No availability on Virgin Traveller

[MrCheese]

Does anyone know what has happened to Virgin Traveller availability, until very recently it was straightforward to book tickets. In the last week they seem to have removed practically all ticket availability - some weekends there is absolutely nothing available even several months out.

If this is a permanent change it effectively makes the program worthless and in fact I'd argue makes the company dishonest as they encourage people to pay a lot of money for full price tickets and then make it virtually impossible to use the reward.

Does anyone have any idea what is going on?
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Well I got a reply from Virgin and they co firmed availability has been massively reduced. It really is extremely poor, when you search for tickets now for a lot of stations there is literally nothing available at all. Eg Crewe, a huge number of weekends there is nothing.

I'd consider the website to be highly misleading as they are relying on the small print to justify the changes. its a sad situation that will alienate a lot of users of Virgin trains. I now don't really care if they lose the franchise...

 

[All Line Rover]

Weekend availability is unchanged from what I can see. There isn't any availability on weekends during the Watford engineering works, though this is understandable and doesn't span 'a huge number of weekends'.

Weekday availability has been reduced, and while I can understand the non-availability of Traveller tickets on busy peak time services (e.g. 07:00 Manchester to London), the blanket non-availability of Traveller tickets on Fridays between (approx.) 15:00 and 19:00 does seem rather harsh. When going for a 'weekend away', departing London at 14:00 is too early for most people, and departing London at 20:00 is too late. Not all passengers departing London on a Friday afternoon are travelling on business, and yet this Twitter post suggests that Virgin believe the contrary!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Weekday availability has been reduced, and while I can understand the non-availability of Traveller tickets on busy peak time services (e.g. 07:00 Manchester to London), the blanket non-availability of Traveller tickets on Fridays between (approx.) 15:00 and 19:00 does seem rather harsh. When going for a 'weekend away', departing London at 14:00 is too early for most people, and departing London at 20:00 is too late.

That (up to about 2000-2030) is by far the busiest time of the week on the WCML, and there's therefore a strong argument that the only fares available during that period should be Anytime and Off Peak, as you'll fill the trains (and standing) with those alone.

That is the only time of the week when I have ever physically been unable to board a VWC service where there was no disruption.

Try travelling earlyish Saturday - that's one of the quietest times and you could still get a (shorter) weekend break in.

Neil

 

[All Line Rover]

That (up to about 2000-2030) is by far the busiest time of the week on the WCML, and there's therefore a strong argument that the only fares available during that period should be Anytime and Off Peak, as you'll fill the trains (and standing) with those alone.

That is the only time of the week when I have ever physically been unable to board a VWC service where there was no disruption.

Try travelling earlyish Saturday - that's one of the quietest times and you could still get a (shorter) weekend break in.

Neil

Friday afternoons may be busy in Standard Class but, on the whole, there remains plenty of spare capacity in First Class.

Saturday morning trains departing Manchester between 07:30 and 10:30 tend to be very busy in First Class. It may be significantly quieter on pre-07:30 departures, but as I do not travel on these often I cannot say for certain.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Friday afternoons may be busy in Standard Class but, on the whole, there remains plenty of spare capacity in First Class.

Saturday morning trains departing Manchester between 07:30 and 10:30 tend to be very busy in First Class. It may be significantly quiter on pre-07:30 departures, but as I do not travel on these often I cannot say for certain.

Is that BBC staff going home for the weekend?

Neil

 

[MrCheese]

Weekend availability is unchanged from what I can see. There isn't any availability on weekends during the Watford engineering works, though this is understandable and doesn't span 'a huge number of weekends'.

Weekday availability has been reduced, and while I can understand the non-availability of Traveller tickets on busy peak time services (e.g. 07:00 Manchester to London), the blanket non-availability of Traveller tickets on Fridays between (approx.) 15:00 and 19:00 does seem rather harsh. When going for a 'weekend away', departing London at 14:00 is too early for most people, and departing London at 20:00 is too late. Not all passengers departing London on a Friday afternoon are travelling on business, and yet this Twitter post suggests that Virgin believe the contrary!

yes the twitter post is terrible, I can't leave work early afternoon so the scheme is effectively worthless. The problem is that they have cut both Friday AND Monday so any weekend away has to either be rammed in Sat-Sun or you have to take 1/2 days on Friday/Monday.

It really is a shame because there is a lot of spare capacity.

 

[Bletchleyite]

yes the twitter post is terrible, I can't leave work early afternoon so the scheme is effectively worthless. The problem is that they have cut both Friday AND Monday so any weekend away has to either be rammed in Sat-Sun or you have to take 1/2 days on Friday/Monday.

It really is a shame because there is a lot of spare capacity.

Or you purchase a paid Advance ticket in one direction, and use a free one in the other?

Neil

 

[MrCheese]

Or you purchase a paid Advance ticket in one direction, and use a free one in the other?

