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New MML Advance Fares

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bunnahabhain

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I've just been to check out MML's new advance fares, and it looks rather darn good, here are an example from Loughborough - St. Pancras.

Code:
MML Advance C         £6.00    - Not Valid Peak Time
MML Advance D         £7.50    - Not Valid Peak Time
MML Advance E         £8.50
MML Advance F         £10.00
MML Advance G         £12.00
MML Advance H         £15.00
MML Advance I         £18.00
MML First Advance A   £10.00   - Not Valid Peak Time
MML First Advance B   £13.00   - Not Valid Peak Time
MML First Advance C   £16.00   - Not Valid Peak Time
MML First Advance D   £20.00 
MML First Advance E   £24.00

So it looks like I could do an off peak Adult Round Trip without a Young Persons Railcard to London for as little as £6, or £19 peak time, now that is bloody good value, and the best thing is, these are single tickets, so you can mix and match, and purchase say an MML Advance F for the Morning, and an MML Advance C for the return at night.

All tickets are subject to availability and must be booked before 1800 the day before travel, however tickets are limited on each train and passengers are advised to book well in advance, and you must travel on the train for which you are booked on.

And with Railcard Discounts, this could be a very cheap deal that MML are offering, who needs their constant £15 return to London deal when you have the Advance C-I Tickets.


Advance C seems to only be available on a very limited number of trains at around Lunchtime, Advance D is available on a few more from around 10am-3pm, and most other Advance tickets are available on most trains, First Advance A also seems to only be available around Lunchtime.

Very good idea, and it seems to be much better than Virgin Value 14 Day ticket things.
 
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matt

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They look good fares. Shame Virgin cant do it that cheap to London
 

yorkie

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But are there railcard discounts?

The GNER ones work on a similar principle, but there are no railcard discounts for the cheaper prices (same as at present).

On Virgin there is a £10 minimum fare before you get a railcard discount with Virgin Value fares.

MML will have to work hard to win custom from passengers in the East Midlands who currently prefer to take connecting trains to Doncaster/Newark/Grantham for GNER services, especially if they get rid of the comfortable and popular HSTs, but these fares may just do that. GNER may well remain a better (and cheaper!) option for walk-on day tickets though.

matt - bear in mind that on Virgin if you have a Young Persons railcard, you can use a Saver on ANY train including peak trains, so you can get to London for about £17 at peak time and no need to book in advance or get a specific service!
 

tramboy

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It is honestly a lot easier and quicker for me to travel to London from Grantham/Newark Northgate than to get a train from Nottingham. 3 hours from there compared to 1hr 30mins from either of those stations. It's also easier for me to meet people from London at those stations.

And no offence to MML, but 3hrs on an underfloor DEMU is not my idea of fun...although saying that i'm comparing Meridians to Voyagers...unless they've fixed that particular problem in the 222s?

However, for people who don't live as convieniently near to both the ECML and MML that i do then i can see these fares working!

Regards

Dave
 

matt

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£21 is the cheapeast for me.
 

Techniquest

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These fares might attract locals to travel more often at that price, but IMO MML need to start attracting other people from elsewhere onto their trains.

Plus you've got the underfloor engines in the 222s...No chance, I'd rather a 91 to Grantham and change onto a CT service to Notts. HST, yes, no way I'd get a GNER service then, but still, I would be willing to wager my next trip on MML will have to be with a SVR anyway, cheap tickets don't exist for me! Especially with GNER, looking 3 months ahead there was no cheap SARs to Inverness still!
 

yorkie

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Ironically passengers on GNERs 2100 London-Leeds can get to Leeds quicker on MML.... but only by changing at Doncaster ;) (cross platform). Passengers seemed unaware of this last night! I would have done it but I was going to York. Sadly the last Virgin service to York goes via Leeds so I had a 30 minute wait.

