online ticket price rip off - Clonmel Dublin

[Colm Donoghue]

online price day return Clonmel to Dublin 52euros
on the train price 20 something euros according to pricewatch in todays irish times.
I'll post it all up when I go home.

[Mark Gleeson]

Online doesn't do promotional fares

It is correct the opposite way around
http://www.platform11.org/passenger_...ng.php#weird_1

[packetswitch]

Here's the rail-relevant bit (full article at http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/pri...43028473.html). What puzzles me is that according to the journalist, the customer said:

"When I was given the choice of stations to choose from, Clonmel did not feature, so I could not proceed."

and also

"The cost for an adult fare day return was €52"

How could he not proceed yet still get a €52 fare out of the system?

Adriaan Bartels got in touch to alert us to an anomaly in Irish Rail's online pricing apparatus, which he noticed recently while booking travel from Co Tipperary to Dublin to attend an exhibition.

"As I live in Clonmel, I decided to try the train and do the trip in one day. There is only one train out of Clonmel in the morning that takes you to Limerick Junction to connect to Dublin and one that leaves Dublin to allow for a connection back to Clonmel, but all the timings suited me fine," he writes.

Figuring that it would be better to be organised, he decided to book his tickets online the day before he was due to travel. After arranging his seat, he was asked to pay, and also asked where he'd like to collect his tickets.

"When I was given the choice of stations to choose from, Clonmel did not feature, so I could not proceed. The cost for an adult fare day return was €52. I decided not to buy the ticket online and wait until I got to the station."

And he was glad he did. "The station was closed at that hour but I was able to buy the ticket from the very friendly and chatty conductor on the way to Limerick Junction. He assured me that even though our train was late that there was no way we would miss our connection to Dublin." Bartels had his €52 ready for him but when the conductor gave him the ticket he said it would be €20.50. "I asked him was this each way and he said no, that was a special price for the adult fare day return. I couldn't stop smiling all the way to Dublin," he writes, adding that he has now been convinced not to use the internet for his tickets as the only way to get the special prices would appear to be to buy the ticket on the train.

We contacted Irish Rail to find out more about this anomaly. A spokesman said the fare which was available to our reader on the train was "a local promotional fare" and as a result was not included on the centralised website. "Situations like this are very rare," the spokesman said.

[Mark Gleeson]

Clonmel is not on the booking system you can't start a journey from there with a reserved ticket unless you book a week in advance since the ticket must be sent by post

And its not unusual we know a few weird journeys, entire point is the website should always return the correct fare at all times

[Colm Donoghue]

By correct, you mean cheapest right.

[Thomas J Stamp]

adding that he has now been convinced not to use the internet for his tickets as the only way to get the special prices would appear to be to buy the ticket on the train.

He should take a photo proving that his station is closed prior to doing that. We dont want him to get a special price on the train ie a fine.