Rail staff (PRIV) fares on the Night Riviera

[RPI]

Moderator note - split from:

New Rail Staff online booking site is now live

Per the subject, the new Rail Staff online booking site is now live. To prevent "Joe Public" from registering, you need to provide a one-time UUID (32 character hex string) provided by RSTL and your Date of Birth as part of the registration process. A few observations: The booking engine is...

www.railforums.co.uk

The Priv rate sleeper products on GWR have been removed, you now have to pay the berth supplement on top of the priv rate ticket/free pass

 

[CyrusWuff]

The Priv rate sleeper products on GWR have been removed, you now have to pay the berth supplement on top of the priv rate ticket/free pass

That's a significant price hike and with stricter refund rules to boot. (And Knowledgebase hasn't been updated to reflect the change either.)

Previously: £33.75 for Solo, £55.00 for Twin per cabin, regardless of destination, and refundable up to departure time (75% refund of the nominal berth "supplement" if cancelled up to 1600 the day before travel, 50% refund from there to departure time).

Now: £18.65 for a Super Off-Peak Single (assuming Penzance) plus £90 berth supplement (Solo), or £120.00 (£60 per person) for a Twin, with a full refund (less £10 admin fee per ticket) up to 14 days before travel, 75% up to 7 days before, and no refund less than 7 days before!

 

[Watershed]

The Priv rate sleeper products on GWR have been removed, you now have to pay the berth supplement on top of the priv rate ticket/free pass

Very disappointing. If you have to buy a berth supplement it'll be nearly as expensive as (in fact, sometimes more than) the Cally Sleeper! Hmm.

 

[Flying Snail]

Veering off-topic for this thread, but that's a significant price hike and with stricter refund rules to boot. (And Knowledgebase hasn't been updated to reflect the change either.)

Previously: £33.75 for Solo, £55.00 for Twin per cabin, regardless of destination, and refundable up to departure time (75% refund of the nominal berth "supplement" if cancelled up to 1600 the day before travel, 50% refund from there to departure time).

Now: £18.65 for a Super Off-Peak Single (assuming Penzance) plus £90 berth supplement (Solo), or £120.00 (£60 per person) for a Twin, with a full refund (less £10 admin fee per ticket) up to 14 days before travel, 75% up to 7 days before, and no refund less than 7 days before!

Where are you getting the £90 from? The public supplement is £60 on any searches I am making.

There is also a reasonable question of whether a highly subsidised and limited availability service should be sold at a massive discount to staff.

IMO the public berth supplement plus staff discount fare is a reasonable situation for the Riviera at least, CS is a joke as the supplement is similarly priced to the inclusive public fare.

 

[Haywain]

IMO the public berth supplement plus staff discount fare is a reasonable situation for the Riviera at least, CS is a joke as the supplement is similarly priced to the inclusive public fare.

It’s been the case for many years that a Priv discounted inclusive fare is cheaper than a berth supplement on Caledonian Sleepers, and it’s never been hidden.

 

[Watershed]

There is also a reasonable question of whether a highly subsidised and limited availability service should be sold at a massive discount to staff.

That's a reasonable question to ask, and in many ways the availability of a large staff discount on rail travel is a historic relic. But if there is to be such a discount, I don't see why it should be substantially different on sleeper services as compared to other services. Both are highly subsidised. Both only have a limited amount of capacity available.

IMO the public berth supplement plus staff discount fare is a reasonable situation for the Riviera at least, CS is a joke as the supplement is similarly priced to the inclusive public fare.

The thing is, the public berth supplement, even at £60, is normally very uncompetitive compared to the inclusive fare. So I think the public berth supplement is fundamentally overpriced; effectively there is no staff discount available on the Riviera Sleeper anymore.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Where are you getting the £90 from? The public supplement is £60 on any searches I am making.

Admittedly I only checked one day, but the RST version of WebTIS was quoting the "full" supplement of £90 Solo and £120 Twin (£60 per person) in conjunction with a Priv, and GWR's site was quoting £55 Solo and £82.50 Twin (£41.25 per person) for the same train at public rate.

I haven't checked it on a Ticket Office machine yet, however.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It’s been the case for many years that a Priv discounted inclusive fare is cheaper than a berth supplement on Caledonian Sleepers, and it’s never been hidden.

