Reasons for paper tickets being the only option, rather than e-tickets?

[1D54]

Wonder what the percentage is of people booking tickets on this forum that opt for paper version. Can such information be disclosed?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Switching a phone on? Most people have their phone on all the time.

And have their ticket in Google or Apple Wallet, meaning it's a single tap.

 

[Haywain]

And have their ticket in Google or Apple Wallet, meaning it's a single tap.

I suppose that for those with a bias against eTickets it's important to make it sound as difficult as possible.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I suppose that for those with a bias against eTickets it's important to make it sound as difficult as possible.

Indeed. Those people also often seem to think phone batteries are worse than they are and that power banks aren't a thing.

I'd venture that most "battery run out" cases aside from actual evasion are teens who struggle with taking care of things and would be as likely to drop a paper ticket from their pocket or spill their drink all over it. And before anyone says, most newer phones are waterproof.

 

[TUC]

Wonder what the percentage is of people booking tickets on this forum that opt for paper version. Can such information be disclosed?

The very make-up of those who buy tickets via the forum would be unrepresentative of the public.

 

[1D54]

The very make-up of those who buy tickets via the forum would be unrepresentative of the public.

I always select paper opinion when purchasing on this forum but i get where you are coming from.

 

[bakerstreet]

Elderly who aren't tech savvy as they predate it are literally dying off. It won't be long before almost every elderly person uses tech. Ten years maybe?

Twenty years and Gen X will be starting to count as elderly. Gen X is almost completely tech savvy.

I am tech savvy

But I’m not as tech savvy as I once was.

I am the original “yes I can set the video” generation.

But think about the tech that will be invented in the next 20 years that will baffle me.

The next generation of smart phones which will be completely reinvented.

Or tech which has yet to be invented and will be unrecognisable.

Think about the standard workplace.

In every workplace there is an older section of the workforce who are left behind because systems change and brains find it harder to adjust.

And a younger generation for whom current systems and tech are their only experience and can adapt quickly and perfectly to it.

I wish I had your confidence that one day the person excluded from the tech world’s next few developments won’t be me.

 

[cool110]

I always select paper opinion when purchasing on this forum but i get where you are coming from.

After being forced into paper by a PlusBus the last thing I want is to get another full deck on a 4 way return split with seat reservations.

 

[NaZzAtAzEr]

I noticed when using trainpal that e tickets aren't consistent when doing merstham to blackfriars, selecting the same train each day more often than not it only offers paper tickets.

 

[Adam Williams]

Wonder what the percentage is of people booking tickets on this forum that opt for paper version. Can such information be disclosed?

Forum site E-Ticket usage is about 10-20% below the average (19% gap YTD, approx 13% this month).

 

[JB_B]

Forum site E-Ticket usage is about 10-20% below the average (19% gap YTD, approx 13% this month).

Are you able to say anything about the average figure(s) you're comparing with?

 

[trainophile]

Well as a representative of the older contingent of this forum I continue to prefer paper tickets. For context, when I started work I used a manual typewriter with carbon paper, and a round dial telephone that your finger slipped out of. Tippex was a luxury yet to be invented, or at least to reach our firm, we had to rub our mistakes out, in triplicate! Times change of course, and I'm not totally stuck in the past, or I wouldn't be on here, but some old fashioned things are just easier for us seniors, and paper tickets is one of them.

I do use e-tickets for day trips, because I can book them in my hotel room and not have to queue at the station to collect them from a machine or buy at the counter. However sometimes I can't get my online purchase to complete, it sticks on the captcha screen, and no amount of tapping will move it on. (What IS the point of having to select motorbikes on three successive screens? On a small phone screen in bright sunshine it's next to impossible). That is very frustrating if there's not long until the train arrives or I need to set off for the station.

Also I've found that Apple Pay doesn't work, at least on the TPE website, which means digging out my debit card and entering the number and CVC code, tricky with one hand if you're stood on a station platform, and carrying luggage with the other hand. It's nothing to do with phone battery, it's the fiddling around that I can't deal with. I'm more than happy to show an e-ticket on the train when I'm sat down, but station barriers prove impractical as I'm usually carting luggage and shopping bags around.

 

[MrJeeves]

I do use e-tickets for day trips, because I can book them in my hotel room and not have to queue at the station to collect them from a machine or buy at the counter. However sometimes I can't get my online purchase to complete, it sticks on the captcha screen, and no amount of tapping will move it on. (What IS the point of having to select motorbikes on three successive screens? On a small phone screen in bright sunshine it's next to impossible). That is very frustrating if there's not long until the train arrives or I need to set off for the station.

Also I've found that Apple Pay doesn't work, at least on the TPE website, which means digging out my debit card and entering the number and CVC code, tricky with one hand if you're stood on a station platform, and carrying luggage with the other hand. It's nothing to do with phone battery, it's the fiddling around that I can't deal with. I'm more than happy to show an e-ticket on the train when I'm sat down, but station barriers prove impractical as I'm usually carting luggage and shopping bags around.

To me, it sounds more like you should explore other retailers who don't suffer with the same flaws if these are your issues!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Also I've found that Apple Pay doesn't work, at least on the TPE website, which means digging out my debit card and entering the number and CVC code, tricky with one hand if you're stood on a station platform, and carrying luggage with the other hand. It's nothing to do with phone battery, it's the fiddling around that I can't deal with. I'm more than happy to show an e-ticket on the train when I'm sat down, but station barriers prove impractical as I'm usually carting luggage and shopping bags around.

Why on earth are you using a website (a thing primarily designed for desktop computers) on a phone?

Download a suitable app. If you don't like TPE's, pick another one. Plenty take Apple Pay and plenty will remember your card details if you prefer. I personally like Trainline for on the day purchases, no fees are charged in these circumstances and it's a well-designed app and will put e-tickets in the Apple Wallet with a couple of taps after purchase.

