Online Vs Ticket office purchase - same price?

dzug1

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

I asked what type of ticket and they said off-peak advance but that all the cheap fares had gone. !

If that's what they actually said they really don't know their job - there is no such thing as an off peak advance

notakid

As it has been said there is no such thing as an off peak advance, and I can ensure you that certain companies (cross country saying no names ) can easily have no good advance prices available 9 weeks before a popular date/Friday afternoon!

No one is on commission, and no one will sell you the most expensive ticket. However, the system is complex enough for you easily to make a mistake when issuing tickets. We are only human. And sometimes there are special offers on train operators websites which are not available to ticket office staff.

However the mistakes made by jo public far outweigh any mistake made by the staff in ticket offices. And its us they come shouting and screaming at to sort out. :cool:

yorkie2

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

In my experience the ticket office will try to sell you the most expensive ticket they can.

Which ticket office(s) have you experienced this at? It's certainly not correct, and if you can give examples, we might be able to do something about it.

Shelldean

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

They do. I am travelling today. I went to my local station 9 weeks ago for a ticket - they said the cheapest was £75 - I asked what type of ticket and they said off-peak advance but that all the cheap fares had gone. Surprise surprise, both before and after going into the office, I could get the same ticket for £45 - no split tickets or any tricks like that. I'd prefer to buy in the office as I don't trust the postal service - but I'm not going to be ripped off.

This is about the 5th time that I've had someone at a ticket office (two different ones) lie to me about the cheapest fare for my journey. Either they are trying to sell the more expensive tickets or they can't do their jobs.

OP - if you do go to the office, check online at National Rail Enquires first!

You don't need to rely on the postal service, collect the tickets at the train station.

A d I did check online prices and times for my journey. I got the same.e train times and prices as I would've got had I booked online. Only downside was walking down and back from the station. Instead of staying Sat on my bum in the warm !!! Lol

Shelldean

Axial wrote: »

Glad to hear you got the price you want, it is possible on the booking system used at offices to pick Airline/Table/Facing/Backwards so feel free to ask,

Some who work in ticket offices will happily look at doing this and split ticketing if you ask, best to go in at a quiet time though, or find a friendly smaller station who do their best to help.

Axial


When I was at the ticket office I didn't even give the seat positions a thought, whereas it comes up automatically when booking online since don't forget.