£5 to sit down on train!!!!!!!!!!! (national express)

AdrianHi

robt wrote: »

Because not everyone gets off at a station with ticket barriers? You are not the only person on the train. Why on earth do you think you should not be interrupted and asked to show a ticket for the service you are using?

The bigger stations do but ticket checks are always done after the last stop before Waterloo where the barriers are.

robt wrote: »

To be honest I thought that you could renew upto seven days in advance for a monthly ticket. Are you using monthly or weekly?

If buying at a station or from the conductor is midday the day before earliest.
Oh yes, the other joke - conductors can only sell up to weekly tickets, not monthly's or longer. The best reason the conductor I spoke to (in a good natured way ) could think of was that it was a bad idea for conductors to be carrying around large amounts of cash so this rule was brought in... many years ago.... before everyone started using credit and debit cards. So we were both wondering why in 2009 we still have this rule :rotfl:

robt wrote: »

Who do you order online with and what is the £3 fee for? For example, debit card, crredit card, delivery etc?

I order online with South West Trains who run the train I use, but I understand from another MSE'er it might be possible to buy the same ticket from Great Western who don't charge this fee. Had a quick look on their site but could see season ticket options, will look more carefully later.
If I buy at the station or weekly from the condutor I don't get a £3 credit card fee charged, postage is no more than a first class stamp, so I can only assume most the £3 goes towards paying for the web site.

Bogof_Babe

ticketcollector wrote: »

Yep.
Also the reservation becomes void after the first reserved station. So if they reserve from station A - D, and get on at B they've lost the reservation.

That's not very fair. I got re-routed in the winter due to flooding on part of the line, so had to catch up with my connection at Crewe rather than Manchester Piccadilly. I still expected to occupy my reserved seat, as it wasn't my fault that I hadn't been able to get on at Piccadilly. (Luckily I did catch the original service despite the detour).

omelette451

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

That's not very fair. I got re-routed in the winter due to flooding on part of the line, so had to catch up with my connection at Crewe rather than Manchester Piccadilly. I still expected to occupy my reserved seat, as it wasn't my fault that I hadn't been able to get on at Piccadilly. (Luckily I did catch the original service despite the detour).

Ticketcollector was talking about the everyday situation; I suspect that during 'exceptional circumstances' there would be a little more flexibility with the rules. In any case a seat reservation only guarantees you a seat, not necessarily the specific seat you booked, so the TM would have had the option of seating you somewhere else if necessary.

In some respects this new NX fee will actually make things better for some people: at the moment there is no recourse to compensation if you don't get a seat despite having booked one, but the railway rules say train companies must give back any fee paid specifically for the seat, so it's much more likely now that NX will act to guarantee you're able to sit down.

And then there's always the Grand Central service between King's Cross and York, where the TM will issue immediate cash refunds (50% of the ticket cost) for any passenger unable to find a seat.

sooz

ticketcollector wrote: »

As for the headline, this is exactly what was written in the metro this morning.

I always remember that seat reservations were £1 each, but the charge was free if you were buying a ticket for that same train.

could you reserve seats if you weren't buying a ticket to travel? why?

omelette451

sooz wrote: »

could you reserve seats if you weren't buying a ticket to travel? why?

If you originally bought a ticket without a reservation and later wanted to commit yourself to a particular train perhaps? I've done that many times. Also if you wanted to change a reservation to a different train.

I've never come across this rule before though - I remember having to pay the reservation charge (usually £1) even when it was booked at the same time as the train. I don't know how far back ticketcollector was going, however: I only remember as far as the early-mid 90s.

Networkguy

But getting back on topic.

I can see the logic and indeed as a user of these trains at peak time, think I might benefit.

BUT

I travelled out of London this afternoon and all the seats were still reserved and still empty.

BUT THE BIG BUT

On a weekend I sometimes travel into London for a day out from Peterborough with my son and my wife. We have a family railcard and the return trip costs £39. Now the weekend trains tend to be really busy and indeed on the tea time out of Kings Cross trains, it is standing room only on a quiet day so I have actually been known to book a different weekend rather than have to ask my 5 year old to stand for the entire journey because I could not reserve a seat.

But now my £39 journey is going to cost my family £54 which is a 37% increase. For a family day out, that's a HUGE increase. Maybe if the fee was per booking or maybe £1 then it could be justified but this is really going to hurt families because with a railcard, the cheapest fare is normally a standard off peak ticket not an advanced purchase.

BUT BUT BUT

I have just discovered that if I book my ticket via The Trainline, they are not charging the £2.50 per person per train fee. So even with the £1 booking fee and £2.50 credit card surcharge, I am still saving money (but still paying more than I was)

BUT BUT BUT BUT

Is this the thin end of the wedge? After all, the fares have just gone up, the peak hours have been extended, the price of parking at the station has just increased by 20% and now this.

Are we going to see the RyanAir of the rails?

Lum

I'm curious as to how you're managing to even get a family of 3 on a trip like that for £54 (let alone £39) last time I looked into making a journey like that it was more like £80 for just myself. o_O

Of course, I just drive everywhere as a result, it's cheaper.

robt_2

Lum wrote: »

I'm curious as to how you're managing to even get a family of 3 on a trip like that for £54 (let alone £39) last time I looked into making a journey like that it was more like £80 for just myself. o_O

Of course, I just drive everywhere as a result, it's cheaper.

Well an off peak return is only £26 bought on the day so you have been doing something wrong as there are no tickets more expensive than that for a weekend.

Ahhh yes, the all too common "but driving is cheaper" opinion. I trust you have factored in the capital cost of the car, insurance, tax, MOTs, wear and tear and petrol, all for however many years you own the car into the cost before making such a sweeping statement? Lets not forget the cost of parking in central London too. Or the devaluation that occurs over the years.

It may well be that driving is cheaper for you, but it is a sweeping statement used incorrectly by many

Lum

Sorry, I've just reread your post and mixed it up with the guy who was talking about London to York.

As for the capital costs, well a car is a requirement for me anyway (because of work, and because of my location down in the valleys), so all the static costs are going to happen anyway, and any wear or depreciation costs on a social journey are tiny compared to the ridiculous mileage I do in the course of doing my job. Besides if depreciation were a concern I'd just take the Volvo, it's value is pegged to the current price of scrap metal

omelette451

Networkguy wrote: »

I have just discovered that if I book my ticket via The Trainline, they are not charging the £2.50 per person per train fee. So even with the £1 booking fee and £2.50 credit card surcharge, I am still saving money (but still paying more than I was)

If that's the case, you'll probably find that thetrainline is selling you the ticket without reserving you a seat (there's no obligation for them to do so unless it's an advance ticket). The £2.50 fee is set by NX for seat reservations and is payable regardless of where you book your ticket, so unless thetrainline is paying NX and not passing on the charge to you (and how likely is that?) you won't actually get the reservation you want.

I have actually been known to book a different weekend rather than have to ask my 5 year old to stand for the entire journey because I could not reserve a seat.

Has something changed in this respect? In the past seats were only guaranteed for children if they pay the full adult fare. It's the same on buses: children paying reduced rates are supposed to stand if there are adults without a seat.