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

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  • 09-01-2014 5:29pm
    #1
    Thargor
    Registered Users Posts: 17,881 ✭✭✭✭


    Ive been up and down to Galway a lot lately and every time I try to see if I can get a train just for a change from boring GoBus all the prices are completely ridiculous, like upwards of 20 or 30 Euro for a single ticket.

    The ad with that stupid woman is on every ad break so I assumed it would be fairly simple but there is no link on the website just a blurb telling you about the ad and instructions to "Book Above Now".

    Can someone get me a 9.99 train to Galway from Heuston any time tomorrow or is it impossible? I dont think Ive ever had an interaction with IE that didnt leave me fuming :mad:


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    #2
    TheBandicoot
    Closed Accounts Posts: 879 ✭✭✭TheBandicoot


    Thargor wrote: »
    Can someone get me a 9.99 train to Galway from Heuston any time tomorrow or is it impossible? I dont think Ive ever had an interaction with IE that didnt leave me fuming :mad:

    Not tomorrow, no. The fare applies if you book a certain period in advance. I can't find that period mentioned anywhere on the offer page linked from the main page of irishrail.ie. All it says is "Book up to 60 days in advance". The use of the weasel words "from €9.99" and "up to 60 days" in combination is confusing.


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    #3
    Copyerselveson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 299 ✭✭Copyerselveson


    You just need to book the fares in advance. There's a €9.99 fare available early Sunday morning but lots more on Monday. No weasel words, just what the offer says.


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    #4
    TheBandicoot
    Closed Accounts Posts: 879 ✭✭✭TheBandicoot


    Copyerselveson wrote: »
    You just need to book the fares in advance. There's a €9.99 fare available early Sunday morning but lots more on Monday. No weasel words, just what the offer says.

    But how far in advance? That is what is not clear to me. Is it a variable period of time in advance depending on the train? I assume it is. So I must simply book the tickets as early as I can and hope for some sort of random discount from the normal fare?


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    #5
    bk
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,497 Mod ✭✭✭✭bk


    Plus it is actually impossible to get a €9.99 fare, you have to pay €2 booking fee and €1 credit card fee on top.


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    #6
    havana
    Registered Users Posts: 752 ✭✭✭havana


    I would imagine they have a certain number of 9.99 tickets on each train so if demand is high they'll go quicker. I was booking last week, 9.99 available each way but I delayed in booking and all the 9.99 outward tickets were gone. Ended up paying 14.99 down, 9.99 back. Still a good price.


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    #7
    goalscoringhero
    Registered Users Posts: 148 ✭✭goalscoringhero


    TheBandicoot wrote: »
    But how far in advance? That is what is not clear to me. Is it a variable period of time in advance depending on the train? I assume it is. So I must simply book the tickets as early as I can and hope for some sort of random discount from the normal fare?

    Exactly. Very much the same as with flight tickets.
    Leave it late, lose on discount.


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    #8
    Hilly Bill
    Registered Users Posts: 6,039 ✭✭✭Hilly Bill


    check the website. It could be anything from 2 days upwards.


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    #9
    TheBandicoot
    Closed Accounts Posts: 879 ✭✭✭TheBandicoot


    havana wrote: »
    I would imagine they have a certain number of 9.99 tickets on each train so if demand is high they'll go quicker. I was booking last week, 9.99 available each way but I delayed in booking and all the 9.99 outward tickets were gone. Ended up paying 14.99 down, 9.99 back. Still a good price.

    Yeah, it says they are quota limited. I suppose my confusion is that there is a very opaque process going on here where you don't really know how much the trip will cost you until you attempt to book it. I know why it is that way and there are good reasons around demand prediction, fleet management, making use of otherwise quiet trains etc., it is just a bit too fluid for my tastes:D


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    #10
    TheBandicoot
    Closed Accounts Posts: 879 ✭✭✭TheBandicoot


    Hilly Bill wrote: »
    check the website. It could be anything from 2 days upwards.

    Seems right now the earliest you can get a 9.99 fare Dublin->Galway is this Sunday on the first and last trains of the day, then consistently from Monday onwards on any of the trains.


