Messed up with an M ticket

[dk1]

please help someone. I'm not used to buying tickets working for the railway & was only doing a favour for a family member. Seems I've done it as an M ticket with Virgin Trains. Rang the help desk & she said to get him to download the VT app, give him my email & password then he can download it. My question is will it automatically go to his phone there & then? Oh life is so complicated these days. Cheers!!

 

[_toommm_]

please help someone. I'm not used to buying tickets working for the railway & was only doing a favour for a family member. Seems I've done it as an M ticket with Virgin Trains. Rang the help desk & she said to get him to download the VT app, give him my email & password then he can download it. My question is will it automatically go to his phone there & then? Oh life is so complicated these days. Cheers!!

It should do, as long as you haven't downloaded or activated the ticket. If you have, I don't believe you can.

 

[dk1]

It should do, as long as you haven't downloaded or activated the ticket. If you have, I don't believe you can.

Thanks for responding. I'm confused as whether it downloads it to his device or to an email account.

 

[gray1404]

Phone the help desk again and ask them if they can cancel the ticket and rebook it for you over the phone there and then. I've known VT not charge an admin fee for mistakes if you rebuy the same ticket on the same call.

 

[Paul Kelly]

Do they still do M-tickets? I thought it was all e-Tickets now. e-Tickets are much easier than m-Tickets as you only need to be able to show the barcode; it can be on a phone screen (e.g. just shown in an e-mail, or a screenshot) or printed out. m-Tickets are trickier as they are tied to one phone, although you can "release" them back into the cloud and then download them on the same app on another phone, although you need to be logged into the same account to do that.

 

[Wallsendmag]

I believe e_tickets are only on VT services if it involves a connection it'll be a m-Ticket

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I booked an m-ticket on Monday via the VT mobile app, somewhat to my surprise, as I was expecting to get a ToD ticket, or maybe an e-ticket.
It was a Shrewsbury-Reading Super Off Peak Return, via Newport, and involved ATW and GWR (fare set by GWR).
Instead of giving me options for delivery, it just defaulted to an m-ticket sent to the Android tablet I was using.
I didn't even know if ATW and GWR accepted such tickets booked via VT, but in the end I had no trouble, though ATW wanted to see "page 2" as well as the QR code, to see the ticket type.
The "Activate" process (on the outbound date only) was also new to me.
It's not at all clear what the various options for ticket delivery are, you just get what you are given.
I wanted what I would get on a full web site, ie a ToD ticket, backed up by email confirmation, but that wasn't on offer.
There's nothing on the "Tickets" section of the NRE web site to describe these tickets and the degree of support by various TOCs.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

I booked an m-ticket on Monday via the VT mobile app, somewhat to my surprise, as I was expecting to get a ToD ticket, or maybe an e-ticket.
It was a Shrewsbury-Reading Super Off Peak Return, via Newport, and involved ATW and GWR (fare set by GWR).
Instead of giving me options for delivery, it just defaulted to an m-ticket sent to the Android tablet I was using.
I didn't even know if ATW and GWR accepted such tickets booked via VT, but in the end I had no trouble, though ATW wanted to see "page 2" as well as the QR code, to see the ticket type.
The "Activate" process (on the outbound date only) was also new to me.
It's not at all clear what the various options for ticket delivery are, you just get what you are given.
I wanted what I would get on a full web site, ie a ToD ticket, backed up by email confirmation, but that wasn't on offer.
There's nothing on the "Tickets" section of the NRE web site to describe these tickets and the degree of support by various TOCs.

Several mobile apps do not let you select anything other than an e-ticket or m-ticket. I have never been denied the option of ToD when booking on a TOC's website (though some, e.g. XC, charge for this 'luxury' in some cases).

 

[gordonthemoron]

VTWC are a pain with only offering M-Tickets on the phone app, I have to use the website to buy a ticket for the missus

 

[dk1]

Thank you everyone. I think we've sorted it as I will pass on my email/password to the person once they've downloaded the VTWC app. I'm just grumpy with myself for not checking. I even bought a child single M ticket Brundall Gardens-Brundall today for the princely sum of 75p to see what happens when opening on another device.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Thank you everyone. I think we've sorted it as I will pass on my email/password to the person once they've downloaded the VTWC app. I'm just grumpy with myself for not checking. I even bought a child single M ticket Brundall Gardens-Brundall today for the princely sum of 75p to see what happens when opening on another device.

You can get a child single from Lichfield Trent Valley to Lichfield City for 35p to satisfy similar curiosities in future!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Thank you everyone. I think we've sorted it as I will pass on my email/password to the person once they've downloaded the VTWC app. I'm just grumpy with myself for not checking. I even bought a child single M ticket Brundall Gardens-Brundall today for the princely sum of 75p to see what happens when opening on another device.

It demonstrates just how bad their IT solutions are when that is the only thing to do, as it is appallingly bad security practice and is always advised against. In most businesses with any sense, it's a sacking offence.

Certainly no helpdesk should ever be advising people to do that, and if they are it just adds fuel to the fire that this particular aspect of ticketing is not fit for purpose and should be abolished in favour of true e-ticketing, which is what a VTWC Only journey would get, where you just need the 2D barcode in any format.

 

[alistairlees]

Do they still do M-tickets? I thought it was all e-Tickets now. e-Tickets are much easier than m-Tickets as you only need to be able to show the barcode; it can be on a phone screen (e.g. just shown in an e-mail, or a screenshot) or printed out. m-Tickets are trickier as they are tied to one phone, although you can "release" them back into the cloud and then download them on the same app on another phone, although you need to be logged into the same account to do that.

eTickets are indeed much better, though I would say that. Some TOCs want to persist with m-tickets (requires an app, have to be activated first) though, in the belief that these are more secure. They are a lot less customer-friendly / accessible than eTickets. The barcode is identical in either case, and it's the validation of the barcode that's key to fraud prevention.

 

[Bletchleyite]

eTickets are indeed much better, though I would say that. Some TOCs want to persist with m-tickets (requires an app, have to be activated first) though, in the belief that these are more secure. They are a lot less customer-friendly / accessible than eTickets. The barcode is identical in either case, and it's the validation of the barcode that's key to fraud prevention.

I'm not sure how they do do it, but it could potentially be far, far more secure than orange card. Compare a biro scribble with an accurate record of the guard or barrier's ID number, precise GPS location, direction of travel, train reporting number plus potentially the ability for the guard to subtly add a note such as "suspected fraud" or "said they are going to BoJ at X", and you potentially have a VERY secure system indeed, and one that would be much more effective at detecting fraud than the existing systems while offering an equivalent passenger experience - could even potentially get a reprint at the ticket office or similar.

 

[Wallsendmag]

I'm not sure how they do do it, but it could potentially be far, far more secure than orange card. Compare a biro scribble with an accurate record of the guard or barrier's ID number, precise GPS location, direction of travel, train reporting number plus potentially the ability for the guard to subtly add a note such as "suspected fraud" or "said they are going to BoJ at X", and you potentially have a VERY secure system indeed, and one that would be much more effective at detecting fraud than the existing systems while offering an equivalent passenger experience - could even potentially get a reprint at the ticket office or similar.

Had a lovely discussion last week about this very point.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Yes, M-tickets are a nightmare. Last year, I had an ADV delivered as one to my Android which seemed to render it unchangeable in any circumstances (local additional Ts and Cs courtesy of VT). So always check very carefully that you are not getting an M ticket.