Refunds due to lockdown?

[Wallsendmag]

By what authority? I thought TOCs were pretty autonomous as regards their activities peripheral to running trains.

A higher one

 

[Hadders]

By what authority? I thought TOCs were pretty autonomous as regards their activities peripheral to running trains.

The DfT are squarely in charge via the Emergency Measures Agreements. Even seemingly minor decisions have to be signed off by them.

 

[Haywain]

By what authority? I thought TOCs were pretty autonomous as regards their activities peripheral to running trains.

They used to be but the DfT are in charge now.

 

[island]

Can anyone help explain the situation with off-peak return tickets? The above refers to Advances. I have used the outbound but not the return, as it was planned for after the new lockdown announcement and I chose not to travel back as planned. Can I get any form of refund, credit or validity extension, or is it lost?

You can request a refund, which will be calculated as the difference between the off-peak return fare and the corresponding off-peak single fare, less an admin fee of up to £10. Depending on the ticket held, this may well mean no refund will be due.

 

[trainophile]

TPE gave full fee-free refunds during the first lockdown. Have the rules changed since April/May then?

 

[35B]

TPE gave full fee-free refunds during the first lockdown. Have the rules changed since April/May then?

Yes, imposed by DfT (i.e. the government)

 

[317 forever]

On October 25th I booked Advance singles with Avanti to spend a night in London later in November. I am likely to go straight after Christmas instead, but am concerned that bookings might not open before my original dates of travel. All I see is that we "may" qualify for vouchers, but no criteria anywhere.

Just a thought: are 2 admin-fee free amendments allowed?

 

[mickey]

However, it should be noted that you may get very little back in some cases, as they'll generally deduct the cost of the appropriate Single ticket as well.

For example: A Super Off-Peak Return from London to Sheffield route via Chesterfield is £82.00, and the Single is £79.00, leaving just £3.00 to be refunded before the admin fee (up to £10.00) is applied.

This is what I’m afraid of. There’s an added complication in that it’s (self) split tickets given XC’s long-standing policy of pricing their own flows out of the market, so presumably there would be double admin fees as well. It’s annoying as an Advance was reasonably priced but I chose SVR for the flexibility. I suspect I might just have to write this one off and accept it’s lost.

 

[alistairlees]

This is what I’m afraid of. There’s an added complication in that it’s (self) split tickets given XC’s long-standing policy of pricing their own flows out of the market, so presumably there would be double admin fees as well. It’s annoying as an Advance was reasonably priced but I chose SVR for the flexibility. I suspect I might just have to write this one off and accept it’s lost.

Despite what others have said on here, your refund from the TOC should not incur any admin fees, as it is for a ticket for travel during the lockdown period, that was purchased before the lockdown period. As CyrusWuff has correctly pointed out, you should receive the difference between the Off-Peak Single and the Off-Peak Return, which may be much less than half the value of the Off-Peak Return. Whether you have purchased split tickets or not should be irrelevant.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Despite what others have said on here, your refund from the TOC should not incur any admin fees, as it is for a ticket for travel during the lockdown period, that was purchased before the lockdown period. As CyrusWuff has correctly pointed out, you should receive the difference between the Off-Peak Single and the Off-Peak Return, which may be much less than half the value of the Off-Peak Return. Whether you have purchased split tickets or not should be irrelevant.

Fee free "refunds" (in the form of Rail Travel Vouchers or eVouchers, neither of which can be exchanged for cash) and changes are only available with Advance tickets, or in line with Condition 30.1 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel in the event of a train being cancelled or delayed and you abandoning your journey.

Normal rules (and admin fees) apply for walk up ticket types, Carnets and Season Tickets, per the three most recent RDG briefings (dated 26th October, 30th October and 3rd November) unless the ticket(s) were purchased before 23:59 BST on Sunday 6th September.

 

[trainophile]

Fee free "refunds" (in the form of Rail Travel Vouchers or eVouchers, neither of which can be exchanged for cash) and changes are only available with Advance tickets, or in line with Condition 30.1 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel in the event of a train being cancelled or delayed and you abandoning your journey.

Normal rules (and admin fees) apply for walk up ticket types, Carnets and Season Tickets, per the three most recent RDG briefings (dated 26th October, 30th October and 3rd November) unless the ticket(s) were purchased before 23:59 BST on Sunday 6th September.

Seems crazy, given that Advance tickets are cheaper because they don't give flexibility, yet people who have paid more for other types of ticket are not being treated as generously as people seeking "refunds" (in whatever form) for Advances. Somebody needs to look into this, it's grossly unfair.

 

[Haywain]

Somebody needs to look into this,

Like the DfT, who made the decision to start with?

 

[alistairlees]

Fee free "refunds" (in the form of Rail Travel Vouchers or eVouchers, neither of which can be exchanged for cash) and changes are only available with Advance tickets, or in line with Condition 30.1 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel in the event of a train being cancelled or delayed and you abandoning your journey.

Normal rules (and admin fees) apply for walk up ticket types, Carnets and Season Tickets, per the three most recent RDG briefings (dated 26th October, 30th October and 3rd November) unless the ticket(s) were purchased before 23:59 BST on Sunday 6th September.

You are indeed correct. For some reason I had thought that the fee was being waived for all ticket types where travel was not possible because of the lockdown.

 

[CyrusWuff]

You are indeed correct. For some reason I had thought that the fee was being waived for all ticket types where travel was not possible because of the lockdown.

To be fair, with the DfT moving the goalposts every five minutes it's hard to keep track of what's going on!