XC - no reservations - are seats available?

[pdq]

Hi
I'm trying to book an Anytime Day Return between Wakefield and Chesterfield for next Wed 21st Sept. On both my work's booking engine (Redfern Travel) and on the Cross Country website I get a message about no seats. Does this mean the reservation system is down, or is the train already full with no more seats available? Screenshot of Cross Country website attached.

Thanks.

 

[island]

Not familiar with the route, but are reservations offered normally on those trains?

 

[button_boxer]

Hi
I'm trying to book an Anytime Day Return between Wakefield and Chesterfield for next Wed 21st Sept. On both my work's booking engine (Redfern Travel) and on the Cross Country website I get a message about no seats. Does this mean the reservation system is down, or is the train already full with no more seats available? Screenshot of Cross Country website attached.

Thanks.

Probably no reservable seats available, but you may still be able to find a non-reserved seat on the day (or a seat that has been reserved but the holder of the reservation hasn't shown up). That ticket is valid on any train that day so you don't need a reservation, but you may have to stand if it's busy.

 

[W-on-Sea]

Dunno, I just tried these journeys and trains on the East Coast website (albeit selecting Advance, rather than Anytime Day Return, tickets) and it came up with a stated seat reservation in each direction. Maybe worth trying again?

 

[LexyBoy]

Not familiar with the route, but are reservations offered normally on those trains?

Both are XC services, so should offer reservations.

I'd try again in a day or two, or at a station where they should be able to tell you whether it's a booking engine problem or a full train. I don't know how XC allocate seat reservations, but there are Advance fares available on the outbound so it's certainly not full - it's possible that all the "open" reservation slots are taken though. (The outbound is an Edinburgh-Plymouth, so rammed I would predict).

 

[John @ home]

Maybe worth trying again?

A reservation is an essential element of an Advance ticket. With flexible tickets, I find train companies often do not offer reservations for short hops on long distance trains. If a reservation for this journey is important to you, try booking at a station.

 

[pdq]

Thanks all. As

• I do need to go to Chesterfield and arrive around 10am,
• I don't want Advances because I can't be certain which train I'll get back (and 2 x advance > 1 x rtn)
• I have to use our company's travel provider...

I'll go ahead and book it. I guess I can then go to any station and try and get reservations on the trains I'm most likely to be on, or I could try out the new SMS reservation system.

Or I'll stand up!

 

[W-on-Sea]

Hmm, tried again with East Coast, with Anytime Day Return, selecting the same trains - and seat reservations were offered, and available.