Cant book MTR express (Sweden)

[rmt4ever]

Trying to book a trip with MTR Express

Getting towards the payment page they ask for postcode (the site is in English)

I type my postcode and it tells me its invalid (it isn't)....

How can I book tickets for this service?

Thanks

 

[AlexNL]

You should enter a Swedish ZIP code, e.g. 23123 (which is somewhere in Skåne). When you're asked for a Swedish national ID, you can simply skip that question.

When you're asked for a phone number, this again has to be a number in Sweden. For example, try entering 070 123 45 67.

It's a pity that you have to enter fake information to travel with MTR Express...

 

[306024]

I guess you've tried not leaving a space between the two halves of your postcode.

Failing that it seems your only other choice is to email them and ask, the only phone number on the website seems to be for press enquiries.

Alternatively the advice from AlexNL above seems better than mine!

 

[rmt4ever]

I guess you've tried not leaving a space between the two halves of your postcode.

Failing that it seems your only other choice is to email them and ask, the only phone number on the website seems to be for press enquiries.

Alternatively the advice from AlexNL above seems better than mine!

Yes I have tried entering my 5 character postcode with a space between character 2 and 3, and without. It still doesn't accept it

I am dubious about typing fake details in case we get fined or something on the train.

Is there a phone number to call for ticket Sales? I don't mind ringing and buying over the phone the tickets for our journey.

 

[AlexNL]

I wouldn't worry too much about getting fined for providing incorrect details... MTR Express themselves recommend it!

Do make sure that the name on your ticket matches the name in your ID.

 

[rmt4ever]

I am now having second thoughts of travelling with such a shoddy company that tells customers to enter fake ID details into their own website!!

Might just use the SJ train. Bit more expensive but probably less complications..

Also neither of us will be carrying ID in the trip... except probably bank debit card and maybe E111 health cards.

 

[AlexNL]

I can understand your feelings. It's a bit odd that MTR (or their payment provider) require you to provide these details yet don't require them to be valid, and even give you some tips on which information to provide.

If you're going to travel with SJ, it can be interesting to sign up for SJ Prio. This is SJ's free loyalty programme (something like Flying Blue at Air France/KLM), and they give you a welcome bonus: a 15% discount on your first trip. Furthermore, they have some partnerships and promotions running from time to time which may be of interest for when you're in Sweden.

Carrying ID: do you have a reason for not doing so? It can make your live easier when something happens.

 

[rmt4ever]

I can understand your feelings. It's a bit odd that MTR (or their payment provider) require you to provide these details yet don't require them to be valid, and even give you some tips on which information to provide.

If you're going to travel with SJ, it can be interesting to sign up for SJ Prio. This is SJ's free loyalty programme (something like Flying Blue at Air France/KLM), and they give you a welcome bonus: a 15% discount on your first trip. Furthermore, they have some partnerships and promotions running from time to time which may be of interest for when you're in Sweden.

Carrying ID: do you have a reason for not doing so? It can make your live easier when something happens.

Thanks !! That's a good tip and I'll give it a try. (Re SJ prio thing)

Once had a bad experience with carrying ID. The Mrs lost her passport, and it was a huge inconvenience and expensive to get it sorted so we could get back to England. We was both out in a club at the time and half cut and couldn't even remember where it was the passport got lost/nicked whatever!! The whole thing was a bloody nightmare.

Now from arriving at the hotel to checking out, the passports stay safely in the hotel safe. No matter what country we are visiting. They don't move for the whole trip.

I also leave spare local currency there, at least one credit card too. So even if we get mugged or robbed or p!ssed and lose everything, we still have all we need to get back home to England.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Thanks for the tips.

I have booked the day return trip on the website using the fake ID details as suggested above.

There doesn't seem to be any tickets or anything. How do we collect these to travel?

I assume there is a bar on-board these trains.. are the prices reasonable?

Thanks

 

[AlexNL]

Thanks for the tips.

I have booked the day return trip on the website using the fake ID details as suggested above.

There doesn't seem to be any tickets or anything. How do we collect these to travel?

I'm... not sure. Didn't you get something to download or maybe e-mailed to you?