I think some people on here deliberately make life hard for themselves and generate their own poor experiences of e-tickets by not using their smartphone's features to their full. I get people who may refuse to have smartphones, but if you have one why not use it as it is intended? There's really no downside to doing so.

 

[Sonic1234]

Forum site E-Ticket usage is about 10-20% below the average.

Because forum users select paper tickets or because of the journeys they do?

I imagine there are more cross-London journeys done by members of the forum than the public at large, and a greater tendency to do things like book to a suburban station rather than to London then use Oyster, or use U Zone tickets.

 

[Red Rover]

People simply like to hold something physical they've purchased, I think that is fair enough, tickets can't be collected when the internet goes down, but they can buy a ticket and often for a better price.

 

[trainophile]

Why on earth are you using a website (a thing primarily designed for desktop computers) on a phone?

Download a suitable app. If you don't like TPE's, pick another one. Plenty take Apple Pay and plenty will remember your card details if you prefer. I personally like Trainline for on the day purchases, no fees are charged in these circumstances and it's a well-designed app and will put e-tickets in the Apple Wallet with a couple of taps after purchase.

I think some people on here deliberately make life hard for themselves and generate their own poor experiences of e-tickets by not using their smartphone's features to their full. I get people who may refuse to have smartphones, but if you have one why not use it as it is intended? There's really no downside to doing so.

I tend to stick with the things I've used forever. It wouldn't occur to me to try a different ticket site, there are so many and they all have pros and cons. I'm not deliberately making life difficult for myself, I'm no spring chicken and not as adaptable as you young things! But point taken, I will have to be a bit more adventurous.

 

[Haywain]

but some old fashioned things are just easier for us seniors, and paper tickets is one of them.

You say this but then go on to disprove it with this:

I do use e-tickets for day trips, because I can book them in my hotel room and not have to queue at the station to collect them from a machine or buy at the counter.

So your problem with technology is actually non-existent.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Oct 2024 ==

People simply like to hold something physical they've purchased,

For most people the thing they like to hold is a mobile phone.

 

[Red Rover]

For most people the thing they like to hold is a mobile phone

I think you're speaking for yourself there, many people like to have a physical copy of something they've bought, I certainly do, I was hacked this week and all my digital purchases have gone and it'll take an absolute effort and expense to get them back, you may think think that must be a small company with poor security, it was Sony.

 

[Adam Williams]

I think you're speaking for yourself there, many people like to have a physical copy of something they've bought, I certainly do, I was hacked this week and all my digital purchases have gone and it'll take an absolute effort and expense to get them back, you may think think that must be a small company with poor security, it was Sony.

As much as these cases do exist (and shouldn't, companies should take infosec much more seriously than many of them do), I still think @Haywain's assertion for "most people" is an accurate one

 

[Red Rover]

As much as these cases do exist (and shouldn't, companies should take infosec much more seriously than many of them do), I still think @Haywain's assertion for "most people" is an accurate one

What happens when the internet goes down? And "most" people surely is an exclusion of people who want a variant of digital? What provision for them?

 

[Haywain]

What happens when the internet goes down?

When has that happened? Or do you not even understand what the internet is?

 

[Bletchleyite]

What happens when the internet goes down?

Nothing. You download the ticket to your phone when you purchase it, and it's still there to use whether the phone has Internet access at that moment or not.

That's the reason, by the way, that apps are the best way to do this for use on a phone - they are set up to make this a natural part of the purchase. If you use a website, you need to actively do this from the email otherwise you are relying on being online.

 

[redreni]

Forum site E-Ticket usage is about 10-20% below the average (19% gap YTD, approx 13% this month).

Because forum users select paper tickets or because of the journeys they do?

I imagine there are more cross-London journeys done by members of the forum than the public at large, and a greater tendency to do things like book to a suburban station rather than to London then use Oyster, or use U Zone tickets.

Yes, like you I wonder how much of this would be London or cross-London related. I wouldn't be at all surprised it it's mostly that.

I suspect there may also be certain cases where a ticket or combination of tickets can be used validly for a certain journey but this is not obvious, and most passengers making that journey would overpay. In such cases there's arguably no need to make it any easier than it needs to be for TOCs to notice how those tickets are being used, lest they deem it a loophole and take steps to close it.

 

[infobleep]

All of which you can still do if you print your eTicket

Or you can get a train operating company to print it for you.

I do switch between eTickets and paper tickets. Depends if I am using a ticket vending machine or buying online.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Oct 2024 ==

Not sure about that. During a ticket check on a train listen to the large number of Beeps.

Which train service would this be as that might affect how many bleeps there are?

 

[island]

Or you can get a train operating company to print it for you.

What train operating company will print e-tickets for you?

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

What train operating company will print e-tickets for you?

Officially, none, so you can't rely on that, however it's not uncommon at InterCity stations with multiple staff available. I've seen it at Kings Cross and Euston. They ask you to email the PDF to them. The first class lounges are also good bets.

 

[kacper]

I’m surprised that it’s not possible for staff to print out an e ticket by UTN

 

[Haywain]

I’m surprised that it’s not possible for staff to print out an e ticket by UTN

There is no central database of e-tickets.

 

[OscarH]

I’m surprised that it’s not possible for staff to print out an e ticket by UTN

Because of how reporting in the industry works, data about sales is only reported periodically, aside from the actual technical fun and games to make it work when the data is there which would be non-trivial as well. You also wouldn't be able to form the itinerary from the reported data which is quite important for advance tickets.

A better idea would be that they could print it by scanning the barcode, but this still doesn't quite provide all the information needed for the itinerary.