Collecting tickets without card

[Bletchleyite]

Have found another, less clunky way (compared with buying vouchers and spending them) to purchase tickets without needing the specific card to collect.

Loco2 (the commercial international ticket sales company) offer Paypal payment, if you use this it says the card is not needed. If paying by Paypal they do not charge any fees.

Hope this is useful to someone.

 

[Merseysider]

London Midland also offer PayPal, which I've used to collect tickets without the card, so Loco2 should be the same. Good find

 

[Bletchleyite]

Quite a nice app that appears to be developed internally rather than being a Trainline or similar derivative, too.

 

[bradders1983]

I once got round this by buying GNER "gift vouchers" to buy a ticket, I then gave that code to the person miles away who needed to collect the tickets and he put his bankcard in and then the code and the tickets are dispensed.

Does this method still exist with the current EC incumbent?

 

[najaB]

Does this method still exist with the current EC incumbent?

As far as I know it does - that's what Neil Williams was referring to.

 

[janb]

London Midland also offer PayPal, which I've used to collect tickets without the card, so Loco2 should be the same. Good find

Yep, when tickets are paid for with paypal the system treats them being collectible with any card. Note the W next to the cost printed on ticket rather than X.

 

[ys123]

Loco2 is very likely the most user friendly train ticket app.
Althought they do charge 2.5% credit card fee and they don't understand station codes so I can't just type EDB to NCL but have to type in the station names...

 

[DaveB10780]

Virgin West Coast has let me collect with any card for a couple of years now. This works even from my local Northern station.

 

[TUC]

Loco2 is very likely the most user friendly train ticket app.
Althought they do charge 2.5% credit card fee and they don't understand station codes so I can't just type EDB to NCL but have to type in the station names...

Like most people buying tickets would do...

 

[Bletchleyite]

Loco2 is very likely the most user friendly train ticket app.
Althought they do charge 2.5% credit card fee and they don't understand station codes so I can't just type EDB to NCL but have to type in the station names...

Yes, I did notice this. It might be because it's an international booking system so it's too complicated to do the codes.

The 2.5% can be avoided by using Paypal, even if it has a credit card attached to it.

 

[30907]

they don't understand station codes so I can't just type EDB to NCL but have to type in the station names...

Maybe the problem is that a three-letter code could also be a German destination, as the DB site recognises car registrations and airport codes, with potential for confusion!

 

[TrainfanBen]

Would anybody happen to know the process for collecting tickets if purchased through paypal?

Thanks

 

[Merseysider]

Would anybody happen to know the process for collecting tickets if purchased through paypal?

Thanks

At a machine. It's exactly the same as normal.

Stick a card in, bash ya code in, out come the tickets.

 

[otter11]

Recently a friend of mine booked tickets on the Thameslink/Great Northern website. On the email confirmation it said:

"To collect your tickets from a ticket machine you will need both your collection reference **** and any credit or debit card".

He collected them successfully using a card that wasn't the one he paid with.

I don't know if this only applies to tickets on the Thameslink/GN routes - but it suggests that you can buy tickets on their website and can collect using ANY card, which could be a solution to Neil's problem, if my assumption is correct.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Thinking on, does Paypal create a quandary - do there exist any bank accounts that offer Direct Debits (PayPal can be funded that way) but do not offer at least a debit card of some kind?

Does it work with "Electron" type debit cards?

Could people be buying tickets they can't actually collect?

 

[father_jack]

Thinking on, does Paypal create a quandary - do there exist any bank accounts that offer Direct Debits (PayPal can be funded that way) but do not offer at least a debit card of some kind?

Does it work with "Electron" type debit cards?

Could people be buying tickets they can't actually collect?

I've come across those who've used "virtual" cards to buy from the Trainline that are correct card only collect.......

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've come across those who've used "virtual" cards to buy from the Trainline that are correct card only collect.......

Whoops!

 

[najaB]

Thinking on, does Paypal create a quandary - do there exist any bank accounts that offer Direct Debits (PayPal can be funded that way) but do not offer at least a debit card of some kind?

Allegedly, any card with a magnetic stripe will work.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Allegedly, any card with a magnetic stripe will work.

Might try my Nectar card when I pick this one up just to see what it does.

 

[jon0844]

Is it perhaps time to ditch the need for any card and perhaps issue a PIN (or let the user have a default one) that is entered after the code?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Is it perhaps time to ditch the need for any card and perhaps issue a PIN (or let the user have a default one) that is entered after the code?

Yes, the card is a bit awkward. It just needs to be another piece of, possibly personal, information that is easily sent to the machine to verify but isn't on the confirmation email.

Billing postcode might be good enough, to be honest - that isn't on the Loco2 confirmation email at least.

 

[jon0844]

As we go forward and more people will carry their card (or cards) stored on a phone, so there's going to come a time when nobody has a physical card to insert in a machine.

And TVMs don't all have CPC readers yet (some of the new S&B ones do, but they're the minority).

I'd say a PIN is a better option. A PIN that you can get a reminder of by logging in to your account if necessary.

 

[kieron]

Is it perhaps time to ditch the need for any card and perhaps issue a PIN (or let the user have a default one) that is entered after the code?

Why not just enter the code, and use the same security for that that you would have done for the PIN? One benefit of a card with a magnetic strip is that you can usually tell whose card was used, helping to resolve "I didn't collect the ticket, but it's gone" problems.

As we go forward, more people will collect tickets without using a ticket machine at all. I'm not sure there's much to gain from messing around with the way someone collects pre-booked tickets from a machine.

 

[jon0844]

How long until people don't need to collect tickets using a machine. I have a printer at home but it can sometimes jam for no good reason, and I wouldn't want to rely on print at home.

I'm more than happy to show a barcode on screen, and would love to be able to use NFC to tap in/out, but some TOCs have issues with the former and - as yet - bar CPC payments on TfL, I can't use my phone to travel yet.

Once I can consistently make payments over £30 using just my phone, I won't see a need to carry any cards with magstrips. I have all my supermarket loyalty cards on an app, and really would rather do away with carrying my card wallet altogether.

Not quite there yet, but give it a year or so.