Arguably with the move to single-fare pricing (50% on the ECML, 70 on the WCML) berth supplements are unnecessary anyway, and it'd be easier that CS is just booked direct with them.

 

[LowLevel]

Where are you getting the £90 from? The public supplement is £60 on any searches I am making.

There is also a reasonable question of whether a highly subsidised and limited availability service should be sold at a massive discount to staff.

IMO the public berth supplement plus staff discount fare is a reasonable situation for the Riviera at least, CS is a joke as the supplement is similarly priced to the inclusive public fare.

It would have been nice to be told that the fare was more than doubling after however many decades. No different to Eurostar deciding that Standard Premium fares were an oversight after 25 years - it just makes me want to go for alternative options like flying or in the case of GWR rinsing an XC £10 friends and family ticket instead, which is probably the point.

Any I've found are £55 booked via GWR plus the £18.95 so £73.95.

 

[ge-gn]

So am I correct that there is no longer a privilege rate inclusive fare on the Night Riviera?? I’m surprised that this information hasn’t been passed on by RSTL.

I am intending to use the Night Riviera in a few months for a family holiday. Are we saying I’m now better off going in the mix with public fares? £240 does seem expensive (berth supplement plus dated box), when I’ve travelled to Fort Bill before on CS for about half of that amount, for a family of four.

Not got access to the new website as yet to make comparisons.

 

[Kite159]

Where are you getting the £90 from? The public supplement is £60 on any searches I am making.

There is also a reasonable question of whether a highly subsidised and limited availability service should be sold at a massive discount to staff.

IMO the public berth supplement plus staff discount fare is a reasonable situation for the Riviera at least, CS is a joke as the supplement is similarly priced to the inclusive public fare.

The DfT will be happy to sell the berths at full price to the general public, rather than at massive discounts to staff.

I wouldn't be surprised if the DfT don't start sniffing around other massive discounts, thinking that it will be better to sell 1 seat at full public rate than 3 seats at staff discount rate etc.

 

[Sleepy]

On checking random date for Night Riv. (24th June) the site will reserve berths at higher prices than on GWR website the same as CyrusWuff found (berth supplements are variable demand pricing now instead of historically fixed price) so best to book at ticket offices (or berth supplements only from GWR telesales)

 

[greyman42]

What if you just want to travel in the seated coach?

 

[Watershed]

What if you just want to travel in the seated coach?

Tickets are valid the same as on a day-train. Reservations are recommended but not mandatory.

 

[Haywain]

The DfT will be happy to sell the berths at full price to the general public, rather than at massive discounts to staff.

I am pretty sure that the current pricing structure pre-dates CoVid and DfT control.

 

[Twotwo]

I'm really confused as to how I can book this. I have a priv but can't find this on the online portal they sent?

 

[Efini92]

It would have been nice to be told that the fare was more than doubling after however many decades. No different to Eurostar deciding that Standard Premium fares were an oversight after 25 years - it just makes me want to go for alternative options like flying or in the case of GWR rinsing an XC £10 friends and family ticket instead, which is probably the point.

Any I've found are £55 booked via GWR plus the £18.95 so £73.95.

Do we not get discounted standard premium on Eurostar any more?

 

[LowLevel]

Do we not get discounted standard premium on Eurostar any more?

Not unless you've got a first class priv, no. They withdraw it before COVID as apparently offering it for the previous couple of decades was "all a big mistake".

 

[High Dyke]

I haven't got access to the new on-line booking portal, for Rail Staff travel, but looking at the updated 'Where Can I go' information, reveals a slight difference in how the PRIV travel is applied.

Safeguarded staff get: https://www.raildeliverygroup.com/files/Publications/services/rst/RST_Where_Can_I_Go_SG_v17.pdf

Great Western Railway sleepers
Great Western Railway operate the Night Riviera sleeper between London Paddington and Penzance. To travel you must:
• purchase a priv-rate ticket and pay the sleeping berth supplement, or;
• date a box on your Staff Travel Card and pay the sleeping berth supplement, or;
• hold a Western Region Blue Status Pass or Silver Status Pass and pay the sleeping berth supplement, or;
• hold a Gold Status Pass endorsed “All Stations and in Sleeping Berths” and book a free berth supplement at a station ticket office.

