Avantix Mobile

[district]

What fare types can be sold using Avantix Mobile? I'm worried I'll want a fare, then get told "I can't do these on my machine".

Also, can PRIV and CHPRIV's be issued on Avantix and also can all railcard discounts be issued?

Are there any destinations which cannot be sold on Avantix Mobile?


District

 

[First class]

Nearly all walk up fares can be sold.

Railcard discounts, including PRIV can be sold on board when an open ticket office or working TVM is not available at the station you board at.

All methods of payment are accepted.

All destinations are in Avantix.

Still prefer our 4407s though!

 

[sonic2009]

Advance fares are the Obvious Ones!

Most Fares can be sold on Avantix as Long as the Guard has the Necessary Codes etc. All Railcard's can be issued onboard, but do remeber the Open Ticket Office Rules etc.

 

[district]

So they can do CDR's then?

 

[First class]

So they can do CDR's then?

Yes, so long as:

1) The time is valid
2) You did not board a train where an open ticket office existed. Only the full price Anytime tickets can be sold in that case.
3) A CDR exists for the journey

 

[wintonian]

All methods of payment are accepted.

That is all methods accepted by the TOC's except cards without a set pre authorisation amount i.e. Visa Electron, Solo Visa debit cards issued with basic bank accounts (these generally used to be Electron cards) and green Lloyds cards (normal and silver current accounts)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Yes, so long as:
...
2) You did not board a train where an open ticket office existed. Only the full price Anytime tickets can be sold in that case.
...

In penalty fare areas on penalty fares trains from penalty fares stations yes, but for example Gatwick Express tickets can be bought on board.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

All methods of payment are accepted.

Avantix card readers will NOT accept all payment cards.

That is all methods accepted by the TOC's except cards without a set pre authorisation amount i.e. Visa Electron, Solo Visa debit cards issued with basic bank accounts (these generally used to be Electron cards) and green Lloyds cards (normal and silver current accounts)

I cannot comment on that list, however, I can confirm that not all TOCs have their Avantix machines set to behave in exactly the same manner, and so not all staff would present exactly the same list; its unfortunate that the consequent refusal of some cards (like any other procedure involving money) has been developed into an informed system of deliberate abuse by those seeking to avoid payment on routes where on-board payment is the norm.

 

[First class]

AVANTIX Mobile must accept the same payments used as ticket offices as per the TIS Supplier & Specification Accreditation process by ATOC.

 

[WestCoast]

Avantix card readers will NOT accept all payment cards.

As someone who always has to pay onboard due to a lack of ticket purchasing facilities at my local station, I can confirm this is correct.

They will not accept any card which requires online processing, such as Visa Electron and some Visa Debit cards. These cards are fine to use at a ticket office.

AVANTIX Mobile must accept the same payments used as ticket offices as per the TIS Supplier & Specification Accreditation process by ATOC.

Well, they do not in my experience on Northern.

 

[First class]

Visa Electron is not a mandatory card in the TSA.

Normal Visa debit cards are, however.

 

[island]

In penalty fare areas on penalty fares trains from penalty fares stations yes, but for example Gatwick Express tickets can be bought on board.

But Gatwick Express only sells Anytime tickets.

Visa Electron is not a mandatory card in the TSA.

Normal Visa debit cards are, however.

The issue here is that when the ticketing and settlement agreement was drafted, banks issued Solo or Visa Electron cards to people whom they didn't want to trust with offline transactions. TOCs don't have to accept those cards. Nowadays, these people get Visa debit cards with service code X2X (mandatory positive authorisation required), which won't be accepted for Chip & PIN (the guard will be prompted to phone up for authorisation) but might be accepted when swiped.

 

[wintonian]

Visa Electron is not a mandatory card in the TSA.

Normal Visa debit cards are, however.

Only if they don't require online authorisation I would have thought.

If they do require online authorisation as determined by the issuing bank then it is impossible to make a payment go through unless you are 'online'

Island made a very good post recently explaining how it all works from the point of view of the banks; I'll have a look for it.

 

[district]

Re: the cards; I've been caught out trying a Three Oaks to St. Leonards WS single before. Apologetic, he was happy for me to sort the fare out at Warrior SQ.

I never buy tickets on board from staffed stations, although sometimes I do ask them to sell me tickets for other days/other routes just to save me some time queuing, they've always been happy to oblige. I always make a note of showing them my ticket for this journey as well!

 

[WillPS]

I'd like to see somebody getting in to trouble for having a Visa Debit card which Avantix refuses. They have tendered an acceptable form of payment, Avantix has refused it.

It's not beyond the wit of man to get these things to work remotely.

 

[wintonian]

I'd like to see somebody getting in to trouble for having a Visa Debit card which Avantix refuses. They have tendered an acceptable form of payment, Avantix has refused it.

It's not beyond the wit of man to get these things to work remotely.

They may be technically an accepted form of payment but I don't see how it is much different to boarding a train and attempting to make payment with a credit card that is the declined due to the wrong PIN having been entered or a faulty card, how would the guard know whether you were pulling a fast one or not?

And no Avantix would not have refused to accept the card, the bank would have barred the card from offline transactions in the case of normal Electron type cards.

 

[island]

I'd like to see somebody getting in to trouble for having a Visa Debit card which Avantix refuses. They have tendered an acceptable form of payment, Avantix has refused it.

It's not beyond the wit of man to get these things to work remotely.

