Is Grand Central Boycotting Ticket Offices ?

[yorksrob]

Ok, I'm a bit of a luddite. I'm not a fan of making transactions over the internet because of that moment when it freezes half way through and you're left wondering whether your purchase has gone through.

My normal modus operandi is to check that AP tickets are available on the internet and pop into the travel centre in the day.

Anyhow, the last couple of times I've checked for GC tickets and found AP on the internet and they have been available, only when I dive into the travel centre, they've sworn blind that no such fares have been released. This has gone on for days.

In the last couple of days, my ticket has doubled in price according to t'interweb, however, still there are no AP's available at the travel centre.

Is this some new misguided policy from Grand Central ? I know TOC policy on AP tickets can be Kafkaesque at the best of times, but I think we should be told.

 

[Llanigraham]

Perhaps they are tickets that are ONLY available on-line.

 

[najaB]

Are you sure they aren't web-only fares (if GC do such things)?

 

[yorksrob]

Are you sure they aren't web-only fares (if GC do such things)?

Perhaps, but I've never come across a case of there being absolutely no advanced fares available at the booking office before. When I've asked, it's been confirmed that it is the off-peak fare available.

I'm used to paying around one or two pounds extra for the convenience of a face to face transaction.

 

[causton]

Some fares are online-only (i.e. SVH half-price Off-Peak Singles).
Some fares are very hard to find in the system, and hard to find availability for as the system looks for the quickest journey, not the cheapest.
Sometimes fares are hidden away under a cryptic routing or a description you would not expect.
And lastly, some clerks just say there are no Advance Purchase tickets as they can't be bothered, or they don't know how to issue them, or they want themselves out of a job.

One or more of those may apply

 

[Greeby]

Some fares are online-only (i.e. SVH half-price Off-Peak Singles).
Some fares are very hard to find in the system, and hard to find availability for as the system looks for the quickest journey, not the cheapest.
Sometimes fares are hidden away under a cryptic routing or a description you would not expect.
And lastly, some clerks just say there are no Advance Purchase tickets as they can't be bothered, or they don't know how to issue them, or they want themselves out of a job.

One or more of those may apply

Oh, I know some people like this and it drives me up the goddamn wall every time

 

[yorksrob]

Some fares are online-only (i.e. SVH half-price Off-Peak Singles).
Some fares are very hard to find in the system, and hard to find availability for as the system looks for the quickest journey, not the cheapest.
Sometimes fares are hidden away under a cryptic routing or a description you would not expect.
And lastly, some clerks just say there are no Advance Purchase tickets as they can't be bothered, or they don't know how to issue them, or they want themselves out of a job.

One or more of those may apply

The fares are pretty bog-standard advance purchase fares and show up easily on national rail enquiries. Whilst some booking offices can be hit and miss, my local travel centre is well versed in finding AP fares. I have had this on a couple of journeys and tried a few booking offices to satisfy myself that something is amiss before posting on this forum.

 

[causton]

The fares are pretty bog-standard advance purchase fares and show up easily on national rail enquiries. Whilst some booking offices can be hit and miss, my local travel centre is well versed in finding AP fares. I have had this on a couple of journeys and tried a few booking offices to satisfy myself that something is amiss before posting on this forum.

Have you got a date? I can try and remember to check tomorrow to see if there is anything amiss...

 

[yorksrob]

Many thanks in advance - I'm looking for trains from London to York on Sunday 2nd July.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Make sure you ask the ticket office to enter Kings Cross instead of London Terminals , RDG fares simplification.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[yorksrob]

Make sure you ask the ticket office to enter Kings Cross instead of London Terminals , RDG fares simplification.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks - would this affect just the advance fares ? The staff have generally been able to bring up the correct train.

 

[causton]

I can see Advances for 46.40 on the 0948 and 58.00 on some others, all seems normal...

 

[yorksrob]

I can see Advances for 46.40 on the 0948 and 58.00 on some others, all seems normal...

Ah thanks. Perhaps other booking offices have a different system ?

I'll try again today out of curiosity, however it's now too expensive unfortunately.

Thanks for checking on your system for me.

 

[yorksrob]

I've just attempted again at the ticket office.

Same thing again. The officer even went as far as attempting a reservation on the system to see if it brought up any advanced fares, all to no avail.

 

[AlterEgo]

Looks like the premium paid for booking at the ticket office was not to travel at all!

