ATW Club 55

[cymro inside]

atw club 55 back on 1st October 2013 23 quid not Friday 28 quid on Friday .add ons for Northern, Merseyrail,Chiltern and London Midland again,should be on atw website anytime in next 24 hrs.

 

[sheff1]

A rather hefty increase from £17

 

[Llanigraham]

But can still be cheaper than buying a full ticker on many journeys.

 

[yorkie]

No TPE add-on?

So for a Senior Railcard holder from York to Bangor going away for a weekend (Friday - Saturday evenings), it's best to avoid this 'offer' and instead split at Manchester (Manchester - Bangor SVR is cheaper than Club 55, it seems!)

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

No TPE add-on?

So for a Senior Railcard holder from York to Bangor going away for a weekend (Friday - Saturday evenings), it's best to avoid this 'offer' and instead split at Manchester (Manchester - Bangor SVR is cheaper than Club 55, it seems!)

Can't remember a previous TPE add-on.....yet, even at £23 it is still good value for us over 55's, though, of course it is still possible to get cheaper fares in some instances, as you say......but for last minute fares will be good, went to Cardiff and back last Tues on the WG express and bought tickets on Sunday for £57, so with the Club55 would have had them for about half that. I wasn't convinced that ATW were going to run the promotion this year, so will look forward to having confirmation.

 

[Welshman]

Still waiting for it to appear on their website........

 

[JohnB57]

Nothing on the website but this news item from yesterday suggests the price has reduced to £15. Maybe £23 is for first class?

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

Nothing on the website but this news item from yesterday suggests the price has reduced to £15. Maybe £23 is for first class?

.....or that this local S Wales newspaper has looked in the archives and used the original price when club 55 was first launched! There's only one train in ATW-land with first class.

 

[trainophile]

Cut-off date 20th November this year. I'm sure in the past it has gone well into December. All seems a bit begrudging this time doesn't it?

 

[s3an]

There were posters up about it in Newport station, that I saw during the week.

 

[Delta558]

It's a shame this seems to have gone from being a very simple and straightforward ticket at a very good price to one which now comes with time restrictions, easements to those restrictions over certain lines which will likely cause problems when the main line is joined, and a significant price increase to boot. I thought that last year's 'Friday only' idea threw enough problems in there, but this year it looks like a minefield for both passenger and guard!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

A rather hefty increase from £17

On the ATW Club 55 offer that commenced in 2012, were there not three price bands of £17 / £19 / £24 ? Was the £17 band only applicable to online purchases and the other two if booking at railway stations ?

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

On the ATW Club 55 offer that commenced in 2012, were there not three price bands of £17 / £19 / £24 ? Was the £17 band only applicable to online purchases and the other two if booking at railway stations ?

Yes, I think that you are correct.

ATW Club55 is up on their website today.

 

[supervalkoinen]

Finally on the ATW website - but what a website! User-friendly? Not.

 

[MKD]

Whilst it may finally on the site, the online booking is as woeful as the rest of the website presentation/design - eg trying to book from Birmingham International BHI to Aberystwyth AYW it (a) insists return has to be the following day (despite Club 55 tix being 8 day returns) and (b) then says not available on Club 55 despite all maps/text saying it should be.

Emailing ATW you get a reply they should reply within 10 working days (ie a couple of weeks) - ie potentially before the promo runs out...

Oh dear

However at least it allows break of journey, whereas the Scotland version doesn't, though all of Scotland is just£19/£17 with no day of week stuff!
And I too recall the previous instances of ATW had various prices for online/offline as well as Friday version.

 

[trainophile]

Just tried (several times) to book Hereford to Crewe, out Mon 21st October, return Thurs 24th October, and every time it comes back with:

Something is not quite right
We have been unable to offer a promotion on this request, because of the following reason(s):

The Journey details, dates or times entered aren't valid for this promotion

You can either change your journey requirements to meet the promotional conditions or view bookings that are available with your chosen details.

I'm tempted to give up, it's only going to be a couple of quid more to book normal tickets with our railcards, but I wanted to find out whether there is an additional railcard discount as in previous years. Have to say it's a rubbish booking engine, can't seem to handle its own promotions at all :roll:.

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

Just tried (several times) to book Hereford to Crewe, out Mon 21st October, return Thurs 24th October, and every time it comes back with:

Something is not quite right
We have been unable to offer a promotion on this request, because of the following reason(s):

The Journey details, dates or times entered aren't valid for this promotion

You can either change your journey requirements to meet the promotional conditions or view bookings that are available with your chosen details.

I'm tempted to give up, it's only going to be a couple of quid more to book normal tickets with our railcards, but I wanted to find out whether there is an additional railcard discount as in previous years. Have to say it's a rubbish booking engine, can't seem to handle its own promotions at all :roll:.

Yes, I've just tried your journey details and one of my own from Bangor and get the same thing! I wonder, though, whether it is because the tickets do not go on 'general sale' until 1st October (according to the FAQ).
I agree it's a rubbish booking engine, I gave it up a couple of years ago....except for the Club55 tickets!

