Special Offers Discussion

[KGX]

I think you get Perks when you spend them rather than when you buy them.

Thanks. Just checking I’d still get Perks if I went the voucher route. Not bothered if it’s at purchase or spending point. My bank only does the cash back on one transaction, so voucher route makes sense.

 

[bspahh]

Trainpal has a discount code RC007 which means 1 year railcards are £19.80 and 3 year ones are £46.80.
https://www.mytrainpal.com/railcard-guide

This thread at hotukdeals.com says that

Code RC007 gives 34% off 1 or 3 year railcards, should work for all customers.

 

[YorkC]

Has anyone got LNER in Nectar Connect? Usually appears at same time as bank offers for me but nothing yet

 

[standish1]

Northern £10.00 ticket starts again on 13/05/23. Tokens appear in local newspapers again starting next week.

 

[NorthWestRover]

Good date to start it...not.

 

[Deerfold]

Good date to start it...not.

What's wrong with that date?

If you're referring to the strike, most people will get tokens over more than once day, so won't be using the offer on that day.

 

[Rail Ranger]

Details on the Northern website here: https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/tickets/newspaper-offer

 

[negone]

Details on the Northern website here: https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/tickets/newspaper-offer

Glad it's back on, just finished the tfw sale tickets. But I hoped they would have done it digitally or put it in the metro free newspaper, as it's a pain looking out for the newspapers and collecting the tokens.

 

[Kite159]

Glad it's back on, just finished the tfw sale tickets. But I hoped they would have done it digitally or put it in the metro free newspaper, as it's a pain looking out for the newspapers and collecting the tokens.

Especially if you don't live in the area

 

[NorthWestRover]

What's wrong with that date?

If you're referring to the strike, most people will get tokens over more than once day, so won't be using the offer on that day.

Yes, I was referring to the strike day. Seems nonsense to start it on that date.

 

[Rail Ranger]

Starts on 8th May. 13th May is the start of the weekend tickets.

 

[Wolfie]

Yes, I was referring to the strike day. Seems nonsense to start it on that date.

Promotions are planned months in advance. That date will have been set in stone long before the strikes were announced.

 

[bspahh]

Especially if you don't live in the area

Especially if you don't live in the area

https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/tickets/newspaper-offer/national-world says:

I have missed the copy of my local paper that has a Northern promotional token in?​

Please contact National World on 0330 403 0066, where you will be able to order back copies of the relevant newspaper.

Has anyone tried this? How much does it cost to order copies of a newspaper like this? Will they send the papers to a non-local address?

 

[Silver Cobra]

Has anyone got LNER in Nectar Connect? Usually appears at same time as bank offers for me but nothing yet

LNER is back in my Nectar Connect offers list, at 10 points per £1 spent.

 

[YorkC]

Ah excellent yes, also back for me.

 

[JonathanH]

But I hoped they would have done it digitally or put it in the metro free newspaper, as it's a pain looking out for the newspapers and collecting the tokens.

Huh? Isn't the point to try and increase (paid for) newspaper circulation?

If they were just going to do it digitally, Northern might as well just do it themselves on their website.

 

[AntoniC]

Northern £10.00 ticket starts again on 13/05/23. Tokens appear in local newspapers again starting next week.

Very happy that they have included my local paper (The Liverpool Echo) in this offer !
Also glad I have 3 weeks off in June so its time to do some planning as to where to go.

 

[negone]

Huh? Isn't the point to try and increase (paid for) newspaper circulation?

If they were just going to do it digitally, Northern might as well just do it themselves on their website.

Its leisure travel, filling what would be empty seats.

Having said that I prefer empty carriages to packed ones.

From a newspapers point of view, yes, it is. To get the offer you must buy the newspaper.

A Liverpool Echo is £1.40 and is not worth the money, and you need two of them.

northern rail wants to reach as many customers as possible and they think this is one way to do it.

But newspapers are in terminal decline, circulation for Liverpool Echo is 13,000 and MEN 11,000

I think the metro newspaper should have been tried, larger circulation, but the likely target audience would have been bus pass pensioners who don’t like paying for newspapers and don’t use the internet but might see it as a day out.

The £10 day pass is good value for money, and good for northern, as when they offer £1 and 50p single tickets online they would expect someone to just buy and make a day return trip eg Liverpool – Blackpool £2 return,

Now we have someone who is paying £10 probably wouldn’t have gone online, “what’s a eticket?” would do the same trip, northern have just made £8 profit. The railway nerds would still want the 50p etickets,

Social media is the future, It reaches more people 100 fold then newspapers.

On train journeys everyone under 60 who is not a pensioner is now glued to a mobile phone.

