Great Ticket Sale courtesy of Grant Shapps

[Feuillesmortes]

There will be a Great Ticket Sale

Source:

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7072355522208468230

I don't know more than that except he announced it yesterday from Kings Cross on his official tiktok account.

 

[Jan Mayen]

I have visions of bundles of old, used, mag strip tickets being sold on eBay

 

[yorkie]

There will be Advance and Off Peak fares available on participating operators (Chiltern, XC, c2c, EMR, Greater Anglia, GWR, GTR, Northern, Southeastern, SWR,. TPE, LNER, Avanti, WMT)

Tickets will be on sale between 19 April and 3 May 2022, for travel between 25 April and 27 May 2022

TOCs can choose whether or not to include First Class options, so you may find it varies by fare setter whether a First Class option is available.

TOCs can also choose to use one of their own existing Advance ticket types and rename them for the promotion.

 

[Kite159]

Hopefully it will be worth it and not just "tickets from £X" where the number of tickets available at that lowest price tier are focused on the least popular departures (very early morning or very late) with a token number available on other trains.

 

[Snow1964]

If this is a back to normal (rather than pandemic), and encouraging passengers back let’s hope the volumes are available, and none of this short notice changes.

Wont be any use as a promotion, if a potential passenger who has avoided trains for 2 years tries to buy a ticket, but finds no availability. So need to end 100% compulsory reservations, and ensure that we get back to minimum 12 weeks trains (including weekends) having discounted tickets for sale.

I would say ideally you want to be able to get people to experience the train, and then be able to book next trip even if it is in August school holidays, not say sorry tickets not yet released.

 

[Jan Mayen]

Has anyone got examples of prices yet?

 

[Master29]

Has anyone got examples of prices yet?

Seeing as there are only a few days between potentially purchasing a ticket and actual date of travel don't hold your breath that
it will be very much. I think it's just spin rather than the really cheap advances you could get until recently. I hope I am wrong however.

 

[Haywain]

So need to end 100% compulsory reservations,

Advance tickets require reservations anyway, so it makes no difference to this.

 

[realemil]

Seeing as there are only a few days between potentially purchasing a ticket and actual date of travel don't hold your breath that
it will be very much. I think it's just spin rather than the really cheap advances you could get until recently. I hope I am wrong however.

Yup, I think it'll just be 'Advance Tickets' renamed, and Off-Peak tickets valid all day long during this travel time.

If supposed 'Advance Tickets' sell out, they get shoved an off-peak fare.

Advertised as a 'limited number' (whatever amount of advance fares is normally sold) to attempt to attract passengers.

However, we won't know until they go on sale...

 

[Bletchleyite]

So need to end 100% compulsory reservations

Only the Caledonian Sleeper has compulsory reservations now, which is as before. Other TOCs have the flag set, but I suspect that is now more so they can prevent sales of trains they don't think will run, and nobody will prevent you boarding. There could do with being a change to the reservation system with a new flag that means "don't sell without a reservation, but you can use a walk-up ticket on here" to distinguish from "you must have a reservation to use this train or you may be refused access or be penalised". The barely-used "reservations recommended" flag could I guess be used for that.

But as most long distance journeys are now on Advances, as @Haywain says the vast majority probably haven't noticed - but have seen some benefits of the approach, namely that the train won't sell until released, so you don't end up buying an Anytime only to find Advances appearing later.

It's a right bodge for several things that need fixing properly, but it does sort of work.

 

[Bertie the bus]

If this is a back to normal (rather than pandemic), and encouraging passengers back let’s hope the volumes are available, and none of this short notice changes.

Wont be any use as a promotion, if a potential passenger who has avoided trains for 2 years tries to buy a ticket, but finds no availability. So need to end 100% compulsory reservations, and ensure that we get back to minimum 12 weeks trains (including weekends) having discounted tickets for sale.

I would say ideally you want to be able to get people to experience the train, and then be able to book next trip even if it is in August school holidays, not say sorry tickets not yet released.

Similarly, if a potential passenger has avoided trains for 2 years they are not going to want to travel on an absolutely rammed one which, if this offer was a dirt cheap free for all, could easily happen.

 

[Cletus]

Had an email earlier from Southeastern proclaiming

We have added MORE Advance tickets to MORE destinations giving you MORE chances to save and travel on selected routes across Kent, London and East Sussex for less.

Advance Train Tickets | Southeastern

If you know where and when you’re going, buy an Advance ticket for a specific train and get the best value deal on your train travel.

www.southeasternrailway.co.uk

 

[ChrisC]

Similarly, if a potential passenger has avoided trains for 2 years they are not going to want to travel on an absolutely rammed one which, if this offer was a dirt cheap free for all, could easily happen.

That’s the problem, as although there are some routes and times of the day when passenger numbers are quite low, there are also some very crowded trains especially at weekends. I’m finding a number of routes from Nottingham on Saturdays best to avoid as they are rammed. The main problem being short 2 and 3 carriage trains running between major cities but that has always been a problem outside of the South East. Nottingham to Sheffield, Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester have all been rammed on many Saturdays without attracting extra passengers. I’ve got a hotel booked down in Plymouth during May and I just hope that this offer doesn’t result in XC being even more overcrowded and unpleasant for my journey.

 

[Kite159]

Had an email earlier from Southeastern proclaiming

Advance Train Tickets | Southeastern

If you know where and when you’re going, buy an Advance ticket for a specific train and get the best value deal on your train travel.

www.southeasternrailway.co.uk

Hopefully it won't be like SWR who offer advances and unless you are travelling in the morning peak, a flexible return with a network railcard discount is quite often cheaper.

