Season ticket changeover admin charge?

[PavlosA]

http://www.atocrailwarrants.org/the-season-ticket-rail-warrant-account

Pros

You have no worries about getting replacements as the person who got the ticket can sort it out (although you may need to write out warrants for some changeovers).
You get four to six weeks to pay up and you can compare the tickets issued on the warrant with the carbon copy of the warrant in the book.
Refunds go to the warrant account, not the person applying for the refund.

Cons

It costs money.

Thanks. I had no idea. THis would be very useful and I think we would probably cover the £500 or so a year in the saving on delivery currently. Only downside is I'll need to wait until the contract is up. Changing again this soon will not please some people...

 

[island]

I am fortunate enough to be in the position of the one now setting corporate travel policy here, and I find most staff don't care about the cost or route or splits or anything else as long as they have a printout of the timetable, the tickets and (if relevant) the time restrictions for those tickets.

I really can't understand this corporate fascination with thetrainline - I suppose it's got to be down to their aggressive (and I would argue misleading) advertising.

Until recently I think thetrainline was the only agent offering an online portal and downloadable MI, and all that jazz. Its booking fees to corporate clients are higher than the general public!

Most/all my tickets are boundary zones, so I have to get them at the station.

 

[PavlosA]

Another query on admin charges:

We're told any changeovers involving Oyster are done in a different way. The customer orders a new annual, then when received, the old ticket is sent off for a pro-rata refund (so not losing the saving on annual price). Does this apply to paper > oyster, oyster > paper and oyster > oyster?

Would there be an admin charge in these cases sinces it's not a straight changeover? Damn I hate these things...

 

[barrykas]

Another query on admin charges:

We're told any changeovers involving Oyster are done in a different way. The customer orders a new annual, then when received, the old ticket is sent off for a pro-rata refund (so not losing the saving on annual price). Does this apply to paper > oyster, oyster > paper and oyster > oyster?

Would there be an admin charge in these cases sinces it's not a straight changeover? Damn I hate these things...

Once again, you've been given incorrect information. Changeovers involving Oyster are dealt with in exactly the same way as those involving paper tickets providing the Oyster ticket was/will be issued by a Train Company.

It's worth noting that it's also theoretically possible to do a changeover at ANY convenient Ticket Office, not just the original retailer, though you'll probably have more luck at larger stations as it's not the simplest of calculations and has to be checked by a senior member of staff.

Cheers,

Barry

 

[kieron]

It's worth noting that it's also theoretically possible to do a changeover at ANY convenient Ticket Office, not just the original retailer, though you'll probably have more luck at larger stations as it's not the simplest of calculations and has to be checked by a senior member of staff.

Is there anything published to that effect? The last member of staff I spoke to thought he could only change season tickets which were issued in that station. I'm worried that there could be a big gap between what they should be able to do and what they can actually do.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

It should be in the manual for staff, however, NRES notes....

"....

'Changeovers'

If you move house, change your place of work or wish to change the class of travel, you may apply to exchange any Season Ticket with a month or more remaining, for one with the same expiry date for your new journey or class. This is called a changeover.

A changeover may be applied for at any rail ticket office (preferably one relevant to the new journey), a few days in advance of the date of the change. Any additional charge or refund will be based on the ticket prices when the original Season Ticket was bought, pro rata to the periods before and after the changeover.

No administration charge is made. Any ticket that has already been exchanged in this way may be accepted for further exchanges if necessary.

...."

(My bold)

ISTR a time when you had to go back to the selling station, but that would be years ago and my mind might be playing tricks on me.

 

[barrykas]

Is there anything published to that effect? The last member of staff I spoke to thought he could only change season tickets which were issued in that station. I'm worried that there could be a big gap between what they should be able to do and what they can actually do.

It's on this page on the National Rail site:

'Changeovers'

• If you move house, change your place of work or wish to change the class of travel, you may apply to exchange any Season Ticket with a month or more remaining, for one with the same expiry date for your new journey or class. This is called a changeover.
• A changeover may be applied for at any rail ticket office (preferably one relevant to the new journey), a few days in advance of the date of the change. Any additional charge or refund will be based on the ticket prices when the original Season Ticket was bought, pro rata to the periods before and after the changeover.
• No administration charge is made. Any ticket that has already been exchanged in this way may be accepted for further exchanges if necessary.

Condition 37 of the National Conditions of Carriage also deals with change-overs, but doesn't say you can get them done at any convenient station.

Cheers,

Barry

 

[kieron]

Thanks. That's reassuring.