It just needs someone from northern rail marketing tech to pursue that avenue. Even nerds want an easier userface when buying online single sale etickets, not having juggling prices routes and times via fastjp

Also think about someway if its possible of puting the £10 sale dayticket, online as an eticket or paper ticket claimed from tvm in your next marketing review

 

[Rail Ranger]

The trouble is you need to print off an online form to stick the tokens to, so those without the Internet are excluded from this offer.

 

[_toommm_]

The trouble is you need to print off an online form to stick the tokens to, so those without the Internet are excluded from this offer.

Your local library will print in black and white for often 5p

 

[Rail Ranger]

Printed forms could be made available at booking offices.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Printed forms could be made available at booking offices.

The ones that are being removed?

 

[Rail Ranger]

The ones that are being removed?

Yes but this offer requires you to visit a booking office to purchase your day or weekend ticket.

 

[Bertie the bus]

Its leisure travel, filling what would be empty seats.

Having said that I prefer empty carriages to packed ones.

From a newspapers point of view, yes, it is. To get the offer you must buy the newspaper.

A Liverpool Echo is £1.40 and is not worth the money, and you need two of them.

northern rail wants to reach as many customers as possible and they think this is one way to do it.

But newspapers are in terminal decline, circulation for Liverpool Echo is 13,000 and MEN 11,000

I think the metro newspaper should have been tried, larger circulation, but the likely target audience would have been bus pass pensioners who don’t like paying for newspapers and don’t use the internet but might see it as a day out.

The £10 day pass is good value for money, and good for northern, as when they offer £1 and 50p single tickets online they would expect someone to just buy and make a day return trip eg Liverpool – Blackpool £2 return,

Now we have someone who is paying £10 probably wouldn’t have gone online, “what’s a eticket?” would do the same trip, northern have just made £8 profit. The railway nerds would still want the 50p etickets,

Social media is the future, It reaches more people 100 fold then newspapers.

On train journeys everyone under 60 who is not a pensioner is now glued to a mobile phone.

It just needs someone from northern rail marketing tech to pursue that avenue. Even nerds want an easier userface when buying online single sale etickets, not having juggling prices routes and times via fastjp

Also think about someway if its possible of puting the £10 sale dayticket, online as an eticket or paper ticket claimed from tvm in your next marketing review

That is just a very longwinded way of saying you want to pay £10 for the ticket instead of £12.80 so Northern should give you the tokens for free.

This Northern offer is very good value irrespective of whether you have to buy a couple of newspapers and we should be pleased they seem to be returning to the pre-Covid 3 offers per year (Winter, Summer and Autumn) rather than moaning about a couple of quid.

 

[northwichcat]

Its leisure travel, filling what would be empty seats.

In post-COVID times with hybrid/flexible working, I don't think you can conclude a £10 day pass valid only after 08:45 is only usable for lesuire purposes.

From a newspapers point of view, yes, it is. To get the offer you must buy the newspaper.

And from Northern's point of view, as they'll come to a commercial arrangement with the paper that benefits both parties.

I think the metro newspaper should have been tried, larger circulation, but the likely target audience would have been bus pass pensioners who don’t like paying for newspapers and don’t use the internet but might see it as a day out.

As the Metro paper is free there's little benefit to the publisher for increasing circulation on the day the tokens are printed. So it's more likely any commercial arrangement would involve Northern paying them to print an advert with tokens.

The £10 day pass is good value for money, and good for northern, as when they offer £1 and 50p single tickets online they would expect someone to just buy and make a day return trip eg Liverpool – Blackpool £2 return,

You've missed some of the main benefits of these tickets to the operator.

1. Liverpool to Blackpool Off Peak Return is £19.30. So, unless you incentivise passengers to travel on certain trains, everyone crams on the first off-peak train (or a mid-afternoon one during illuminations season).

2. People making leisure travel like flexibility. So even if all trains have £1 tickets, they'll be people who spend £3 or £4 on tickets so they aren't fixed to one specific train, but still make a large saving. Then if they wouldn't have gone by train without the offer, it's £3 or £4 extra revenue per person and they're still restricted to certain services.

Social media is the future, It reaches more people 100 fold then newspapers.

On train journeys everyone under 60 who is not a pensioner is now glued to a mobile phone.

It just needs someone from northern rail marketing tech to pursue that avenue. Even nerds want an easier userface when buying online single sale etickets, not having juggling prices routes and times via fastjp

Northern's marketing team are aware. After all, where do they first annouce their £1 flash sales?

Getting partnerships with other companies for social media is a lot of work, if their social account has a large following. If another company has gained a social media following of 1 million, they are aware they need to be careful who their partner with. Then any partnerships have huge commercial value so they'll be commercial managers, legal teams etc. spending a lot of time on it. The costs will run in to thousands of pounds.

 

[negone]

That is just a very longwinded way of saying you want to pay £10 for the ticket instead of £12.80 so Northern should give you the tokens for free.

This Northern offer is very good value irrespective of whether you have to buy a couple of newspapers and we should be pleased they seem to be returning to the pre-Covid 3 offers per year (Winter, Summer and Autumn) rather than moaning about a couple of quid.

