Ticket Price Increasing Whilst Booking

[DanTrain]

Hi, sorry if this has been mentioned already.

I have just booked tickets from Chesterfield to Exeter on XC, and whilst booking them, the ticket price increased by £20. Is this just because I started booking in National Rail/XC website and then switched to the Trainline or what. Either way, it's ridiculous to increase the price of the ticket whilst someone is in the process of booking it. Is this common, because I find it unacceptable?

Dan

 

[robbeech]

There are a number of reasons this may happen. Unfortunately the most likely reason here is probably executed by your own actions so finding it unacceptable is likely in itself unacceptable.

For each train there are a finite number of tickets available for advance purchase at a given fare. Once they have been purchased then only the next cheapest are available (of which again there is a finite number). This carries on until the entire advanced quota is met. From this point on only walk up priced tickets are available.

In order for you to secure a ticket, when you select a train a ticket at the given price is essentially put in your ‘basket’ and is not available for anyone else to buy. If that’s the last one at that price tier then the next person searching will only be able to see the next pricing tier up. If you selected the last one and then didn’t complete the purchase using that retailer it’s possible that the next person might be yourself with another retailer.

You can usually release the tickets immediately by removing them from a basket or if you do not complete the purchase they are automatically released in 2 hours.

So you may find in 2 hours the cheaper price becomes available again, or you may find someone else just beats you to it.

It’s also possible that splitting your ticket at various points on that journey will Male the journey cheaper, partially due to the nature of demand of through tickets and partially because wth advanced tickets there may be tickets at a lower price tier available for part of your journey but not the rest.

 

[DanTrain]

I thought it might be something of the like, thanks. What I do find odd though is that on returning to the National Rail page to try and buy the cheaper tickets (still being advertised on NR), they then went up in price on being forwarded to the XC website. Probably the same thing at play, just irritating that a quoted price then changes what was essentially halfway through the original transaction (even if it was my fault for messign around in a 2nd window).

 

[robbeech]

NRE will grab the price at the time. On a popular flow it may just be that by the time you get to it those fares have been used.

Whilst the direct XC route is the fastest and simplest, for advance fares if you want a cost saving over time it’s possible that an EMT plus connections (search via London) advance might work out cheaper if there is quota left but you’d have to check for the time and date. This would take longer and involved multiple trains and a cross London transfer so it depends what you are trying to achieve from the journey.

 

[DanTrain]

NRE will grab the price at the time. On a popular flow it may just be that by the time you get to it those fares have been used.

Whilst the direct XC route is the fastest and simplest, for advance fares if you want a cost saving over time it’s possible that an EMT plus connections (search via London) advance might work out cheaper if there is quota left but you’d have to check for the time and date. This would take longer and involved multiple trains and a cross London transfer so it depends what you are trying to achieve from the journey.

Thanks for the reply, not a bad idea actually, although for this journey, by the time we'd got to London and then got the tube to Paddington and boarded a (likely rammed) HST/IEP to Exeter, we may have well have just driven. Also, EMT aren't known for their low fares on their London routes, although worth bearing in mind in the future though on other journeys, thanks.

 

[robbeech]

I can drive (legally) from my home to Exeter I’m not much more time than a train from Chesterfield (I’m 5 minutes from M1 junction 30) so any additional time was never going to beat the car.
A valid point of course if you are not wanting to spend any longer than necessary on the train.

A couple of things to note though.
You would get a seat reservation on both the EMT service to St Pancras and the GWR service from Paddington so there shouldn’t be a problem there.

As for the pricing, there are through tickets that can be not dissimilar to the direct route.
I’m not sure how far in advance you are booking but to look a good few weeks ahead the 1312 arriving 1819 on the 19th June from Chesterfield has advance at £48 (adult, no railcard discount).
Most tickets on XC for that day are over twice that with the exception of a couple in the morning.
That’s an extreme example and there are of course examples where the direct route has more favourable pricing but it’s always worth a look.

 

[DanTrain]

I'll take a look, thanks, although I suspect that for the sake of a few quid, the direct train is probably easier. It's interesting that the 'busy' routes through London are similar/slightly cheaper though, probably shows how random/mad the ticketing system is.

Thanks for your help

 

[yorkie]

Hi, sorry if this has been mentioned already.

I have just booked tickets from Chesterfield to Exeter on XC, and whilst booking them, the ticket price increased by £20. Is this just because I started booking in National Rail/XC website and then switched to the Trainline or what. Either way, it's ridiculous to increase the price of the ticket whilst someone is in the process of booking it. Is this common, because I find it unacceptable?

Dan

What date/time are you looking at travelling?

There will be no need to pay £20 extra; there will be a combination of tickets that will undercut the higher fare, I am sure.

There is no way to avoid the fare going up as people book them, unless the whole concept of Advance tickets being quota controlled is abolished.

 

[Gareth Marston]

What date/time are you looking at travelling?

There will be no need to pay £20 extra; there will be a combination of tickets that will undercut the higher fare, I am sure.

There is no way to avoid the fare going up as people book them, unless the whole concept of Advance tickets being quota controlled is abolished.

Public understanding of how AP works is patchy at best. I've quoted prices and given printouts to people who then want to phone a friend or whatever and come back in a few minutes and the lower quota has gone. I've also quoted things and when they've actually booked the price has gone down - not as often admittedly! I really stress that I can't guarantee any price unless they buy on the spot.

I've seen people who think if they hold on nearer date of travel they'll be some sort of fire sale and prices will come down. Though the most common AP confusion is the " it was cheaper on the Internet when I looked the other day" when I quote a SDR or CDR price. There's still people who confuse the one way with the return price on websites as well.

 

[njamescouk]

I've found clearing cookies seems to help with getting better prices.

 

[njamescouk]

Public understanding of how AP works is patchy at best. I've quoted prices and given printouts to people who then want to phone a friend or whatever and come back in a few minutes and the lower quota has gone. I've also quoted things and when they've actually booked the price has gone down - not as often admittedly! I really stress that I can't guarantee any price unless they buy on the spot.

pretty much the exact opposite of a competitive market, which requires transparent pricing, but there you go.

 

[Gareth Marston]

pretty much the exact opposite of a competitive market, which requires transparent pricing, but there you go.

the existence of regulated Off Peak Returns provides a degree of protection from the full horrors of yield management "distress purchasing" prices.

 

[DanTrain]

What date/time are you looking at travelling?

There will be no need to pay £20 extra; there will be a combination of tickets that will undercut the higher fare, I am sure.

There is no way to avoid the fare going up as people book them, unless the whole concept of Advance tickets being quota controlled is abolished.

I’ve booked it now anyway thanks, I didn’t much fancy going via London for the sake of £20.

I've found clearing cookies seems to help with getting better prices.

Interesting tip, I'll bear that in mind in future, thanks .