Do you use ticket offices?

[Starmill]

I often travel from stations where there is a ticket office and no ticket machine. I also often want to buy a ticket that isn't available at a ticket machine. So yes, I do.

 

[tgrb]

I generally only use the ticket office when there is a problem! But have recently found that the TVM don't do the group save discount when travelling with the rest of the gang so ticket office it is, but this is not usually the quickest option of my regular starting points of Kemble or Chippenham - but both are very helpful when I do use them and I wouldn't want them to disappear!

 

[185143]

Only time I really use TVMs is to buy tickets I'd rather not have to explain the validity of to someone who sees how much cheaper if is than the fare the TOC wants me to pay and doesn't want to sell it...

 

[pitdiver]

Use a Booking Office more or less every time as I also need to purchase privs and as you all know these can't be purchased from a machine.

 

[westv]

If everybody used the ticket office all the time then people would have to arrive even earlier at the station to get their trains.

 

[GatwickDepress]

I use the ticket office at Milton Keynes Central when I want to pay by cash, as I find the machines a bit irksome when it comes to inserting notes. I also use the ticket office when I want to check information or buy rover and rangers in advance.

 

[Bantamzen]

As a West Yorkshire MCard user I have to use the TVMs as MCard products are not available via the ticket offices. For most other journeys I will usually book online and collect via TVM, otherwise I will buy via TVM as there is no ticket office at my home station although I have the main apps for the TOCs that I use, so I can now use these too.

 

[XCTurbostar]

I use the ticket office everytime I buy a ticket. Partly because there’s no other choice (No TVMs at Hinckley) but I think that if there were machines, I’d still choose to wait in a queue at the ticket office. I like speaking to someone when I buy my ticket, makes it more.. friendly.

 

[infobleep]

When buying tickets for longer journeys for which the rail companies want to offer advances, then I'll buy online and collect from the TMV. If they don't offer advances I'll check for splits anyway.

When buying splits I prefer to buy online anyway. Just in case any staff aren't happy about me splitting. I'm sure most wouldn't say anything but to avoid the occasional one that might, I prefer it.

If it's a short journey I'll probably use the TMV as I'd be passing it on route to the ticket office anyway.

However if it's a season ticket then I use the ticket office. I use to buy online but when the season ticket needed replacing, as it always would, it wouldn't be on the TOCs database that was avilable to staff, even though I bought it online from said TOC.

 

[Essan]

For long distant trips I usually buy in advance via the TOCs website; for local journeys I use the ticket office, if open, or buy on the train. We dont have a machine in Evesham.

 

[AlterEgo]

I only use a ticket office if I’m unable to buy the ticket I want online or from a TVM.

 

[Barn]

I only attempt them when I can't use a machine or my phone. But unfortunately when you try to buy one of these 'difficult' ticket the chances of the clerk either not knowing how to sell the ticket or just plain refusing to are quite high.

 

[DarloRich]

my station doesn't have a ticket office or ticket machine.

I would happily use the ticket office at Bletchley more often but LM have cut the opening hours. That is a shame as they seem more knowledgeable than the ticket office at MKC.

 

[beeza1]

Assuming the TVM will do collections, the easiest way is to book your split tickets online and collect them from the machine

Yes that's correct but, but as I stated in my post, my local station has no booking office or TVM, so I generally purchase the first leg on board and the second leg at the interchange.
I used to book the second leg online and pick them up at the interchange, mainly so I could reserve a seat, but now use XCs Ten Minute Reservation feature.

 

[Clip]

Not anymore

 

[3141]

Depends on what's convenient. The ticket office is only open 0600 - 1000, and it uses a small machine similar to those that guards on the train have, so I'm not sure that if I wanted an advance on a TOC in another part of the country I'd be able to get it at the TO, and in such cases I buy online and collect at the TVM. I'd use a ticket office for preference, though maybe not if the queue was long and the transaction was simple.

