Looking for some train ticket advice (Northern Rail/Blackpool)

Sowfie

My partner is going on his stag do this weekend to Blackpool, we booked a B&B which was near to Blackpool North through a "stag & hen" company, but they'd double booked and have had to move my partner & his friends to a different B&B, but this one is near to Blackpool South Station rather than North. He's not too bothered about having to move B&B as the new one looks a lot better (and they're throwing in free VIP passes to apologise) but the problem we've got is that my partner has pre-booked train tickets to Blackpool North.

I've had a look online, as at first I expected that he would just need to get off the train a stop early, but the network plan shows that Blackpool North and Blackpool South are on completely different routes!

Does anyone have any idea about whether he'll be able to use his ticket for Blackpool North to go to Blackpool South? It's part of a ticket going from where we live in Shropshire, and he'll need to change at Preston to get a train through to Blackpool. I've had a look and it costs more for the ticket that he's bought than the one he'll actually need, so technically he'll have overpaid if he gets the different train, but I know that the rail company might not see it that way.

A seperate ticket from Preston to Blackpool South would be the last resort, but he's already paid £50 for his ticket and I don't really want to have to pay the extra £7-10 unless I really have to. Luckily, he's the only one of 15 of them that has pre-booked tickets, so at least it's only one extra ticket that we might have to sort out!

If anyone has any experience with something similar, or if anyone works for a rail company, your advice would be hugely appreciated. x

Quentin

He will have to have a ticket to his desination! (You don't say whether or not the ticket he has allows changes/refunds, but maybe at £50 it is one he can get a refund on?)

Norfolk_Jim

he should just get off at blackpool north, walk the short distance to sea front and hop on a tram heading south. Blackpool South station is by the football ground and main car parks. Its not a great distance and it will save messing about with changes to his train tickets.

Sowfie

Quentin wrote: »

He will have to have a ticket to his desination! (You don't say whether or not the ticket he has allows changes/refunds, but maybe at £50 it is one he can get a refund on?)

I've had a look on my partners account on the site that he bought it on, and there's a box that says "request refund" but nothing about making a change to it. The only problem with a refund would be that I think it is subject to a £10 admin charge, so he'd be better off just buying the seperate ticket from Preston to Blackpool South. I might give them a call and ask if it can be altered though, thanks!

Sowfie

Norfolk_Jim wrote: »

he should just get off at blackpool north, walk the short distance to sea front and hop on a tram heading south. Blackpool South station is by the football ground and main car parks. Its not a great distance and it will save messing about with changes to his train tickets.

Ah I didn't even think of trams, thank you!

dzug1

Your question is unanswerable as put - it all depends on what sort of ticket has been bought.

If it's an 'advance' ticket, then getting off anywhere other than Blackpool North breaches its T&C

If it's an off peak ticket then I'm moderately (but not 100%) sure it can be used to Blackpool South

scheming_gypsy

Blackpool North is the end of the line so it won't carry straight through.

Options are:
1 - leave his bags with his mates and he can walk the 1.7 miles to Blackpool South (straight along the front)
2 - hop in a taxi
3 - jump on a tram
4 - Get a horse drawn carriage

Seeing as you're not local i'd go for option 1a. He's the scouting party; he gets off at Blackpool North and his mates take his bags to the B&B and he walks along the front / through town and looks for places to drink.

Sowfie

dzug1 wrote: »

Your question is unanswerable as put - it all depends on what sort of ticket has been bought.

If it's an 'advance' ticket, then getting off anywhere other than Blackpool North breaches its T&C

If it's an off peak ticket then I'm moderately (but not 100%) sure it can be used to Blackpool South

The ticket is an off-peak open return, but it has been bought in advance and has "Blackpool North" printed on it.

I've tried calling thetrainline as my partner bought the tickets through that site, but I just keep getting passed around. I'll try giving Northern Rail a call.

Sowfie

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

Blackpool North is the end of the line so it won't carry straight through.

Options are:
1 - leave his bags with his mates and he can walk the 1.7 miles to Blackpool South (straight along the front)
2 - hop in a taxi
3 - jump on a tram
4 - Get a horse drawn carriage

Seeing as you're not local i'd go for option 1a. He's the scouting party; he gets off at Blackpool North and his mates take his bags to the B&B and he walks along the front / through town and looks for places to drink.

If his ticket can't be changed then that seems like the best option, although he'd probably end up getting a taxi!

scheming_gypsy

if you go onto Google maps and go from Blackpool North to Blackpool South he can see how easy it is to get to.
There are always taxi's outside Blackpool North station but if he comes out of the station and heads right, he's on the front and it is just a straight line from there.
Better still he can get off the train, head for a pub and tell them where to meet him as most of the pubs (unless he's 72 and likes dominos) are central > north.