Special Offers Discussion

[northwichcat]

Rather oddly the Nottingham Post doesn't appear to be participating in the offer (and AFAIK never has done) even though it's owned by Reach plc and Nottingham is served by Northern (albeit only the Nottingham-Leeds service, with East Midlands Railway running most other services out of Nottingham).

There are at least two Derbyshire papers, the Buxton Advertiser and the Central Derbyshire Times, listed under National World, but I don't know if you can buy either of those in Nottingham. If not, then I guess the only way that people from Nottingham can make use of the offer would be to make a special journey to an area where you can buy participating newspapers, or ask a friend who lives in such an area to post some tokens to them.

And even if someone from Nottingham did manage to get hold of some tokens, they may find that because there are no participating papers for sale there, the ticket office staff at Nottingham may not be very familiar with the offer.

I would guess (though this is just speculation) that the Nottingham Post might have wanted to participate in the offer but EMR might have objected for fear that if the offer were promoted in any Nottingham local papers, passengers might get confused and think that they were also valid on EMR Regional services, and try to use them to get to places like Derby, Matlock, Lincoln and Skegness.

You're probably overthinking it. It's just as likely that they've reworked an old agreement that didn't include Nottingham, or that Northern opted against including Nottingham for commercial reasons. I don't think EMR can block an advert from another transport provider!

 

[DDB]

Rather oddly the Nottingham Post doesn't appear to be participating in the offer (and AFAIK never has done) even though it's owned by Reach plc and Nottingham is served by Northern (albeit only the Nottingham-Leeds service, with East Midlands Railway running most other services out of Nottingham).

I hadn't thought of this. The Post is missing out. If they had the tokens I would by the paper.

I will try and find some way to tell Nottingham post this and encourage other Nottingham residents to do the same!

 

[Deerfold]

Rather oddly the Nottingham Post doesn't appear to be participating in the offer (and AFAIK never has done) even though it's owned by Reach plc and Nottingham is served by Northern (albeit only the Nottingham-Leeds service, with East Midlands Railway running most other services out of Nottingham).

There are at least two Derbyshire papers, the Buxton Advertiser and the Central Derbyshire Times, listed under National World, but I don't know if you can buy either of those in Nottingham. If not, then I guess the only way that people from Nottingham can make use of the offer would be to make a special journey to an area where you can buy participating newspapers, or ask a friend who lives in such an area to post some tokens to them.

And even if someone from Nottingham did manage to get hold of some tokens, they may find that because there are no participating papers for sale there, the ticket office staff at Nottingham may not be very familiar with the offer.

I would guess (though this is just speculation) that the Nottingham Post might have wanted to participate in the offer but EMR might have objected for fear that if the offer were promoted in any Nottingham local papers, passengers might get confused and think that they were also valid on EMR Regional services, and try to use them to get to places like Derby, Matlock, Lincoln and Skegness.

The papers have remained the same for years. I suspect it started before Northern served Nottingham.

 

[YorkC]

If anyone's wondering about LNER/UNIDAYS, they're telling people on twitter it's expected to be back by the end of the month.

 

[A S Leib]

£1 each way between any Marston Vale line stations from 19 February to 19 May.

 

[Edvid]

Offer details below:

£1 tickets are coming to our Marston Vale line between Bletchley – Bedford on 19 February 2024.​

• From 19 February 2024 – 19 May 2024 you will be able to purchase £1 single tickets (£2 return) between Bletchley – Bedford.
• Anyone who wishes to travel between Bletchley – Bedford is entitled to use the offer. Child and railcard discounts are still valid.
• The offer will be available to buy on our website, on our app, from a ticket vending machine and at a station ticket office.

Check back here on 19 February for full terms and conditions

Despite what the third bullet point implies they are available from other retailers as well (including the RUK Trainsplit site).