I assume there is a bar on-board these trains.. are the prices reasonable?

Thanks

There is a "Café" on board the MTR Express trains, where they serve food and refreshments made by Swedish chef Pontus Frithiof. You can find their menu here (in Swedish).

On board SJ's high speed trains, you can find a bar in coach 5 (SJ2000) or coach 3 (SJ3000). You can save SJ Prio points when you purchase stuff in the bar, you can also pay with your points. On their website, you can find out more about SJ's catering (in Swedish).

 

[reb0118]

Make sure you have at least a good colour scan of your passports. As you will already know it is a legal requirement for you to carry an identity card in most European countries. We of course as UK citizens helpfully don't have an i.d. card so our passport is the only "officially" accepted document that will suffice.

In practice in most western European countries I've found that a good copy of a passport + a photo driving licence has sufficed.

Further east however......

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

 

[rmt4ever]

Decided to go for the MTR option in the end. Typing in fake postcode details in order to book. Both ways nobody even asked for ID when checking tickets. I had the order email printed out in full ready to show, as they don't do tickets! But nobody even checked it. Even asking the member of our group to show their student ID on student discounted tickets didn't happen.

Did have major issues with the bar tho. Brought our own journey GnT premixed cans though, from England. Then they announce you must not drink your own alcohol, this is not permitted! But they don't take cash!!! No cards we have and even if we did, I'm not paying the foreign transaction fee for a few drinks.

This company is seriously taking the pee ! Can't drink your own, and can't buy on board... what the f*** do they expect people to Do???

 

[AlexNL]

I'm guessing they don't want you to drink brought along alcohol to prevent issues when passengers get rowdy because of it, the alcohol being sold on board is likely to contain a low alcohol percentage.

According to MTR's terms and conditions you're also not allowed to take alcohol bought on board with you when you leave the train. Not sure why they'd disallow that, but it might have something to do with Sweden's alcohol sale regulations.

 

[30907]

Did have major issues with the bar tho. Brought our own journey GnT premixed cans though, from England. Then they announce you must not drink your own alcohol, this is not permitted! But they don't take cash!!! No cards we have and even if we did, I'm not paying the foreign transaction fee for a few drinks.

This company is seriously taking the pee ! Can't drink your own, and can't buy on board... what the f*** do they expect people to Do???

They assume you will have a credit card. Even 10 years ago Sweden used cards far more than we do. And it's not significantly more expensive than buying currency anyway.

It's illegal to consume alcohol on Swedish public transport other than drinks bought and consumed in the bar car.

 

[rmt4ever]

They assume you will have a credit card. Even 10 years ago Sweden used cards far more than we do. And it's not significantly more expensive than buying currency anyway.

It's illegal to consume alcohol on Swedish public transport other than drinks bought and consumed in the bar car.

Wow. Good job I didn't get caught then on another note, the MTR trains are very plesent

 

[Bletchleyite]

Wow. Good job I didn't get caught then on another note, the MTR trains are very plesent

More Stadler FLIRTs!

(Yes, I know I'm a fan - though the Swedish loading gauge is very wide so I wouldn't expect the UK ones to be quite as good!)

 

[theageofthetra]

I am now having second thoughts of travelling with such a shoddy company that tells customers to enter fake ID details into their own website!!

Might just use the SJ train. Bit more expensive but probably less complications..

Also neither of us will be carrying ID in the trip... except probably bank debit card and maybe E111 health cards.

Given heighted security in most countries I would always carry some id- a driving licence should be fine.

 

[rmt4ever]

Sorry to have a rant, but I really couldn't live in this nanny state country.

We arrived at the airport getting off the train, and was told to join the queue for the 120sek airport train tax (what is THAT about- imagine having to pay a tenner fee for using the Picc to Heathrow even if you have a travelcard that covers the zones!). We couldn't pay in cash. So I had to leave my passport as "security" and go to the newsagent to pay this in case. Other tourists in the same boat here.

Check in was fine, fast track security fine, everyone friendly. At the duty free we were going to buy some booze, maybe a couple of bottles of gin, as we had about 600seks left. They don't allow you to buy any alcohol whatsoever if travelling in the EU. I have never come across this!

