Virgin Trains railcard offer ended

[ainsworth74]

They do but that isn't necessarily the date they were purchased!

Hmm good point! I normally buy tickets and then collect almost immediately but, of course, there's no reason you couldn't leave them until just before travel.

 

[button_boxer]

Hmm good point! I normally buy tickets and then collect almost immediately but, of course, there's no reason you couldn't leave them until just before travel.

Though in this case you'd be well advised to print them before 6th September so there can be no argument about whether or not they were bought before the deadline.

 

[crehld]

Though in this case you'd be well advised to print them before 6th September so there can be no argument about whether or not they were bought before the deadline.

Am I right in thinking the collection receipt prints both the purchase date and time as well as the printed date and time?

 

[garose]

Can they even do this? Surely disabled railcard holders now become a victim of discrimination. Or am I misunderstanding something?

Quoted from Virgin Email received today.

We're changing the way our Railcards work. From 6 September 2015, Railcard holders will no longer be able to use Off-Peak, Railcard discounted tickets on Peak trains on the Virgin Trains West Coast Mainline network.

Here are some FAQs below.

Q: What is happening?
A: We're making changes to the use of Railcards on Virgin Trains West Coast Mainline services. Railcard holders will no longer be able to use Off-Peak, Railcard discounted tickets on Peak trains on the Virgin Trains West Coast Mainline network.


Q: Why is this happening?
A: We're doing this to help simplify our fares structure and bring us in line with other long distance train operating companies.


Q: When is this happening?
A: From Sunday 6 September 2015.


Q: What does this mean to me?
A: If you buy an Off-Peak ticket for a Peak time train using a Railcard discount before 6 September, this change will not affect you. If you're looking to buy tickets after 6 September, don't worry, you can still get great value Advance tickets with your Railcard for Peak time travel. We have just completed refurbishments on our Pendolino fleet to create an extra 5,500 Standard class seats a day, so there are plenty of seats available on board our services.


If your question is not answered here please contact us.

Kind Regards
Virgin Trains

 

[bb21]

Am I right in thinking the collection receipt prints both the purchase date and time as well as the printed date and time?

For ToD ones, I believe they do indeed.

For tickets purchased at stations, the time of printing would be the time of purchase.

For tickets purchased online and posted, I guess they would give the passenger the benefit of the doubt for a day or two.

 

[DeparturesBeck]

You're misunderstanding. They're removing an easement which allowed holders of certain railcards to use off-peak tickets on peak trains.

Railcards can still be used on these trains, just at the peak rate, as can they be used to purchase off-peak tickets for appropriate trains. Other threads exist on this subject, so you'll find more information elsewhere on the forum.

 

[swt_passenger]

Can they even do this? Surely disabled railcard holders now become a victim of discrimination. Or am I misunderstanding something?

You've misunderstood. No other TOC allows this 'extra perk' for railcard holders so how can removing it, and coming into line with the normal published T&C for that and other railcards possibly be discriminatory?

You also missed the existing thread in the fares section, by the way.

Q: Why is this happening?
A: We're doing this to help simplify our fares structure and bring us in line with other long distance train operating companies.

---and every other TOC too, not just long distance.

 

[DarloRich]

what a shame - I am sure this was a useful perk.

 

[LeylandLen]

I've only a quick research, but looking for fares tomorrow (Tues 25th) both Virgin and TPE are charging £46.45 for 'off peak' returns on what I assume are peak services, ie 0758 TPE dep ,0815 Virgin , and two returns, 1709 , TPE , 1730 ex Glasgow , Virgin , with a senior railcard. Surely Virgin can not apply this change without losing all these returns to Glasgow and Edinburgh and handing the passengers to TPE ? Do TPE have a say where they compete with Virgin on (Manchester ) Preston - Scotland ? Or does Virgin mean this change only applies for trains to/from London ?

 

[greatkingrat]

In the case of Preston - Glasgow, the Off Peak Return is essentially unrestricted anyway, so the railcard easement doesn't make any difference.

 

[iwearahalo2]

Well, that'll be the end of me buying railcarded Euston to Glasgow savers for my Scottish trips. Chances are that I will go up East Coast and if the through advances are exorbitant, there's usually a good range of splits available.

I can sort of understand Virgin's logic in relation to grabbing commuters etc heading for London in the morning peak but a blanket withdrawal of the facility will be just shooting themselves in the foot. And if they were really concerned about the waged commuters taking advantage, they might just ban 16-25 railcards before say 09:00 and continue to allow others as now.

That would be unfair though on other age groups as working seniors in their 1000's use this leisure railcard towards London every day, it wasn't designed for that, as always it's easy to give but not so easy to take away.

 

[LeylandLen]

ok so my occasional trips Preston - Glasgow/Edinburgh (and beyond )on 'peak' services with a senior railcard will be unaffected ? Virgin do not make this clear.

