Club55 on First Group website now up

[firespire]

www.club55.co.uk

Fares seem a bit all over the place.

eg -
They give a 21% discount for railcards, more than the 20% they say.

They price London to Swansea at £20 when it should be £35 (as it is in the other direction).

For a Hereford to Carlisle journey first you have to use the "Click here to check if slower routes with cheaper tickets are available. " and then only get a £50 option when the fare should be £35 (like eg. Barry to Carlisle is). Think this fault might apply to any journey between TPE and any station served by both ATW and FGW.

What I think might confuse people living around Bristol and Somerset wanting to go to Mid or North Wales, the alternative Arriva Trains Wales Club 55 offer overlaps, this website doesn't produce any Club 55 tickets at all for those journeys and gives no information to those customers to tell them to go over ATW website for internet booking.

 

[taxidave]

I cannot see where there is any savings as fares appear to be dearer than normal advance fares, for example...

Cheltenham to London advance ticket price out at 8.31 £14.30
Return at 19.48 £10.25

Club 55 price on same trains £27.65
Both sets of fares based on use of Senior railcard.
These prices are for first week of club 55 if you then look at October journeys, advance fares are even cheaper.

 

[Flamingo]

Club 55 should be compared to the off-peak walk-up price, as they are flexible, I believe.

 

[firespire]

You could make that point with many a train offer, say a Train Company offers all it's returns haf price, Advances fares might still be cheaper.

The appeal is you can turn up and buy on the day, you can do your trip leisurely without worring about what happens if you miss the booked train and if you don't have the Internet, Advance fares can be confusing finding out the best time to travel.

 

[taxidave]

The appeal is you can turn up and buy on the day, you can do your trip leisurely without worrying about what happens if you miss the booked train

If you miss the 19.48 off Paddington you will have a long wait for the next through train to Cheltenham and you are not allowed on a previous one with club 55, so I do not think that is a worthwhile benefit.

 

[firespire]

Comparing the offer to last year the prices have risen sharply. Travel standard class in a single zone is 1/3 more than last year, extra zones have a 50% price increase. First class single zone is 40% higher than last year.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I downloaded the information this afternoon and the usual "glaring" error was plain to see. In the "Terms and Conditions", it states that the final date is 19th December 2010. You would have assumed someone would have proof-read the text first.

It states that First TransPennine Express journeys are not valid on services timed to depart before 0915. At first sight, that looks like a 7-day exclusion. Not so, as when my wife rang, she was told that this not apply to either Saturday and Sunday. Why could this point not have been made clear.

Another point that needs clarification when compared the the previous Club 55 offer, was that on Mondays to Fridays, the Club 55 tickets could not be used on services leaving York between 1600 to 1900. I can see no afternoon restrictions at all stated in the current downloaded information.

I do not come on this specialised section of the website much, but I felt that these points were worth noting.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Comparing the offer to last year the prices have risen sharply. Travel standard class in a single zone is 1/3 more than last year, extra zones have a 50% price increase. First class single zone is 40% higher than last year.

The ATW Club 55 price is £18.00 this year, as against £15.00 last year, with a £2.00 discount for the railcards that are stated to be acceptable with this offer.

 

[firespire]

It states that First TransPennine Express journeys are not valid on services timed to depart before 0915. At first sight, that looks like a 7-day exclusion. Not so, as when my wife rang, she was told that this not apply to either Saturday and Sunday. Why could this point not have been made clear.

It's a bit disapointing they can't get their act together and make clear terms and conditions.

There is a pdf file on the First Transpenine Express website
http://www.tpexpress.co.uk/MediaLibrary/club55/map2011.pdf
but to read the conditions on there I have to enlarge it to over 200% on my computer, I don't know how people would cope if that is the size it is on printed literature.

It does mention the restrictions only apply Monday to Friday but then adds more about travelling between London Paddington / Reading / Newbury and the West of England on Fridays, these are nowhere to be seen on the website.

I downloaded the information this afternoon and the usual "glaring" error was plain to see. In the "Terms and Conditions", it states that the final date is 19th December 2010. You would have assumed someone would have proof-read the text first. .

They may have now corrected the date on the website but it is still poorly written eg.-

- People 55 and over only can travel on the Club 55 discounted tickets from 19th September 2011 until 20th November 2011.
- Tickets are valid for outward travel on the date shown on the ticket and for return travel within one calendar month. Return travel must be completed by 19th December 2011.

The first sentence should be re written to make it clear that it only applies to the outward travel portion.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

No. the last date in their advertisement is still showing 19th December 2010. I have sent them an e-mail about this and other matters on the offer and stated that I hoped the printed leaflets when distributed would not contain these errors. I have just received their "acknowledgment" e-mail.