Non-safeguarded staff get:https://www.raildeliverygroup.com/files/Publications/services/rst/RST_Where_Can_I_Go_NSG_v17.pdf

Great Western Railway sleepers
Great Western operate the Night Riviera sleeper between London Paddington and Penzance.

To travel you must purchase a Priv-rate ticket and pay the sleeping berth supplement.

The berth supplement is £60 for a berth in a twin cabin, or £90 for a berth in a solo cabin. The twin cabin cannot be shared with a stranger, so if two pass holders are travelling, the price is £120. There are no discounts on the berth supplements for any category of customer (Child / Railcard / PRIV etc.).

Tickets can be purchased from a National Rail station, by presenting your Rail Staff Leisure Card to show eligibility.

Has this travel information changed? The info is sourced from the Winter 2021-22 Staff Travel Restrictions - updated 3 December 2021

 

[Sleepy]

I haven't got access to the new on-line booking portal, for Rail Staff travel, but looking at the updated 'Where Can I go' information, reveals a slight difference in how the PRIV travel is applied.

Safeguarded staff get: https://www.raildeliverygroup.com/files/Publications/services/rst/RST_Where_Can_I_Go_SG_v17.pdf


Non-safeguarded staff get:https://www.raildeliverygroup.com/files/Publications/services/rst/RST_Where_Can_I_Go_NSG_v17.pdf


Has this travel information changed? The info is sourced from the Winter 2021-22 Staff Travel Restrictions - updated 3 December 2021

Only major difference between them is boxes for safeguarded give free travel, what changed last month for everyone is berth supplements now have variable pricing according to expected demand.

 

[High Dyke]

Only major difference between them is boxes for safeguarded give free travel, what changed last month for everyone is berth supplements now have variable pricing according to expected demand.

Ah right. It's nice of RSTL to mention that.

 

[ge-gn]

Just been to my local station to purchase berth supplements for travel on the Night Riviera on 29/7/22.

Unfortunately the sales assistant was unable to reserve a berth without selecting a fare first (I’m using my free boxes), but was able to book a berth when selecting a priv fare.

This would suggest there is priv availability. So what is the problem? Is it likely to be rustiness in the sales assistant? Or are berth only fares released later?

Keen to get these booked as I know the sleeper is super popular in Summer.

 

[philthetube]

Is an advantage to these changes that it will allow priv fares to be available at all times, subject to berth availability and not just when priv allocations are available.

 

[HamworthyGoods]

Just been to my local station to purchase berth supplements for travel on the Night Riviera on 29/7/22.

Unfortunately the sales assistant was unable to reserve a berth without selecting a fare first (I’m using my free boxes), but was able to book a berth when selecting a priv fare.

This would suggest there is priv availability. So what is the problem? Is it likely to be rustiness in the sales assistant? Or are berth only fares released later?

Keen to get these booked as I know the sleeper is super popular in Summer.

I believe they have to select a fare and then on the next step click on reservation only. It’s the same process they would do to book just a seat reservation on a service.

 

[Watershed]

Is an advantage to these changes that it will allow priv fares to be available at all times, subject to berth availability and not just when priv allocations are available.

It's hardly much of an advantage, given that the public rate berth-inclusive fares will now usually be cheaper.

 

[CyrusWuff]

It's hardly much of an advantage, given that the public rate berth-inclusive fares will now usually be cheaper.

From my (admittedly limited) testing, this change affects everyone wishing to book on the Night Riviera, and berth supplements aren't available with Advance tickets.

 

[Watershed]

From my (admittedly limited) testing, this change affects everyone wishing to book on the Night Riviera, and berth supplements aren't available with Advance tickets.

I don't think berth supplements have ever been available with Advances? The choice for the public (if wishing to use a berth) has always been a walkup ticket + supplement, or berth-inclusive Advance.

Previously Priv holders could use a walkup ticket/pass/box + public rate supplement, or a 75% off berth-inclusive Advance. The latter was almost always the cheapest option, but having been removed, a public rate berth-inclusive Advance is now the cheapest option for many. Which means a 300% price increase.

 

[Sleepy]

There are no public berth inclusive Advance tickets on sale now.

 

[andylikestrain]

Hi all
I’m not a PRIV holder, but am interested if anyone knows why inclusive berths with advance fares are no longer available?

 

[andylikestrain]

Bump.
anyone?