Anyway, it only cost me £35 by combo CDR+travelcard, while someone else was telling me he had spent £40 on an Apex for the same journey (but excluding the tube), and nearly got charged an excess for getting the wrong train (long story). The ticket clerk at Donny was most unhappy at my methods of getting cheap walk-on fares though, I had to tell her how to issue it and insist that it did exist. She was not too happy at being told (politely!) how to issue a ticket, but if I'd been a 40+ businessman wearing a suit I bet she wouldn't have been so rude and grumpy with me :roll:

But that doesn't put me off, I'll stick with combo CDRs for now, usually, regardless of the ticket clerks ;)
 

Techniquest

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They sound worse than ticket office staff up here!

yorkie, were you willing to get on a Voyager?! Miracles will never cease!
 

yorkie

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FGWFan said:
They sound worse than ticket office staff up here!

yorkie, were you willing to get on a Voyager?! Miracles will never cease!
I'll get on a Voyager if I have to, but I don't think I've been on one since the NE Rover meet.
 

bunnahabhain

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yorkie said:
MML will have to work hard to win custom from passengers in the East Midlands who currently prefer to take connecting trains to Doncaster/Newark/Grantham for GNER services, especially if they get rid of the comfortable and popular HSTs, but these fares may just do that. GNER may well remain a better (and cheaper!) option for walk-on day tickets though.

People like HST's, but they always like nice shiny new trains, Meridians are comfy, and what's more important, you dont get doors banging open whenever somebody walks up and down the train, you also dont get warm air being sucked out of the coach due to the coaches not being sealed.

Meridians are light, warm, airy, quiet for a DMU, have good acceleration/deceleration and generally improve the ride from Nottingham to London, expect a few minutes shaved off the Nottingham trains when the other six 9 car sets come into service.

fgwfan said:
Plus you've got the underfloor engines in the 222s...No chance, I'd rather a 91 to Grantham and change onto a CT service to Notts.
So you would take an Electric Train, and then get on an overcrowded single Class 153 which has come from Skegness rather than take a 9 Car DEMU which is quieter than a 153? Sensible.....

tramboy said:
And no offence to MML, but 3hrs on an underfloor DEMU is not my idea of fun...although saying that i'm comparing Meridians to Voyagers...unless they've fixed that particular problem in the 222s?

The 9 Car sets are only expected to work Nottingham - London Trains, so a maximum of 90 mins on them, and yes the Toilet Retention Tanks are outside on the 222's, rather than onboard.

yorkie said:
The ticket clerk at Donny was most unhappy at my methods of getting cheap walk-on fares though, I had to tell her how to issue it and insist that it did exist. She was not too happy at being told (politely!) how to issue a ticket

Would you like me to tell you how to run RailUK?
 

yorkie

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Jamie C. Steel said:
Would you like me to tell you how to run RailUK?
Ridiculous comment.

What do you suggest I do?

I ask for a Zones 1-6 travelcard from Grantham, she says it doesn't exist. Do you expect me to get on the train without a ticket? or do you expect me to pay more?

You tell me!
 

bunnahabhain

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I dont expect you to do anything. I would expect you to do this in advance and get your tickets before the day of travel ensuring that you dont miss your trains by dilly dallying in the booking office having an argument with a Booking Clerk.

You can get any ticket in advance, including Cheap Day Returns.
 

yorkie

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Jamie C. Steel said:
I dont expect you to do anything. I would expect you to do this in advance and get your tickets before the day of travel ensuring that you dont miss your trains by dilly dallying in the booking office having an argument with a Booking Clerk.

You can get any ticket in advance, including Cheap Day Returns.
That is THE most PATHETIC post I've ever seen!
 

Guinness

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yorkie said:
Jamie C. Steel said:
I dont expect you to do anything. I would expect you to do this in advance and get your tickets before the day of travel ensuring that you dont miss your trains by dilly dallying in the booking office having an argument with a Booking Clerk.

You can get any ticket in advance, including Cheap Day Returns.
That is THE most PATHETIC post I've ever seen!

I'm confused - Explain.
 

yorkie

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Explain?!

Our right to buy CDRs on the day should need no explaining. That anyone says I should not have that right defies belief.

Jamie is clearly just being argumentative, as evidenced on other topics.
 

Ben

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Jamie yes indeed you can buy CDRs in Advance but whats the point of it?

it wastes a lot of time buying tickets in adv when you could buy them on the day yes more time than it takes to buy them on the day of Travel
 

yorkie

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A few more thoughts:

1. How does buying a CDR or Travelcard a day in advance actually help if the clerk says it doesn't exist?

2. What if you live 2.5 miles from the station (as I do)?

3. The issue of advance or not is irrelevant. The issue is that a clerk said a ticket did not exist. The ticket does exist. If I can't tell them how to issue it what can I do? That question has still not been answered. And by the way I feel asking for the manager is a last resort.
 

bunnahabhain

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yorkie said:
Explain?!