 

[hawk1911]

I would think my split is something like:
Online (delivered by post) 40%
Online (collect from TVM) 25%
Online (print at home) 5%
On Day (at ticket office) 25%
On Day (at TVM) 4%
Mobile Ticket 1%

So, my answer would be fairly regularly, which there isn't an option for.

 

[Harbouring]

I can use a TVM for a walk up ticket in 40 seconds so no need to use the ticket office.

 

[xotGD]

I'll sometimes use the ticket office in the morning if the queue looks shorter than at the machine. For business travel, all of my tickets have to be booked through our corporate travel provider, which I then collect from the machine.

I did however buy tickets from the ticket offices at both the Keighley & Worth Valley and Embsay & Bolton Abbey in recent months.

 

[Bantamzen]

I'll sometimes use the ticket office in the morning if the queue looks shorter than at the machine. For business travel, all of my tickets have to be booked through our corporate travel provider, which I then collect from the machine.

I did however buy tickets from the ticket offices at both the Keighley & Worth Valley and Embsay & Bolton Abbey in recent months.

Business travel-wise, my office has a ticket printer available although there can be quite a few people waiting at the single connected PC so sometimes it's just easier to collect at Leeds station anyway especially as I pass through it every day. Saying that though, the speed of the booking site is so bad that it would probably be quicker to walk across Leeds to the ticket office and buy from there if it were an option!!

 

[MG11]

I have to use the ticket office when I am buying a Ramger ticket. If I am buying a single or return though, I'll buy it from the ticket vending machine instead.

 

[JordyWM]

I always use mobile tickets where I can.

 

[leshuttle]

Hardly ever, I usually know what's the best ticket for my journey(s) and order them ahead and then pickup enroute or the day before. Pocket the Nectar points which after a a few months travel usually covers my grocery bill for a week.

 

[Polarbear]

I occasionally use ticket offices, but usually only to buy rover/ranger tickets, or when I'm doing an impromptu journey & there are long queues at the ticket machines.

Most of my transactions are on line so I get what I want, when I want it-including the likes of split tickets etc.

 

[TwistedMentat]

Haven't had the need to. Online then pickup from station. Even if it's for a few hours ahead.

If I needed to do something a bit more complex than A to B at X on Y I'd go talk to the staff, but haven't had to yet.

 

[Dave1987]

Always buy from a ticket office. Keep the Ticket office clerk in a job and get the ticket you want rather than the one the TVM wants to sell you. Also TVMs are frequently out of order.

 

[talldave]

Once a year for the season ticket I never use as a season ticket!

 

[6Gman]

When buying tickets for longer journeys for which the rail companies want to offer advances, then I'll buy online and collect from the TMV. If they don't offer advances I'll check for splits anyway.

When buying splits I prefer to buy online anyway. Just in case any staff aren't happy about me splitting. I'm sure most wouldn't say anything but to avoid the occasional one that might, I prefer it.

If it's a short journey I'll probably use the TMV as I'd be passing it on route to the ticket office anyway.

However if it's a season ticket then I use the ticket office. I use to buy online but when the season ticket needed replacing, as it always would, it wouldn't be on the TOCs database that was avilable to staff, even though I bought it online from said TOC.

Never found staff anything other than helpful when buying split tickets. Indeed, on occasion they've suggested further options.

 

[maniacmartin]

I usually buy tickets the evening before, to avoid queueing on the day. I used to buy at the TVM, but since GTR Southern have replaced their machines with new ones that do not allow selecting a different origin station, that is no longer an option. Buying online is too fiddly on a phone for a simple walkup ticket - entering address and credit card details and being forced to choose an itinerary takes ages, especially around London Bridge station where data signal is virtually non-existent. As such I now almost always buy at the (Southeastern-run) ticket office.

So, for my purchasing habits, these new TVMs are helping keep ticket offices open!

 

[londonbridge]

A quick bit of checking shows the last time I used a ticket office was April. For the most part I will book online and then collect from the machine, however I will sometimes use a TOC website or The Trainline to check times and fares and then, having established which ticket I want, go to the station, but even on those occasions I tend to find myself automatically heading for the machine rather than the office/window.