Named London station rather than London Terminals

[Class800]

I personally do not use e-tickets for flexible tickets only for advance tickets - and what we've been discussing above is a key reason for the decision I have made

 

[travelred]

No it’s the same as C2C - Pico4Uk. It’s hopeless.

Which TOCs use the best tech for ticket sales?

 

[Wallsendmag]

Which TOCs use the best tech for ticket sales?

LNER but that may be a biased view

 

[Class800]

I have found LNER pretty good for sales actually - getting tickets right when others didn't provide the correct tickets - but have not tested the LNER site out for e-tickets on flexible itineraries like the OP's

 

[travelred]

I have found LNER pretty good for sales actually - getting tickets right when others didn't provide the correct tickets - but have not tested the LNER site out for e-tickets on flexible itineraries like the OP's

I know train booking engines are designed primarily for the majority of Joe Public, who just want to get from A to B in the fastest and cheapest manner, but it would be good to be able to purchase a flexible ticket without having to select a specific train (that you know you have zero intention of travelling on, but you've been allocated a seat reservation anyway), and also for the "Via/Avoid" option to be attached to the outbound *or* return leg, rather than mandating outbound *and* return.

 

[Hadders]

I know train booking engines are designed primarily for the majority of Joe Public, who just want to get from A to B in the fastest and cheapest manner, but it would be good to be able to purchase a flexible ticket without having to select a specific train (that you know you have zero intention of travelling on, but you've been allocated a seat reservation anyway), and also for the "Via/Avoid" option to be attached to the outbound *or* return leg, rather than mandating outbound *and* return.

Mixing deck sites let you do that.

 

[travelred]

Mixing deck sites let you do that.

Thanks! Good to know!

Ended up paying Avanti a tenner to cancel and rebooked via TrainSplit but with paper tickets so I don't need to worry about any hassle on the day. Was able to collect from my local (smaller) station in GM too, which Avanti historically hasn't let me do, insisting I collect from a defined but limited list of stations of which my local was never on, despite having a ticket machine in place.

 

[island]

There shouldn't be a fee at the moment for cancelling flexible tickets before the day of travel, unless I'm mistaken.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Feb 2022 ==

Was able to collect from my local (smaller) station in GM too, which Avanti historically hasn't let me do, insisting I collect from a defined but limited list of stations of which my local was never on, despite having a ticket machine in place.

For future reference you can collect tickets from any ticket machine with collection facilities, regardless of the list offered to you when you purchased

 

[travelred]

For future reference you can collect tickets from any ticket machine with collection facilities, regardless of the list offered to you when you purchased

Thanks - again good to know. Rail companies don't make it easy for folk. I consider myself more switched on than average where it comes to the quirks of ticketing, but even still get caught out...

 

[robbeech]

There shouldn't be a fee at the moment for cancelling flexible tickets before the day of travel, unless I'm mistaken.

I believe you are. It’s only advances that can be changed without a fee but not cancelled, flexible tickets may be changeable but aren’t refundable (usual disruption rules apply of course).


However, given their Incompetence, incorrect information and lies, there is no reason you should have incurred this fee and I would contact Avanti to complain about this and get them to refund it. Take it to the Ombudsman if necessary.

 

[Haywain]

advances that can be changed without a fee but not cancelled,

They can be cancelled but the refund is only given in vouchers. The vouchers can subsequently be used for a completely different journey.

 

[travelred]

I believe you are. It’s only advances that can be changed without a fee but not cancelled, flexible tickets may be changeable but aren’t refundable (usual disruption rules apply of course).


However, given their Incompetence, incorrect information and lies, there is no reason you should have incurred this fee and I would contact Avanti to complain about this and get them to refund it. Take it to the Ombudsman if necessary.

I complained to the Twitter team who gave me the advice. Their response:

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused and the experience you have had with us recently. - Ross"

For a tenner I cba escalating to the Ombudsman, which is undoubtedly what Avanti hope will happen. Have learned a lot though, like TrainSplit has an Avanti seat picker option (and it works, unlike Avanti's own!) and MixingDesk will allow me to buy the tickets I want without being forced to reserve seats on trains I won't travel on, and I can collect paper tickets from my local station despite what the TOCs might tell me...

 

[robbeech]

They can be cancelled but the refund is only given in vouchers. The vouchers can subsequently be used for a completely different journey.

Is that with all retailers? It’s certainly not how some are behaving so if they’re obliged to do so some have been refusing (the usual suspects to no surprises).

 

[Haywain]

Is that with all retailers? It’s certainly not how some are behaving so if they’re obliged to do so some have been refusing (the usual suspects to no surprises).

The Book with Confidence scheme, which currently runs until 31 March, is applicable to all TOC retailers but I believe that most (if not all) of the third party retailers adhere to it as well.