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Snow and Advance Tickets
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ushawk
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This happened to me last year with Southern, they said if i wanted a refund, i would have had to pay £10 for it.
During periods of extreme weather and disruption, TOC's normally allow Advance tickets to be used on alternative trains/days, or will give a refund as a gesture of goodwill. There is usally an element of judgement involved - ie we might think it's too snowy to travel, but the trains are running relatively normally. Then it's effectively our choice not to travel and I wouldn't expect a TOC to be very sympathetic.
It would be very hit and miss trying to get a refund - many TOCs would turn around and say that you didn't arrive in time for the train and therefore are not entitled for a refund, especially with advance tickets.
222007
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I didnt think advanced tickets could be refunded? (i've never tried so not sure)
MCR247
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I think they can for a £10 admin fee.
John @ home
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If the train is cancelled there is a legal right to a refund because the train company has failed to deliver the contract. If the train is delayed, it depends on the extent of any delay. For example:
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---East Coast Advance Ticket terms and conditions said:
There is not normally a right to a refund.
Tom B
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What if it isn't possible to get to the station because the connecting train/bus which you'd use has failed to operate? Would a sympathetic line be taken, or is it seen as the passenger's problem when another company doesn't bother running a service?
Failed Unit
Established Member
Does anyone know if the will allow earlier travel? Ie the train before the one you were booked to allow you a better chance of getting to your destination on time. Tomorrow I am booked on the 0800 Edinburgh - York service. The use of the 0700 if the snow is still causing problems would be good. I will give east coast a call to ask later today but would be interested if anyone knows.
moonrakerz
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The official answer will be "NO" - but I have always found train crews to be very flexible. If you want to take a chance, turn up for the early train and ask the guard when it arrives - his decision may well be based on how busy his train is. That is a question you may have a better idea of before you set out early or not.
I have also managed to get a full refund (in vouchers) from FGW on an advance ticket, which I returned prior to the journey, along with a nice grovelling letter !
Guard's discretion I'd say! Certainly in times of disruption you'll find me quite amenable to such requests, unless (as moonrakerz suggests) my train is rammed to the rafters!
I think you have a lot more chance if you have an onward connection, especially if the onward connection is the last train of the day (the original TOC will be liable to the cost of a taxi if they refuse and a delay occurs!), an infrequent service, or forms the bulk of your journey. If the TOC itself refuses, I'd ask at the station, and if they refuse, I'd ask the guard.
If you ask a guard a reasonable request in such circumstances, most will say yes. A minority of guards are bad and we hear about those a lot on this forum (and too little is done to weed them out) however the majority really are good so it is worth a try.
Platform staff are quite reluctant to take a decision on this - maybe rightly so given that platform staff have no idea about loadings etc etc. Still worth asking the platform staff though to see if they can speak to the Guard for you...
catherinemm
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12CSVT
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The simple reason for this is because in the case of most TOCs platform staff are not authorised to make decisions on ticket validity - any query of this nature should ideally be directed at revenue protection or ticket office staff as they are the ones who are fully trained on ticket validities. At larger stations the station manager should be able to help with any queries.
mountainmike
Member
Last winter I was travelling from Burneside (Cumbria) to London with TPex then Virgin from Oxenholme. Snow looking dodgy for later in the day - both companies allowed me to travel on earlier trains on Advance tickets. Same thing happened later in the week travelling North. In my experience reasonable requests get treated reasonably. 
I do remember earlier on in the year that they were allowing travel on different days for a few days during the heavy snow, and this was for a lot of the East Coast trains, but this hasn't been publicised yet, so will most likely be on a case by case basis.
Yes, they did, and that's what I was referring to in my earlier post. Plus, ATW offered the same on their recent strike day which in the end didn't take place!
TOC's do seem to be more sympathetic when it's difficult to get to the station and the trains are badly affected. It may depend on whether the police advise people in an area not to travel due to the weather.
TOC's do seem to be more sympathetic when it's difficult to get to the station and the trains are badly affected. It may depend on whether the police advise people in an area not to travel due to the weather.
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