NXEC 11% Discount on Web purchase - the end?

[John @ home]

GNER started an 11% discount on some of their own Advance fares. When they took over the franchise, NXEC extended this to their full range of Advance fares. Today, this seems to have ended.

Has anyone seen anything announced?

I will leave it to others to comment on whether this is a wise move in the middle of a recession. Sticking to facts, I had a choice of more than a dozen empty tables of 4 to sit at when I caught the 0740 Leeds - Kings Cross earlier this week.

John

 

[Pumbaa]

Thank god I booked over £150 worth of NXEC travel yesterday then! Bugger - if that's the case, it's sad. It was always a good incentive for me to travel with them.

Looking at their website, they've pulled the 10% banner and all mention of it. Damnation to them, but I suppose if it's a way of increasing revenue...

York - London was £10 cheapest AP. Now £12.50.

 

[theblackwatch]

I have contacted NXEC about this, and they have confirmed the discount has now ended. Whilst not good news (it represents a 12% fares increase for those of us who regularly booked AP tickets via their website), at least they had the decency to reply to me within a few hours.

 

[Techniquest]

Phew, good thing my NXEC APs for York to Newcastle and back were booked with discount a while ago!

Even less incentive to travel with NXEC now though. No Valentas, no 11% discount...Going to make travel with them much more expensive. Oh well, more excuse to use Grand Central then!

 

[Max]

Price rises by stealth, oh dear.

 

[richa2002]

And a great reduction of restaurant services too. Not looking great.

 

[Max]

And a great reduction of restaurant services too. Not looking great.

It's almost a no-brainer for Hull passengers now. No restaurant or even at-seat dining, 12% rise in advance fares, no Valentas...what genuine incentive is there to travel with NXEC instead of FHT, apart from perhaps the peak times at which NXEC operate?

 

[theblackwatch]

It's almost a no-brainer for Hull passengers now. No restaurant or even at-seat dining, 12% rise in advance fares, no Valentas...what genuine incentive is there to travel with NXEC instead of FHT, apart from perhaps the peak times at which NXEC operate?

Remember that the majority of passengers (I've had over 90% quoted - no idea now they afford it tho!) do not travel on AP tickets. Of those who do, I'm sure only a very small minority are worried what type of power unit is powering their train!

 

[91101]

98% apparently.

50% Seasons/PTE Seasons
48% Walk On
2% Advance.

If you consider that Northern had 2562 trains scheualed to operate and every signle passenger on every train would have had a season or walk on fare. And then you consider that even 50% of pasengers on NXEC's 136 trains have advances, its easy to see why WalkUp remains the most popular choice in terms of statistics at least

 

[Max]

Of those who do, I'm sure only a very small minority are worried what type of power unit is powering their train!

This was thrown in for my benefit!

 

[me123]

Remember that the majority of passengers (I've had over 90% quoted - no idea now they afford it tho!)

Business travel doesn't always require Advance fares, although employers will prefer it where possible. I know my Dad's work sometimes needs him to be flexible and allows him to buy First Open Returns and the like but only when he really does need to be flexible.

When I travel long distance, I usually use the Advance option. But I don't travel long distances that often. Looking at commuter flows in Glasgow; busy, full length trains with additional services, it's easy to see why 50% travel on season tickets; at this time it's by far the best option. And there's lots of travel as well by people popping into Glasgow for shopping and doing short-medium trips like to Edinburgh which will bring up the total of 48%. AP's only available on Inverness/Aberdeen based services (and the WHL) and the largest flow of traffic is definitely not there.

I know Scotland has a unique rail network, but it's a bit of a microcosm of the rest of the UK. A good mixture of lines. Just thinking about things up here, I can easily see where these figures come from.

 

[Max]

Looking at commuter flows in Glasgow; busy, full length trains with additional services, it's easy to see why 50% travel on season tickets; at this time it's by far the best option

But what are the proportions specifically for NXEC? I'd estimate that season tickets make up a much smaller proportion than 50%, given that the majority of journeys are long distance. Perhaps if you look specifically at the commuter belts (London-Stevenage-Peterborough, Doncaster-Leeds-York, Darlington-Durham-Newcastle etc.) the figures would be a little different, but for the TOC as a whole I can't see seasons making up anywhere near 50%.

 

[theblackwatch]

But what are the proportions specifically for NXEC? I'd estimate that season tickets make up a much smaller proportion than 50%, given that the majority of journeys are long distance. Perhaps if you look specifically at the commuter belts (London-Stevenage-Peterborough, Doncaster-Leeds-York, Darlington-Durham-Newcastle etc.) the figures would be a little different, but for the TOC as a whole I can't see seasons making up anywhere near 50%.

I would agree that this figure is hardly likely to apply to NXEC - in fact I'd be surprised if half that number of passengers (ie 25%) are on season tickets. The number of people using season tickets on, for example, c2c is probably much higher than 50%. It would be interesting to see a 'TOC by TOC' breakdown of ticket types.

 

[devon_metro]

Seems silly considering the fact that midweek off peak trains are likely to be carting around more air!

 

[John @ home]

But what are the proportions specifically for NXEC?

The latest issue of NXEC's on-train magazine says that 43% of NXEC tickets are now bought on-line and that is the highest for any TOC. On-line purchases will more commonly be Advance tickets, so NXEC does not fit the 50% - 48% - 2% pattern. The proportion of Advance tickets is much more than 2%.

In these circumstances, the 12.4% increase in price of all Advance tickets sold through NXEC's web site would lead to a significant increase in revenue if NXEC could retain all the customers. I wonder if they will.

John

 

[Max]

Or they could see a significant drop in the sale of advance tickets to leisure customers, who have less money to spend on train tickets in the wake of the recession.

 

[glynn80]

I don't think this can be criticsed as stealth fare rises or anything similar, this is a "promotion" that has now ended, just because that promotion was for an extended period of time does not mean you should believe it will always exist.

I reckon that passengers will not be deterred by an extra few pounds even if it is a larger percentage of the overall fare. Advance fares still offer a significant saving on the walk-up fares and thus still very appealing to the leisure market. I would hazard a guess that the increase in revenue they gain from removing the discount is likely to easily match the revenue lost from passengers deciding not to travel due to the small fare increase (if it was likely they wouldn't retain their customers, I doubt revenue management would have sanctioned the removal).

 

[yorkie]

It's more of a delayed price rise.

The prices were increased by around 10% a while back, but stayed the same "if bought online".

 

[Tyke Toper]

What NXEC have done quietly, to replace this 10% discount, is to now offer (since this previous weekend?) a Mobile or Print@Home AP ticket under a E & M Ticket button on their booking tool. Only available for a few weeks forward it is priced from £9.50 Single Leeds-London KX and VV. (Paper ticket now lowest £12.50 Single and was £11.15 with 10% discount). Railcard discounts not applicable so does not shown this button if RC selected. RC discount off £12.50 is £8.25 Single so if you have RC keep buying Paper Ticket.