Virgin offer 30% discount to flood hit areas

[Train2Win]

I think this is a great gesture by Virgin Trains

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/142...unts_on_tickets_to_York_following_the_floods/

A TRAIN company is offering discounted fares to York in a bid to boost tourism in the aftermath of the December floods.

Virgin Trains passengers can save 30 per cent on advance tickets to destinations in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Northumberland from February 9, if tickets are bought before the beginning of March...

The discount tickets can be used during March, April, and the first half of May...

 

[ScotTrains]

That's good news. Well done Virgin. I just hope the railcard discount can still be used since many leisure travelers use railcards.

 

[Retorus]

That's good news. Well done Virgin. I just hope the railcard discount can still be used since many leisure travelers use railcards.

I don't see any reason why that wouldn't be the case.

 

[stanthedog]

It would be nice to see Virgin extend this offer into North Wales which was also significantly affected by flooding although this was not reported by the London based media

 

[ScotGG]

Nice. Would be good if Southeastern did the same with the landslide at Folkestone which looks like lasting up to 9 months. Or for the big hassle due to a landslip at Barnehurst 2 weeks ago. Or something for the upheaval at London Bridge like GTR recently had to do by the ORR.

 

[ScotTrains]

I don't see any reason why that wouldn't be the case.

Surprise surprise, the is no further discount for railcard holders. I was looking forward to a trip to York but I'll hold off now for a cheap hotel deal. Tpex allowed you to add a railcard to their 25% winter sale last month so why does Virgin never allow you to combine railcards, we have paid for them after all!! Oh, and Glasgow and Edinburgh are excluded from the West coast deal anyway.

 

[SeanG]

Oh, and Glasgow and Edinburgh are excluded from the West coast deal anyway.

Probably as its a ball ache to get there

 

[All Line Rover]

Surprise surprise, the is no further discount for railcard holders. I was looking forward to a trip to York but I'll hold off now for a cheap hotel deal. Tpex allowed you to add a railcard to their 25% winter sale last month so why does Virgin never allow you to combine railcards, we have paid for them after all!! Oh, and Glasgow and Edinburgh are excluded from the West coast deal anyway.

So basically they couldn't care less about helping out flood hit areas and it is a token gesture to appease stakeholders. I think it is particularly telling that the discount only applies to 'Advance' tickets (who goes for a day out in the Lake District with a set time in mind for when they will finish their walk!?). Also, a 20% discount on most Advance tickets (which again cannot be combined with a Railcard) has long been available for travel across Virgin's entire West Coast network.

 

[Clip]

So basically they couldn't care less about helping out flood hit areas and it is a token gesture to appease stakeholders. I think it is particularly telling that the discount only applies to 'Advance' tickets (who goes for a day out in the Lake District with a set time in mind for when they will finish their walk!?). Also, a 20% discount on most Advance tickets (which again cannot be combined with a Railcard) has long been available for travel across Virgin's entire West Coast network.

Wow even something small like this still irks you All Line Rover?

and there was you the other day saying you don't have an agenda against Virgin but even when they do a small gesture like this you are not happy with it.

Id stop going by train if I were you when going up the East or West coast.

 

[miami]

I thought the idea of advanced tickets was to sell them at a price low enough that people will buy seats on otherwise unused trains.

If tourism is down in places like York, that means Virgin aren't selling as many tickets. So they offer a sale to get rid of perishable stock just like any business, but the PR spins it as a charitable action.

They'll end up taking more money by attracting more people, and might even be able to claim it as a charity donation.

 

[Mojo]

Wow even something small like this still irks you All Line Rover?

Given Virgin's powerful PR machine, I think it's fair that someone should have a right to reply.

 

[Starmill]

I don't think this has anything to do with flooding at all. It's a fairly weak promotion which are run-of-the-mill and change little. It most likely would have happened anyway.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

I am travelling to Penrith & back from Windermere in April. I booked my tickets very early at the start of Feb before this offer came out, so feel a bit gutted, if I had held on for a week or so I may have got a cheaper fare. They tell you to book well ahead, but in this case perhaps that was not such a good idea.

