Trainline Business Account £5.50 Booking Fee

[hairyhandedfool]

That wouldn't happen to be Northern and/or EMT would it?

It may or may not be the former......

 

[Gareth Marston]

Thanks to everyone that's posted.

I get the impression that the consensus is that whatever the price of ticket/booking fee a lot Trainline Corporate Accounts then have some form of discount applied but that these discounts vary from company to company so Company A could have one heck of a better deal than Company B and only Trainline really knows?

 

[Gareth Marston]

The view often taken at work is that people can usually predict when a meeting wiĺ start, and so an Advance is suitable. However they may be less certain when it will actually finish and so a flexible ticket may be appropriate for the return.

Trouble is you cnay always mix and match AP's & Anytime/Off Peak singles at sensible pries (varies by operator)

 

[Gareth Marston]

We have to provide an excuse for why we didn't book at least 7 days in advance.

"No advance tickets on route so may as well book at last minute when the journey is definitely happening" isn't an option...

There's no guarantee of AP's a week in advance and with many operators the walk on fare can be cheaper than AP's at the higher tiers.

 

[Gareth Marston]

I agree with this. I use evolvi to book business travel. Usually all I need is a return to Kings Cross as my office is a short walk from there but despite specifying Kings Cross as the destination a One Day Travelcard is always the 1st option shown. The cheaper return to London Terminals is further down the list.

I know what I'm doing when it comes to rail fares but most don't...

That's what i strongly suspected with them they push the more expensive option or assume you want tube travel as well and let the users lack of knowledge do the rest.

 

[edwin_m]

That's what i strongly suspected with them they push the more expensive option or assume you want tube travel as well and let the users lack of knowledge do the rest.

The Evolvi I've seen sets out all the fares for a particular journey on a matrix with a column for each train and the cheapest fare at the top. I think this is combined with having to enter a justification if you go for something that costs a lot more than the cheapest.

 

[najaB]

... so Company A could have one heck of a better deal than Company B and only Trainline really knows?

Welcome to the world of B2B commerce.

 

[Hadders]

The Evolvi I've seen sets out all the fares for a particular journey on a matrix with a column for each train and the cheapest fare at the top. I think this is combined with having to enter a justification if you go for something that costs a lot more than the cheapest.

It doesn't! Try a journey like Stevenage to Kings Cross, it lists a One Day Travelcard at the top of the list with the return to London Terminals below.

 

[Gareth Marston]

It doesn't! Try a journey like Stevenage to Kings Cross, it lists a One Day Travelcard at the top of the list with the return to London Terminals below.

I've never printed off anything "cheap" involving Evolvi in fact they always stand out like a sore thumb as being the highest fare possible for the journey.

I wonder if Evolvi tailor their interface to their clients wishes I.e the savvy ones specify cheap as possible whereas others don't. The ones I see tend to be public sector organisations.

 

[Hadders]

Stevenage to Kings Cross is straightforward, there are no Advance fares so the only variables are Anytime/Off Peak and Standard/First Class and Single/Day Return/Period Return.

It still shows the travelcard first with the cheaper London Terminals ticket underneath...

 

[Wallsendmag]

They're not the only one...I'm aware of a few TOCs that have stopped using Rail Warrants for staff travel and switched to using Company Credit Cards to either book online or at a Ticket Office.

I'm not surprised given the cost per warrant and admin fees


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[najaB]

The Evolvi I've seen sets out all the fares for a particular journey on a matrix with a column for each train and the cheapest fare at the top.

It doesn't! Try a journey like Stevenage to Kings Cross, it lists a One Day Travelcard at the top of the list with the return to London Terminals below.

I think that will very much depend on the terms of the contract between the business and Evolvi - B2B interfaces are generally very customisable and what one client gets may be completely different to the next client.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

I'm not surprised given the cost per warrant and admin fees....

Northern had 'greenslips', basically Northern's own version of a warrant, so costs would have been much less than a warrant account, but only usable at Northern offices.

 

[Cantab26]

I've seen leaflets for a GWR business account, so I assume other TOCs must do it as well.

Chiltern certainly used to offer a business travel service. Based in Bicester I believe. I'm not sure if it is still offered though.

 

[BlueFox]

Chiltern certainly used to offer a business travel service. Based in Bicester I believe. I'm not sure if it is still offered though.

https://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/business-travel