 

[medwards]

I don't suppose anyone has a copy of the Reach Plc Day Ranger application Form for Northern's newspaper offer they can upload? If I go to download it from the website it gives an error. I have alerted Northern about this but they say they are not sure when it will be fixed and I due to travel tomorrow

 

[DDB]

I hadn't thought of this. The Post is missing out. If they had the tokens I would by the paper.

I will try and find some way to tell Nottingham post this and encourage other Nottingham residents to do the same!

I have emailed the Nottingham Post or rather a generic reach plc address about this. I suggest others do to.

 

[RAPC]

Rather oddly the Nottingham Post doesn't appear to be participating in the offer (and AFAIK never has done) even though it's owned by Reach plc and Nottingham is served by Northern (albeit only the Nottingham-Leeds service, with East Midlands Railway running most other services out of Nottingham).

Having planned and bought partnerships for advertisers through Reach and other publishers, it is likely to be a planning decision by Northern. Reach will have shared the list of potential publications in the initial planning stages. Northern (and / or their agency) will then have looked at audience data and distribution. They will then likely have a view on publication priorities against target audience.

It could well be that the Nottingham Post doesn't have the catchment area that makes the publication attractive to Northern. It could also just come down to cost. Northern have a budget for the promotion, the total package of potential titles comes in above that and a title (or two) need to be trimmed to meet the budget. If this is one of the larger publications, it will cost more in terms of package value.

Lots of credible reasons as to why it wasn't included, but almost certainly a commercial decision rather than being forgotten or left out in error. Unlikely that it will be added in either on that basis.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Is the Northern £10 special offer in the Manchester Evening News?

 

[AY1975]

I don't suppose anyone has a copy of the Reach Plc Day Ranger application Form for Northern's newspaper offer they can upload? If I go to download it from the website it gives an error. I have alerted Northern about this but they say they are not sure when it will be fixed and I due to travel tomorrow

I've had the same problem. When I try to download it from the website, I get this error message:

"The server returned a "400 Bad Request".

Something is broken. Please let us know what you were doing when this error occurred. We will fix it as soon as possible. Sorry for any inconvenience caused."

I got that last night and again just now (9.55am Wednesday). Fortunately I don't intend to use the offer until at least the Saturday after next. I'm guessing that their system might not have been able to cope with the number of people trying to use it, especially with this week being half-term in most areas.

Is the Northern £10 special offer in the Manchester Evening News?

Yes, according to the Northern website it is.

 

[medwards]

I've had the same problem. When I try to download it from the website, I get this error message:

"The server returned a "400 Bad Request".

Something is broken. Please let us know what you were doing when this error occurred. We will fix it as soon as possible. Sorry for any inconvenience caused."

If anyone needs it give northern a message on Facebook and they will send it. They are unable to send it on X(Twitter) but can on Facebook

 

[AY1975]

If anyone needs it give northern a message on Facebook and they will send it. They are unable to send it on X(Twitter) but can on Facebook

I presume you mean just go to Northern's Facebook page and message them from there. Fine if you're on Facebook, but not sure if you can do this if you're not.

Their Facebook page also gives an email address; not sure if it will work if you email them there instead.

 

[medwards]

I presume you mean just go to Northern's Facebook page and message them from there. Fine if you're on Facebook, but not sure if you can do this if you're not.

Their Facebook page also gives an email address; not sure if it will work if you email them there instead.

Yes message them via their Facebook messenger service. I asked both yesterday and today if they could just email it to me but they seemed to say they couldn't do that

 

[AY1975]

I don't suppose anyone has a copy of the Reach Plc Day Ranger application Form for Northern's newspaper offer they can upload? If I go to download it from the website it gives an error. I have alerted Northern about this but they say they are not sure when it will be fixed and I due to travel tomorrow

It seems to be working again now. At least it worked for me last night.

Having planned and bought partnerships for advertisers through Reach and other publishers, it is likely to be a planning decision by Northern. Reach will have shared the list of potential publications in the initial planning stages. Northern (and / or their agency) will then have looked at audience data and distribution. They will then likely have a view on publication priorities against target audience.

