flaws, however. For example, because a reservation can be made after a train has left its origin station, certain customers may sit in a "this may MAY be reserved" seat, which suddenly changes to a "this seat IS reserved" seat halfway through the journey!
On the other hand, if seats could only be reserved before the train has left its origin station, this would also create problems since many trains come from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Plymouth or Bournemouth! For example, the 11:12 Birmingham to Bristol service leaves Edinburgh at 06:06 in the morning!
Ten minute reservations don't apply to Advance tickets either. I have no idea how this could be enforced, since no ticket is required to make a "ten minute reservation."
The system also seems open to vandalism, since someone (whose mobile phone plan has plenty of free text messages) could effectively reserve all of the "ten minute reservation" seats on every train!
More information can be found here: http://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/TenMinuteReservations/.
Certain seats on each train will say: "This seat MAY be reserved between..." (I noticed this yesterday but didn't know what was going on.) When a seat is reserved, it will change to the usual: "This seat is reserved between..."
This system does create some obvious flaws, however. For example, because a reservation can be made after a train has left its origin station, certain customers may sit in a "this may MAY be reserved" seat, which suddenly changes to a "this seat IS reserved" seat halfway through the journey!
On the other hand, if seats could only be reserved before the train has left its origin station, this would also create problems since many trains come from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Plymouth or Bournemouth! For example, the 11:12 Birmingham to Bristol service leaves Edinburgh at 06:06 in the morning!
Ten minute reservations don't apply to Advance tickets either. I have no idea how this could be enforced, since no ticket is required to make a "ten minute reservation."
The system also seems open to vandalism, since someone (whose mobile phone plan has plenty of free text messages) could effectively reserve all of the "ten minute reservation" seats on every train!
More information can be found here: http://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/TenMinuteReservations/.
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