Forgotten Railcard

[SS4]

They would if the plane ran every twenty minutes. I was on a Manchester to London train recently and a young person had caught the train prior to the one on which they were booked. Unfortunately it was the train via Crewe and their booked ticket was for the train which runs via Stoke so I couldn't advise the obvious, to get off at the next station, pay for the journey they'd already taken and recommence on the correct train.

In the event, the conductor let them off completely, and why not - it was a quiet off-peak journey and the TOC had suffered no loss. Good on her!

That's a bonus, not the norm. The TOC would be deprived of half the revenue paid, even more in peak had the customer got away with no railcard

But doubtless some other miserable sod would have only had eyes for his commission and tried to charge him the full anytime fare.

Someone doing their job is now a miserable sod. Guards, RPIs and TMs are people too and certainly do not deserve the trouble which ensues when someone who did not adhere to the terms of their ticket conditions picks on them.

I often think that the full anytime fare, whilst being a deterrent for the wilful fare evader, is basically a scam perpetrated on the forgetful, the inexperienced traveller, and the person who doesn't have a home PC and thinks for some reason that the railway station is the obvious place to buy a train ticket.

No. The Anytime fare is a deterrent for anyone who could not be bothered to understand the terms of their ticket. Your argument is rendered moot by the fact that advance tickets can be bought from a railway station. The only loss comes from the online deals.

And if the savvy traveller with an advance gets an unavoidable delay, or has mislaid the seat reservation section (mostly a useless requirement which just provides the extra possibility of getting something wrong and being stung for it) so much the better for the TOC who can sell the same journey twice.

A delay on a previous train lets them catch the next available train. A delay on the bus/tube does not largely because it is unverifiable whether it's a legitimate delay.
I still maintain that most people on an advance ticket coming by bus leave plenty of buffer time

I have never seen someone charged for sitting in the wrong seat on the correct service. Never. TMs have asked that people remain in their reserved seat due to high volumes but I've never seen anyone done. That could well be due to a large number of people who will move if asked by the actual seatholder.
I've rarely sat in my reserved seat on Virgin and nobody cares, even station staff at BHM have told me it doesn't matter and more than once given up a four seat table for a couple/family but I digress.

When the corner store wilfully charges me twice when I've bought only one tin of value beans, and the second charge is for finest range home-smoked beans with chorizo sausage, I call them fraudsters.

You're forgetting that travelling on the wrong service/without a railcard etc is not the TOCs fault

 

[BestWestern]

When the corner store wilfully charges me twice when I've bought only one tin of value beans, and the second charge is for finest range home-smoked beans with chorizo sausage, I call them fraudsters.

When you visit the corner store do you generally manage to remember your cash or cards so that you're able to buy things? If you didn't but promised you'd come back next tuesday and pay, would you expect them to take your word for it and let you merrily walk out with a bag full of shopping?!

When you travel by train you need to bring with you A) your ticket and B) any Railcards you may have used to obtain a discount on that ticket. This is not a difficult request. If however you are unable to meet these requirements then you have the option of leaving the train and heading home, or paying the fare due. Seems pretty fair to me.

 

[infobleep]

The way that i see it..
you would not turn up to an airport without your passport..
so why would you turn up to a station with your tickets and no railcard?

Actually you might very well to that or something just as bad?

I was travelling with a friend who accidentally went to the airport with the wrong passport. Due to a passport backlog they issued at 6 month one to him before issuing a full 10 year one. He accidentally brought the expired 6 moth one and not his 10 year one. We were at Gatwick and he had to get back to Barnstable.

The airline to their credit were very helpful and said if there were free space tomorrow he could fly then. They didn't have to do this as his ticket was non-transferable. I can't remember airline it was now but it was a Polish one, the year being 2003.

People do make mistakes. Unfortunately due to the potential for fraud it's difficult to not charge people who make mistakes. However I do believe that if the guard on the train knows you as a regular traveller who has a ticket whenever they check, they will possible be more lenient as it's more likely you made a mistake.

I once dropped my ticket at Waterloo station in the days before any ticket barriers. I don't notice it was missing until I was on the train. The guard sold me a full price single and didn't issue a penalty fare, purely because he recognised me a regular traveller who had a ticket with him all the previous times he'd done checks. He said as much to me at the time.

 

[snail]

They would if the plane ran every twenty minutes.

Last time I flew to the USA there were two connecting flights to our destination leaving before the booked one. I asked about switching to one of the earlier flights and was quoted US$50 "change fee"...

 

[sheff1]

It's the same with an advanced ticket booked for a specific train. Nobody would attempt to fly on an earlier or later plane with an advanced/non-changeable ticket.

I don't know why people keep bringing plane comparisons into the discussion as they have no relevance to UK train travel T & Cs. But to debunk this one as well ...

I was travelling from Manchester to Arhus via Copenhagen on a non changeable ticket. We arrived in Copenhagen slightly early and as I approached the gate for the booked connecting flight, I noticed that they were boarding the previous Arhus flight at the adjacent gate. I asked whether I could travel on that one rather than waiting (about an hour) and, having confirmed that I had hand luggage only the answer was 'of course, sir, we have empty seats'.

 

[jon0844]

Try that with all airlines! It's stupid not to, given they get a seat to sell later but many don't.

Easyjet might be an exception?

 

[snail]

Try that with all airlines! It's stupid not to, given they get a seat to sell later but many don't.

Easyjet might be an exception?

I suspect that Easyjet will get fewer no shows than scheduled operators so can be more certain about swapping seats. The bigger airlines need to keep seats open for lucrative last minute bookings, even if it means some flights have empty seats.

 

[richw]

Try that with all airlines! It's stupid not to, given they get a seat to sell later but many don't.

Easyjet might be an exception?

Easyjet is far from the exception. In their terms it says if you arrive early at airport, they will allow you to travel on an earlier flight if there is space, and as long as you are well within check in time for that flight. It also says it can be no more than 24 hrs

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