Advance Ticket Advice

[gordonthemoron]

I have an advance from Manchester Airport to Nottingham Route: Via East Midlands Trains & other TOC connecting services.

There are reservations for the TPE train between Manchester Airport and Manchester Picadilly and the EMT train between Manchester Picadilly and Nottingham

Considering the routing, would it be OK to get an earlier TPE train and hang around Picadilly rather than the airport? Train from Airport is at 22:00 and I'll have up to 90 mins wait.

Ofcourse I will ask the train guard at Airport before boarding an earlier train, but I thought I'd ask here first

 

[yorkie]

This crops up regularly, and in addition to the T&Cs applicable to ticket (and therefore not actually forming part of the contract), the Advance FAQs in The Manual says:

Q25. Can passengers on an advance ticket travel on earlier connecting trains?

A. Yes if it is non-reservable, no if it is reservable.

An exception that benefits customers: Where East Coast is a connecting TOC from Stevenage via London and vice versa e.g "AP London Reading" or "VWC & connections", East Coast waives the need for travel on the exact East Coast train booked on this relatively short journey Stevenage-Kings Cross, even though retail systems will force a reservation to be made.

I make no comment as to whether or not that is sensible or enforceable (or even how "reservable" is defined!) as I don't wish to ignite yet another argument over this topic which has been done to death numerous times. Some recent topics include:

• Newcastle - Kirkcaldy Advance ticket
• St Albans City to Bath Spa
• Valid travel itinerary
• VWC and connections' advance ticket
• Advance Tickets.unreserved seats
• Unreserved portion on an AP ticket...
• St Albans - Bridgend advanced ticket
• Breaking journey on unreserved last leg of AP ticket
• Advance fare train limitations
• "Advance ticket" question
• AP EMT + Connections: Do time restrictions apply to SWT portion too?
• EMT +cnnectns Leeds - Sheffield
• Tickets 'with Connections'
• Hayle to Paddington
• Advance Tickets: Question on Restrictions.

 

[34D]

Considering the routing, would it be OK to get an earlier TPE train and hang around Picadilly rather than the airport? Train from Airport is at 22:00 and I'll have up to 90 mins wait.

Ofcourse I will ask the train guard at Airport before boarding an earlier train, but I thought I'd ask here first

I'd like to think that if you say something like "food at piccadilly is cheaper" it'll be fine.

 

[cuccir]

Unless I'm missing something I don't see how this isn't clear: the advance ticket is booked for specific trains from Manchester Airport through to Nottingham. The traveller must use these trains. Remember anyway that it often takes longer to get through an airport than you might expect!

I don't know - and I suspect that this one of the reasons is why Yorkie was reticent to offer strict advise other than the given rules - but it could be interpreted that you might be allowed to use one of the 'non-reservable' Northern Rail services between the Airport and Piccadily. Presuming that you're travelling on a weekday, there's a northern service that departs at 2109 from the Airport.

But as you do have a booked train from the Airport, I probably wouldn't advise using any service without having a quick word with the guard if possible; this should be doable for the TPE trains as they all start at the Airport.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

The ticket is routed 'EMT & Connections' and is thus valid on any connecting service (for the booked EMT service) that can be shown on a valid travel itinerary.

 

[Brucey]

Is the TPE reservation labelled as "Mandatory Reservation Coupon" or just "Seat Reservation"?