Purchasers name on advance tickets

[bradleyd]

Hi all, not sure if this is in the correct forum or not (if it is, Mods please move accordingly), and I've also done a quick search on the site and not found anything.

I normally tend to buy advance tickets once or twice a year, and normally with cross London journey so have to have physical tickets. I booked some tickets via the forums ticket site a few weeks ago (such good savings found, was more than happy with paying the support percentage of the savings so thank you railforums UK tickets), and picked them up from the machine last night.

Was just looking at the tickets and noticed that all of them (including the seat reservations) have my surname showing at the top right, which I have never noticed before.

How long has this been a thing for, and have I just missed it in the past?

 

[Watershed]

The name of the booker has been shown on tickets collected via ToD (ticket on departure) for a long time, possibly forever. It doesn't tie the ticket to the purchaser - nowadays, the National Rail Conditions of Travel allow you to transfer tickets by selling them (for no more than face value) or giving them away.

Even before this right to transfer tickets was introduced, it was permitted to buy tickets on behalf of other people, so the purchaser wouldn't necessarily be the person for whom the ticket was intended to be used.

 

[xotGD]

nowadays, the National Rail Conditions of Travel allow you to transfer tickets by selling them (for no more than face value) or giving them away.

Does this apply to Northern Delay Repay complimentary tickets, do you know?

 

[Watershed]

Does this apply to Northern Delay Repay complimentary tickets, do you know?

There is an exception where

the Ticket [has] been made out in the passenger's name

Northern complimentary tickets are issued under the claimant's name, so they can't be transferred.

 

[xotGD]

There is an exception where


Northern complimentary tickets are issued under the claimant's name, so they can't be transferred.

Thank you. So it looks like my wife will get to use her tickets herself!

 

[bradleyd]

The name of the booker has been shown on tickets collected via ToD (ticket on departure) for a long time, possibly forever. It doesn't tie the ticket to the purchaser - nowadays, the National Rail Conditions of Travel allow you to transfer tickets by selling them (for no more than face value) or giving them away.

Even before this right to transfer tickets was introduced, it was permitted to buy tickets on behalf of other people, so the purchaser wouldn't necessarily be the person for whom the ticket was intended to be used.

Thank you for that Watershed, I must have completely and utterly glazed over that when I've had them previously

 

[Haywain]

Thank you for that Watershed, I must have completely and utterly glazed over that when I've had them previously

In my experience it's usually more discreetly printed at the bottom of the ticket in the same tiny print size as the ToD reference.

 

[kkong]

In my experience it's usually more discreetly printed at the bottom of the ticket in the same tiny print size as the ToD reference.

They used to be, but recently I've noticed the surname is being printed at the top right.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

The name of the booker has been shown on tickets collected via ToD (ticket on departure) for a long time, possibly forever

Are you sure about this - or at least, are you asserting it to be universal? Looking at the picture I took for my last delay repay claim (off peak return, purchased LNER (or possibly Uber), collected from a Northern machine) I don't see anything resembling a name or an email address.

 

[CyrusWuff]

The name of the booker has been shown on tickets collected via ToD (ticket on departure) for a long time, possibly forever. It doesn't tie the ticket to the purchaser - nowadays, the National Rail Conditions of Travel allow you to transfer tickets by selling them (for no more than face value) or giving them away.

It was also an option to include when making a reservation back in the days of CRS, though would only print on the reservation label (remember those?) rather than on the ticket itself when being retailed on an APTIS machine.

I can't remember off the top of my head if Tribute printed names on ATB domestic tickets back in the day though, or if that was limited to Eurostar bookings.

 

[OscarH]

Are you sure about this - or at least, are you asserting it to be universal? Looking at the picture I took for my last delay repay claim (off peak return, purchased LNER (or possibly Uber), collected from a Northern machine) I don't see anything resembling a name or an email address.

If I recall right, it's only in the print format for advance tickets, not walkups

 

[xotGD]

They used to be, but recently I've noticed the surname is being printed at the top right.

Mine has "I CUSTOMER" printed in the top right.

My name is not Ian Customer!

 

[1D54]

Discreet or not, I'd rather not have my name printed on a domestic railway ticket. There is no good reason for it.

 

[Joe Paxton]

Discreet or not, I'd rather not have my name printed on a domestic railway ticket. There is no good reason for it.

Change names then - e.g. book under George Orwell, then no-one will know you're really Eric Blair.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Mine has "I CUSTOMER" printed in the top right.

My name is not Ian Customer!

Normal for Trainline consumer sites. Either that or A Customer.

Their booking engine doesn't connect directly to the TOD database and sends minimal information across when it does sync. Though it's an improvement over the early days, when it could take up to two hours (four if there was some sort of issue) for a ticket to be available for collection.

 

[1D54]

Change names then - e.g. book under George Orwell, then no-one will know you're really Eric Blair.

All my debit/credit cards have my correct name on them and i use them when making online payments so not really an option.

 

[Joe Paxton]

All my debit/credit cards have my correct name on them and i use them when making online payments so not really an option.

You can have an online ticket booking engine account in any name you choose, it doesn't have to match the credit or debit card you use to pay with.

 

[OscarH]

Normal for Trainline consumer sites. Either that or A Customer.

Their booking engine doesn't connect directly to the TOD database and sends minimal information across when it does sync. Though it's an improvement over the early days, when it could take up to two hours (four if there was some sort of issue) for a ticket to be available for collection.

I don't think the delayed sync is relevant, they're just choosing not to write it.

To be fair I don't think it really matters these days - I think the intention was that a ticket office could look up bookings where people forgot the CTR, but I don't think that's a thing anymore. We do write real values to a couple of the fields, but a very minimal number too, I think everyone is the same.

 

[David M]

Spotted my name on a Two Together off peak return last weekend (for the first time) - open off peak return Tweedbank to Edinburgh Waverley so a normal sort of ticket.
I have no issues with it as long as it doesn't prohibit me buying a ticket on behalf of, say, my son and am unsure why others might to be honest.

 

[island]

You can have an online ticket booking engine account in any name you choose, it doesn't have to match the credit or debit card you use to pay with.

And you can (usually) type any name you want into the relevant field for the card payment, it is not generally checked.

 

[bradleyd]

In my experience it's usually more discreetly printed at the bottom of the ticket in the same tiny print size as the ToD reference.

That may be it, that it was small, at the bottom, so I just glazed over it, and then seeing it larger, at the tip right, made it bulge out more