TransPennine Express Overcharging for Extended Period Bookings

[Starmill]

Update: I have been informed that part of the reason for this could be due to testing their new site, tpexpress.co.uk/tickets . This appears to be the "old" site, tickets.tpexpress.co.uk , where I was already logged in.

I recently had cause to look into booking for next year for travel between Manchester and Leeds, and to my surprise, when I went over to www.tpexpress.co.uk I saw that TransPennine Express have opened their Extended Period Bookings for dates well into next year, much further than other train operators.

It's not clear what criteria TransPennine Express are using to open booking, as some trains don't appear to be reservable; I am searching for Friday 22nd February.

Anyway I put my journey criteria in, which is Manchester to Leeds arriving before 1000 and departing after 1730.

This warning about potential changes to the timings of the journeys must be acknowledged:



Fair enough.

I was offered this screen:


There are two Advance tickets on sale (£11.50 + £13.50) here at a total cost of £25. Given I was expecting a bargain for this booking so far in advance, something did not seem quite right.

I clicked through and was allocated seating:

I'm told on this screen that the cost is £25 "when booked online". Pressing contine took me to a payment screen asking me to pay £25, which I decided not to do.

I then went to www.thetrainline.com and tried the same search. The results made two things clear.

Firstly, a return ticket for £21.50 is available which the TransPennine Express website just does not even display. This is valid on Northern services, and trainline are happy to sell it and they suggest trains it can be used on:



Second, if I didn't want that cheaper option and wanted to stick with the trains I had already selected, I could do this. I was immidetly informed that a cheper ticket for the same trains exists, as follows:

I am informed that the ticket is flexible and refundable, wheras the tickets TransPennine's website tried to sell me were not.

Clicking through on this, a £0.75 booking fee is added so I am asked to pay £23.45. That means trainline offers me tickets that are more flexible at a lower price than booking directly with TransPennine Express. Of course, if I were to go to my local ticket office I could book that same ticket and have the same reserved seats, and be charged no fee at all.

While I was on TransPennine Express' website, I noticed these claims:

Buy train tickets in advance
As soon as you know the time and date you'd like to travel, book an Advance train ticket and you could save over 50%.

As I am booking in advance, I therefore might reasonably have expected a saving on the basis of this advertising. Instead, they tried to charge me more than usual for booking in advance.

Not only do Advance tickets offer great value for money, book before the day you travel and you'll bag yourself a seat reservation too.

Again I would have expected 'value for money' when using their site, but in fact the best "value for money" option was to use someone elses site, and travel with their competitors, Northern.

Due to the limited availability and popularity of these tickets, please book early to avoid disappointment

I am being asked to book early, when in fact it would be cheaper to book at the last minute.

I would suggest that this is evidence of potential mis-selling.

Furthermore, it concerns me that TransPennine Express' online journey planner not only wilfully overcharges the customer for their trains, but actually supresses the ticket options of their competitors on the route, Northern, so that customers don't even know about their tickets.

If anyone has time to try repeating this process to see if it happens frequently I would be interested to see the results. I am very surprised that TransPennine Express think that they can get away with this!

 

[Kite159]

Or is it a case of the Trainline having a fault where it is offering that Northern Only ticket on TPE services?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yep, definitely appears they haven't loaded the walk-up fares; only Advances are offered. Very, very naughty.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

I would rather suspect there may be issues regarding potential offences under Consumer Trading Regulations here - as making a false statement that influences a consumer's buying decision may constitute an offence in some circumstances.

Of course, TPE hardly have to worry about these kinds of laws being enforced on them: after all, they're a government sanctioned operator so it would take a spectacular screwup (or spat with the DfT/ORR) for them to be prosecuted for this.

 

[Mojo]

Or is it a case of the Trainline having a fault where it is offering that Northern Only ticket on TPE services?

How is it a trainline bug? Transpennine is powered by WebTis.

The misleading and morally dubious practice of Tocs selling Advance tickets for more than walkons is incredibly common, GWR in my opinion being the worst offender. However what is not common, is what’s happenning in this occasion, that the walkons don’t appear at all.

 

[Kite159]

How is it a trainline bug? Transpennine is powered by WebTis.

The misleading and morally dubious practice of Tocs selling Advance tickets for more than walkons is incredibly common, GWR in my opinion being the worse offender. However what is not common, is what’s happenning in this occasion, that the walkons don’t appear at all.

"I then went to www.thetrainline.com and tried the same search. The results made two things clear.

Firstly, a return ticket for £21.50 is available which the TransPennine Express website just does not even display. This is valid on Northern services, and trainline are happy to sell it and they suggest trains it can be used on"

The £21.50 ticket is "Northern only", so it shouldn't be valid on the suggested TPE services.

 

[Mojo]

"I then went to www.thetrainline.com and tried the same search. The results made two things clear.

Firstly, a return ticket for £21.50 is available which the TransPennine Express website just does not even display. This is valid on Northern services, and trainline are happy to sell it and they suggest trains it can be used on"

The £21.50 ticket is "Northern only", so it shouldn't be valid on the suggested TPE services.

theTrainline doesn’t seem to be offering this ticket for TPx services? The screenshot by the OP shows the ticket only being suggested for travel on NT services.

The issue being highlighted in the thread about the alleged mis-selling concerns TPx saying that buying an Advance is cheaper when it is not, and then not showing appropriate walkon tickets which offer the best value for the journey when purchased as of the current date.

 

[ainsworth74]

The £21.50 ticket is "Northern only", so it shouldn't be valid on the suggested TPE services.

I guess it's a good job that Trainline weren't suggesting that it was then!

 

[Starmill]

The £21.50 ticket is "Northern only", so it shouldn't be valid on the suggested TPE services.

Which TPE services? 0858 and 0918 aren't TPE services.

 

[Kite159]

I do apologise, I must have misread the original post as it seemed to suggest Starmill was suggesting The Trainline was offering the Northern Only ticket for the 09:02 outbound & 17:34 return.

 

[cactustwirly]

Well the 'any permitted' fare is £22.70 anyway!

That does seem steep!
When a 30 miles journey in the East Midlands on proper IC stock is £10

 

[alistairlees]

Seems to be a bug with "Extended Period Bookings" (8 February onwards). Until 7 February return fares are correctly shown.

 

[AY1975]

Well the 'any permitted' fare is £22.70 anyway!

That does seem steep!
When a 30 miles journey in the East Midlands on proper IC stock is £10

It's still cheaper (albeit only £2.30 cheaper) than two Advances for £25. Confusingly, there is also a Northern-only Anytime Short Distance Return for £22.70, so you have to make sure you don't book that one by mistake if you want to be able to travel on TransPennine!