Advance return but had to return early.

[vidal]

My partner bought tickets from Preston to Glasgow as a late treat for us both - a day's shopping on Valentine's day (Saturday 14th). She bought advance tickets on Thursday.

Timings were
Outbound - 06:44
Return - 18:40

Sadly she became unwell during the day and we had to return early - I needed to buy two singles which cost over £100. Obviously we haven't used the return leg of the Advance tickets. Is there any mechanism for a refund. I have retained all the tickets.

Thanks in advance

James

 

[yorkie]

I believe these will be Singles, rather than Returns.

In any case, full refunds are not possible. But you could have re-booked for a new time/date and pay the admin fee.

If you used the forum site, then providing you did this before the time/date of travel, you would do this by booking replacement tickets, then request a refund for the originals and state the replacement booking reference in your refund request.

As the time/date is now in the past, no money can be claimed back.

Had you made the journey, you would have been entitled to claim 100% delay repay from Avanti, but as you didn't make the journey, you aren't entitled to that either.

 

[vidal]

I believe these will be Singles, rather than Returns.

In any case, full refunds are not possible. But you could have re-booked for a new time/date and pay the admin fee.

If you used the forum site, then providing you did this before the time/date of travel, you would do this by booking replacement tickets, then request a refund for the originals and state the replacement booking reference in your refund request.

As the time/date is now in the past, no money can be claimed back.

Thank you Yorkie. Yes, they were singles, and importantly she is feeling better today. Just a bit of an expensive kick to the wallet!

James

 

[Haywain]

I needed to buy two singles which cost over £100. Obviously we haven't used the return leg of the Advance tickets. Is there any mechanism for a refund. I have retained all the tickets.

As stated, there is no mechanism for refunding the unused Advance tickets. Had you gone to the ticket office at Glasgow Central you could have changed those tickets by paying the difference up to a new single, plus a "change of journey fee". This may have reduced your costs.

 

[STINT47]

The irony is that if you had taken your intended train due to the delayed arrival you would have been entitled to a full refund under delay repay.

As you didn't travel on this train you cannot make a claim although some people no doubt would do so.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

How much were the Advances? Journey could have been done with 2 x Off Peak Day Returns at £51.60 each, allowing for a much more flexible travel itinerary, and any train back if plans changed.

 

[yorkie]

How much were the Advances? Journey could have been done with 2 x Off Peak Day Returns at £51.60 each, allowing for a much more flexible travel itinerary, and any train back if plans changed.

Yes, that's always worth considering.

If they bought from the forum site, it would have said if that was cheaper; there is also a 'Change ticket selection' option, to compare alternative products and pricing.

Furthermore, it would be worth purchasing a Two Together Railcard, which would have reduced the cost to £68.80 return for both passengers.

Sadly, these good value fares are under severe threat from DfT "simplification" plans, but that's another topic!

 

[vidal]

We paid £15 per person per leg on the advance tickets.£100 for the unexpected early return.

James

 

[Haywain]

We paid £15 per person per leg on the advance tickets.£100 for the unexpected early return.

James

If it's any consolation (and it won't be much), the low price of the Advance tickets mean that changing them for your earlier return wouldn't have saved much over what you actually paid for the new singles.

 

[Belperpete]

We paid £15 per person per leg on the advance tickets.£100 for the unexpected early return.

James

Who did your partner buy the tickets from? If she bought them from Avanti direct, it is possible that Avanti would automatically pay her the Delay Repay for their delayed train, even though you didn't actually travel on it.

 

[AlterEgo]

Who did your partner buy the tickets from? If she bought them from Avanti direct, it is possible that Avanti would automatically pay her the Delay Repay for their delayed train, even though you didn't actually travel on it.

It isn't quite automatic. You need to click on a button in an email they send you confirming you travelled.

 

[edwin_m]

I believe these will be Singles, rather than Returns.

In any case, full refunds are not possible. But you could have re-booked for a new time/date and pay the admin fee.

If you used the forum site, then providing you did this before the time/date of travel, you would do this by booking replacement tickets, then request a refund for the originals and state the replacement booking reference in your refund request.

As the time/date is now in the past, no money can be claimed back.

Had you made the journey, you would have been entitled to claim 100% delay repay from Avanti, but as you didn't make the journey, you aren't entitled to that either.

I had a similar situation last week when I had to return early. My outward and return tickets were bought on the Forum site in one transaction. Part of my split was an off-peak and the return half was also valid at the new time, and I bought equivalent tickets for the two Advance legs. However, the site wouldn't allow the refund because it said I'd already used the tickets - which was only true for the outward legs.

It didn't actually matter that much in this case because the Advances were cheap enough that I would have got very little back after the transaction fee. But perhaps worth noting this isn't quite as easy as it sounds.

 

[Haywain]

I had a similar situation last week when I had to return early. My outward and return tickets were bought on the Forum site in one transaction. Part of my split was an off-peak and the return half was also valid at the new time, and I bought equivalent tickets for the two Advance legs. However, the site wouldn't allow the refund because it said I'd already used the tickets - which was only true for the outward legs.

It didn't actually matter that much in this case because the Advances were cheap enough that I would have got very little back after the transaction fee. But perhaps worth noting this isn't quite as easy as it sounds.

In such circumstances I think a communication to customer services would resolve that.

 

[edwin_m]

In such circumstances I think a communication to customer services would resolve that.

I am in touch with them.

 

[trainophile]

We abandoned our North East coast trip last Thursday due to the appalling weather. Should have come back on Friday, Tyne & Wear Metro to Newcastle and Advances from there. On Wednesday afternoon, after being almost blown off our feet and soaked to the skin (The Premier Inn at Whitley Bay is right on the sea front and it was wild), we decided there was no point staying for Thursday as we wouldn't be able to do anything, so paid £74 for two sets of tickets back for the next day, the cheapest I could find via Trainsplit.

Never even crossed our minds that we should try to get some money back. Just one of those things. Ironically we'd only booked it on the Premier Inn free breakfast deal, so we missed out on one of those as well. Advance tickets are a gamble, which usually pays off but some you lose.

 

[edwin_m]

I am in touch with them.

I have now heard back from the Forum ticketing site. If the outward journey of a return booking has already been made then any Advance tickets on the return leg cannot be refunded on the site but can be refunded manually by contacting them.