Club Avanti

[styles]

Bumping this - is Club Avanti still a thing?

I last had an email in early November telling me that I was on eight journeys - nothing since, and have made numerous trips directly from Chester to London (direct and booked with them on website - whether the services ran is another thing).

Is there a way of checking membership status? I am definitely enrolled

Definitely still a thing. The ability to see your status is crap though.

I set up a ticket alert, which materialised 2 days ago. In that email it says 'Club Avanti journeys: 6'

But I can't see anywhere on the website you could login and check this yourself.

 

[Birkonian]

It is necessary to allow all notifications for the system to work. It took an email stating that I should have received my free journey to progress things. Then a reply and a further email to receive the codes for a standard premium return and a 1st class return.

 

[afc75]

Yeah, i am a club avanti member. Very difficult to use!

 

[Jamesrob637]

Does Club feature anywhere on the Avanti app? I use Android so the Apple version is no good to me.

 

[Sealink]

It should be still a thing...

But (and I know it is different departments) but can TOCs just focus on providing the service they advertise?

Things like Club Avanti and especially SWR Rewards just feel like distractions...

 

[Scotrail314209]

Club Avanti should be more like LNER Perks, where you can access your membership via the website and app.

I only got my free SP code recently, it's tedious having to wait for emails to come through just so you can see how close you are.

I'd quite like to earn credit to put towards my next booking too, a bit like how with LNER perks you can save up your credit to redeem on tickets.

One thing I did see on X recently were Club Avanti members complaining that their 10% off food and drink at the onboard shop discount wasn't working and that it's had to be entered manually instead of scanned or that the onboard staff have been confused when the code is presented. It seems like the staff don't seem to see the code very often, which shows hardly anyone is signing up for Club Avanti.

It does seem like a super subpar attempt.

 

[38Cto15E]

I had one or two issues but eventually got my reward trip in SP, so dip your bread in, and I had a Euston-Glasgow Central return.

 

[Scotrail314209]

I had one or two issues but eventually got my reward trip in SP, so dip your bread in, and I had a Euston-Glasgow Central return.

Definitely going to use the SP return on a trip to London, the Glasgow services can be quite expensive so it's a win.

 

[The Prisoner]

Bumping this - is Club Avanti still a thing?

I last had an email in early November telling me that I was on eight journeys - nothing since, and have made numerous trips directly from Chester to London (direct and booked with them on website - whether the services ran is another thing).

Is there a way of checking membership status? I am definitely enrolled

Had an email this morning with a code for a SP return for Gold membership, so it is still a thing.

Would be good to be able to check where you were up to of course.

 

[Tezza1978]

Had an email this morning with a code for a SP return for Gold membership, so it is still a thing.

Would be good to be able to check where you were up to of course.

Same for me - I now have a SP Return reward to use too as of December. Heading to Ibiza in June for a friend's stag weekend so may save it for this as flights from London a lot cheaper than from Manc, and at more reasonable hours.

Its ridiculous though that you can't see your status when logged in, Club Avanti as a product is poorly implemented.....

 

[Ayman Ilham]

Just to double-check since I've recently signed up: If I booked a journey through Avanti to Birmingham (I know Preston to Birmingham is long enough for a qualifying journey), would I have to book Preston to Birmingham as a separate booking (i.e. the booking has to be between the two Avanti stations) for it to count as a qualifying journey, or would booking Cherry Tree (my local station) to Birmingham (which would include that Preston to Birmingham journey anyway) in one go (as long as it's on the Avanti website) also count that Preston to Birmingham leg as a qualifying journey?

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Just to double-check since I've recently signed up: If I booked a journey through Avanti to Birmingham (I know Preston to Birmingham is long enough for a qualifying journey), would I have to book Preston to Birmingham as a separate booking (i.e. the booking has to be between the two Avanti stations) for it to count as a qualifying journey, or would booking Cherry Tree (my local station) to Birmingham (which would include that Preston to Birmingham journey anyway) in one go (as long as it's on the Avanti website) also count that Preston to Birmingham leg as a qualifying journey?

Booking the full journey works fine as long as it's on the Avanti website.

 

[RAPC]

It has to be a full journey with no other connections with another operator. I fell foul of that one previously, where an Avanti purchased ticket including a one stop connection on Northern meant it wasn't qualifying.

 

[KNN]

This isn't accurate.

It has to be a full journey with no other connections with another operator. I fell foul of that one previously, where an Avanti purchased ticket including a one stop connection on Northern meant it wasn't qualifying.

"To count, your journey must be 75 miles or more travelled between two stations, using a ticket valid for travel on Avanti West Coast services. It can be completely via Avanti West Coast or for just a stage of your full journey – but this stage must be 75 miles or more."

It can have connections, but the Avanti leg(s) must be 75 miles+

 

[RAPC]

This isn't accurate.



