Edinburgh - Preston today: Off Peak Single from station?

[toffeedanish]

Hello, Im hoping for a quick answer on this one. Checking the Avanti site on my phone I see that Off Peak Singles are 'Sold Out' for the 10:52 but I can buy an Advance. Ideally I was hoping for a break of journey.

Is this Avanti nonsense, or something to do with all the TPE cancellations and compulsory reservations? Can I pick up the applicable walk-on ticket at the station?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Haywain]

Hello, Im hoping for a quick answer on this one. Checking the Avanti site on my phone I see that Off Peak Singles are 'Sold Out' for the 10:52 but I can buy an Advance. Ideally I was hoping for a break of journey.

Is this Avanti nonsense, or something to do with all the TPE cancellations and compulsory reservations? Can I pick up the applicable walk-on ticket at the station?

Many thanks in advance.

The Advance you are seeing is not, I believe, in Standard Class but Standard Premium. However, you can buy an Off Peak ticket for another train and use the 10:52, or just buy it at a station without a reservation.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The best plan would be to buy it for a different train and use it on that one. The Advance will be First Class or Standard Premium.

It's because of the "fake compulsory reservations" nonsense. Some TVMs only sell against journey planners so you may not want to risk this in case other trains "fill up". I don't know what booking office staff will or won't do.

If you choose the 1452 (or a load of later ones) it will let you buy that ticket.

Beware by the way with regard to your break of journey - there are a load of cancellations on the route, so check your intended second train is running!

 

[Haywain]

I don't know what booking office staff will or won't do.

They will sell a ticket. I have no doubt that is what would happen at Edinburgh.

 

[toffeedanish]

Thanks all for the advice. Off Peak Single bought at station. All good.

Probably covered in other threads, but very briefly: how is the Avanti website allowed to say that an available ticket (which presumably gives other TOCs some revenue) is sold out when it is not?

 

[Bletchleyite]

During COVID InterCity trains were compulsory reservation to manage loadings and social distancing.

Since then this has been kept in place by Avanti and LNER (but not others) but without actual enforcement. Part of it appears to be because services have been somewhat disrupted due to e.g. sickness levels, and so they could control when a given service was open for sale.

It really could do with being fixed properly as (particularly on Avanti*) it is causing trains to run well below capacity, or in some cases when they forget to open one, totally empty. As a taxpayer I resent this turning away of potential revenue.

* LNER are issuing reservations plus a load of counted places so "overbooking" to a fair extent. Avanti aren't, just actual seats.

 

[Watershed]

During COVID InterCity trains were compulsory reservation to manage loadings and social distancing.

Since then this has been kept in place by Avanti and LNER (but not others) but without actual enforcement. Part of it appears to be because services have been somewhat disrupted due to e.g. sickness levels, and so they could control when a given service was open for sale.

It really could do with being fixed properly as (particularly on Avanti*) it is causing trains to run well below capacity, or in some cases when they forget to open one, totally empty. As a taxpayer I resent this turning away of potential revenue.

* LNER are issuing reservations plus a load of counted places so "overbooking" to a fair extent. Avanti aren't, just actual seats.

Unfortunately it's not going anyway anytime soon and indeed it will soon be adopted across even more operators

Whilst using the reservations flag in this manner could perhaps be understandable at the start of the pandemic, the failure to even try and fix the system (so that the 'reservations recommended' flag was repurposed, for instance) is unacceptable.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Unfortunately it's not going anyway anytime soon and indeed it will soon be adopted across even more operators

Which ones? GWR did it and then stopped doing it, as did XC, and GA don't do reservations at all.

 

[Watershed]

Which ones? GWR did it and then stopped doing it, as did XC, and GA don't do reservations at all.

My lips are sealed!

 

[Bletchleyite]

My lips are sealed!on

To be fair, if they do it in the way LNER have then it probably works OK - they "oversell" by a fairly significant margin using counted places, but avoid the situation where due to e.g. a football match 5000 people show up for the last train, all having "booked on it" as they see it. It's Avanti's typical half-assed approach that, as usual, is a problem.

Though "reservations compulsory" really does need to be reworded to "online ticket sales only with reservation" or somesuch.

 

[miklcct]

To be fair, if they do it in the way LNER have then it probably works OK - they "oversell" by a fairly significant margin using counted places, but avoid the situation where due to e.g. a football match 5000 people show up for the last train, all having "booked on it" as they see it. It's Avanti's typical half-assed approach that, as usual, is a problem.

Though "reservations compulsory" really does need to be reworded to "online ticket sales only with reservation" or somesuch.

How about Caledonian Sleeper? It's truly reservation compulsory even in the seats.