Railforums ticket site - split tickets different reservations

[Deerfold]

I'm becoming a bigger fan of the site's ticket system and have recently bought quite a few tickets through it, largely for following a band around.

Today I bought split tickets and was wondering if it was possible to warn before paying if the split is going to give different reservations - my latest starts in coach B, followed by coach K which is unlikely to go down well with the wife for a saving of under a fiver between us.

 

[ThameslinkUser]

You could always just bin those reservations and make fresh ones with the social media team of the relevant TOC

Well not bin in the case of AP tickets, but you get the gist

 

[Bletchleyite]

If you use the seat selector to change it, it'll usually select the same seat for all tickets in the split if it can.

 

[yorkie]

I'm becoming a bigger fan of the site's ticket system and have recently bought quite a few tickets through it, largely for following a band around.

Today I bought split tickets and was wondering if it was possible to warn before paying if the split is going to give different reservations - my latest starts in coach B, followed by coach K which is unlikely to go down well with the wife for a saving of under a fiver between us.

Put the ticket in your basket first (don't go straight to payment), then click the seat icon and, where possible, you can change your seat accordingly.

If you're already booked, then alternative reservations can be made through the GWR website (you'd need an account); this doesn't have a seat selector but does allow preferences.

Or if you want to specify exact seats, if you can state the exact trains (including date & departure times), someone can book these for you (this is something I can arrange if I have all that info).

 

[Deerfold]

If you use the seat selector to change it, it'll usually select the same seat for all tickets in the split if it can.

I gave my preferred options but it didn't.

Put the ticket in your basket first (don't go straight to payment), then click the seat icon and, where possible, you can change your seat accordingly.

If you're already booked, then alternative reservations can be made through the GWR website (you'd need an account); this doesn't have a seat selector but does allow preferences.

Or if you want to specify exact seats, if you can state the exact trains (including date & departure times), someone can book these for you (this is something I can arrange if I have all that info).

I'm used to sites telling what seats I have before I pay, but I'll see if I can do that next time.

I've reserved through seats on the LNER site without any problem, now, so I'm not sure why the initial booking moved us to the other end of the train. My booking was for June, so there's now only 4 seats booked in our carriage.

 

[Adam Williams]

I'm used to sites telling what seats I have before I pay

It does, on the "Review Journeys" step of the checkout - I think?

 

[Deerfold]

It does, on the "Review Journeys" step of the checkout - I think?

I'll check next time, but didn't see it until I'd checked out.

 

[ivorytoast28]

The issue really is that GWR don't have a seat selector option for passengers unlike other operators. The preferences doesn't have any relation to area of the train so on split tickets it isn't going to help

 

[Haywain]

The issue really is that GWR don't have a seat selector option for passengers unlike other operators. The preferences doesn't have any relation to area of the train so on split tickets it isn't going to help

The journey in question is with LNER, and the LNER site has a seat selector. It seems very harsh to blame GWR.

 

[Buzby]

I travelled recently from Glasgow to Birmingham with AWC and Trainsplit split me at Carlisle (first time ever!) but I had 2 seat reservations - for the same carriage just 2 rows apart. The first seat was booked from Carlisle to London, so I’d have to move BUT my second seat was only reserved from Carlisle to Birmingham, so it made sense to occupy that one for the whole journey, which I did. Time for a little AI perhaps?

 

[kkong]

I travelled recently from Glasgow to Birmingham with AWC and Trainsplit split me at Carlisle (first time ever!) but I had 2 seat reservations - for the same carriage just 2 rows apart. The first seat was booked from Carlisle to London, so I’d have to move BUT my second seat was only reserved from Carlisle to Birmingham, so it made sense to occupy that one for the whole journey, which I did. Time for a little AI perhaps?

That wouldn't be "AI", it would just be "I", if that.

There's so much abuse of the AI term!

 

[Buzby]

There's so much abuse of the AI term!

True, but if the software in the seat allocation module had a bit of it it might have made the experience less of a hassle!

 

[ainsworth74]

I'll check next time, but didn't see it until I'd checked out.

It's there but you have to click the little seat icon:



So it's not instantly obvious and very easy to just click straight past as you're going through the checkout.

 

[Deerfold]

It's there but you have to click the little seat icon:

View attachment 155741

So it's not instantly obvious and very easy to just click straight past as you're going through the checkout.

Yes, I didn't realise you could click on that. Good to know, thanks.

 

[yorkie]

I travelled recently from Glasgow to Birmingham with AWC and Trainsplit split me at Carlisle (first time ever!) but I had 2 seat reservations - for the same carriage just 2 rows apart. The first seat was booked from Carlisle to London, so I’d have to move BUT my second seat was only reserved from Carlisle to Birmingham, so it made sense to occupy that one for the whole journey, which I did. Time for a little AI perhaps?

On whose part?

True, but if the software in the seat allocation module had a bit of it it might have made the experience less of a hassle!

What do you mean by the seat allocation module?

If RARS (Rail Availability & Reservation Service) worked properly, I don't think any of this would be a problem!

 

[Buzby]

If RARS (Rail Availability & Reservation Service) worked properly, I don't think any of this would be a problem!

I hadn’t realised NRS had been replaced by this - in which case I cannot see why I was needlessly made to switch seats (or would have been if I hadn’t checked things out for myself and ignored the first splits Seat. Have there been any concerns raised officially over RARS that you are aware of?

 

[OscarH]

I hadn’t realised NRS had been replaced by this - in which case I cannot see why I was needlessly made to switch seats (or would have been if I hadn’t checked things out for myself and ignored the first splits Seat. Have there been any concerns raised officially over RARS that you are aware of?

Yes, switching seats on split tickets is currently a hot topic