All Line Rover during RMT strikes

[glosbear]

Apologies if somebody else has already answered this question.

Around Easter time (before any industrial action had been announced) I bought 7-day All Line Rover tickets for myself and two travelling companions for w/c Sat July 9th. At the moment there are no strikes planned for that week, however it's quite possible there will be once this week's strikes are out of the way and more are announced.

Am I due a full refund if similar action is called for that week (i.e. strikes on alternate days) when the advice is not to travel unless absolutely necessary, and there is a significantly reduced service on the intermediate non-strike days? There doesn't seem to be any specific advice for Rail Rover ticket holders on the various TOC websites and FAQ pages, which are mainly focused on Advance tickets and Season ticket holders. Alternatively, could I reschedule the Rail Rovers for a future date instead of a refund? In which case, how far ahead can I re-book (e.g. a full year perhaps)?

Thanks in anticipation

 

[Watershed]

Apologies if somebody else has already answered this question.

Around Easter time (before any industrial action had been announced) I bought 7-day All Line Rover tickets for myself and two travelling companions for w/c Sat July 9th. At the moment there are no stikes planned for that week, however it's quite possible there will be once this week's strikes are out of the way and more are announced.

Am I due a full refund if simiar action is called for that week (i.e. strikes on alternate days) when the advice is not to travel unless absolutely necessary, and there is a significantly reduced service on the intermediate non-strike days? There doesn't seem to be any specific advice for Rail Rover ticket holders on the various TOC websites and FAQ pages, which are mainly focused on Advance tickets and Season ticket holders. Alternatively, could I reschedule the Rail Rovers for a future date instead of a refund? In which case, how far ahead can I re-book (e.g. a full year perhaps)?

Thanks in anticipation

Yes on both counts. If any of the trains you intend to catch are cancelled or delayed as a result of strike action (it's pretty unlikely this wouldn't be the case!) you are entitled to a full refund. Arguably there is also a right to reschedule your ticket to a future date, but there are no industry processes in place to do so for more than a few days either side of strike action. Since you'll have the right to a full refund and can buy another ALR again for the same price, it's a moot point really.

The industry information on passenger rights during the strike has been woefully inadequate.

 

[Flying Snail]

Why are you buying an ALR so far in advance? Even more crucially after one possible issue why are you looking to do it again? They are unrestricted walk-up tickets just wait until you know when you are traveling and there will not be any last minute issues preventing you traveling.

 

[glosbear]

Why are you buying an ALR so far in advance? Even more crucially after one possible issue why are you looking to do it again? They are unrestricted walk-up tickets just wait until you know when you are traveling and there will not be any last minute issues preventing you traveling.

Thanks for your reply, but at the risk of stating the obvious, you don't simply buy a 7-day ALR on a whim. You need to plan an itinerary, book hotels, sleeper berths, make seat reservations, etc. which is best done in advance for travel during the busy summer months. Obviously, had I known when I bought them that we were in for a summer of strikes, I'd have refrained from doing so. Furthermore, I shall only re-book them once the strikes are over. I didn't think that needed to be spelled out as I'm not a masochist!

 

[Hadders]

Thanks for your reply, but at the risk of stating the obvious, you don't simply buy a 7-day ALR on a whim. You need to plan an itinerary, book hotels, sleeper berths, make seat reservations, etc. which is best done in advance for travel during the busy summer months. Obviously, had I known when I bought them that we were in for a summer of strikes, I'd have refrained from doing so. Furthermore, I shall only re-book them once the strikes are over. I didn't think that needed to be spelled out as I'm not a masochist!

You can do all of that without the actual ALR ticket. I’d only ever buy the ALR on the day of my first journey, to minimise risk if something unexpected happened.

 

[Flying Snail]

Thanks for your reply, but at the risk of stating the obvious, you don't simply buy a 7-day ALR on a whim. You need to plan an itinerary, book hotels, sleeper berths, make seat reservations, etc. which is best done in advance for travel during the busy summer months. Obviously, had I known when I bought them that we were in for a summer of strikes, I'd have refrained from doing so. Furthermore, I shall only re-book them once the strikes are over. I didn't think that needed to be spelled out as I'm not a masochist!

As the previous poster says there is no need to have the ALR bought to do all that.

I used to book the cheapest hotel rates but these days there is just way to much uncertainty, I'd rather take the small hit on refundable rates than risk having to bin the whole lot should something put the skids on an entire trip.

