ModernRailways
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It would be good to know what the NRCoC say about it but I can't seem to load it up.
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Seat reservations to be scrapped entirely?
- Thread starter ValleyLines142
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Why is this hard? Normal practice sometimes <> the rules. As with so many other things on the railways, expecting normal service that is strictly outside the rules, and/or taking it for granted, is lining yourself up for a shock every now and again.
Calm down. I have never suggested it was right either way.
If I book an advance ticket and are allocated a seat not of my choosing and then end up in a near empty carriage and decide to take what I deem a better seat, not to the detriment of anyone else, I am then outside the rules and expecting a shock?
Are you allowed to move your reservation label in this case? If so, I can't see any problem with it.
What a absolutely stupid comment.
I get on a train to Manchester at Haymarket and find all the seats were filled at Waverley. Does that mean I have to spend an extra 30 minutes and travel into Waverley to get a seat?
As for the 'get to the station first and you will get a seat' comment, it makes me suspect that you have not travelled by rail much recently. Certainly not from King's Cross, Glasgow Central, or Glasgow Queen Street. Getting there early is no use as you will not even find out which platform the train will leave from until 10 minutes before departure.
If you had travelled you would have seen the scene of people in the departure area staring at the departure boards and listening out for an announcement. Then after something appears, the sprint commences to get through the barriers and find the correct platform before the train departs.
As for not paying for it, we do. The cost is included in the ticket price.
You seem to want a RyanAir situation where whoever is the quickest sprinter or who has the sharpest elbows will get a seat.
amcluesent
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I find that on EC booking system it defaults to allocating you the awful single seat at the end of the carriage so you can 'enjoy' the 'sssshhh-clunk' of the door every 30 seconds and a blast of cold air from the vestibule.
I know the EC web-site has the drag-n-drop seat chart but it seems programmed to not allow you to move the cheapest Advances to better seats. Of course, on the train I then sit there when there's no reservation.
I wouldn't like to say, especially after I got scalded above.
I wouldn't think that moving the reservation was the right thing to do, isn't that a breach of byelaws in itself? But I still don't see the issue in the specific scenario I set out above though.
It's not the cheapest, it's the last ticket at that price tier. Which, of course, normally means it affects them the most as there will be fewer tickets at the cheapest tier than higher tiers but it isn't a deliberate policy.
starrymarkb
Established Member
Something I should probably add is that National Express have taken to advertising Guaranteed seats on their coaches* so reserved seats are certainly a selling point.
DB charge €4 each way for seat reservations.
*I know it's a legal requirement but they still consider it worth mentioning in their publicity (esp on XC routes)
DB charge €4 each way for seat reservations.
*I know it's a legal requirement but they still consider it worth mentioning in their publicity (esp on XC routes)
Are the different tiers pre-allocated specific seats then?
I wouldn't like to say, especially after I got scalded above.
I wouldn't think that moving the reservation was the right thing to do, isn't that a breach of byelaws in itself? But I still don't see the issue in the specific scenario I set out above though.
At the risk of scalding again... in practice there is very unlikely to be an issue in that scenario above, but technically you are breaking the terms of an Advance. Interestingly (?) I think this is to do with the specific T&Cs of Advances rather than specific provisions in the NRCoC or anywhere else, and I suspect if you have a reservation with an Anytime or Off-Peak you're not restricted to the booked seat, even technically (someone please correct if I'm wrong).
No. When one selects another seat the system works by allocating another booking, the same as the first, for that seat. If there are no more tickets at that price point available it cannot do that. It's happened to me, and I find it very frustrating. I ended up booking a different train, where it would let me change my seat. I've no idea why the system is set up like that; it needs changing imo.
I wouldn't like to say, especially after I got scalded above.
I wouldn't think that moving the reservation was the right thing to do, isn't that a breach of byelaws in itself? But I still don't see the issue in the specific scenario I set out above though.
The issue is no different from putting a bag on a seat, you're effectively occupying two seats, the one you're in and the one with the label. If however you move the label, it is no longer an issue.
swt_passenger
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It's a byelaw offence to move the label though, IIRC there's usually a warning to that effect printed on it... :roll:
That's why I usually avoid reserving seats at all if possible. Then I can take any unreserved seat I like, provided there's nobody in it. Sometimes I don't get one, but that's what they generally call negative rub of the green. I might take a different attitude if my leg gets any worse.
At the end of the day, the terms and conditions of advance tickets require you to sit in your booked seat. This isn't often enforced but if you really don't want the possibility of getting told to move to a seat you don't want to sit in, there is always the option of booking at the station and asking for a specific seat if the online booking engine does not offer this option.
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IanD
Established Member
Print the post out and show it to the train manager as proof next time your'e aked to move
But surely if you are paying for the cheapest seats then you should be expecting the least views?
Maybe we should look at just scrapping advance purchase altogether. Peak and off-Peak Fares and that is it. Then almost everyone* will pay the same price and then almost everyone will have the same disappointment of standing all the way from Euston to Watford Junction.
(* except railcard 34% off holders and staff 75% off holders and TOC travel pass 100% off holders)
ModernRailways
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Then there would be no incentive to travel by train. Imagine the thought of standing from Edinburgh to London because the train was rammed by the time it reached Edinburgh because it was on a service from Inverness/Aberdeen. Or standing on the 0703 Flying Scotsman from Newcastle to Kings Cross because it was already packed out! I wouldn't and I don't think my legs would either! I can understand on short commuter type journeys of around 1 hour or less (Brighton to London etc.) but on a long distance commute or leisure trip I would like a seat to relax in, especially if I've booked in advance, over someone who has bought a ticket on the train!
What if the reservation has 3 or 4 different parts of the journey reserved on it?
If you are the first on the list you are effectively depriving the others of their reserved seat!
On long distance trains it is unusual for a reservation label to only have the one reservation on it, 3 or 4 seem to be about normal.
Reservations are offered on this trian as its an FGW service.
Amazed this thread is so long based on an anecote from a misinformed member of traincrew (Who may not even have said it). I highly doubt reservations are going anywhere, besides, why would every single TOC have got to together to agree to discontinue them? It's a non-story.
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