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Reservations . . . .

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The Colonel

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Lady approaches counter . . .

Cust - I'm going to Boxhill to see the mens cycling on 28th July and I've been advised to book my ticket in advance . . . .

Clerk - You can book your ticket in advance Madam, but I think that advice is more geared towards longer distance travellers for saver type tickets & seat reservations. . . . Our trains here are just turn up & get on.

Lady - Oh I see . . . .

This took place 7 stations away from Boxhill and our trains are 455's :lol:
 
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MidnightFlyer

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To be fair if they're an inexperienced rail traveller then I don't see what the problem is, how were they to know better?
 

ainsworth74

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Yeh I can't say that I blame her for asking as it is increasingly being drilled into passengers that they should a) book in advance for the best deals and b) should in fact always buy in advance. Someone who is unfamiliar with the railway network might well end up concluding that all for all journey you should be buying in advance.
 

calc7

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I wish TheTrainLine never existed. It kills me everytime I see somebody booking tickets on it and touting how they will get their CDR or other walk-up ticket "much cheaper" by buying it there and then. Bizarre.
 

tbtc

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I can't blame the woman for her question, esp as ainsworth74 says it's often rammed down people's throats that they need to get a reservation at busy times
 

jopsuk

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On this page
(and I'm guessing the information that you get with the actual tickets):
To secure the best ticket prices and options and make sure you get to your event on time, it's important you book your travel to the Games early.
 

tsr

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Depending on the station the lady was travelling from, she might be able to get a Southern Advance, but I can't comment as I don't know the exact time, station of origin, etc.

In general though, yes, the public are told (rightly or wrongly) to obtain tickets in advance, and I can easily see why this is a good idea. The Surrey Southern/SWT/FGW area ticket offices may well be rammed with last-minute customers during the Olympics.
 

Max

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It never ceases to amaze me how many people in the Yorkshire area book their tickets in advance to get them cheaper, when they are actually just buying walk-on tickets! Because Northern don't offer Advance there are many journeys in the north, even some which might be considered medium-long distance, where there is no benefit in buying in advance.

PS. Topic moved as it seems to fit into Ticketing better than NR General Discussion.
 

jopsuk

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Depending on the station the lady was travelling from, she might be able to get a Southern Advance, but I can't comment as I don't know the exact time, station of origin, etc.

In general though, yes, the public are told (rightly or wrongly) to obtain tickets in advance, and I can easily see why this is a good idea. The Surrey Southern/SWT/FGW area ticket offices may well be rammed with last-minute customers during the Olympics.

That's not a bad point with ragards olympic travel. Even if it saves no money, better to have bought tickets in advance than join the no-doubt long snaking queue on the day- especially given that the roadsides outside of the Boxhill Loop are non-ticketed.
 

Deerfold

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Clerk - You can book your ticket in advance Madam, but I think that advice is more geared towards longer distance travellers for saver type tickets & seat reservations. . . . Our trains here are just turn up & get on.

How long is it since there were savers? Weren't they turn up and buy tickets anyway?

No wonder passengers get confused.
 

wintonian

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Lady approaches counter . . .

Cust - I'm going to Boxhill to see the mens cycling on 28th July and I've been advised to book my ticket in advance . . . .

Clerk - You can book your ticket in advance Madam, but I think that advice is more geared towards longer distance travellers for saver type tickets & seat reservations. . . . Our trains here are just turn up & get on.

Lady - Oh I see . . . .

This took place 7 stations away from Boxhill and our trains are 455's :lol:

Maybe she was going with a bicycle and they need to be reserved, did the clerk ask about such a contraption or was it assumed no one would want to bring a bicycle to a cycling event? ;)
 

Yew

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Its definately made mor complicated as 'booking an advance purchase ticket' and 'Booking in advance' sound very similar, but have very different meanings. Maybe changing AP's back to the name apexes could reduce this confusion?
 
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