CrossCountry 10 minute reservations

[MarkyT]

Mod Note: Posts #1 - #11 originally in this thread.

This maybe be a naive question, but do the conductors do a ticket check after every station on these services?

If so, wouldn't it make sense for the conductors to mark each seat as taken or vacanct at that time?

That's the system I've seen in Japan.

When I first travelled on XC after they introduced the seat booking en route 'feature' I was worried and spoke to the guard about it. He told me I could book the seat I had occupied via their app/website. At the time I didn't have any kind of smartphone and although I had my laptop in my bag I was loathed to have to pay XCs wifi fee just to be able to guarantee my seat. I also considered that if I'd bought the ticket from the XC website the process seemed plausible enough through a transaction ID or something, but as I'd paid cash that morning through a FGW ticket window, I couldn't understand how XC would have even known about the transaction until the ticket was seen by the guard to be able to link it to a reservation, and surely they wouldn't allow anyone to just make reservations willy-nilly without a proof of ticket purchase. I asked the guard if he could make the reservation for me on his connected ticket issuing device but he said there was no functionality for that. To be fair he then offered to upgrade me to first class if anyone reserved my seat. Unfortunately, I never got my upgrade! It does seem fairly trivial to build this functionality into the guards portable devices, especially assuming it is available on the public website/app and the TOC would have the extra safegaurd that the guard has actually seen a valid ticket before making the reservation on the fly. Taking it further a 'reader' of some kind for each seat would seem to be the best solution long term. Present a valid ticket to either check in at a pre-reserved seat or make a new booking on the fly, immediately updating the national booking engine.

 

[transmanche]

When I first travelled on XC after they introduced the seat booking en route 'feature' I was worried and spoke to the guard about it. He told me I could book the seat I had occupied via their app/website. At the time I didn't have any kind of smartphone and although I had my laptop in my bag I was loathed to have to pay XCs wifi fee just to be able to guarantee my seat.

You can also reserve a seat via text message - any old mobile phone can do that and no need for wi-fi.

and surely they wouldn't allow anyone to just make reservations willy-nilly without a proof of ticket purchase.

They certainly do.

 

[MarkyT]

You can also reserve a seat via text message - any old mobile phone can do that and no need for wi-fi.

OK thanks for that info. Doesn't help you retain the nice available seat you've already found on board though as far as I can see.

 

[transmanche]

Doesn't help you retain the nice available seat you've already found on board though as far as I can see.

Isn't it clearly indicated above the relevant seats that they may be reserved en-route? if that's the case, is the seat really 'available'?

On the few occasions that I've travelled a fair distance on CrossCountry with a walk-up ticket, I've texted to get a reservation as I'm walking to the station. Job done!

 

[14xxDave]

So you can join a train with a walkup ticket find an unreserved seat and sit down. Then during the journey you can be asked to move as someone has reserved that seat en-route. Am I the only person thinking that this is technology having gone beyond what it should be doing?

 

[swt_passenger]

...Am I the only person thinking that this is technology having gone beyond what it should be doing?

Not really, given people have been complaining about it in these forums ever since XC started doing it a few years ago.

 

[14xxDave]

Not really, given people have been complaining about it in these forums ever since XC started doing it a few years ago.

That's true. Do XC charge for seat reservations?

 

[sufian123]

That's true. Do XC charge for seat reservations?

No seat reservations complementary

 

[14xxDave]

Oh well so it's just a bad system then!

 

[transmanche]

So you can join a train with a walkup ticket find an unreserved seat and sit down. Then during the journey you can be asked to move as someone has reserved that seat en-route.

Not quite. That 'unreserved' seat would have clearly displayed that whilst it was currently available, it could be reserved en-route. So it's not really 'unreserved' at all.

I like CrossCountry's '10-minute Reservation' system. It works for me.

 

[181]

I've used the XC system a few times, but only to make a reservation before the train leaves its station of origin, so I'm not turning someone out of a seat; and in some cases the only reason I've bothered making a reservation is to avoid falling victim to the system myself.

It would help if information was easily available (e.g. on station departure screens) about which part of the train contained seats not subject to the system.

 

[hawk1911]

Not quite. That 'unreserved' seat would have clearly displayed that whilst it was currently available, it could be reserved en-route. So it's not really 'unreserved' at all.

I like CrossCountry's '10-minute Reservation' system. It works for me.

A few things I've learnt about the 10-minute-reservation system:

• it is possible to reserve a seat less than 10 minutes before departure or even after boarding the service;
• you can't specify window or aisle seat. If you want a window (charging socket) seat, you have to keep reserving seats until you get one (which is technically in breach of the terms & conditions); and
• 10-minute-reservation seats seem to always be in coach C on voyagers; if you want to avoid having your seat 'pinched' by someone using the 10-minute-reservation system avoid coach C.

 

[yorkie]

And they are only good for lone travellers. Useless for groups.

 

[[.n]]

A few things I've learnt about the 10-minute-reservation system:

• it is possible to reserve a seat less than 10 minutes before departure or even after boarding the service;
• you can't specify window or aisle seat. If you want a window (charging socket) seat, you have to keep reserving seats until you get one (which is technically in breach of the terms & conditions); and
• 10-minute-reservation seats seem to always be in coach C on voyagers; if you want to avoid having your seat 'pinched' by someone using the 10-minute-reservation system avoid coach C.

I've learnt that on trying to do this on numerous occasions that it is apparently impossible to do! I've tried reserving between Brockenhurst and Bournemouth/Southampton a number of times, not one success

 

[Deafdoggie]

I've learnt that on trying to do this on numerous occasions that it is apparently impossible to do! I've tried reserving between Brockenhurst and Bournemouth/Southampton a number of times, not one success

Every seat on XC can be reserved a maximum of 3 times on each journey, with split ticketing this happens quite often, so there aren’t many-if any-seats left to reserve.

