Advanced tickets - Availability

evo1

Hi all,

I've tried to book tickets to London in April and know quite a few people have already booked in advance for the same train, but when I try it says no reservations. Does anyone know if train companies release more advanced tickets after the first lot are sold out?

thanks

dzug1

evo1 wrote: »

Hi all,

I've tried to book tickets to London in April and know quite a few people have already booked in advance for the same train, but when I try it says no reservations. Does anyone know if train companies release more advanced tickets after the first lot are sold out?

thanks

As far as I know they don't.

Are you sure the people who have booked for the same train have in fact got cheap advance tickets and not been sold full price tickets? That does happen if you book too early. It sounds rather odd that tickets have sold out already, though not impossible. And even odder that there's now 'no reservations' at any price.

What date/route is it?

It could just be that the reservation system is temporarily off the air.

Owain_Moneysaver

East Coast are currently offering Advance up to/including Sunday 25 April. Unless the train is truly busy and has reached its reservations limit (there are always a certain number of seats left unreserved) then reservations up to that point should be possible, even at full price.

smiths84

evo1 wrote: »

Hi all,

I've tried to book tickets to London in April and know quite a few people have already booked in advance for the same train, but when I try it says no reservations. Does anyone know if train companies release more advanced tickets after the first lot are sold out?

thanks

Have you tried specifying which London station, not just London. I had this problem with Southern rail - immediately solved when I specified Victoria. All the cheap tickets then showed up as available.

evo1

dzug1- They have got cheap advanced tickets but what I did mean was no reservations on these cheap advanced tickets @ £29.

The route is Chester to London Euston (specific station Smiths84) leaving at 7.55am and returning 7.30pm.

dzug1

Not quite sure what you are trying to say.

If it offered you £29 tickets and then when you tried to buy them said you couldn't because of no reservations, that means that the reservation system was playing up. Try again later or tomorrow and it should be OK.

If it was only offering you £106.50 anytime singles but was offering advance singles at a lower price on other trains that day, then they are sold out for your train. There won't be any more.

Bogof_Babe

Does the OP mean he could get the cheap ticket but not reserve a seat? I travelled on that route once, Chester to Crewe, and on booking online I was surprised to be told that no seat reservation was possible for that leg of my journey.

evo1

Sorry for the confusion guys!

Yes, it offered me £29 tickets (£17 single there, £11 single back) but when I went to buy, it mentioned the 'no reservations'. I'll try again tomorrow and hopefully I'll be able to book

dzug1

If it will sell you the tickets without reservations, I'd grab them anyway - that's a very good price. Some routes do not have reservations anyway - though I didn't think yours was one of them, unless you are using London Midland trains Crewe - London.