 

[John @ home]

Hi Rob,

When looking for good value tickets between West Yorkshire and London, I often find this flexible combination best:

£14.10 Standard ANYTIME SHORT RETURN (SHR) LEEDS - SHEFFIELD Route NOT VIA DONCASTR Valid outward 1 day, return 1 month.
£45.00 Standard SUPER OFFPEAK RETURN (OPR) SHEFFIELD - LONDON EUSTON Route LM AND XC ONLY Valid outward 1 day, return 1 month. Mon-Sat not valid to arrive Euston before 1300; not valid to depart Sheffield or Euston 1600-1900. Sun valid by any LM or XC train.
Total £59.10

If the time restrictions are unsuitable, I use this ticket at an additional cost of £11.00:
£56.00 Standard OFFPEAK RETURN (SVR) SHEFFIELD - LONDON EUSTON Route LM AND XC ONLY Valid outward 1 day, return 1 month. Mon-Fri not valid to arrive Euston before 1000; not valid to depart Euston before 0845. Sat+Sun valid by any LM or XC train.

 

[amateur]

why dont you save a screenshot or screen-grab on your phone or tablet device, and take this to the booking office with you?

 

[AlterEgo]

why dont you save a screenshot or screen-grab on your phone or tablet device, and take this to the booking office with you?

Because the booking office can't find it. The interface isn't the same.

If you find a good fare online it's best to buy it there and then.

 

[yorksrob]

Hi Rob,

When looking for good value tickets between West Yorkshire and London, I often find this flexible combination best:

£14.10 Standard ANYTIME SHORT RETURN (SHR) LEEDS - SHEFFIELD Route NOT VIA DONCASTR Valid outward 1 day, return 1 month.
£45.00 Standard SUPER OFFPEAK RETURN (OPR) SHEFFIELD - LONDON EUSTON Route LM AND XC ONLY Valid outward 1 day, return 1 month. Mon-Sat not valid to arrive Euston before 1300; not valid to depart Sheffield or Euston 1600-1900. Sun valid by any LM or XC train.
Total £59.10

If the time restrictions are unsuitable, I use this ticket at an additional cost of £11.00:
£56.00 Standard OFFPEAK RETURN (SVR) SHEFFIELD - LONDON EUSTON Route LM AND XC ONLY Valid outward 1 day, return 1 month. Mon-Fri not valid to arrive Euston before 1000; not valid to depart Euston before 0845. Sat+Sun valid by any LM or XC train.

Many thanks John, I may well make use of your suggestions ( my choices are part based on price and part based on comfort).

 

[yorksrob]

why dont you save a screenshot or screen-grab on your phone or tablet device, and take this to the booking office with you?

Yes, I have shown them on my phone, however as mentioned above, it's something to do with the systems used.

 

[Paul Duck]

Hi there I think I know what the problem was. When the future fares were uploaded to journey planner an error occurred with Grand Central advance fares from the timetable change in may. Ticket office staff had to un tick a box to access the advance fares for grand central. We found that out with in a couple of hours but it took a week before an official brief appeared.

That's why you could see the fares on line but depending on what ticket office you went to they couldn't find said fare. Cross country loon after grand central fares and we have had a few niggling problems lately with Grand Central fares hopefully this is settling down now.
Paul
Eaglescliffe Ticket Office

 

[yorksrob]

Hi there I think I know what the problem was. When the future fares were uploaded to journey planner an error occurred with Grand Central advance fares from the timetable change in may. Ticket office staff had to un tick a box to access the advance fares for grand central. We found that out with in a couple of hours but it took a week before an official brief appeared. That's why u could see the fares on line but depending on what ticket office u went to they couldn't find said fare. Cross country loon after grand central fares and we have had a few niggling problems lately with Grand Central fares hopefully this is settling down now.
Paul
Eaglescliffe Ticket Office

Many thanks for the informative update. I could imagine yourselves at Eaglesvliffe getting to grips with the problem quite quickly, but other offices away from GC served areas might not notice.

Is there likely to be a technical fix so that GC fares appear as normal ?

 

[Paul Duck]

When I left for 2 weeks paternity leave last Tues it was fixed, not sure where we are up to with it at the moment sorry.

 

[yorksrob]

When I left for 2 weeks paternity leave last Tues it was fixed, not sure where we are up to with it at the moment sorry.

Ah thanks. Hopefully it will be fine for next time I need tickets.

 

[najaB]

When I left for 2 weeks paternity leave last Tues...

Not sure if congrats or commiserations​ are in order but hear, hear either way!

 

[Paul Kelly]

The problem seems to be to do with how different ticket issuing systems are interpreting the fares database differently, and some are applying the 4-week cut-off rule for displaying new fares even to fares like these ones which have an explicit quote date (i.e. when they should be quoted for future journeys) in the data. So "your mileage will vary" depending on where you try to book. I would be surprised if all online booking engines interpret the data the same way too, but you never know.
Edit: I just tried on Raileasy and TakeTheTrain, both of which use the Fujitsu RIBS journey planner, and neither of them are showing those Grand Central advances. So it does depend on the journey planner. RIBS is also used by some ticket office-based systems (those that use Fujitsu STAR, if I understand correctly), so it could be RIBS that's the problem?

From this Sunday 23rd April, all ticket issuing systems should be selling fares at the new price for journeys on or after the fares change date of 21st May, so the problem should go away then of its own accord.