"To count, your journey must be 75 miles or more travelled between two stations, using a ticket valid for travel on Avanti West Coast services. It can be completely via Avanti West Coast or for just a stage of your full journey – but this stage must be 75 miles or more."

It can have connections, but the Avanti leg(s) must be 75 miles+

I stand corrected if there has been a change in policy since last September when I queried my lack of credits on a few tickets. At the time the qualification policy was worded slightly differently, (which I've just validated via Wayback Machine) but didn't flag journeys including other operators.

Here is the response from Avanti last September when I queried getting no credits on a number of Leyland - London tickets when I questioned their first rejection of my missing credits:

"Dear Mr RAPC

Thank you for your email regarding your claim about your recent journeys not crediting. I understand that you have questioned why your tickets from Leyland to London Euston have not credited to your account and why these are considered to be ineligible.

These are not qualifying because part of your full journey is on a service operated by another company. A qualifying journey must be completed on an Avanti operated service or services, without any other operators on a ticket purchased via the Avanti website or app.

I can see how this may not be clear on the website and I have passed on your feedback to the relevant team. By way of a small apology, I have applied a free hot drink to your account, which can be redeemed in our onboard shop next time you travel.

Thanks you (sic) for contacting the Club Avanti team.

Kind regards
xxx xxx"

Sounds like they've opened it up to include partners (as I believe was initially intended) in the past months, which is a good thing as the previous policy was not customer friendly.

 

[purple-Azumas]

It can have connections, but the Avanti leg(s) must be 75 miles+

Condition 4.1 (dated Oct '23) here - https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/tickets-and-savings/club-avanti - says that:

you’ll earn one Qualifying Journey for every Avanti West Coast ticket you buy direct on our website or via the app for journeys greater than 75 miles, booked between two Avanti West Coast calling points and using a ticket valid for travel and with a reservation on an Avanti West Coast service.

I queried a LNR - Avanti - LNR journey back in January, was told first:

We have had a look into this and we can confirm the journey {LNR Station 1} – {LNR Station 2} would be classed as a qualifying journey as the journey is over 75 miles.

Both the outbound and return would both need to be an Avanti stations.

When I then queried the last sentence, I was told:

Apologies, the journey is over 75 miles, however due to the stations not being Avanti stations, they would not class as a qualifying journey.

Sorry for the confusion.

I've got another ticket at the moment open about whether booking to Zone U12 or Travelcards would be valid but am still waiting to hear back. I get the impression Avanti haven't fully thought the scheme through.

 

[sh24]

24 hours after my qualifying journey an email welcoming me to Gold has popped up along with a code for a free Standard Premium ticket. Not bad! And a nice reward for a series of not wildly exciting business trips.

 

[Belperpete]

I joined Club Avanti, but in practice I am never able to book qualifying journeys. Their web-site either says that I can't have a ticket because there are no reservations left (when other TOCs are happy to sell me a ticket with a reservation on the same train), or tries to sell me a ticket without a reservation, or fails to take payment, or just goes "oops, sorry there is a problem, try again" repeatedly. Tried again to book tickets for this weekend, without success yet again, and so I am close to just giving up on them.

 

[Birkonian]

Condition 4.1 (dated Oct '23) here - https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/tickets-and-savings/club-avanti - says that:

I queried a LNR - Avanti - LNR journey back in January, was told first:

When I then queried the last sentence, I was told:

I've got another ticket at the moment open about whether booking to Zone U12 or Travelcards would be valid but am still waiting to hear back. I get the impression Avanti haven't fully thought the scheme through.

I made a number of journeys last year Liverpool Lime Street to London International LNE and return which must have counted towards my Gold complimentary tickets.

 

[Leisurefirst]

I joined Club Avanti, but in practice I am never able to book qualifying journeys. Their web-site either says that I can't have a ticket because there are no reservations left (when other TOCs are happy to sell me a ticket with a reservation on the same train), or tries to sell me a ticket without a reservation, or fails to take payment, or just goes "oops, sorry there is a problem, try again" repeatedly. Tried again to book tickets for this weekend, without success yet again, and so I am close to just giving up on them.

Had the "can't take payment, try again in 24 hours" continually yesterday whether PayPal or card for six tickets I took a lot of time in working out on the website.
Deleted one (because for some bizarre reason it wouldn't let me select the date for it even though it would for a longer journey on the same train and then change the journey) and it still wouldn't work.
Went into the app and it worked first time.

 

[Belperpete]

Had the "can't take payment, try again in 24 hours" continually yesterday whether PayPal or card for six tickets I took a lot of time in working out on the website.
Deleted one (because for some bizarre reason it wouldn't let me select the date for it even though it would for a longer journey on the same train and then change the journey) and it still wouldn't work.
Went into the app and it worked first time.

The web-site and app seem to behave differently. The app tells me that they can't take payment and to try again in 24 hours. Thinking it might be an issue with my credit card, I tried again using Paypal as the payment method, and got the same message - although slightly worryingly I have had an email from PayPal telling me that the payment has been authorised. So I tried the Avanti web-site, which told me that there are no reservations left on either or both of the outward/return trains, despite trying all the available alternatives for both. So I tried the TfW web-site which sold me the ticket, and gave me reservations for the Avanti trains, without any issues whatsoever.