 

[MKD]

re idea website booking and "something is not quite right" with them - ie that maybe because not available to buy online until 1/10:
1) the big banner graphic on their homepage afternoon/evening of 30/9 said "BUY..TODAY", not TOMORROW.
2) it's now 1/10 and still get told somethings not quite right
= how I feel about their website/presentation!

Shame a promotional idea can be so last-minute on their site, & presented and implemented so shabbily
eg try searching for "Club 55" on their site's search box,
or note the lack of clarity as to which stations sell the ticket - ie only ATW stations or "Any rail station booking office"

Anyone would think it's a fare promotion they're incentivised in some way by their franchise contract with our government to provide, but that somehow they didn't want people to take advantage of it...

re discounts for railcards the ugly table re non-Fri/Fri fares offers as £1 lower fare "with a Senior/Disabled Railcard".

 

[Laurencew]

Has anybody noticed this buried in the terms and conditions?

Are there any restrictions on use during peak times?

Yes. Travel using a Club 55 ticket is not permitted before 0930 Monday to Friday except between the following locations:

• Shrewsbury – to or from Aberystwyth/Pwllheli

• Shrewsbury – to or from Llanelli/Swansea via Llandrindod

• Llandudno Junction – to or from Holyhead/Llandudno/Blaenau Ffestiniog

• Swansea – to or from Milford Haven/Pembroke Dock/Fishguard Harbour.

Travel is not permitted into London Marylebone before 1000, or departing London Marylebone between 1600 and 1900 on Monday to Friday..

So not much use for weekday days out, and on Saturdays five dates are lost for travel to or via Cardiff.
I am not surprised at the peak restriction, as I am sure there must have been a lot of revenue abstraction in the past by commuters and business people. But as this restriction is new for this time, they might have made it clearer on the website.

 

[chalkie99]

I couldn't get any fares working yesterday but now October has kicked in, it seems to be working, after a fashion.

The last two promotions I travelled from Pontyclun (PYC) to Manchester Picadilly on the 06.30 which is a nice direct, no changes service. It seems I can still do this so I am not sure what the 09.30 restriction is.

It is certainly a shorter promotion though with a whopping 35% price increase.

 

[Delta558]

All of the available literature, and the information we have been given, states exactly what is written a couple of posts above - travel is NOT permitted before 09:30 except for the four specific routes mentioned (of which PYC to MAN is not one!) I think it is very likely that you'd be challenged over the validity of your ticket.

 

[supervalkoinen]

Website will not allow me to book outward and return journeys for the same day. (Oct 5)

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Would I be right in thinking that there will not be much of a price differential for certain medium-length journeys when just a day trip is envisaged after the 0930 Monday to Friday services commence between a £23.00 ATW Club 55 ticket and a cheap off-peak day return ticket purchased with the aid of a Senior Citizen Railcard ?

 

[Welshman]

Would I be right in thinking that there will not be much of a price differential for certain medium-length journeys when just a day trip is envisaged after the 0930 Monday to Friday services commence between a £23.00 ATW Club 55 ticket and a cheap off-peak day return ticket purchased with the aid of a Senior Citizen Railcard ?

Indeed - for journeys east of Abergele into Manchester Piccadilly, an off-peak return ticket purchased with a SNRC is actually cheaper than a Club 55 ticket.
And it also allows you to travel before 0930!

The current Club 55 offer is so restrictive cf. previous offers.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I wonder if a short-period February to March 2014 ATW Club 55 offer will follow on from the current short-lived offer or will it just remain a very short-period 2013 offer ?

 

[merlodlliw]

Club 55 is back (and more expensive) see the ATW web site. No one even the booking offices were forewarned apparently they didn't want passengers to defer their journeys to take advantage of the offer.


link http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/club55/

Indeed a price hike at £23, but good value. A local booking clerk told me he had no forward knowledge before this weeks surprise announcement,but a shorter period,ends 30th November


Bob

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Apart from the shorter date period and the higher price (£23, £28 on Fridays), there is no FGW add-on, and there is a departure restriction of 0930 except on rural lines.
So no long day trips to Cardiff, Bristol or beyond using Gerald....

I see from Rail that there are also 55+ schemes from Scotrail and TPE.

 

[Flamingo]

Had a woman in Cardiff today insisting it was FGW running club 55...

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Website will not allow me to book outward and return journeys for the same day. (Oct 5)

Is that particular gem of information made clear in the conditions...

If so, ATW obviously do not want any "day-out" travellers of a certain vintage travelling on their Club 55 "promotion".

 

[supervalkoinen]

Is that particular gem of information made clear in the conditions...

If so, ATW obviously do not want any "day-out" travellers of a certain vintage travelling on their Club 55 "promotion".

No - quite the opposite.
The T+C state twice that a return ticket is valid for 8 days and that the first day of possible return travel is the date of the outward journey.

The whole impression I get from the ATW website and this current offer is of complete lack of organisation and co-ordination.

Similar to the recent Northern / Johnston Press offer, (as an outsider to the industry) I have the feeling the TOCs are more interested in ticking some box to demonstrate the existence of special promotions.