Also , it would have been nice to have more than 8 weekdays notice of this change,( Mons a bank holiday) basically for trips to/from London.A month or 28 days would have been better

 

[iwearahalo2]

ok so my occasional trips Preston - Glasgow/Edinburgh (and beyond )on 'peak' services with a senior railcard will be unaffected ? Virgin do not make this clear.

Also , it would have been nice to have more than 8 weekdays notice of this change,( Mons a bank holiday) basically for trips to/from London.A month or 28 days would have been better

As I understand it, you can use the railcards when you can use a Saver return, so if a Saver is valid on a journey at 0700am then you can use the railcard.

 

[Bletchleyite]

As I understand it, you can use the railcards when you can use a Saver return, so if a Saver is valid on a journey at 0700am then you can use the railcard.

You can use Railcards in accordance with their T&C, they aren't all the same. The easement made Off Peak Singles and Returns valid at all times, that's all, it didn't change anything else.

 

[iwearahalo2]

You can use Railcards in accordance with their T&C, they aren't all the same. The easement made Off Peak Singles and Returns valid at all times, that's all, it didn't change anything else.

Railcard holders will no longer be able to use their Off-Peak, Railcard discounted tickets on Peak trains on the Virgin Trains Network, so I agree.

 

[M28361M]

ok so my occasional trips Preston - Glasgow/Edinburgh (and beyond )on 'peak' services with a senior railcard will be unaffected ? Virgin do not make this clear.

The Preston-Glasgow (via Carlisle) SVR has restriction code 2T: "By any train except those timed to depart Mondays-Fridays before 0415." (BRFares link)

Preston-Edinburgh via Carlisle has the similar restriction code 2U.

Effectively this means every train except the overnight sleeper is Off Peak for the purpose of those tickets. So the Railcard easement makes no practical difference here.

 

[Starmill]

Their Q&A is cynical as ever. The 'change' = you will need to buy an Anytime ticket at up to 4 times the price. Wibble about advances - they are available now, if people using SVRs on peak trains with railcards wanted them they could get them. They aren't going to start being this cheap just because. Even if they are I hate using Advance tickets because there's always exogenous risk you might miss the train for reasons beyond your control. Despite that I do all of my long-distance travel with them because I could never afford to go anywhere otherwise.

 

[bb21]

As I understand it, you can use the railcards when you can use a Saver return, so if a Saver is valid on a journey at 0700am then you can use the railcard.

Senior Railcard is valid at any time unless the journey is entirely inside the Network area. There is no time restriction.

 

[takke]

Can Off-Peak tickets actually be bought for a year in advance?

 

[iwearahalo2]

Can Off-Peak tickets actually be bought for a year in advance?

Probably until the fares change I suspect.

 

[AlterEgo]

Can Off-Peak tickets actually be bought for a year in advance?

Some retail systems do allow this.

Virgin haven't thought this through.

 

[GodAtum]

Haven't seen this mentioned, from http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/railcard-discount/

I'm being stupid and dont properly understand ... surely you could never use an off-peak ticket on a peak service?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I dont properly understand ... surely you cannot use an off-peak ticket on a peak service?

VT have long (for over 10 years) had an easement in place whereby you could with certain Railcards.

 

[iwearahalo2]

Some retail systems do allow this.

Virgin haven't thought this through.

Again they'll probably (star) allow it but whether its actually valid is another thing, they will have the wrong price on.

 

[dvboy]

I have seen an example of someone who commutes from Rugby to London using railcard discounted off peak returns at £27 a day (= £135 a week). They have been poorly advised by Rugby ticket office that they will need to pay £86 per day whereas a 7 day season ticket costs £190.60.

 

[Smidster]

So he should be grateful his bill, for going to work, is "only" going to increase by 30% overnight to pretty much £1000 per month?

While I am not really going to be affected (my railcard days are over and so I don't travel outside of commuting at all as simply can't afford it) but my Dad has benefited over the years. Safe to say he won't be travelling any more.

It is also so galling when every single change the TOC's make is to the detriment of the pigs banks (sorry customers) who use services. Northern's peak fiasco, the end of meaningful rewards and now this and meanwhile prices go up and up and up. Just once do something that doesn't rake us over the coals.

 

[bb21]

Again they'll probably (star) allow it but whether its actually valid is another thing, they will have the wrong price on.

Issuing fares at the old price before a new fares round is nothing new. Check your iKB.

Price has nothing to do with validity.

 

[ainsworth74]

Again they'll probably (star) allow it but whether its actually valid is another thing, they will have the wrong price on.

Price doesn't determine validity. Plus buying tickets before they go up is very common (see people buying their annual seasons before the price goes up for example).

 

[iwearahalo2]

Price doesn't determine validity. Plus buying tickets before they go up is very common (see people buying their annual seasons before the price goes up for example).

A season ticket is very different to a day of issue ticket, price does determine validity, could I then by now for 10 years time? The machine may do it but that does not make it correct.

 

[crehld]

A season ticket is very different to a day of issue ticket, price does determine validity, could I then by now for 10 years time? The machine may do it but that does not make it correct.

No, the terms and conditions of the ticket at the time of purchase determine validity. The price is irrelevant.