 

[glosbear]

You can do all of that without the actual ALR ticket. I’d only ever buy the ALR on the day of my first journey, to minimise risk if something unexpected happened.

Thanks for your reply although I was hoping for some constructive advice rather than the holier-than-thou responses I've got so far (apart from the first one). Hindsight is a wonderful thing and yes, I'd have refrained from buying them myself had I been able to see three or four months into the future. Surely you need travel tickets to make seat reservations otherwise it would be a free-for-all?

 

[Watershed]

Thanks for your reply although I was hoping for some constructive advice rather than the holier-than-thou responses I've got so far (apart from the first one).

Yes, I do find some of the responses a little unhelpful! Victim blaming much...? It's also possible you could have bought the ALR before the March fares increase, to avail of the old prices for as long as possible. In that case I appreciate it wouldn't be quite such a trite point that you can buy the ALR again, and pushing for a re-dated ticket would be quite reasonable.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and yes, I'd have refrained from buying them myself had I been able to see three or four months into the future. Surely you need travel tickets to make seat reservations otherwise it would be a free-for-all?

Yes, well at least at ticket offices and with customer services. It is actually possible to obtain reservations without buying a ticket, through MixingDeck based sites such as GWR. See the bottom of this page for details. But that doesn't allow you to select a specific seat, which you might be able to do otherwise.

There is certainly no way of booking sleeper berths without a ticket, although with the amount Caledonian Sleeper have increased the berth supplement to, it's frequently cheaper to buy a berth-inclusive Advance ticket even if you already have a valid ticket.

 

[Hadders]

Thanks for your reply although I was hoping for some constructive advice rather than the holier-than-thou responses I've got so far (apart from the first one). Hindsight is a wonderful thing and yes, I'd have refrained from buying them myself had I been able to see three or four months into the future. Surely you need travel tickets to make seat reservations otherwise it would be a free-for-all?

No ticket is required to make a reservation. Some websites like LNER and GWR allow you to do this. gWR is particularly useful as they allow reservations to be made for any service.

It’s a few years since I did an ALR but I went to my local ticket office armed with a list of seat reservations and sleeper berths I wanted. I left it with the clerk and returned later in the day to collect them. I made sure to find out of the clerk was working on the day I purchased my ALR so they could benefit from the sale (though I don’t think clerks earn commission)

 

[Bletchleyite]

There is certainly no way of booking sleeper berths without a ticket, although with the amount Caledonian Sleeper have increased the berth supplement to, it's frequently cheaper to buy a berth-inclusive Advance ticket even if you already have a valid ticket.

There is. There is a room supplement option on the CS website which allows you to do exactly that. Not on the Riviera, though. I just tried it and it doesn't ask for evidence of a ticket, it just tells you several times that you need one.

 

[Flying Snail]

There is certainly no way of booking sleeper berths without a ticket, although with the amount Caledonian Sleeper have increased the berth supplement to, it's frequently cheaper to buy a berth-inclusive Advance ticket even if you already have a valid ticket.

Yes there is, at least on the Caledonian and there has been since Serco CS took over. The website gives the option right on the homepage for bookings to be made as supplements only.

 

[Sleepy]

There is. There is a room supplement option on the CS website which allows you to do exactly that. Not on the Riviera, though. I just tried it and it doesn't ask for evidence of a ticket, it just tells you several times that you need one.

Riviera berths can be booked without tickets via GWR telesales

 

[strawbrick]

Please be aware that an ALR ticket is not necessarily cheaper than buying a number of individual tickets for the tour!

Three years ago we did and "grand tour" Paddington (sleeper) - Cornwall - Anglesey - Far North of Scotland - Euston (sleeper).

We bought the tickets well in advance, taking advantage of any discounts available and also split ticketing if it was cheaper. We only paid for 1st Class where it was available on the train whereas an ALR is 1st Class even when not available on the train. We also reserved seats wherever possible. We found that it paid to have two seperate computers on the go to cope with the fact that fares could change from minute to minute as we developed the itinerary, e.g there is not a decent hotel near station X so let's get off at station Y.

Only downside was a folder of over 40 tickets and reservations, each!

On the other hand we used an Inter-rail (?) pass for a tour of Eire and Northern Ireland the next year - but we still had to spend lots of time sorting out our itinerary.

Whenever you go, have a very pleasant trip