Secondly, in the business class lounge, they wouldn't even let my Mrs have a Baileys because it was before 11am!! We feel insulted...

 

[Billy A]

Sorry to have a rant, but I really couldn't live in this nanny state country.

We arrived at the airport getting off the train, and was told to join the queue for the 120sek airport train tax (what is THAT about- imagine having to pay a tenner fee for using the Picc to Heathrow even if you have a travelcard that covers the zones!). We couldn't pay in cash. So I had to leave my passport as "security" and go to the newsagent to pay this in case.

Given that you said you had a bank debit card earlier, couldn't you have used that? I know there's a charge each time you use it but I did some sums once and concluded that taking into account the much worse exchange rate when you buy notes it was either cheaper to use plastic everywhere or worth any extra for the sake of convenience.

 

[AlterEgo]

Sorry to have a rant, but I really couldn't live in this nanny state country.

We arrived at the airport getting off the train, and was told to join the queue for the 120sek airport train tax (what is THAT about- imagine having to pay a tenner fee for using the Picc to Heathrow even if you have a travelcard that covers the zones!). We couldn't pay in cash. So I had to leave my passport as "security" and go to the newsagent to pay this in case. Other tourists in the same boat here.

Check in was fine, fast track security fine, everyone friendly. At the duty free we were going to buy some booze, maybe a couple of bottles of gin, as we had about 600seks left. They don't allow you to buy any alcohol whatsoever if travelling in the EU. I have never come across this!

Secondly, in the business class lounge, they wouldn't even let my Mrs have a Baileys because it was before 11am!! We feel insulted...

Yes, travel broadens the mind, doesn't it?

 

[sheff1]

Sorry to have a rant ...

>snip

You have posted on here about visiting Sweden previously. If you don't like the way they do things there - card purchases the norm for everything, restrictions on sale of alcohol etc - why go back ? There must other countries which are more to your taste.

 

[JonasB]

Wow. Good job I didn't get caught then on another note, the MTR trains are very plesent

The worst thing that could have happened to you is being thrown off the train. But MTR could have been in trouble for selling alcohol AND allowing passengers to consume their own.

 

[JonasB]

Sorry to have a rant, but I really couldn't live in this nanny state country.

We arrived at the airport getting off the train, and was told to join the queue for the 120sek airport train tax (what is THAT about- imagine having to pay a tenner fee for using the Picc to Heathrow even if you have a travelcard that covers the zones!). We couldn't pay in cash. So I had to leave my passport as "security" and go to the newsagent to pay this in case. Other tourists in the same boat here.

Is it any different than the trams in Edinburgh, where a trip costs £1.60, unless you want to travel to airport, when it suddenly costs £5.50? But yes, 120 kr is a lot, and they should accept cash at the gate. Tip from a local: Take the train to Märsta and the bus from Märsta to Arlanda. Takes about 15 min longer, but saves you the station fee at Arlanda. Or take the SJ regional train to Märsta, and then the bus.

Check in was fine, fast track security fine, everyone friendly. At the duty free we were going to buy some booze, maybe a couple of bottles of gin, as we had about 600seks left. They don't allow you to buy any alcohol whatsoever if travelling in the EU. I have never come across this!

Secondly, in the business class lounge, they wouldn't even let my Mrs have a Baileys because it was before 11am!! We feel insulted...

We do have very strict alcohol laws in Sweden, as in most Nordic countries. Bars and restaurants are not allowed to sell alcohol before 11.00. And due to the Systembolaget monopoly, the stores at Arlanda are only allowed to sell alcohol to passengers travelling outside the EU. But if they could, they would have to charge you the swedish alcohol tax, and the bottles of gin would have been cheaper in the UK.

 

[rmt4ever]

You have posted on here about visiting Sweden previously. If you don't like the way they do things there - card purchases the norm for everything, restrictions on sale of alcohol etc - why go back ? There must other countries which are more to your taste.

