Scotrail "kids for a quid" - why in-person purchases only?

[dcsprior]

The Scotrail Website's "Kids for a quid" page says:

• First, get your adult ticket - either from a station ticket office, ticket vending machine, online or on your mobile
• Next, buy your Kids for a Quid ticket from a member of ScotRail staff. Kids for a Quid can only be purchased at a station ticket office or on the train
• Remember, you can’t buy a Kids for a Quid ticket online, on app or at a ticket vending machine, so speak to a member of ScotRail staff who will be happy to help

Which means that if your journey starts from an unstaffed station (e.g. Shawfair, the nearest station to me) you have no option to buy before travelling, which means that if the the guard doesn't come down the train, you could arrive at ticket barriers or a manual check without tickets, and I know from previous experience of needing to buy a ticket that wasn't available from web/app/TVM that arriving at barriers without a ticket can sometimes mean a very long wait for one member of staff with a ticket machine to deal with lots and lots of ticketless passengers.

As well as the inconvenience to customers, I'd guess that having some ticket types which can't be bought before travel risks undermining the message that tickets should be bought before travel. Especially given that they're tickets specifically for kids, so this'll lead the next generation of customers to think that the norm is to buy on-train or when they arrive at their destination.

So.... why not make these also available from at least one of their website, app, ticket machine?

 

[Fundee on Tay]

The reason is that if you make them available easily then more unscrupulous passengers could use them to get travel for a companion for as little as £1, which would work in ticket gates and wouldn’t be picked up on unless tickets are checked, which you have alluded to not be common in the Greater Glasgow area, for example.

 

[Adam Williams]

The reason is that if you make them available easily then more unscrupulous passengers could use them to get travel for a companion for as little as £1, which would work in ticket gates and wouldn’t be picked up on unless tickets are checked, which you have alluded to not be common in the Greater Glasgow area, for example.

Everywhere else in GB manages without resorting to restricting them to on-board/ticket office purchases.

There are countless solutions here: configuring gatelines to require manual checks for this ticket type, enhanced ticket checks on board (using the sales data to understand where they are being purchased to/from) etc. It's just excuses from a TOC that has form for doing this. See also the Super Off-Peak tickets that were needlessly restricted to in-person sales channels.

 

[mmh]

Everywhere else in GB manages without resorting to restricting them to on-board/ticket office purchases.

This isn't true. It's the same with Transport for Wales.

 

[Adam Williams]

This isn't true. It's the same with Transport for Wales.

In the case of TfW, these tickets are free, so I don't really agree that that's much of a compelling argument, as the products are not really comparable to the other "Kids for a Quid" products sold in England. You don't "purchase" them. The terms suggest there is no requirement to obtain them prior to boarding or at the same time as the adult's ticket(s) either, so the paying adults can still book via their preferred channel.

It's needlessly inconvenient, and I do think the requirement to get any sort of paperwork should be dropped, but it's less egregious to me than the topic of this forum thread.

 

[Haywain]

So.... why not make these also available from at least one of their website, app, ticket machine?

Because Scotrail.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Everywhere else in GB manages without resorting to restricting them to on-board/ticket office purchases

For online channels is there a way of restricting the sale of the £1 ticket so it can only be sold with an adult ticket?

That’s the only explanation I can think of, as the £1 offer isn’t valid for a child travelling alone.

 

[Adam Williams]

For online channels is there a way of restricting the sale of the £1 ticket so it can only be sold with an adult ticket?

It's up to the retailer to implement this, but that's the case for all of the child flat fare products with their own ticket type code (so not specific to ScotRail). There's nothing in the fares data to convey "must be sold alongside", other than if you create dedicated products for combinations of passengers.

 

[Russel]

This isn't true. It's the same with Transport for Wales.

Being handed a ticket for a child travelling for free baffled me earlier this year when I travelled with my son.

 

[yorkie]

For online channels is there a way of restricting the sale of the £1 ticket so it can only be sold with an adult ticket?

That’s the only explanation I can think of, as the £1 offer isn’t valid for a child travelling alone.

Yes but it requires a fair amount of additional work; the raw data isn't sufficient.

I know some providers are currently in the process of implementing this functionality.

 

[gazthomas]

Being handed a ticket for a child travelling for free baffled me earlier this year when I travelled with my son.

I guess it helps TfW record how many passengers they have

 

[John R]

I guess it helps TfW record how many passengers they have

And makes it easier at gateline stations, rather than having to show the tickets manually, potentially creating more congestion at the gateline.

 

[Russel]

And makes it easier at gateline stations, rather than having to show the tickets manually, potentially creating more congestion at the gateline.

I tend to just use the wide barrier when I'm with my child, just putting the adult ticket through the barrier.