Neil

so I have to pay to use the rewards scheme having paid thousands to join. Great...

 

[Bletchleyite]

so I have to pay to use the rewards scheme having paid thousands to join. Great...

You haven't "paid thousands to join". You have paid thousands of pounds for First Class travel, with which you have got a freebie.

Neil

 

[MrCheese]

You haven't "paid thousands to join". You have paid thousands of pounds for First Class travel, with which you have got a freebie.

Neil

Actually I decided to personally upgrade to first class at great expense (c £200 for many tickets) for the benefit of the occasional weekend trip. Read the first page of the Traveller website, any reasonable person would expect there to be at least some availability at a usable hour. With no warning at all practically all usable tickets have been withdrawn. Of course this is all within the smallprint so I suppose you think that is a great way to win customer loyalty :roll:

 

[Bletchleyite]

Actually I decided to personally upgrade to first class at great expense (c £200 for many tickets) for the benefit of the occasional weekend trip. Read the first page of the Traveller website, any reasonable person would expect there to be at least some availability at a usable hour. With no warning at all practically all usable tickets have been withdrawn. Of course this is all within the smallprint so I suppose you think that is a great way to win customer loyalty :roll:

Wouldn't it have been cheaper to book Advance First tickets for the weekend trips, or use Weekend First?

Neil

 

[MrCheese]

Wouldn't it have been cheaper to book Advance First tickets for the weekend trips, or use Weekend First?

Neil

No, my partner and I used the scheme to do occasional trips around the country. At the times we can both leave work advance first tickets are very expensive - hundreds of pounds for 2 people. The scheme was good as it was - we spent a lot of money with Virgin and in return got to use some of the empty seats on the late Friday/early Monday trains. Now the only option is to cut into Sat and Sunday which hardly makes the trips worthwhile particularly for he longer journeys.

 

[Starmill]

That (up to about 2000-2030) is by far the busiest time of the week on the WCML, and there's therefore a strong argument that the only fares available during that period should be Anytime and Off Peak, as you'll fill the trains (and standing) with those alone.

Not really, because then Virgin would have to share more of the revenue

 

[MKB]

It's pretty crude what VT have done. They have removed whole train journeys even where the train is less than half-full in first class from mid-way through its journey.

For example, I occasionally use the northbound trains from Nuneaton at 18:12 or 19:13 on a Friday night to get to Liverpool or Manchester for the weekend, and there's now nothing on the 18:12 and the 19:13 is only available 12 weeks out. (I can't book that far in advance as football fixtures are not fixed until around 5 to 9 weeks in advance.)

Loads of people get off at Nuneaton and the trains run Northwards with about a 50% loading in first class (and often no hot food left).

I'm reassured to see however I can still get down to London from Coventry on a Friday in time to see a West End show (which would be madness otherwise, as the evening southbound trains run with about a 10% loading in first-class).

The biggest problem for me with Traveller has always been that they won't let you book two one-way journeys each weekend, only a return. Since so few VT services stop at Nuneaton, it's very hard to get sensible trips. The journey might need me to start the VT element of my northbound journey from Tamworth (having picked up the cost of the London Midland NUN-TAM sector separately) but travel all the way to Nuneaton on VT on the return. Unless both trains have a common calling point further south (e.g. RUG or MKC), it's impossible to book this.

With regards to Friday evening and Monday morning travel, I can see VT's problem is that business users may use Traveller to get to high-demand destinations such as London on a Monday and another ticket to return on a Friday. Surely, the better way to thwart this would be to disallow:

- outbound travel from a peak destination on a Friday if you already have a Traveller booking for the previous Monday returning to that destination;

- return travel to a peak destination on a Monday morning if you already have a Traveller booking for the following Friday travelling outbound from that destination.

 

[MrCheese]

as an example for 10th April-13th April I've tried every combination of times for crewe and nuneaton - even if I do only Sat & Sun there is absolutely no availability...

most other weekends there are exceptionally limited options - it just isn't worth bothering with...

I really think they need to change the website to make it clear that there is extremely limited availability.

 

[bb21]

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/44703.aspx

Tickets for 10th April - 13th April are not on sale yet, so I assume that engineering works and timetables may not have been finalised.

 

[All Line Rover]

Weekend travel to Shrewsbury, Blackpool and Wrexham is no longer possible, as there is no availability from these stations on a Monday morning (the latter two destinations are not served by Virgin Trains at weekends). I also can't see any availability from Holyhead on a Monday morning (even on the 08:55 departure, which is an off-peak service).

 

[Starmill]

I find it annoying there is not even a Saturday service at Wrexham and, now, Blackpool. It's almost as if they don't really want to run their trains there...

