Criteria for combined reservations

[island]

Does anybody know what the criteria are for getting your seat reservations on separate coupons when several people travel together? Obviously booking separately achieves this but sacrifices seats together in most cases.

 

[Goatboy]

Does anybody know what the criteria are for getting your seat reservations on separate coupons when several people travel together? Obviously booking separately achieves this but sacrifices seats together in most cases.

The law of randomness it would seem. I have made journeys where I've had seperate coupons for each seat and journeys where I've had one coupon for multiple seats. There seems to be no real pattern.

 

[barrykas]

It seems to depend on the retailer...In general, tickets issued at ticket offices will print all the reservations on one coupon, whereas those bought online for collection by ToD will print separate reservation coupons for each passenger.

 

[maniacmartin]

I suspect it depends on the TIS (or booking engine if bought online). Northern/mytrainticket websites will merge them onto one coupon.

 

[John @ home]

those bought online for collection by ToD will print separate reservation coupons for each passenger.

I suspect it depends on the TIS (or booking engine if bought online)

I don't quite agree with either of these views. My experience at Leeds station of collecting tickets bought online is that, irrespective of the site from which the tickets were purchased:

• East Coast machines will print separate reservation coupons for each passenger.
• Northern machines will print one reservation coupon for up to four passengers.

 

[bb21]

My experience suggests that it depends on the TVM one uses to pick up the tickets. The EMT ToDler collection-only machines issue reservations separately, although do be warned that the numbering of the coupons can be jumbled up sometimes.