Train Tickets on Credit Card

moonrakerz

jonjamie1970 wrote: »

Typical UK, In France you can get a no questions asked refund on unused tickets on the SNCF

Yes - but you cannot get such dirt cheap Advance tickets as you can in the UK.
I am going to London in a few weeks - my ticket up (in the rush hour £22.50): ticket back (Advance) £6.60. Would you rather have all the tickets at £22.50 just so that people who don't know what they are buying can get a refund ?

ALL the tickets are explained both on the National Rail website and on all the TOC websites. Start here:-

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/advance_conditions.html

callistris

moonrakerz wrote: »

Do you buy everything without understanding what it is ??

No, do you?

moonrakerz

callistris wrote: »

No, do you?

Certainly not train tickets, where all they types/conditions etc are clearly laid out AND explained - and station booking office staff are usually pretty good too !

abankerbutnotafatcat

chattychappy wrote: »

I've travelled on trains for over 40 years.I certainly don't understand most of the tickets I travel on.

Stuff like:
"available on valid routes"... (isn't that obvious?)

or, how about: "FARRINGDON UNDERGROUND NOT UNDERGROUND" (the ticket guy's favourite! "that's British Rail for you", he said, some 20 years after BR ceased)

.... or the 3 choices I was given for East Croydon to Reading:

"not via London" (which, could be via Redhill, I suppose)
"via Redhill" (which wouldn't be via London...)
"All routes" (was once stopped and told that this ticket wasn't valid on the train I was on - and that I needed a different ticket).

I always took 'London' to mean a London Terminus and that I could therefore change at Clapham Junction especially as East Croydon is in the zones anyway. Perhaps I was wrong though.

chattychappy

abankerbutnotafatcat wrote: »

I always took 'London' to mean a London Terminus and that I could therefore change at Clapham Junction especially as East Croydon is in the zones anyway. Perhaps I was wrong though.

Yep, I think that's true. Since you took the bait... at the time, there were 4 obvious ways to do this route.

1) East Croydon - Redhill - Reading
2) East Croydon - Clapham Junction - Reading
3) East Croydon - Victoria - Underground - Paddington - Reading
4) East Croydon - Reading (direct via Olympia - the Intercity service, infrequent, since withdrawn)

"not via London" gives you 1, 2
"via Redhill" gives you 1
"all routes" gives you 1,2,3

When I saw the IC service scheduled, I thought "not via London" might be valid as it doesn't come into a terminus (passing through Zone 2 Olympia). But "just in case" I purchased the "all routes" ticket. Since this was the only direct train, I thought I would be OK. On the train I was told by the ticket inspector that my ticket wasn't valid on intercity. I did say that these were the only 3 options at the machine, and the ticket was valid on intercity trains departing Paddington for Reading (checked a number of times)... and he "let me off".

Oh and another routing is East Croydon - Clapham Junction - Basingstoke - Reading. This is often more convenient when returning. Outbound I was told that "all routes" is not valid on this routing and I would have to buy the ticket in two halves. But at Reading I was told that an East Croydon issued "all routes" ticket is valid.

callistris

I've had a positive outcome to this situation:T


I spoke to my boss about this and he's offered to refund my tickets, as it was their fault that I couldn't go, due to cancelling my time off:)

In future when booking train tickets I will be more careful in what tickets I choose, as this has been a learning curve to me:o

chattychappy

callistris wrote: »

I've had a positive outcome to this situation:T


I spoke to my boss about this and he's offered to refund my tickets, as it was their fault that I couldn't go, due to cancelling my time off:)

In future when booking train tickets I will be more careful in what tickets I choose, as this has been a learning curve to me:o

Good! I think that that is only reasonable if you asked to work when previously you were given time off. Depends on the job though - a different matter if you were on standby.

Flexible tickets will likely be more expensive. Perhaps you could discuss with them next time before buying.

lisyloo

Alternatively you could ask if you could claim for your loss on expenses if your work commitments are above and beyond the norm for your role, although if your role does require a certain degree of flexibility it is your fault for buying a non-refundable ticket.

Hmm.....I don't think this is entirely reasonable, although I guess it does depend on the status of your role.
If you are prime minister for example you might expect to come back from your personal holidays.

For most of us mere mortals on normal salaries I don't think it's realistic to buy expensive tickets all the time on the off-chance there is a work requirement.
If I have an expectation of not working then I might buy non cancellable tickets.
If my employer wants me to cancel personal arrangements that I'd already booked then I'd need to have a discussion with my employer about my personal losses or simply say I'm not available at that time. There are occassions where you cannot be available for example a close family funeral or having a baby cannot be put off for your employers convenience.

Anyway I think it's harsh to suggest that anyone that ever gets asked to do extra hours always buys flexible tickets.
I agree with understanding the nature of what you are buying and whilst the train ticket system is complicated it's not hard to know the difference between flexible and non-flexible tickets.

dzug1

jonjamie1970 wrote: »

Typical UK, In France you can get a no questions asked refund on unused tickets on the SNCF

According to the man in seat 61 cheap advance SNCF tickets are non refundable

jonjamie1970

dzug1 wrote: »

According to the man in seat 61 cheap advance SNCF tickets are non refundable

I live in Nantes during the week and Ive very often taken my ticket office back to the booth at the station and gained a full refund.