Minimum spend rule for making seat reservations??

[james-martin]

Hi all,

I have just been trying to book a First Class Off-peak day return from Sheffield to Derby with seat reservations. When completing this section I received a message stating "This service may be full." with no reservations being made. This is all on the East Coast website.

Now, being sceptical about that as there were definitely Advance First fares available for the same trains I went back and tried with these. Guess what, reservations in both directions. So I tried again with my first choice (as it's over a tenner cheaper) and get the same message.

So, wishing to test the boundaries I try a First Anytime day return which is just over £20 with a railcard. I get reservations with that ticket on the same trains. However, I then try with my original choice again and receive the same message.

So, with the above illustration does anyone know of either a rule that has always existed that blocks reservations below a certain transaction value (I doubt it but you never know)? Alternatively, is this a new policy, or can anyone shed any light on this?

If my suspicions are correct there are a few flaws in this new idea especially for the passengers that need reservations the most!

Cheers,

James.

P.S. As an aside I tried to look on the XC website but found it was fundamentally broken for large text and zooming in Google Chrome.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I just tried this on the XC website in Internet Explorer. Once again a first off-peak day return with Disabled railcard and received the "train full message" once again.

 

[Romilly]

I can reserve seats if I choose East Midlands trains but not if I choose Cross Country trains. However, I am not sure that I know why there's that difference.

 

[bb21]

Not that I am aware of. You may be better off giving them a ring and booking seat reservations that way.

 

[lemonic]

CrossCountry are known for sometimes not offering seat reservations for Off Peak tickets even when availability still exists on Advance tickets (with associated reservations).

 

[Hadders]

I've noticed this with certain ticket types too.

With VTEC you can reserve seats between Kings Cross and Stevenage but not if you're using a Super Off Peak Day Return.

I'd never normally bother with reservations for such a routine, short journey but I was arranging a visit for my train obsessed nephews and their dad to visit me. The boys had never been on an 'express' train before so I wanted to make sure everything would run smoothly. Fortunately a friendly ticket clerk managed to sort it all out for me!

 

[james-martin]

Thanks for the input and experience. Impressive that the reservation computer is bothered about what the ticket type is on a per TOC basis! As you might have guessed XC was simply my preferred choice over EMT partially due to arrival time for a fixed appointment.

I must admit my concern was that AP fares were listed but not in practise bookable which would be a much worse situation in terms of bargains that are not really there. There are issues with this policy but they would affect fewer people than my above concern.

Having checked there are at least 8 first class seats available to reserve. It does seem counter productive to withhold them from other passengers. I could easily have decided to travel standard class because of the policy which surely isn't in any TOCs interests?!

James.

 

[najaB]

It does seem counter productive to withhold them from other passengers. I could easily have decided to travel standard class because of the policy which surely isn't in any TOCs interests?!

Don't try to find the logic behind any TOC's operations, and particularly not Cross Country. Life is too short.

 

[james-martin]

True, the logic that says it is a good idea to stick to a blanket "Not Before 9:30" rule for a journey such as Aberdeen to Penzance if you use XC suggests a lack of awareness as to how long the journey takes and the ability to make the journey given that there is only one option after 09:30 (excluding using the sleeper connecting at Taunton with over a 4 hour wait!

 

[Romilly]

I must admit my concern was that AP fares were listed but not in practise bookable which would be a much worse situation in terms of bargains that are not really there.

This can happen: if lots of passengers with non-Advance tickets make reservations on a particular train, there can be no seats left even though the quotas of Advance tickets have not sold out: I have certainly been in the position of finding suitable Advance tickets but then not being able to book them because there are no seats left for reservations.