Train Swap

[Sniffingmoose]

I got this marketing email from Crosscountry today:-

Flexible travel is now made even easier thanks to our partnership with Seatfrog. With Train Swap, you can change your train, without having to change your plans.

Quote from the link:-

"Flexible travel is now made even easier thanks to our partnership with Seatfrog. With Train Swap, you can change your train, without having to change your plans.
The power is in your hands. Swap the original departure time of your CrossCountry Advance train ticket, to one on the same day, that better suits your new plans. Swaps are open one day in advance and up to 15 minutes before departure, just ‘Swap & Go’. You can head home early, or stick around until closing time, it’s up to you. With Train Swap, you’re always in control of your journey."

"We'll show you a list of all the CrossCountry trains available for Train Swap. You can switch to any eligible same-day service from £10, ticket swaps are available one day in advance until 15 minutes before your original departure time"

Is this a good thing or is this a game that is being played with the public?

I think it perpetuates the mith that you have to book every train. What do you all think?

Surely if you want flexible travel just buy an Off Peak Return.

 

[Gaelan]

Surely if you want flexible travel just buy an Off Peak Return.

Few people can afford XC's flexible tickets! (Although, don't get me wrong, I'd much prefer a fares system with affordable flexible tickets to what we have now.)

What I'm confused about, though, is the fact that XC already offers free changes for advances sold through their website.

 

[Autoticketgate]

What I'm confused about, though, is the fact that XC already offers free changes for advances sold through their website.

They don't charge a fee but you would still have to pay the difference between the original fare and the new one (which would likely be much more expensive one day before travel). Presumably Seatfrog Train Swap is intended to be cheaper than that difference.

 

[jamiearmley]

The fee free changes with cross country apply to tickets bought through their own retail channels only.

The seat frog thing applies to any cross country journey, regardless of where the ticket was bought from.

No, it's not cheaper than doing a fee free swap on a ticket bought from their app/website.

 

[Mainline421]

Surely if you want flexible travel just buy an Off Peak Return.

Quite, I do wonder how many people have bought needless "Train Swaps" with non-Advance tickets

 

[Watershed]

No, it's not cheaper than doing a fee free swap on a ticket bought from their app/website.

I don't think you can say this definitively. Sometimes an Advance Change of Journey is cheaper, other times Train Swap is cheaper.

As far as I'm aware there's no fixed relationship between Train Swap prices and public Advance/Off-Peak prices, much like how SeatFrog first class upgrades don't necessarily cost the same as the equivalent fixed-price upgrades (e.g. Weekend First).

Overall, my view is that it's better for customers to have the option of Train Swap than not. However, I'm growing increasingly concerned at the amount of revenue and products only available through specific retailers. For example, SeatFrog here with their upgrades/Train Swap, and similarly Avanti with their Superfare, Greater Anglia with their Hare Fare and so on.

I can see no legitimate reason why other third party retailers should be denied the ability to sell these products. One of the aims of rail privatisation was to open up retailing up to competition, and the new Labour Government has expressed its continuing support for the role of third party retailers under the new GBR industry structure.

Allowing exclusivity for products such as these undermines other third party retailers. Without the innovation brought about by competition between third party retailers, digital ticketing would be a lot further behind. Moreover there is no way that split tickets would have become so widespread that even Trainline whitelabel TOC sites are now offering them. So it's in the interests of the industry and the travelling public for there to be a level playing field for third party retailers; this is absolutely not the case at current.