Or a way of them to offer advance tickets when quietly removing the super off-peak return fares, forcing a price increase for anybody who doesn't want to be tied to a set train.

 

[AY1975]

Only the Caledonian Sleeper has compulsory reservations now, which is as before.

Yes, and it would appear that CS, ScotRail and TfW will not be participating in this offer, presumably because internal Scottish and Welsh rail services are a devolved matter so the DfT has no jurisdiction over them. I know CS is an Anglo-Scottish service but it is subsidised by the Scottish Government.

Open access operators Grand Central, Hull Trains and Lumo also do not appear to be included, again presumably because the DfT has no jurisdiction over them other than allowing them to operate.

 

[infobleep]

Off peak tickets, valid all day sounds great as long as a full price off peak return is cheaper than a full price single and discounted single.

As for advances, I doubt they will increase the range of destinations available. I doubt there would be a Guildford to Eastbourne advanced single.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Is that what they're actually doing, an "every day's a Saturday" promotion? If so that is a great idea. They should actually call it that instead of a "great ticket sale".

 

[Haywain]

Is that what they're actually doing, an "every day's a Saturday" promotion? If so that is a great idea. They should actually call it that instead of a "great ticket sale".

No, because it revolves around Advance tickets.

Off peak tickets, valid all day sounds great

Not what the sale is about.

 

[Bletchleyite]

No, because it revolves around Advance tickets.

Not what the sale is about.

@yorkie mentions Off Peaks above - is it dependent on TOC?

They really need to do an "off peak all week" (there's another slogan) type sale to prove once and for all that overpriced Anytimes have to go in the new era of leisure travel being the railway's mainstay. Obviously doing that would provide an Advance cap too.

 

[Haywain]

@yorkie mentions Off Peaks above - is it dependent on TOC?

You're right, I missed that. I think it will be TOC dependent - I certainly haven't heard any suggestion that we'll be doing that (not that I always hear what we're doing!).

 

[mmh]

Advance tickets require reservations anyway, so it makes no difference to this.

I don't think this is correct. Numerous TOCs disagree with this and sell advance tickets without reservations, including on services where reservations aren't possible.

You're right, I missed that. I think it will be TOC dependent - I certainly haven't heard any suggestion that we'll be doing that (not that I always hear what we're doing!).

Which TOC do you work for?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Yes, and it would appear that CS, ScotRail and TfW will not be participating in this offer, presumably because internal Scottish and Welsh rail services are a devolved matter so the DfT has no jurisdiction over them. I know CS is an Anglo-Scottish service but it is subsidised by the Scottish Government.

I'd expect Scotrail and TfW to make their own promotional offers, but maybe not to coincide with DfT's.
Many cross-border fares are set by DfT TOCs (Avanti, LNER, GWR, XC, TPE etc) so I would expect those to apply to the DfT offer.
Open access operators can set what fares they like, at any time.

CS was subsidised by the UK Treasury for the purchase of the new sleeper fleet, but not for day-to-day operation.

 

[Haywain]

I don't think this is correct. Numerous TOCs disagree with this and sell advance tickets without reservations, including on services where reservations aren't possible

A counted place is still a reservation.

 

[mmh]

A counted place is still a reservation.

I knew this reply would happen, so thank you for being the person who made it. When is a reservation not a reservation? Are some reservations more equal than others?

"Counted seat" non-reservations are NOT reservations, just the railway's predictably cack-handed way of doing advances for non-reservable trains.

 

[yorkie]

I knew this reply would happen, so thank you for being the person who made it. When is a reservation not a reservation? Are some reservations more equal than others?

"Counted seat" non-reservations are NOT reservations, just the railway's predictably cack-handed way of doing advances for non-reservable trains.

In the data, they do count as reservations. Unfortunately when the fares database was created the concept of counted place reservations did not exist and was not thought of.

 

[Mike99]

Greater Anglia have already released and sold Advance tickets for the week commencing Sunday 24th April through to Friday 29th April. These were released last Saturday, 5th March early in the morning. I managed to pick up the cheapest ticket they have on Advances from Stowmarket to London Liverpool Street £10.00, (£6.60 with my railcard) for the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, with is in my view excellent value. I wonder then, in the 'Great Ticket Sale', what prices and on which services tickets will be offered. Greater Anglia have for several weeks offered Advances generally 7 weeks in advance, normally being released on a Saturday morning always at about 5.45am (using the Trainline Advance Ticket Alert facility). I will be expecting tickets to be released this Saturday for Monday 2nd May through to Friday 6th May, I'm wondering now if this will happen, and at what prices. Or should I wait for the 'Sale' tickets, find there is nothing and miss out completely!!

 

[Haywain]

Greater Anglia have already released and sold Advance tickets for the week commencing Sunday 24th April through to Friday 29th April.

Is that all? LNER have reservations open to June 24th.

 

[Mike99]

I know LNER are very good, I got a ticket a few weeks back Stowmarket to Leeds with my railcard for Easter Saturday for £9.40 each way, fantastic value.

 

[TUC]

Is this really going to be any different to what is on offer normally, or is the government just relying on yet more journalists 'discovering' Advance fares as if they were a new innovation?

 

[david1212]

.....
They really need to do an "off peak all week" (there's another slogan) type sale to prove once and for all that overpriced Anytimes have to go in the new era of leisure travel being the railway's mainstay. Obviously doing that would provide an Advance cap too.

I agree and it need to run for a while e.g. until October not just tickets on sale for a couple of weeks for travel within a month or so and include walk up for immediate travel not only purchase in advance.
By being an offer not permanent ought to appease the Treasury.