It could well be that the Nottingham Post doesn't have the catchment area that makes the publication attractive to Northern. It could also just come down to cost. Northern have a budget for the promotion, the total package of potential titles comes in above that and a title (or two) need to be trimmed to meet the budget. If this is one of the larger publications, it will cost more in terms of package value.

Lots of credible reasons as to why it wasn't included, but almost certainly a commercial decision rather than being forgotten or left out in error. Unlikely that it will be added in either on that basis.

Yes, I think you could well be right. The fact that Northern's Nottingham-Leeds service is mostly 2-car 195s, with no spare rolling stock available to cater for increased demand at busy times, could have something to do with it as well, I suppose. Northern might think that if they were to actively promote the offer in any Nottingham papers it might get too popular, with more people trying to use it than could physically get on their trains.

 

[Llandudno]

It seems to be working again now. At least it worked for me last night.


Yes, I think you could well be right. The fact that Northern's Nottingham-Leeds service is mostly 2-car 195s, with no spare rolling stock available to cater for increased demand at busy times, could have something to do with it as well, I suppose. Northern might think that if they were to actively promote the offer in any Nottingham papers it might get too popular, with more people trying to use it than could physically get on their trains.

Yep, regularly standing loads on the 2 car Nottingham -Leeds, they don’t want anymore passengers on this route!

 

[Mark J]

Will there be any more significant 'rail sales' this year, either nationally, or for providers such as GWR. Or what we've already had is basically all until next year?

 

[Pete 1981]

Is the Northern £10 special offer in the Manchester Evening News?

Yes it is, tokens till Saturday 24th

 

[TheSmiths82]

Just bought an physical paper of the MEN now. Hopefully I will get to the chance to use it, although realistically I can't go too far via Northern in a day as I will have to get back via Northern too!.

 

[ServerHoster]

Just bought a physical paper of the MEN now. Hopefully I will get to the chance to use it, although realistically I can't go too far via Northern in a day as I will have to get back via Northern too!.

I’m surprised you managed to find one.

I visited WhSmith’s and Sainsburys near Stockport station today and they didn’t have any.

Later on in Piccadilly they didn’t have any at Sainsburys or Co-Op, neither did a Sainsburys down the road have one. However the WhSmiths did have one copy of the Liverpool Echo (which is a participating paper) left which I bought.

It’s called the Manchester EVENING News, surely it’s better to find it in the evening.

 

[TheSmiths82]

I’m surprised you managed to find one.

I visited WhSmith’s and Sainsburys near Stockport station today and they didn’t have any.

Later on in Piccadilly they didn’t have any at Sainsburys or Co-Op, neither did a Sainsburys down the road have one. However the WhSmiths did have one copy of the Liverpool Echo (which is a participating paper) left which I bought.

It’s called the Manchester EVENING News, surely it’s better to find it in the evening.

I got mine from a local privately owned News Agents, they had lots of copies left. I suppose not many people buy it in the city centre, probably not the right demographic these days.

 

[mad_rich]

Uber Trains Ticketing

For missing avios, has anyone found a nifty way to get these reimbursed please? I‘ve tried through the Uber and Omio webform and Twitter and in app but haven’t got anywhere. They keep sending me in circles.

I've had the same problem. They credited some Avios from November's promotion, but only half what I was owed.

Uber CS tells me I have to contact Omio, Omio just says they'll forward everything back to Uber. Nobody I speak to seems to have a clue what Avios are, nor can they find any reference to the promotion.

I did have some mild success on a recent phone call with Uber CS. The agent asked me to send screenshots of the promotional email through the Uber messaging service. The latest reply has promised to resolve it by Monday...

 

[800Travel]

I've had the same problem. They credited some Avios from November's promotion, but only half what I was owed.

Uber CS tells me I have to contact Omio, Omio just says they'll forward everything back to Uber. Nobody I speak to seems to have a clue what Avios are, nor can they find any reference to the promotion.