This happens just about everytime I try and book tickets.

 

[Jimini]

No problem with either the app or the website here. Now in year two of Club Avanti here and we’ve both just got our second free first class ticket codes sent through. Already used the second SP ones and the first class lounge access. Can’t grumble as it’s a freebie — indeed arguably for a company that’s been lacklustre to say the least in recent times, it’s good to receive decent perks through the loyalty scheme at least.

 

[Leisurefirst]

The web-site and app seem to behave differently. The app tells me that they can't take payment and to try again in 24 hours. Thinking it might be an issue with my credit card, I tried again using Paypal as the payment method, and got the same message - although slightly worryingly I have had an email from PayPal telling me that the payment has been authorised. So I tried the Avanti web-site, which told me that there are no reservations left on either or both of the outward/return trains, despite trying all the available alternatives for both. So I tried the TfW web-site which sold me the ticket, and gave me reservations for the Avanti trains, without any issues whatsoever.

This happens just about everytime I try and book tickets.

Ha, yes, my website/App woes yesterday were the other way around to yours!
The App also gave me availability one day later than the website for one journey?

 

[pokemonsuper9]

The only time I ever used the Avanti app to buy a ticket it failed on me.
Then the TVM didn't accept my card either.
So I ended up at the ticket office (no problems there)

3 different attempts to buy tickets is exactly what you need when you're in a rush.

 

[Tezza1978]

I joined Club Avanti, but in practice I am never able to book qualifying journeys. Their web-site either says that I can't have a ticket because there are no reservations left (when other TOCs are happy to sell me a ticket with a reservation on the same train), or tries to sell me a ticket without a reservation, or fails to take payment, or just goes "oops, sorry there is a problem, try again" repeatedly. Tried again to book tickets for this weekend, without success yet again, and so I am close to just giving up on them.

You need to book at least 7 days in advance for the codes to work mate - which is why you may be having this issue. In the T's and C's of the offer - I had a similar issue with this when tried to use one of my 2 vouchers for a trip in 4 days time

 

[Belperpete]

You need to book at least 7 days in advance for the codes to work mate - which is why you may be having this issue. In the T's and C's of the offer - I had a similar issue with this when tried to use one of my 2 vouchers for a trip in 4 days time

I am not able to book journeys to accrue points in the first place. To accrue points you need to book tickets on either the Avanti web-site or app. However, they don't like the journeys that I make, which means I have to book them elsewhere, so cannot accrue the points. I have raised a separate thread about one of these issues:
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/avanti-web-site-claiming-no-reservations-available-when-there-are
Their website also doesn't seem to like me specifying via places, and just gives an 'oops, try again" message for perfectly valid routings.
The only time I have been able to book tickets on the Avanti website and so accrue points is on those few occasions when my journey has been purely on Avanti.

 

[bengolding]

I’ve booked a number of Avanti tickets over the telephone with their helpful Telesales team, linking bookings to my registered email account. These bookings have shown as Qualifying Journeys.

 

[Leisurefirst]

I've tried to answer this for myself by reading the Ts&Cs to no avail...
Last year in Club Avanti I didn't reach any free ticket threshold and stayed in "Silver".
This year, I've reached the next tier "Gold" already and earned the free Premium Return ticket.
I've got a few journeys not taken yet which should push me in "Platinum" before my year-end and earn me the free 1st Class Return ticket too.
I'm very confused as to what happens next year.
Apparently to stay in my status next year I need to make 9 journeys.
What though does this earn me?
Another 1st Class Return or not?

 

[Pemberton]

We have a date we each joined Club Avanti and the journey counter resets each year. Let's say for example a member joined on 1st July. So, on 1st July this year, the anniversary of joining Club Avanti, the journey count resets to zero. From 1st July you start again and if the t's and c's stay the same, during the next 12 month period, when you reach 9 qualifying journeys and then 21 qualifying journeys a member receives the same rewards afresh.

 

[Leisurefirst]

We have a date we each joined Club Avanti and the journey counter resets each year. Let's say for example a member joined on 1st July. So, on 1st July this year, the anniversary of joining Club Avanti, the journey count resets to zero. From 1st July you start again and if the t's and c's stay the same, during the next 12 month period, when you reach 9 qualifying journeys and then 21 qualifying journeys a member receives the same rewards afresh.

Well that's what I always thought but when I looked at it again this is what I don't get...

At the end of each membership year, your total of qualifying journeys will be reset to zero. You will remain in your current membership tier for the next year. If you start your new membership year at Gold level, but don’t collect enough qualifying journeys in the year (currently nine), you’ll drop down to Silver the year after.

What benefit is there to "stay" in your current membership tier? Does it gain you another free ticket?
I just don't understand