 

[ainsworth74]

I still like the idea of being able to reserve en-route but the flaw in the system is absolutely that there's no way of reserving a seat that was "available" once you're sat in it thus preventing someone potentially reserving it out from under you. If they were to fix that then I'd say it would be a system that might even be worth expanding. But without it, it's just a pain in the rear.

 

[RailAleFan]

And they are only good for lone travellers. Useless for groups.

What would be handy is if the system would allocate an adjacent seat where possible to a second request from the same mobile number within a short period.

 

[Great_Western]

Don't forget that even if you are sat in a seat which becomes reserved mid journey, there is no obligation for you to move seats if you don't want too. You can be asked by the guard, but if you say no nothing can be done.

 

[221129]

Don't forget that even if you are sat in a seat which becomes reserved mid journey, there is no obligation for you to move seats if you don't want too. You can be asked by the guard, but if you say no nothing can be done.

This is not the case

 

[bnm]

Don't forget that even if you are sat in a seat which becomes reserved mid journey, there is no obligation for you to move seats if you don't want too. You can be asked by the guard, but if you say no nothing can be done.

Err... Railway Byelaw 19.

With CrossCountry you are given fair warning that the seat may be reserved during your journey. If it does, the display changes. Then, if you refuse to move when the person who has reserved turns up, you are guilty of the byelaw offence.

If I turn up and go with CrossCountry (rare - I'll usually have a reservation with an Advance or use the 10 Minute Reservation system) I'll either find an unreserved seat, or occupy a 'may be reserved' seat in the knowledge I may have to give it up later. It's a fairly simple concept to understand. CrossCountry don't have seats that go from 'unreserved' to 'may be reserved', it is only selected seats in Coach C on Voyagers that are set aside for 10 Minute Reservations.

 

[Great_Western]

Err... Railway Byelaw 19.

Does that actually apply though? I was always under the impression that as long as you had a valid ticket for the train in question, it couldn't be enforced.

Regardless, my apologies. That was something I really should have been aware of

 

[Mag_seven]

Cross Country should scrap this. Reservations should only be able to be made up to the time the train departs from its origin station.

 

[ainsworth74]

Does that actually apply though? I was always under the impression that as long as you had a valid ticket for the train in question, it couldn't be enforced.

Regardless, my apologies. That was something I really should have been aware of

I believe you may be thinking of Byelaw 18 which deals with ticketless travel.

 

[PeterC]

So you can join a train with a walkup ticket find an unreserved seat and sit down. Then during the journey you can be asked to move as someone has reserved that seat en-route. Am I the only person thinking that this is technology having gone beyond what it should be doing?

Seems like a good reason for driving to me. At least I know that I will have a seat in my own car.

 

[Great_Western]

I believe you may be thinking of Byelaw 18 which deals with ticketless travel.

Indeed I most probably was getting the two confused.

That will teach me to check my facts next time

 

[D1009]

I often find when travelling on XC that I have more chance of getting an unclaimed reserved seat than an unreserved one, which is why I've never bothered with the 10 minute reservation system. The biggest problem I find is that the electronic displays only display whether or not the seat is reserved at that point in the journey, there is no way of knowing whether an unclaimed reserved seat will be reserved again later in the journey.

 

[Deafdoggie]

With CrossCountry you are given fair warning that the seat may be reserved during your journey. If it does, the display changes. Then, if you refuse to move when the person who has reserved turns up, you are guilty of the byelaw offence

Worth noting that the electronic displays only update when the doors unlock at a station.

 

[cactustwirly]

Err... Railway Byelaw 19.

With CrossCountry you are given fair warning that the seat may be reserved during your journey. If it does, the display changes. Then, if you refuse to move when the person who has reserved turns up, you are guilty of the byelaw offence.

If I turn up and go with CrossCountry (rare - I'll usually have a reservation with an Advance or use the 10 Minute Reservation system) I'll either find an unreserved seat, or occupy a 'may be reserved' seat in the knowledge I may have to give it up later. It's a fairly simple concept to understand. CrossCountry don't have seats that go from 'unreserved' to 'may be reserved', it is only selected seats in Coach C on Voyagers that are set aside for 10 Minute Reservations.

I seriously doubt you'd be taken to court for it though.
Even if you were, I'm not sure how enforceable it'll be.

 

[crosscity]

So you can join a train with a walkup ticket find an unreserved seat and sit down. Then during the journey you can be asked to move as someone has reserved that seat en-route. Am I the only person thinking that this is technology having gone beyond what it should be doing?

Seems like a good reason for driving to me. At least I know that I will have a seat in my own car.

14xxDave is asking a question to which the answer is 'no'. 'Available' means the seat will not be reserved for the rest of the journey. 'May be reserved en-route' is shown for a seat available for a 10-minute reservation. I must say when they were first introduced I was concerned. After an email conversation with CrossCountry I was more relaxed as they insisted that at least 40% of all seats on any train would be unreserved for the whole of the journey.

I don't use the 10-minute system as I prefer walk-on tickets on a walk-on railway. The time when it would be useful is when travelling with my other half who prefers not to have to look for unreserved seats. I could reserve a seat for her and sit somewhere else myself but I don't think the grief would be worth it.

 

[transmanche]

Reservations should only be able to be made up to the time the train departs from its origin station.

Why? I (and many other people) like being able to reserve a seat at short notice and I neither know nor care where and when the train started its journey.

If you don't like the system, simply don't occupy any of the handful of seats that are marked as reservable en-route.