I did have some mild success on a recent phone call with Uber CS. The agent asked me to send screenshots of the promotional email through the Uber messaging service. The latest reply has promised to resolve it by Monday...

Very concerning. I'm going to look into putting in a claim directly with BA Executive Club maybe.

 

[RAPC]

Very concerning. I'm going to look into putting in a claim directly with BA Executive Club maybe.

BAEC will refer you back to Uber, as they won’t have received any Avios requests from them.

Seen this sort of shuffle between the parties involved, many times over the years. Uber are correct in that they need confirmations of earned Avios to come from Omio. However the issue to resolve lies with Uber, with them needing to have a process to raise this via their partner.

@mad_rich is already doing the correct leg work, but pushing back at Uber to resolve. It sounds like Omio haven’t batched over a load of promotion confirmations, so until that happens, Uber could well have a lot of CS agent time taken up with requests for missing Avios, that they are not equipped to resolve.

 

[mad_rich]

Agree with @RAPC here. It's not BAEC's problem to solve any more than it's your banks fault if somebody promised you £50 and didn't pay. Certainly in my case, I'm receiving the regular 1 Avios per £, and received some bonus Avios. So the deposit mechanism is working.

It's Uber who sent the promotion, so it's their responsibility - even if they have to liaise with Omio or BA to fix it. The trick is getting past the first level CS and finding a person who understands and can do something about it.

(The fact that the last message from Uber asked for "the driver's name and pickup location" suggests I haven't found that person yet!)

 

[800Travel]

Agree with @RAPC here. It's not BAEC's problem to solve any more than it's your banks fault if somebody promised you £50 and didn't pay. Certainly in my case, I'm receiving the regular 1 Avios per £, and received some bonus Avios. So the deposit mechanism is working.

It's Uber who sent the promotion, so it's their responsibility - even if they have to liaise with Omio or BA to fix it. The trick is getting past the first level CS and finding a person who understands and can do something about it.

(The fact that the last message from Uber asked for "the driver's name and pickup location" suggests I haven't found that person yet!)

Yeah they did that two messages in a row for me. They didn't quite seem to understand I wouldn't necessarily know the train drivers name.

I thought that if I raised it to BAEC, they would then reach out to the relevant team at Uber and check I made the transaction I'm saying then add the points accordingly. AFAIK, that's how the missing cashback forms work at places like honey and airtime rewards etc. Sounds like I've misinterpreted how it works for Uber and BAEC though.

 

[Mojo]

The Uber 10% offer has been extended yet again to 30th June 2024.

As an aside, how long does this take to track? I booked my first journey on Wednesday (a Super Off-peak Return) and despite the Avios showing in my BAEC account the following day (faster than they track for actual flights with British Airways!), my Uber Wallet still shows a credit balance of £0.

 

[mad_rich]

The Uber 10% offer has been extended yet again to 30th June 2024.

As an aside, how long does this take to track? I booked my first journey on Wednesday (a Super Off-peak Return) and despite the Avios showing in my BAEC account the following day (faster than they track for actual flights with British Airways!), my Uber Wallet still shows a credit balance of £0.

That's good news.

I think they quote ten days after the end of the validity of the ticket, so you would be looking at the end of March for that one. It's always tracked for me without problem, taking a week or two. (Unlike the promotional Avios)

 

[northwichcat]

It’s called the Manchester EVENING News, surely it’s better to find it in the evening.

I think it used to normally be available from early afternoon.

 

[Puffing Devil]

The Uber 10% offer has been extended yet again to 30th June 2024.

As an aside, how long does this take to track? I booked my first journey on Wednesday (a Super Off-peak Return) and despite the Avios showing in my BAEC account the following day (faster than they track for actual flights with British Airways!), my Uber Wallet still shows a credit balance of £0.

Good news indeed! Now we need another gift card promo to stack with it.

Tracking - I've lost the plot trying to keep up with the random credits that appear in my account, usually a couple of weeks after I've travelled.