VTEC online ticket purchase cut off time

[Marty82]

Hey all,

Had a last minute trip from Aberdeen to Edinburgh the other day and decided to use the VTEC website to buy my ticket. I chose VTEC as I have always liked the EC buying interface and because of the Nectar points I would earn. I also thought it would save me time at the station ticket office or machine.

I tried repeatedly to purchase my ticket on the morning of my journey but failed. I was obviously given the message that it was too late to have my tickets sent to me but it then wouldn't let me choose to collect my tickets on departure instead.

I contacted VTEC on Twitter who said that the cut off for online purchase is 15 minutes before the train departure time but I attempted to purchase before this time. They told me that if it was to happen again then I should contact their Web Support Team by phone. I would've done this but by this point I needed to be at the station for my train so I just queued up and bought my ticket at a machine.

I was wondering whether anyone else has had this problem or whether I was just unlucky? Is the 15 minute cut off time correct or is it in fact earlier and therefor the reason my purchase failed?

On a side note, I really don't think Aberdeen Station has enough ticket machines (3 Scotrail, 2 Scotrail 'collection' only machines & 2 VTEC). There was a queue at each of the machines at 2.30pm which is far from a peak time so I dread to think how they cope at peak time. Is there a set of criteria (passenger numbers, amount of season tickets, ticket office hours etc) used to decide upon the number of machines at different stations or is it up to different TOCs to decide how much they are willing to spend?

Thanks all in advance.

 

[YorkC]

I've done it before, but just not chosen a specific train so that there is no 15 min cutoff to apply. I've ordered tickets via EC/Southern before and collected them about a minute later.

 

[Searle]

I've stood beside a forum member as he bought a ticket online and picked it up for him about 15 seconds later with about 4 minutes until the train departs, so I'm not sure where the 15 minutes has come from. I assume they tell this to people just to make sure that they leave enough time?

 

[Marty82]

I've done it before, but just not chosen a specific train so that there is no 15 min cutoff to apply. I've ordered tickets via EC/Southern before and collected them about a minute later.

Hmmm, I wonder what I did wrong then. Does it depend on the type of ticket. I was purchasing an off peak return so wasn't tied to a specific train.

I've stood beside a forum member as he bought a ticket online and picked it up for him about 15 seconds later with about 4 minutes until the train departs, so I'm not sure where the 15 minutes has come from. I assume they tell this to people just to make sure that they leave enough time?

Ah, maybe it is an advised 15 minutes rather than meaning it physically won't work after that point.

 

[Failed Unit]

It is a safety margin in case of IT gremlins. It should happen instanty but may not hence the 15 minutes. Scotrail's site does something similar.

 

[Marty82]

It is a safety margin in case of IT gremlins. It should happen instanty but may not hence the 15 minutes. Scotrail's site does something similar.

I'm guessing IT gremlins might also be the cause of it not working before the 15 cut off too then.

 

[SaveECRewards]

Please note booking on the VTEC website only earns Nectar points on VTEC journeys not that of any other operator (including Virgin Trains West Coast).

If you want Nectar points on your booking for ALL rail journeys you need to sign up for a FirstGroup site. They all use the same booking engine as VTEC but give points on all journeys.

I'm not sure whether Aberdeen-Edinburgh would earn Nectar points regardless as it can potentially be served by EC. But if you booked something that's not on the EC route you'd get nothing.

So FirstGroup is your safe bet if you want points.

(not that I see Nectar as worth collecting but if you do want points I'm sure you want it on all trips).

 

[Failed Unit]

Please note booking on the VTEC website only earns Nectar points on VTEC journeys not that of any other operator (including Virgin Trains West Coast).

If you want Nectar points on your booking for ALL rail journeys you need to sign up for a FirstGroup site. They all use the same booking engine as VTEC but give points on all journeys.

I'm not sure whether Aberdeen-Edinburgh would earn Nectar points regardless as it can potentially be served by EC. But if you booked something that's not on the EC route you'd get nothing.

So FirstGroup is your safe bet if you want points.

(not that I see Nectar as worth collecting but if you do want points I'm sure you want it on all trips).