 

[Temple Meads]

I am travelling to Penrith & back from Windermere in April. I booked my tickets very early at the start of Feb before this offer came out, so feel a bit gutted, if I had held on for a week or so I may have got a cheaper fare. They tell you to book well ahead, but in this case perhaps that was not such a good idea.

Send them an email about it, and you'll probably get a voucher that at least covers the difference.

 

[philjo]

I am travelling to Penrith & back from Windermere in April. I booked my tickets very early at the start of Feb before this offer came out, so feel a bit gutted, if I had held on for a week or so I may have got a cheaper fare. They tell you to book well ahead, but in this case perhaps that was not such a good idea.

The offer fares are only to Oxenholme - Windermere is not on the list of included destinations - I think the tickets are for travel on Virgin Trains only to any Transpennine journeys e.g. to Windermere would not be included in the offer.
I was checking earlier as I am planning to travel to Windermere in March and found I would have to split at Oxenholme to get the offer fare. also I would have to split at the London end as the offer is only from Euston so overall there is not that much saving on a normal off peak return for my travel from Potters Bar to Windermere

 

[westv]

Surprise surprise, the is no further discount for railcard holders. I was looking forward to a trip to York but I'll hold off now for a cheap hotel deal. Tpex allowed you to add a railcard to their 25% winter sale last month so why does Virgin never allow you to combine railcards, we have paid for them after all!! Oh, and Glasgow and Edinburgh are excluded from the West coast deal anyway.

Why should railcard holders always get two bites at the cherry?

 

[ScotTrains]

Why should railcard holders always get two bites at the cherry?

Firstly we have paid for the card so why should we lose out on this deal. Secondly, you can buy a two together railcard from Tesco costing just £7.50 per person (£2.50 if bought in last year's sale), meaning just one journey could easily cover the cost. Therefore if you travel more than once a year on a long off peak journey it makes sense to get a railcard. This deal therefore does not attract the off peak leisure travelers the deal is aimed at (unless you only travel alone).

 

[All Line Rover]

I think one of the main complaints is that not offering the promotion to Railcard holders can result in 'promotional' fares being more expensive than Railcard-discounted fares. While the full 1/3 discount needn't necessarily be offered, a 10% or 20% discount would be appropriate. London Midland is very, very good in this regard, with its regular promotions that always allow Railcard discounts (and which often discount Off Peak Return fares in addition to Advance fares).

 

[miami]

The point of a railcard is to attract discretionary journeys that wouldn't be made otherwise but without impacting non-railcarded journeys that would be made on more expensive tickets.

The point of advance fares is to attract discretionary journeys that wouldn't be made otherwise but without impacting journeys that would be made on more expensive tickets.

Virgin have decided that they want to target the non-railcard majority with this promotion, and their modelling has decided that offering it to those with a railcard (and thus likely to make journeys) would reduce revenue from those that would ordinarilly travel more than it would gain revenue from those that wouldn't (or would go elsewhere on the virgin network instead)

 

[All Line Rover]

The point of a railcard is to attract discretionary journeys that wouldn't be made otherwise but without impacting non-railcarded journeys that would be made on more expensive tickets.

The point of advance fares is to attract discretionary journeys that wouldn't be made otherwise but without impacting journeys that would be made on more expensive tickets.

Virgin have decided that they want to target the non-railcard majority with this promotion, and their modelling has decided that offering it to those with a railcard (and thus likely to make journeys) would reduce revenue from those that would ordinarilly travel more than it would gain revenue from those that wouldn't (or would go elsewhere on the virgin network instead)

I don't agree with any of that. There are too many points to raise, but one example regarding your second sentence is that many of Virgin Trains' Advance fares (e.g. £80 single for Manchester to London vs £81.40 for an Off Peak Single or £82.40 for an Off Peak Return) are designed to maximise the revenue to be made from a journey that will be made, and to restrict that passenger's flexibility as much as possible. This isn't an approach unique to VTWC. XC is by far the worst.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

I just tried to re look at the booking I did, and it comes up with a slightly higer fare London to Penrith and the same fare fare that I paid Oxenholme to London. Is the discount for std class only?

 

[cyclebytrain]

Apparently it only applies for return journeys to flood affected areas, not single journeys or returns starting in the flood affected areas.