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Blackpool is impinged somewhat by the fact that no Voyagers run between Euston and Preston (via the Trent Valley) on Saturdays. Even the Euston via Birmingham trains that start and finish at Preston are all 390s. The only really feasible service at all is the 0657 off Lancaster, which was truncated to Birmingham following the introduction of Shrewsbury services so there was something to form the proceeding Birmingham-Euston.

 

[MrCheese]

Weekend travel to Shrewsbury, Blackpool and Wrexham is no longer possible, as there is no availability from these stations on a Monday morning (the latter two destinations are not served by Virgin Trains at weekends). I also can't see any availability from Holyhead on a Monday morning (even on the 08:55 departure, which is an off-peak service).

Holyhead is a perfect example of a place where people might use the free travel in Friday to get a ferry and they have eliminated it. In my experience Virgin never back down when they change peak/off peak times or changes of this nature so effectively the scheme is over.

 

[Tetchytyke]

It pretty much sums Virgin up, really. Like their partners in crime at Stagecoach, they leave no passenger ripped off. I can't wait for the price-gougers extraordinaire to take over on East Coast(!)

I have to say it's a risky strategy on this one though. Traveller is an invite-only programme targeted at high-spending executives, who usually have the choice to travel on other modes of transport. Promising these sorts of people something, and then restricting use to the extent that the promise is now worthless, is not going to go down too well. Clearly Virgin feel that these people will travel with them regardless.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I have to say it's a risky strategy on this one though. Traveller is an invite-only programme targeted at high-spending executives, who usually have the choice to travel on other modes of transport. Promising these sorts of people something, and then restricting use to the extent that the promise is now worthless, is not going to go down too well. Clearly Virgin feel that these people will travel with them regardless.

They probably will. Though personally I'd rather everyone (airlines included) did away with frequent flyer type schemes and just kept ticket prices reasonable. Petrol stations learnt that one years ago when things like collecting tokens for crockery went away.

And executives should not be choosing a particular mode of transport because of a loyalty scheme. They should be choosing based on benefit to the company, and that alone. Like "Standard Premier", and ATW and Chiltern's "Business" zone/class, it is an encouragement to the fiddling of expenses - minor fiddling, but fiddling nonetheless.

Perhaps time that frequent flyer/frequent traveller schemes were a taxable benefit if used by the employee? That'd sort it out.

Neil

 

[MikeWh]

Petrol stations learnt that one years ago when things like collecting tokens for crockery went away.

No, they just offer different sorts of rewards these days. BP/Sainsbury's offer Nectar points, Tesco Clubcard points, Shell has a loyalty card as has Morrison's, etc etc.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Petrol stations learnt that one years ago when things like collecting tokens for crockery went away

Esso offer Clubcard points, BP offer Nectar points, Shell have their own loyalty scheme and the supermarkets generally do too.

Clearly Virgin think it is safe to upset the members of Traveller. Only time will tell if they are right.

 

[Dixon2000]

I have been with Virgin Traveller for nearly 4 years and found it to be an excellent service.
My card expired however in November 2014 and I was quick to apply for a renewal in October ensuring I'd met the traveller criteria with the 8 first class return tickets.
I heard nothing for 4 weeks until I contacted them by phone to which I was told I'd been accepted and the renewal card would be sent out.
Cut a long story short after constant telephone calls and being told about technical issues and a heavy backlog I was told I should have the card by the end of next week (15th Nov)
To date (22nd Jan) I have still not received my renewal card.
I did received an apology email with an extended date and was told I could re-book trains, this only lasted 3 weeks.
After more telephone calls I am now told I cant book on line and I can only book trains on the Virgin traveller telephone system.
My first test of this on the 23rd Jan was having to book a train which is 8 hours later than the time I wanted. This was after a 15 minute wait for someone to answer the phone on the premium telephone rate.
Complete Chaos

 

[MKB]

I have been with Virgin Traveller for nearly 4 years and found it to be an excellent service.
My card expired however in November 2014 and I was quick to apply for a renewal in October ensuring I'd met the traveller criteria with the 8 first class return tickets.
I heard nothing for 4 weeks until I contacted them by phone to which I was told I'd been accepted and the renewal card would be sent out.
Cut a long story short after constant telephone calls and being told about technical issues and a heavy backlog I was told I should have the card by the end of next week (15th Nov)
To date (22nd Jan) I have still not received my renewal card.
I did received an apology email with an extended date and was told I could re-book trains, this only lasted 3 weeks.
After more telephone calls I am now told I cant book on line and I can only book trains on the Virgin traveller telephone system.
My first test of this on the 23rd Jan was having to book a train which is 8 hours later than the time I wanted. This was after a 15 minute wait for someone to answer the phone on the premium telephone rate.
Complete Chaos

You're not alone: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=109189

Even though I haven't yet received my renewal card, I am now able to book online and travel on the old card + authority letter. The customer service from the Traveller people is dreadful, and the removal of loads of availability is a real kick in the teeth. Perhaps Virgin has so many first-class customers, they just don't care.