There was an e-mail from First TransPennine Express in my inbox this morning to say that they apologize for all the errors and omissions that I had reported and that the incorrect information is now in the hands of their marketing manager to be altered.

It was also further confirmed that, unlike past offers, there would be no afternoon and evening restrictions during the validity period of this offer.

 

[dcd]

We plan to use club55 tickets with Senior Railcards to go from Romsey to Glasgow on 24th October returning on 26th October. The club5 website takes us to the great western site as that is where we want to start and it offers us only one journey in each direction that does not involve spending the night sat on a station. For the outbound journey it is

However if you click on the club55 link next to the choices the restriction says it is not a valid journey as it departs Manchester between 16:00 and 19:00.

There is no mention of this restriction on the club55 website terms and conditions http://www.club55.co.uk/TermsAndConditions.aspx

If we buy these tickets will we be unable to complete the journey?

 

[blackfive460]

There's another thread on the current Club 55 offer and the most recent post (#9) quoting an email from TPX appears to confirm that there is no afternoon restriction.

 

[dcd]

Thanks for this - maybe a moderator would like to move this to the other thread please.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

There's another thread on the current Club 55 offer and the most recent post (#9) quoting an email from TPX appears to confirm that there is no afternoon restriction.

The First TPE reference number is 6186494/TPE

It was sent by Leigh Owen, Customer Relations Adviser at their Manchester Office

 

[sburnley]

Does anybody know if you can break your return journey on a Club 55 Ticket?
My wife and I might be using one to go from Manchester to Durham midweek and return, probably, on a Saturday. It might be that we would like to break our return journey at Northallerton for a few hours.

Am I correct in thinking, also, that we cannot start our return journey from Durham before 09:15?

 

[John @ home]

Does anybody know if you can break your return journey on a Club 55 Ticket?

Yes. Break of journey is generally allowed by Condition 16 of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage except that these rights may not apply to some types of tickets for which a break of journey is prohibited, in which case the relevant Train Companies will make this clear in their notices and other publications.

The detailed Club 55 conditions with respect to break of journey are:

Break of journey

Outward portions of Club 55 tickets are valid for travel on the date shown on the ticket. Where a passenger wishes to stop overnight or the journey cannot be completed within one day, break of journey for an overnight stay is allowed. Where a journey does continue into the next day, relevant time restrictions apply and travel must resume before 1200. No further break of journey is allowed except for the purpose of changing trains.

Return portions of Club 55 tickets are valid for travel until 0230 on the day following the last day of validity (i.e. one calendar month from outward journey). If a passenger is still travelling at 0230, they may stay on the train to complete that part of the journey but no further break of journey is allowed and all travel must be completed by 1200.

This places no restriction on a break of the return leg of a Club 55 ticket during its period of validity.

Am I correct in thinking, also, that we cannot start our return journey from Durham before 09:15?

No. The TPE site does indeed imply that the time restrictions apply every day, but the National Rail Enquiries site, which claims to be the definitive site, makes it clear that they apply on weekdays only.

FirstGroup Club 55 - 2011

Validity
Morning restrictions
* Not valid on any weekday First TransPennine Express service timed to depart before 09:15

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/promotions/preaefa40a1048b2bec191fcf5e36b59/details.html

 

[sburnley]

John@home:

Thanks for that clarification - much appreciated.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

No. The TPE site does indeed imply that the time restrictions apply every day, but the National Rail Enquiries site, which claims to be the definitive site, makes it clear that they apply on weekdays only.

I have an e-mail from First TPE to confirm that the 0915 start restriction is indeed only applicable on the new Club 55 offer from Monday to Friday and that there are no early morning time restrictions on both Saturday and on Sunday. It is further stated that their Marketing Department have been notified to ensure that this correction (together with other errors) are amended very quickly.

There does not seem to be a correct level of vetting the text matter of items, prior to entering the public domain.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Having made four ATW Club 55 journeys to date under the new offer, we are now to make our first Club 55 journey this coming Saturday on the First TPE, as the 0915 time restriction does not apply at weekends.

One of my sons will drive us to Manchester Airport where we will catch the 0805 to Durham due in at 1047 and returning on the 1718 from Durham due back at Manchester Airport at 1959. Seat reservations on both trains have been booked at the time of ticket purchase yesterday. This allows a stay of six and a half hours.

With the use of our Senior Citizen railcards, the cost is reduced from £20.00 to £16.00 under the terms of the offer, but as I still had a £20.00 Northern rail voucher, this effectively brought down the return journey to only £6.00 each, which is really value for money on such a long journey that does not require a change of trains on either journey.