Mind reading, I am not begging tokens. But I do see the offer as old hat, the last stages of a dying industry. a bogus free offer type discounted ticket, with not much shelf life left in it, seeing via the Internet we have had the demise of the freebie newspapers Cd’s and Dvd’s I expect the same. Now would I pay £12.80 online, probably but northern aren’t going to do that, at least not while the offer lasts as it would be commercial suicide. Northern does need to get back the public’s goodwill and cheap tickets would help. The next question is why this offer can’t be on all the time. A permanent fixture on the northern website tickets via TVMs sans reach plc and said hated tokens

 

[northwichcat]

The next question is why this offer can’t be on all the time. A permanent fixture on the northern website tickets via TVMs sans reach plc and said hated tokens

Special offers don't generate additional interest and revenue if they are on all the time. Maybe you should start a new thread for the principles of marketing? You seem to have a lot of questions on them.

 

[negone]

In post-COVID times with hybrid/flexible working, I don't think you can conclude a £10 day pass valid only after 08:45 is only usable for lesuire purposes.



And from Northern's point of view, as they'll come to a commercial arrangement with the paper that benefits both parties.



As the Metro paper is free there's little benefit to the publisher for increasing circulation on the day the tokens are printed. So it's more likely any commercial arrangement would involve Northern paying them to print an advert with tokens.



You've missed some of the main benefits of these tickets to the operator.

1. Liverpool to Blackpool Off Peak Return is £19.30. So, unless you incentivise passengers to travel on certain trains, everyone crams on the first off-peak train (or a mid-afternoon one during illuminations season).

2. People making leisure travel like flexibility. So even if all trains have £1 tickets, they'll be people who spend £3 or £4 on tickets so they aren't fixed to one specific train, but still make a large saving. Then if they wouldn't have gone by train without the offer, it's £3 or £4 extra revenue per person and they're still restricted to certain services.



Northern's marketing team are aware. After all, where do they first annouce their £1 flash sales?

Getting partnerships with other companies for social media is a lot of work, if their social account has a large following. If another company has gained a social media following of 1 million, they are aware they need to be careful who their partner with. Then any partnerships have huge commercial value so they'll be commercial managers, legal teams etc. spending a lot of time on it. The costs will run in to thousands of pounds.

The Metro has a circulation of 200,000 in the five northern rail areas, the downside it’s owed by the Daily Mail.

Re: Blackpool,Northern could promote it as a city to city summer sale

Problem with the lakes would be the long wait at Oxenholme while other toc trains swept by.

Social Media, moneysavngexpert and ukhotdeals do usually have the offers. And seem honest websites.

I can’t see northern using the handful of (known to rail enthusiasts) skilled, media savvy youtube train bloggers, because part of their appeal is being seen independent from the toc’s

Special offers don't generate additional interest and revenue if they are on all the time. Maybe you should start a new thread for the principles of marketing? You seem to have a lot of questions on them.

The Metro has a circulation of 200,000 in the five northern rail areas, the downside it’s owed by the Daily Mail.

Re: Blackpool,Northern could promote it as a city to city summer sale

Problem with the lakes would be the long wait at Oxenholme while other toc trains swept by.

Social Media, moneysavngexpert and ukhotdeals do usually have the offers. And seem honest websites.

I can’t see northern using the handful of (known to rail enthusiasts) skilled, media savvy youtube train bloggers, because part of their appeal is being seen independent from the toc’s

Sorry about that, I realise i am making a fool of myself

 

[northwichcat]

@negone First rule of marketing is you won't get a marketing budget signed off unless you can come up with a realistic ROI that impresses the senior management/investors.

Who said anything about rail enthuaists promoting tickets on their social channels? A few years back TransPennine Express used weather presenter Jo Blythe to promote their services on social. As she's well known both side of the Pennines, she was a perfect choice for them. It's almost like a cheaper, more local version of M&S using Lucy Verasamy on adverts shown on ITV nationally. No dispect to any rail enthuaists but they don't have the same following as ITV's weather presenters. Regarding influencers in general do you realise Rihanna makes more money from advertising than from music?

 

[johntea]

LNER have just emailed to advise there was a glitch with their 10% perks offer but it’s now been sorted so you should have the extra in your account now

Information about bookings made between 27 February and 16 April 2023

We're contacting you about the recent booking you made during a promotional period, offering LNER Perks members 10% Perks credit back for every LNER journey booked through the LNER App. Your booking was eligible for this promotion, but due to our error, you were only awarded the standard 2% Perks credit instead of the expected 10% Perks credit.

We have now corrected our mistake and the remaining 8% Perks credit has been added to your credit balance. You will see the total credit amount in your LNER Perks history as two separate transactions per eligible booking.

We're sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Kind regards

The LNER Team