I guess that also applies to airmiles? Nectar points are better than a kick in the teeth but not much. Time to keep my local station booking clerk more entertained. (Won't be boycotting the discount where available but the station will see much more of me now!)

 

[Marty82]

Please note booking on the VTEC website only earns Nectar points on VTEC journeys not that of any other operator (including Virgin Trains West Coast).

If you want Nectar points on your booking for ALL rail journeys you need to sign up for a FirstGroup site. They all use the same booking engine as VTEC but give points on all journeys.

I'm not sure whether Aberdeen-Edinburgh would earn Nectar points regardless as it can potentially be served by EC. But if you booked something that's not on the EC route you'd get nothing.

So FirstGroup is your safe bet if you want points.

(not that I see Nectar as worth collecting but if you do want points I'm sure you want it on all trips).

Yeah, that's a question I asked VTWC when they started issuing Nectar points. They couldn't, or wouldn't tell me whether you earn them on route on which they operate but is also operated by others. If their customer service people don't know then how am I supposed to know as a mere passenger! Maybe I should ask VTEC to see whether they have an answer.

 

[Hadders]

If you're trying to book a seat reservation as part of your journey then there has to be at least a two hour gap before the departure of the train from its first station.

You can purchase a ticket without a reservation.

Tickets can be collected from a TVM immediately after booking (although they tell you to allow 15 minutes)

 

[DeeGee]

(not that I see Nectar as worth collecting but if you do want points I'm sure you want it on all trips).

Certainly it isn't as generous as other loyalty schemes, but I'm travelling for free to Warsaw in September with Nectar paying for the hotel.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Please note booking on the VTEC website only earns Nectar points on VTEC journeys not that of any other operator (including Virgin Trains West Coast).

If you want Nectar points on your booking for ALL rail journeys you need to sign up for a FirstGroup site. They all use the same booking engine as VTEC but give points on all journeys.

I'm not sure whether Aberdeen-Edinburgh would earn Nectar points regardless as it can potentially be served by EC. But if you booked something that's not on the EC route you'd get nothing.

So FirstGroup is your safe bet if you want points.

(not that I see Nectar as worth collecting but if you do want points I'm sure you want it on all trips).

I've just bought a MKC-U1256 Virgin (WC) One day travlecard on VTEC site and it says I've earned 68 nectar points.

 

[bb21]

Looking at my Nectar statement, it would appear that points have indeed been credited for purchases of non-EC tickets.

The double points haven't yet been added to the account.

 

[Romilly]

If you're trying to book a seat reservation as part of your journey then there has to be at least a two hour gap before the departure of the train from its first station. You can purchase a ticket without a reservation.

If I recall correctly, it's not trying to book a reservation that's the problem in itself (in any event on East Coast you wouldn't be able to book a reservation for an East Coast train in 2 hours time, let alone one in 15 minutes time), but simply specifying a train within the next 2 hours. So if I want to buy a walk-up ticket online for travel in the next 2 hours, I wouldn't specify particular trains (or, if needed to specify trains in order to force the website to sell me a ticket for a particular route, would specify trains at least 2 hours later).

 

[yorkie]

So if I want to buy a walk-up ticket online for travel in the next 2 hours, I wouldn't specify particular trains (or, if needed to specify trains in order to force the website to sell me a ticket for a particular route, would specify trains at least 2 hours later).

Agreed! I've done this before, and that's how you do it.

 

[SaveECRewards]

Interesting that people have said they've received Nectar points (can you confirm they've actually posted or whether the site just says they will) on non-VTEC journeys.

It would make sense that they would allow that (like FirstGroup does) but their website clearly states Virgin Trains East Coast only so even West Coast should be excluded.

So will they in the future update the site to just offer points to East Coast only? That'd be crazy in my eyes (as the 5% commission must be more than the cost of Nectar points) but that was the original intention.

We'll see anyway!

 

[bb21]

The points do seem to have been credited, yes, but not the special offer bonus points so far, even for purchases of EC tickets.

Either it is an error or that they have the plans of removing the eligibility of these tickets in the pipeline, assuming that the website is correct.