Irish Rail - where the hell are you supposed to buy these €9.99 train tickets?

Hilly Bill · 23-01-2014 10:16pm

bikeman1 wrote: »

Have a look at the attached photo I took on the DART today, can you show me where I can PAY €9.99 in total for a fare to Belfast or Wexford??

There is not one mention of any booking fee. HB, stop trying to defend the indefensible.

The poster doesnt say In Total. Either way its still a good bit cheaper than the walk up fare. Irish Rail reduce some fares and people still find something to complain about

.

n97 mini · 24-01-2014 2:59pm

Hilly Bill wrote: »

The Irish one is not inclusive of the booking fees.

That's the point.

It is not possible to make an informed decision until you have all the facts, which you are not being presented with.

Irish Rail could claim "Intercity fares starting at 99 cent" and charge a €10 booking fee at the end. It amounts to the same thing.

Hilly Bill · 24-01-2014 4:35pm

Main point is that they havent.

bk · 24-01-2014 4:51pm

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Main point is that they havent.

But in this case they have.

Please show me where I can get a ticket to Belfast for exactly €9.99 ?

Copyerselveson · 24-01-2014 6:54pm

bk wrote: »

But in this case they have.

Please show me where I can get a ticket to Belfast for exactly €9.99 ?

So if there was no booking fee would you take the train?

n97 mini · 24-01-2014 7:14pm

bikeman1 wrote: »

Have a look at the attached photo I took on the DART today, can you show me where I can PAY €9.99 in total for a fare to Belfast or Wexford??

There is not one mention of any booking fee. HB, stop trying to defend the indefensible.

That poster is false advertising, plain and simple.

Maybe a group of us should send a letter to the Comsumer Association about false advertising from IE?

Hilly Bill · 24-01-2014 7:20pm

bk wrote: »

But in this case they have.

Please show me where I can get a ticket to Belfast for exactly €9.99 ?

You have replied to something different BK

.

Hilly Bill · 24-01-2014 7:32pm

n97 mini wrote: »

That poster is false advertising, plain and simple.

Maybe a group of us should send a letter to the Comsumer Association about false advertising from IE?

Go for it, let us know how you get on. Start a thread in Legal Discussion and see what those in the know say about it.

DundalkDuffman · 25-01-2014 3:13am

Heisenberg1 wrote: »

Travelling to Cork on Tuesday 21st of Jan and returning on the 22nd Jan there are lots of €9.99 fares available.

12.99

Heisenberg1 · 25-01-2014 6:34pm

DundalkDuffman wrote: »

12.99

Did you look at the date I posted that comment ?? On that day there was plenty of 9.99 fares available for the dates I gave.

circular flexing · 25-01-2014 8:21pm

Heisenberg1 wrote: »

Did you look at the date I posted that comment ?? On that day there was plenty of 9.99 fares available for the dates I gave.

Their point though is you cannot travel on the train for 9.99. While the actual fare is 9.99, the (mandatory) booking fee adds 2 euro on and if you use a credit card, that's another 1 euro. The advertisement makes no mention of these extra fees.

Fred Swanson · 25-01-2014 8:32pm

This post has been deleted.

bk · 27-01-2014 11:29am

Is there an Irish equivalent of the Office of Fare Trade in the UK?

It was the OFT who forced Ryanair to include their booking fees in the advertised ticket price.

I'd like to see all such companies be forced to include all fees in the price and advertising up front, Irish Rail, bus companies, concert event companies, etc.

Copyerselveson wrote: »

So if there was no booking fee would you take the train?

I've no problem with the fees as such, it is the false advertising I don't like.

But to answer your question, even if it was €9.99 all in, it depends!

For me the bus to Cork still has many advantages:

- I don't need to book a few days (weeks!) in advance.

You only get these €9.99 tickets if you book well in advance, I usually don't know if I'm travelling until last minute, often the same day. That is why I often take GoBE's €13 ticket over Aircoach's €9 as GoBE allows for same day online booking (this shows I'm not totally motivated by price, within reason).

Also I normally travel at peak times on a Friday and you rarely see the €10 tickets on these, they are normally €35ish when I look.

- The bus is more flexible, you can normally get an earlier/later bus the same day with no penalty.

- The bus has more late night services. I often get the 11pm bus back from Cork on a Sunday evening, no such trains exist.

- I actually find the bus more comfortable in terms of being quieter, smoother and turning off the lights and no audio announcements and reclining chairs. So I can actually sleep on the bus, never could on the train.

