Virgin Trains - this is very poor on their part

[Ingleby]

Off topic. Move. Or better still delete.

[liddle_4_ever]

but surely this is just supply and demand. Clearly the demand for tickets for her initial journey she bought for was smaller than the demand for the journey she took. Lower demand, same supply (as it was the same train) = cheaper price.

It's not supply and demand, train ticket prices are much more complicated than that! Train companies regularly offer discount tickets between cities for example advanced return from Newcastle to Leeds or Edinburgh being approx the same as to Darlo.

Back when we were in league 2 I bought tickets from Newcastle to Leeds, Leeds to Manchester and Manchester to Rochdale for about 1/2 the price of Darlo to Rochdale on the same trains! It just doesn't make sense.

[liddle_4_ever]

Also why are advanced fares discounted so much? They aren't going to cancel the train if demand is low. They aren't going to provide more staff or carriages if demand is high. So knowing the demand in advance is no help to the train companies. There should be a flatter pricing structure.

Also when someone books a seat with their advanced booking the ticket inspector should ensure they sit in the seat they have booked. When people don't sit in the seat they have booked they have in effect taken 2 seats away from other customers. To ensure this happens there shouldn't be 1 ticket for travel and another for advanced seat booking. All this data should be on 1 ticket.


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[lo36789]

As you say it can be complex but ultimately what they basically have are tickets available at certain prices to and from certain stations. The fact is that tickets from Darlington to Manchester must have all sold but the individual tickets on the legs of the journey you made hadn't sold out (demand for the first one was obviously higher that the smaller legs).

Agree about the sitting on your non booked seat it is a pain.

Is the advanced fair structure not a push to get revenue in early? As you say they aren't going to pay out more on stuff but surely at the point you buy the ticket the money is with the train company and they are earning interest on it at that point?

[Spyman]

Also why are advanced fares discounted so much? They aren't going to cancel the train if demand is low. They aren't going to provide more staff or carriages if demand is high. So knowing the demand in advance is no help to the train companies. There should be a flatter pricing structure.

Also when someone books a seat with their advanced booking the ticket inspector should ensure they sit in the seat they have booked. When people don't sit in the seat they have booked they have in effect taken 2 seats away from other customers. To ensure this happens there shouldn't be 1 ticket for travel and another for advanced seat booking. All this data should be on 1 ticket.


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Yes, why are season tickets for football cheaper than paying on the day?

Advance tickets are always fixed single tickets - you are committing to one particular train at a certain time. You are saving money but getting zero flexibility, whereas a standard fare can usually be used on any number of trains running on a certain route.

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[Darl-Zero]

I think we should fine fans who leave the match early!

[Henley]

I think we should fine fans who leave the match early!

Effing crazy, isn't it?

[joejaques]

I think we should fine fans who leave the match early!

and then charge someone else half price to take their place.

[Allan Quatermain]

So long as this thread is still here, it's worth mentioning this for balance:

When travelling South today on a Virgin East Coast Train there were 2 couples travelling separately who had got on with tickets which were only valid on Cross Country Trains. However, the conductor pointed out their mistakes whilst allowing them to continue their journey without paying any extra.