How many tickets?

[garethslee]

Sorry if this has been asked before, I have searched the forum but couldn't find the answer.
Basically why when you order tickets online do you get so many pieces of orange paper?
Surely the system could be simplified?

 

[sd0733]

It is being simplified as there are the new style ticlets being introduced (slowly) where all reservations are shown on the first ticket. A fair few stations particularly Northern ones now issue them like this and will eventually spread to all tickets issued.

 

[Clip]

Sorry if this has been asked before, I have searched the forum but couldn't find the answer.
Basically why when you order tickets online do you get so many pieces of orange paper?
Surely the system could be simplified?

Without them the RailUK Forums ticketing gallery would be non existent.....



Oh wait a minute

 

[Hadders]

You only have one actual ticket for each leg of your journey.

It's the seat reservations that are the problem as you have a separate piece of card for every reserved seat. If you've booked more than one ticket and/or your journey involves changes of trains this can add considerably to the pieces of card issued.

The changes to ticket design will put most seat reservations on the same piece of card as the ticket.

 

[Hassocks5489]

It was reported recently in (I think) Railway Magazine that two people who travelled from Annan to Camborne on a combination of Advance tickets (to take advantage of fare-splitting) were issued with a total of 30 coupons! A typical point-to-point Advance ticket including one change of train (and both trains being reservable), paid for by credit/debit card and picked up from a TVM at the station (ToD), might result in one actual travel ticket, two Mandatory Reservation Coupons, one Card Sales Voucher and one Collection Receipt.

 

[ASharpe]

Most I've ever had for one journey was 4 mandatory reservation coupons. that was for Bradford to Guildford via York with only the Tube not having reservations.

I'd would prefer it if they just got rid of them for the & connections parts, but then it might lead so some suspicion when the booking engine gets it a bit wrong.

 

[krus_aragon]

My worst wad of tickets was for a week's holiday in Hunmanby:

• 1 Ticket to Hunmanby
• 2 seat reservations, to Manchester and Seamer
• 2 cycle reservations, as above
• 2 further copies of the cycle reservations to attach to the cycle
• Another 7 for the return journey
• And the same again for my wife!

Twenty-eight tickets there. No collection receipt, as I had to book in person for the cycle reservations.

 

[Flamingo]

Plus, if you buy with "The Trainline" you get the commission slips on different pieces of card (one for each ticket) plus the name and address address on another, plus the credit-card charge on another...

The salient piece of advice, though, is ALWAY take them ALL with you, and NEVER throw ANY of them away until you get back home. I lose count of the number of times I hear a plaintive "I didn't know I needed that bit"...