I travelled from Milton Keynes (MKC) to Helsby (HSB) today via Warrington Bank Quay (WBQ). I wanted to reserve a seat on one of Avanti's "Standard Premium" carriages before I travelled, so I booked a Standard Premium advance from MKC to WBQ for £63.70. When I got to MKC station, I tried to excess the fare through to HSB without success.
The friendly ticket clerk had a look at my ticket (an e-ticket) and after half a minute said he couldn't excess it because it was a Standard Premium fare. I asked if it couldn't be treated as either a standard fare or a first class fare and excessed that way and he said no. He told me it was a special Avanti fare so I'd need to speak to them to excess it. Given the MKC ticket office is run by London North-Western, there was no option to try an Avanti-run ticket office.
The standard class off-peak single from MKC to HSB costs £66.10 (exactly the same as the MKC to WBQ off-peak single fare). The first class off-peak single from MKC to HSB costs £147.70 (£4.10 more than the MKC to WBQ fare of £143.60). I was hoping for a zero priced excess but didn't have much hope before I approached the ticket office. I was sold a £7 WBQ to HSB ticket and told I could complain to Avanti.
Some questions...
1) Is it correct that Avanti Standard Premium fares cannot be excessed? Or is there something the ticket clerk could have done?
2) If this fare can't be excessed, is there a way to combine a pre-booked standard premium fare on Avanti with a non-Avanti connection on one ticket? On Virgin Trains their advances used to have "& connections" but I can't see this for Avanti's standard premium fares.
3) If the fare could have been excessed, is there any way I can go about claiming some (or all?) of the WBQ to HSB fare back?
The friendly ticket clerk had a look at my ticket (an e-ticket) and after half a minute said he couldn't excess it because it was a Standard Premium fare. I asked if it couldn't be treated as either a standard fare or a first class fare and excessed that way and he said no. He told me it was a special Avanti fare so I'd need to speak to them to excess it. Given the MKC ticket office is run by London North-Western, there was no option to try an Avanti-run ticket office.
The standard class off-peak single from MKC to HSB costs £66.10 (exactly the same as the MKC to WBQ off-peak single fare). The first class off-peak single from MKC to HSB costs £147.70 (£4.10 more than the MKC to WBQ fare of £143.60). I was hoping for a zero priced excess but didn't have much hope before I approached the ticket office. I was sold a £7 WBQ to HSB ticket and told I could complain to Avanti.
Some questions...
1) Is it correct that Avanti Standard Premium fares cannot be excessed? Or is there something the ticket clerk could have done?
2) If this fare can't be excessed, is there a way to combine a pre-booked standard premium fare on Avanti with a non-Avanti connection on one ticket? On Virgin Trains their advances used to have "& connections" but I can't see this for Avanti's standard premium fares.
3) If the fare could have been excessed, is there any way I can go about claiming some (or all?) of the WBQ to HSB fare back?