Our right to buy CDRs on the day should need no explaining. That anyone says I should not have that right defies belief.

Jamie is clearly just being argumentative, as evidenced on other topics.

I'm not being argumentative, I'm simply asking if you would like somebody to tell you how to do your job, it doesnt matter if there are Rules which state that you are allowed to purchase a ticket a certain way, I asked if you would like to be told how to do your job.

Obviously that's a no considering what's just been exchanged between yourself and myself.
 

Simming

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if you get them in advance, you could be possibley holding up someone who has great need to travel that day. Ive had that a redruth, theres only one window, and someone has queued up, and spent ages asking for ticket advice, and he didn't take in consideration for all those needed to travel on the next train, luckily, there was another train right after, but that put me in a good mode for the rest of the day.
 

Lewisham2221

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ahem! Can we put the claws away please fellas? I can (roughly) see both sides of the argument here and tbh you can both be argumentitive at times. Just stop it, forget about and move on...
 

yorkie

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I can assure you that I would never act in the way she does, in my job.

I suppose the nearest equivalent might be someone asking for a piece of hardware and me telling them it did not exist. I would never say something did not exist unless I was certain, and even then I would check. I wouldn't refuse to do so and then try to charge them extra!

If I acted how she did in my job, I'd not get very far at all.

But let's leave my job out of it.

I am the customer and I have done nothing wrong.

She eventually agreed to sell it, and I didn't have to resort to asking for her manager.
 

Derek Kaye

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I always have to buy on the day, as there is no ticket office and I have to get what I want off the conductor on the train.
I dont see what all the fuss is about though, it doesn't really matter when you get your ticket as long as you travel with one.
 

yorkie

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Chaz said:
158 said:
Jamie yes indeed you can buy CDRs in Advance but whats the point of it

It beats the queues on your day of travel.
Right so I'm going to spend an hour of my own time to beat a queue?

And what has a queue got to do with it? Nothing!
 

Lewisham2221

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In this instance I can see where the confusion would have started. Buying combo CDR's from the originating station is always going to look a bit odd, and in some cases the tickett clerk may well not have been particularly well trained in issuing tickets for journies starting from another station. The simple way would be to explain that it is possible, and if still refused, ask for the manager. This may or may not be what you did, although your original post did seem a bit more patronising.

As for Jamie's post about buying all train tickets in advance, I disagree as I very rarely purchase tickets in advance. I think by this point he was just trying to make his point and NOT being deliberatly argumentitive.

No, going slightly off topic, but can we please stop all this and get RailUK progress going the right way, and that isn't being directed purely at the forum side of things either!
 

Mojo

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Jamie C. Steel said:
I'm not being argumentative, I'm simply asking if you would like somebody to tell you how to do your job, it doesnt matter if there are Rules which state that you are allowed to purchase a ticket a certain way, I asked if you would like to be told how to do your job.

Admittedly, Yorkie *could* have bought his ticket in advance, but decided not to, but I recently bought an All Line Rover, the clerk didnt know how to issue one, so I went on the Travel Trade/eNFM website, printed off the instructions and gave them to her. You can't buy the ticket that I wanted off the net, so I had no choice but tell her how to do it.
 

yorkie

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Marv said:
In this instance I can see where the confusion would have started. Buying combo CDR's from the originating station is always going to look a bit odd,
Why should it? And regardless of what they think, it's their job to issue it. The vast majority do their jobs well but a few bad apples don't

Marv said:
and in some cases the tickett clerk may well not have been particularly well trained in issuing tickets for journies starting from another station.
Not the case here. She knew how to issue travelcards from London. All she had to do was type in Grantham instead of London. But she kept refusing to do so until I insisted. It was not a training issue.

Marv said:
The simple way would be to explain that it is possible, and if still refused, ask for the manager. This may or may not be what you did, although your original post did seem a bit more patronising.
I did explain that it was possible and asked her to issue it exactly how she'd issue one from London but by typing in Grantham!! Yes I would have taken your next step had she not done this.
 

yorkie

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Mojo said:
..., the clerk didnt know how to issue one, so I went on the Travel Trade/eNFM website, printed off the instructions and gave them to her. You can't buy the ticket that I wanted off the net, so I had no choice but tell her how to do it.
Exactly. There is no choice. What else can we do?

I've instructed several clerks how to issue tickets before, most are happy to do so. It's very, very few that are not. But that's their problem.
 
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