Train ticket delivery by 1st class post, has it stopped?

Fortyfoot

Not too long ago I received train tickets free by 1st class post. Now I can only find next day delivery at £6-£7, or from a machine at some stations.

Adding that amount to a ticket prompts me to go by bus, much cheaper but not as convenient.

Has the free 1st class post been stopped? It is still shown as an option on the help pages on one site I visited, but was not available with the booking.

Fortyfoot

Browntoa

looks like it , and at least one of the London Train operators now charges £1.50 for the honour of picking up from a station

flutterbyuk25

I had free first class postage for ones I bought from First Great Western website about 10days ago.

x

jamesbrownontheroad

Fortyfoot wrote: »

Not too long ago I received train tickets free by 1st class post. Now I can only find next day delivery at £6-£7, or from a machine at some stations.

Is your departure date with 48hrs? That is the only circumstance in which I was aware of first class post normally not being offered. Who are you booking with and when are you travelling?

Checking this morning:

thetrainline.com charges a £1 booking fee and card handling fees (£0.00 - £3.50), but no delivery charge for first class post.
raileasy.co.uk charges a £1 booking fee and card handling fees (£0.75 - £1.77), and £1.50 delivery charge for first class post.

I've posted this before and I'll post it again. This time I'll enlarge the font to emphasise the message.

Don't buy train tickets from thetrainline.com OR raileasy.co.uk ... you can avoid all the booking and card fees and get the same tickets from most train operators' websites.

For instance, East Coast offer free ticket collection at the station, free first class postal delivery or £5 next day delivery. They don't charge for credit or debit cards.

dzug1

It's a bit more than 48 hours - more like a week - but as long as you book far enough in advance for there to be a near certainty that the tickets will reach you the option is still available.

Maybe with it being a bank holiday they have extended the window a bit

juno

I bought from Virgin Trains a few weeks ago and couldn't have my tickets posted. I bought them about a month before travel so I'm a bit worried the Fast Ticket machine won't keep them that long.

jamesbrownontheroad

juno wrote: »

I bought from Virgin Trains a few weeks ago and couldn't have my tickets posted. I bought them about a month before travel so I'm a bit worried the Fast Ticket machine won't keep them that long.

Fast Ticket machines simply log onto the central reservations system, and print them off from there. You could leave it right up until you get to the station, but I wouldn't recommend it for other reasons - the machine might be offline / vandalised / busy and (this has happened to someone I know) you might lose or have your credit card stolen. Without the original booking card it takes a bit longer to retreieve your tickets from a staffed booking office.

McKneff

flutterbyuk25 wrote: »

I had free first class postage for ones I bought from First Great Western website about 10days ago.

x

Same here from East Coast trains.