- Heuston is out of the way for me, requiring either a taxi or luas + a bus.

So I think I will always get the bus back from Cork (late night bus that I can sleep on), however if I knew for definite that I was going down, then I would certainly consider it, but would have to factor in the extra time and cost of the Luas.

I actually know for certain I'll be going down to Cork this Friday, but I see the tickets are now €27 (€25 + €2), so no I won't be taking it this weekend.

I've never been anti-rail, I'm just a public transport user who looks at all of my options.

Heisenberg1 · 27-01-2014 9:22pm

bk wrote: »

Is there an Irish equivalent of the Office of Fare Trade in the UK?

It was the OFT who forced Ryanair to include their booking fees in the advertised ticket price.

I'd like to see all such companies be forced to include all fees in the price and advertising up front, Irish Rail, bus companies, concert event companies, etc.

I've no problem with the fees as such, it is the false advertising I don't like.

But to answer your question, even if it was €9.99 all in, it depends!

For me the bus to Cork still has many advantages:

- I don't need to book a few days (weeks!) in advance.

You only get these €9.99 tickets if you book well in advance, I usually don't know if I'm travelling until last minute, often the same day. That is why I often take GoBE's €13 ticket over Aircoach's €9 as GoBE allows for same day online booking (this shows I'm not totally motivated by price, within reason).

Also I normally travel at peak times on a Friday and you rarely see the €10 tickets on these, they are normally €35ish when I look.

- The bus is more flexible, you can normally get an earlier/later bus the same day with no penalty.

- The bus has more late night services. I often get the 11pm bus back from Cork on a Sunday evening, no such trains exist.

- I actually find the bus more comfortable in terms of being quieter, smoother and turning off the lights and no audio announcements and reclining chairs. So I can actually sleep on the bus, never could on the train.

- Heuston is out of the way for me, requiring either a taxi or luas + a bus.

So I think I will always get the bus back from Cork (late night bus that I can sleep on), however if I knew for definite that I was going down, then I would certainly consider it, but would have to factor in the extra time and cost of the Luas.

I actually know for certain I'll be going down to Cork this Friday, but I see the tickets are now €27 (€25 + €2), so no I won't be taking it this weekend.

I've never been anti-rail, I'm just a public transport user who looks at all of my options.

Get the bus so simples.

LXFlyer · 28-01-2014 12:50pm

Heads up from the Irish Rail newsletter:

Our €9.99 seat sale is coming to an end.

Don't miss out; make sure you book your train tickets online before February 3rd to avail of this amazing sale.

Fares from €9.99 are available on every route to/from Dublin and to over 100 destinations.

Book in advance on irishrail.ie

ArmaniJeanss · 23-04-2014 3:39pm

markpb wrote: »

They don't have any at 9.99 either if the online booking / card charge is unavoidable (online).

Hilly Bill wrote: »

They do , its the same when you buy a lot of things online.

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Go for it, let us know how you get on. Start a thread in Legal Discussion and see what those in the know say about it.

Bump,
Advertising Standards people find in favour of complainant, €9.99 tv advert was indeed misleading because of the unavoidable extra charges.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/irish-rail-told-to-drop-999-ticket-ad-fare-costs-almost-13-628508.html
http://www.newstalk.ie/Irish-Rail-ordered-to-drop-999-advert-over-price-complaint

It does seem however that a simple 't&c applies' would cover them.

Thargor · 23-04-2014 3:58pm

Thats weird because they've just started the ad campaign again in the last couple of days?

flyingsnail · 23-04-2014 4:06pm

from the article

After the ASAI ordered Irish Rail not to run the ad again, Irish Rail broadcast a modified version for the last week of the campaign in January, which it says meets the ASAI code.

I presume the new ad also complies with the code

stop · 23-04-2014 4:27pm

ASAI decision.

TheChrisD · 23-04-2014 6:43pm

Even if you say that T&C's apply, it's still somewhat misleading. They should at least have to state in the ad that booking fees will apply.

cast_iron · 25-04-2014 6:20pm

TheChrisD wrote: »

They should at least have to state in the ad that booking fees will apply.

The ASAI Code says they should:

"...prices quoted should normally include VAT and other taxes, duties or inescapable costs to the consumer.Where applicable, the amounts of any other charges, such as those arising from the method of purchase or payment, should be stated. "

However, the ASAI decision doesn't even say they should do this, despite referring to this rule as being violated.

Irish Rail - where the hell are you supposed to buy these €9.99 train tickets?

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