Mrs has family there, it's not exactly by choice. Gothenburg and Stockholm are really nice cities and I thoroughly enjoy visiting them. Most of the people are really nice particularly in Gothenburg. But in one of the cheaper bars in Stockholm we visited this trip (about £3.50 a pint) there was a very drunk man with his Mrs who decided to sit with us, and ask where we were from and what was we doing there etc (seemingly shocked at discovering tourists)- and then went on to ask why we was in a bar and not having sex in our hotel room!! We were quite shocked and he got a bit nasty when we told him to sod off, we left sharpish - but sadly experienced another totally paralytic man who was bothering us again in another bar.

But you can see Stockholm has surprisingly few tourists compared to say Paris, Barcelona, New York etc, and you can't help that feel Sweden is its own worse enemy here- bring the prices down and more people will come resulting in more income from tourism!

I am surprised the EU regulations on competition etc allow the strict alcohol laws. They should put Sweden under pressure to change this. It's unfair to the consumer.

The best thing about the trip was its pushed me into Silver with BA, just a few days before my TP collection year ends. So I am delighted we went and I can be thankful to Stockholm when enjoying Silver over the next year

 

[rmt4ever]

Is it any different than the trams in Edinburgh, where a trip costs £1.60, unless you want to travel to airport, when it suddenly costs £5.50? But yes, 120 kr is a lot, and they should accept cash at the gate. Tip from a local: Take the train to Märsta and the bus from Märsta to Arlanda. Takes about 15 min longer, but saves you the station fee at Arlanda. Or take the SJ regional train to Märsta, and then the bus.



We do have very strict alcohol laws in Sweden, as in most Nordic countries. Bars and restaurants are not allowed to sell alcohol before 11.00. And due to the Systembolaget monopoly, the stores at Arlanda are only allowed to sell alcohol to passengers travelling outside the EU. But if they could, they would have to charge you the swedish alcohol tax, and the bottles of gin would have been cheaper in the UK.

Strange you mention Edinburgh, we are going there next month to visit. I didn't think about the Märsta tip. Out of interest, if we got off the train at the station before the airport and just got a cab from there to the airport, surely that wouldn't be anywhere near 240sek would it ? Maybe 80-90 sek ?

 

[rmt4ever]

Given that you said you had a bank debit card earlier, couldn't you have used that? I know there's a charge each time you use it but I did some sums once and concluded that taking into account the much worse exchange rate when you buy notes it was either cheaper to use plastic everywhere or worth any extra for the sake of convenience.

According to Visa website today a transaction in SEK 240 on my First Driect visa debit card, with the 2.99% fee, would cost me £22.59 in sterling.

Where I get my currency from, Thomas Global, it would cost £22.25 to get 240sek in cash currency.

This is why I always travel with cash. You change it up before you leave home, know exactly what exchange rate you are getting, and know how much you have to spend. Don't have to worry about card fees etc, card cloning, losing the card, being scammed for a higher amount or any of that.

And as proven in my example here- it's bloody cheaper !!!

 

[Bletchleyite]

An extra 34p on a 22 quid fare? Really worth worrying about?

 

[Bletchleyite]

You have posted on here about visiting Sweden previously. If you don't like the way they do things there - card purchases the norm for everything, restrictions on sale of alcohol etc - why go back ? There must other countries which are more to your taste.

Might want to try Germany - still very much a cash culture and alcohol *very* freely available and consumed.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I am surprised the EU regulations on competition etc allow the strict alcohol laws. They should put Sweden under pressure to change this. It's unfair to the consumer.

With regard to on-train consumption they are by no means the only country with that rule. Essentially it comes down to whether the whole train is licenced premises or not.

As to the laws it's been like that for years and I believe the locals approve of it, so who are you or the EU to tell them not to?

 

[rmt4ever]

Might want to try Germany - still very much a cash culture and alcohol *very* freely available and consumed.

Been many times and off back to Berlin in 3 weeks

 

[JonasB]

Strange you mention Edinburgh, we are going there next month to visit. I didn't think about the Märsta tip. Out of interest, if we got off the train at the station before the airport and just got a cab from there to the airport, surely that wouldn't be anywhere near 240sek would it ? Maybe 80-90 sek ?

It's the part of the UK I'm most familiar with.

Out of interest, I checked the taxi Stockholm website for the price Upplands Väsby-Arlanda and it was a bit more, 310 kr.