Renewal Discount?

[railuser007]

I recently renewed my season ticked from Slough to Birmingham - however I did not get discount - when I queried this it appears that as this route is priced by CrossCountry I don't get a discount, which I don't understand?

As this route is via Oxford - I usually do Slough to Reading (FGW) and then Reading to Birmingham (XC) - whenever there was delays to the journey on the XC leg - I used to send a delay repay and got a couple of vouchers - but couldn't claim anything for delays which happend on the FGW leg as they weren't doing delay repay but were to give a discount at the next renewal (which I didn't get!).

Is this right that CrossCountry price this route - when part of the journey is with FGW?

 

[bb21]

Slough to Birmingham Stns Via Oxford is indeed a CrossCountry flow.

You are not entitled to a renewal discount as CrossCountry operate the new Delay Repay scheme where you claim and are compensated for delays each time it happens.

First Great Western operate the old Passenger Charter discount scheme where you are entitled to a renewal discount if the performance of the service group your flow falls in to falls below a certain threshold, however you are not entitled to claim for each individual delay. Your flow is not a First Great Western one, so you are not entitled to any renewal discount.

 

[railuser007]

Thanks for clarifying.

Regarding delay repay - I only claimed for the delays the XC leg (i.e Birmingham to Reading) but if there were delays between Slough and Reading, I didn't send in delay repays - that's why I thought at renewal I would get some sort of discount for delays on that leg.

So in future I should submit a delay repay request to XC even if the delay was due to a FGW service?

 

[bb21]

So in future I should submit a delay repay request to XC even if the delay was due to a FGW service?

No, you can't submit a claim to XC if the delay is caused by an FGW service.

You are kind of stuck unfortunately. If the service is severely delayed, FGW might pay some compensation on a case-by-case basis, but otherwise there is no redress per se for you.

This is one of the problems with charter discounts. Some people get them even if their trains have been running fine, whereas others miss out even if they suffer delay every day, all depending on which service group their tickets fall into. All new franchises are being let operating the Delay Repay scheme. The same with happen with the Great Western franchise when it is renewed.

 

[maniacmartin]

I'm afraid its just tough luck if you're delayed on the FGW services with that ticket.

If you had a normal (non-season) ticket, they you could submit a claim to FGW if delayed. For seasons, you get a discount on renewals, but only on FGW-priced flows. Each flow is only priced by a single operator, and in this case its Cross Country.

 

[transportphoto]

On a slightly different note, you may be interested in getting a change over to a different ticket on the same flow, for example you could get your ticket from Windsor and Eton Central to Sandwell and Dudely to gain the extra validity this would give you, this would cost you no more money.

TP

 

[kieron]

On a slightly different note, you may be interested in getting a change over to a different ticket on the same flow, for example you could get your ticket from Windsor and Eton Central to Sandwell and Dudely to gain the extra validity this would give you, this would cost you no more money.

You could also get a ticket from Slough (or Windsor) to Coventry (or Bedworth) for a bit less. Slough-Warwick is cheaper still, but it may be less obvious why it is appropriate to travel to Birmingham with one.

There's no cheapish way to avoid using a FGW train on a XC flow, though.

 

[railuser007]

An average user would think that if there was a problem with the XC leg you would complain to XC and FGW if it was on their leg, but would not know who prices the flow - surely both companies get a cut from the season ticket fare or is it only XC who pocket the whole lot?

 

[bb21]

Both companies will get a proportion of the season ticket I would imagine, however how the money is divided exactly is not public knowledge.

Railway ticketing does not work on logic or common sense. I guess you would have realised by now.

 

[railuser007]

Is this the case across the network, where if your journey with a season ticket involves two or more operators its up to the flow owner to decide on any renewal discount?

 

[bb21]

Is this the case across the network, where if your journey with a season ticket involves two or more operators its up to the flow owner to decide on any renewal discount?

That is correct.