TOCs not releasing Advance fares for travel prior to Christmas

[yorkie]

If anyone has any examples of long distance TOCs not releasing Advance fares for travel up to & including 24th December, please feel free to provide the relevant detail below

I'll start with CrossCountry and Avanti.

To give just two random examples, searches for London to Glasgow (Avanti) or York to Birmingham (XC) on Sat 12th Dec yields no Advance fares, despite this being less than 4 weeks away

There is some information on NRE but it doesn't consistently correspond to Advance fare availability.

Thanks.

 

[lkpridgeon]

I don't think LNER has anything over 4 weeks away by the looks of it (that won't let me search for anything after the 18th, not even for a walkup rate).

 

[Butts]

I have an interest in this as I am having to take a Train from Edinburgh to Sandwell & Dudley on NYE. I would normally Fly but the only Easyjet Service is at 7am and I can't get to the Airport from work that early after completing a Nightshift.

On the AVANTI website it says Advance Tickets will be on Sale from 14th December for the festive period (At least for Monday-Fri)

Currently Advance Fares are available up to Friday 11th December for weekday travel.

 

[Wallsendmag]

I don't think LNER has anything over 4 weeks away by the looks of it (that won't let me search for anything after the 18th, not even for a walkup rate).

We don't believe in selling tickets for days where the timetable isn't confirmed

 

[yorksrob]

I've been looking for something on the 27th for ages, and it never seems to arise, not on any routes travelling North.

 

[Mike@Raileasy]

We don't believe in selling tickets for days where the timetable isn't confirmed

Why is getting timetables finalised being so delayed just now?

 

[westv]

Why is getting timetables finalised being so delayed just now?

Hasn't the delay being going on for months now?

 

[Mike@Raileasy]

Hasn't the delay being going on for months now?

Yes but you'd think there's been enough time for things to "settle down"?

 

[MrTurbostar170]

About a week ago I was able to book an advance fare from Canterbury to back home, now it is shown as "Sold out" or "not available", the same for any other day after that. I don't know if it's to do with the reduced timetable on Southeastern at the moment.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Yes but you'd think there's been enough time for things to "settle down"?

Have you seen the Engineering work taking place on the East Coast over Christmas and next year?

 

[87015]

Have you seen the Engineering work taking place on the East Coast over Christmas and next year?

Are they not planning to the national plan for informed traveller then? Everyone has amended plans over Christmas, LNER don't run many trains in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Mike@Raileasy]

Have you seen the Engineering work taking place on the East Coast over Christmas and next year?

Yes, Laetitia sent thro details and talked us thro them. I was looking at Lon - Edin on 12th Dec today where there were no fares. Also I was talking generically, it's not just a LNER issue. Just trying to understand, we have customers quizzing us. Asked RDG a month ago but no response.

 

[Watershed]

Yes but you'd think there's been enough time for things to "settle down"?

To say the least, Covid did not help with the planning backlog that started increasing following the May 2018 timetable fiasco for most operators. How are operators supposed to have been able to pick up any of this backlog, especially with the "base" timetable changing multiple times in recent months?

Are they not planning to the national plan for informed traveller then?

Hardly any operators are planning sufficiently ahead to get data released to the public in the "normal" timescales. If nothing else, it could end up being a waste of time to start planning, say, 5 months out in time for a T-12 week publication - due to the fluidity of passenger demand and resource availability, and thus the timetable that you want to ultimately run.

LNER don't run many trains in the grand scheme of things.

But their services run, on average, over some of the longest distances of any TOC - which significantly increases exposure to engineering work. And if there is less work normally, then you would naturally expect their planning resource base to be significantly less than, say, GTR's.

 

[Bossworld]

We don't believe in selling tickets for days where the timetable isn't confirmed

Seems to be the case for other TOCs. I raised a thread on here a couple of weeks back where I wanted a cheap ticket from Victoria to Billingshurst - it's £5 every day of the week. I don't know what the regs/rationale is for the release of advance tickets but I guess if it's only confirmed 2/3 weeks in advance if the service is actually running, they might not see any financial benefit in releasing them?

Southern's CS on Twitter confirmed with their retail team and just said there were waiting on other teams before releasing.

I got some very helpful replies advising about buying a return, and not using the outbound portion which looks like the best option to save £10 (still £16.70 to pay).

I've had a look for every Saturday up to the 12th and there are no advance fares available. Also tried via LNER site for comparison (just because I've got it bookmarked). Up to and including 5 Dec, it does at least show the column header where the advance fares would be on the weekend days, even though none are available.

According to NR site, timetables are done for weekdays, but for weekends, 12 Dec onwards not confirmed yet. The 5/6 Dec has dropped off that list, so was expecting there may be some advanced fares on those days, but nothing showing.