In the event of someone wanting to use a card like this inboard and it not being accepted, the guard has at least four options. (1) Ask for an alternative payment method (2) get the passenger to sort it out at the destination, if barriered/staffed (3) phone in for authorization (4) issue a UPFN.

To get this to work remotely would require retrofitting all of the thousands of Avantix machines in circulation with SIM cards allowing them to authorised by GSM. Realistically it's not a good use of resources.

 

[bnm]

To get this to work remotely would require retrofitting all of the thousands of Avantix machines in circulation with SIM cards allowing them to authorised by GSM. Realistically it's not a good use of resources.

Rather than the Avantix being retrofitted, isn't it a case of installing a GSM base stations on the trains for a card reader such as 'Dione' or 'VeriFone' to communicate with and then communicate with the outside world.

Subject to network coverage obviously.....

 

[rmt-driver]

I don't think diners cards are accepted either

 

[wintonian]

I don't think diners cards are accepted either

I forgot they still exsist, but then there not really credit cards are they?

 

[rmt-driver]

I forgot they still exsist, but then there not really credit cards are they?

Charge cards, like AMEX. But AMEX are accepted on handheld ticket machines

 

[francisoldfield]

All methods of payment are accepted.

!

Just thought I'd add (Southern at least) DO NOT accept cheques on board any more, business or personal, neither do our ticket offices!)

We do however, accept US dollars and Euros!

 

[wintonian]

Due to the ending of the cheque guarantee program in June they can no longer be guaranteed.

The only TOC still excepting personal cheques is LM and only for the renewal of season tickets, quite a few won't even take company cheques anymore.

See list.

 

[francisoldfield]

I wasn't strictly true, Southern will take business cheques at ticket office for the renewal of annual seasons only!

 

[WillPS]

In the event of someone wanting to use a card like this inboard and it not being accepted, the guard has at least four options. (1) Ask for an alternative payment method (2) get the passenger to sort it out at the destination, if barriered/staffed (3) phone in for authorization (4) issue a UPFN.

To get this to work remotely would require retrofitting all of the thousands of Avantix machines in circulation with SIM cards allowing them to authorised by GSM. Realistically it's not a good use of resources.

Sounds reasonable enough to me, although the way the only UPFN I have to hand (and have ever received!) - an EMT one, implies I'm a fare dodger. I'd like for there to be another stock of UPFNs for occasions such as this (or I suppose that paragraph could be scored out).

 

[yorkie]

Sounds reasonable enough to me, although the way the only UPFN I have to hand (and have ever received!) - an EMT one, implies I'm a fare dodger. I'd like for there to be another stock of UPFNs for occasions such as this (or I suppose that paragraph could be scored out).

By definition, the issuing of any fare (including unpaid, penalty or any other type!) should not, and must not, indicate any suggestion of fare dodging and if anyone issues a fare while making such a claim they are acting incorrectly, IMO.

 

[Flamingo]

Maestro cards are no longer accepted for on-board purchases, they can only be used at booking offices / TVM's that are not a remote / mobile terminals.

Cheques are not accepted on board, or at ticket offices unless by prior arrangement, I believe.

"Electronic use only" cards are not accepted on-board.

Pre-pay credit cards are not accepted on-board.

Solo or Electron cards are not accepted on-board.

Depending on the situation with a declined card, the location, the coverage, how busy the train is, and where the passenger boarded, most times now I will ring for authorisation, as it is as quick as ringing to confirm an address for a UPFN. If I am more than usually suspicious (to quote Judge Judy, "If something doesn't make sense, it's usually not true"), the bank declines the card, or they claim to have boarded from somewhere where they had an opportunity to buy a ticket, then they leave at the next stop to sort it out. Platform staff at the next stop will be called over to "advise" them where to go. If the bank declined their card, and I have time, I may issue a UPFN from their starting point to the stop they are alighting at anyway.

 

[wintonian]

Maestro cards are no longer accepted for on-board purchases, they can only be used at booking offices / TVM's that are not a remote / mobile terminals.

Maestro = Switch :-? (I thougyht anyay)


This dosn't realy make any sense so are you saying your TOC will only take Visa debit or credit cards (excluding Amex) onboard?

 

[Flamingo]

Maestro = Switch :-? (I thougyht anyay)


This dosn't realy make any sense so are you saying your TOC will only take Visa debit or credit cards (excluding Amex) onboard?

Visa, Mastercard, Amex credit/debit are all fine, unless pre-pay.

Can't remember about Diners (have never been offered one!)

 

[Statto]

One scenario, i board at an unstaffed station, or a station were the ticket office is closed & no TVMs, the Gaurd comes checking tickets i find i don't have enough money on me to pay for my journey, however i only have a Visa Electron card, with enough money in it to pay for my journey, but the Visa Electron Card payment is refused, what will happen then?

 

[wintonian]

One scenario, i board at an unstaffed station, or a station were the ticket office is closed & no TVMs, the Gaurd comes checking tickets i find i don't have enough money on me to pay for my journey, however i only have a Visa Electron card, with enough money in it to pay for my journey, but the Avantix refuses the card, what will happen then?

If it's Flamingo, they have got time and they like you then they will phone for authorisation if possible, otherwise you end up with an UPFN or being met at the next staffed station.

As discussed in post

Edit: Sorry I forgot some TOC's attualy do take Electron so please ignore me if the TOC in question does.