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    #11
    Thargor
    Registered Users Posts: 17,881 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    I tried to book a train for tomorrow 10 days ago, no sign of them then either, are you just using the default booking input on the home page? Why are they spending thousands advertising this in every ad break when its completely useless and only shows up how ridiculous their regular fares are? €35 Euro for a journey to the edge of the city when Gobus or Citylink will drop you on O Connells street for a tenner in the same time?


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    #12
    Copyerselveson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 299 ✭✭Copyerselveson


    Thargor wrote: »
    I tried to book a train for tomorrow 10 days ago, no sign of them then either, are you just using the default booking input on the home page? Why are they spending thousands advertising this in every ad break when its completely useless and only shows up how ridiculous their regular fares are? €35 Euro for a journey to the edge of the city when Gobus or Citylink will drop you on O Connells street for a tenner in the same time?

    Go onto the irishrail.ie website, search for trains from Galway to Dublin. You're unlikely to get a cheap fare today or tomorrow. When I checked earlier this afternoon the soonest I could see a cheap fare was on the first train out on Sunday morning. That may be gone now.


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    #13
    devnull
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 11,587 Mod ✭✭✭✭devnull


    The ads on the DART are misleading alwright, this morning I saw one saying 9.99 to all the cities on every day, but no mention of the fact you need to book in advance and the extra fees. In the UK for example they've be hauled in front of the advertising standard agency for not even including any small print saying conditions apply.


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    #14
    Red Alert
    Hosted Moderators Posts: 7,484 ✭✭✭Red Alert


    If only the automated announcements were as clear as those in the ad. Connolly's are not bad, but Heuston are just gibberish, but could be fixed easily with better speakers.


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    #15
    SeanW
    Registered Users Posts: 8,774 ✭✭✭SeanW


    I just checked out IEs site to see what kind of deal I could get, no €9.99 for me but that's beside the point ...

    All the services that I might hypothetically book for are labelled as "Train" under the column "Service."

    Seriously? Train? As opposed to what, chariots pulled by flying rainbow-coloured unicorns?


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    #16
    ArmaniJeanss
    Registered Users Posts: 13,311 ✭✭✭✭ArmaniJeanss


    SeanW wrote: »
    I just checked out IEs site to see what kind of deal I could get, no €9.99 for me but that's beside the point ...

    All the services that I might hypothetically book for are labelled as "Train" under the column "Service."

    Seriously? Train? As opposed to what, chariots pulled by flying rainbow-coloured unicorns?

    I assume its plausible that 'bus/coach' could appear in this column as well, if there are line closures for repairs or improvements (example that springs to mind is when the Malahide viaduct was fubared for a few months).


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    #17
    SeanW
    Registered Users Posts: 8,774 ✭✭✭SeanW


    ArmaniJeanss wrote: »
    I assume its plausible that 'bus/coach' could appear in this column as well, if there are line closures for repairs or improvements (example that springs to mind is when the Malahide viaduct was fubared for a few months).
    True, but last time I spent any time on IEs website, it would be specific as to whether it was a Commuter train, Intercity train etc. Now it just says "Train" which seems rather pointless and un-informative most of the time.


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    #18
    thisisadamh
    Registered Users Posts: 629 ✭✭✭thisisadamh


    SeanW wrote: »
    True, but last time I spent any time on IEs website, it would be specific as to whether it was a Commuter train, Intercity train etc. Now it just says "Train" which seems rather pointless and un-informative most of the time.

    If you book a ticket from Galway to Greystones for example it will say: Train/Luas/DART under the service column indicating you will be using all three to get to you destination.


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    #19
    grimbergen
    Registered Users Posts: 312 ✭✭grimbergen


    The offer seems pretty clear to me and I travel the Dublin Cork line a fair bit - book a few days in advance and you should get it. Presumably it's designed to push people towards off-peak trains which is why it's available at those times only.


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    #20
    Heisenberg1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,511 ✭✭✭Heisenberg1


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


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    #21
    Pretzill
    Registered Users Posts: 4,683 ✭✭✭Pretzill


    I got the 9.99 sligo to dublin last week booked about 5 days in advance even with booking fee still a great deal.- btw all times had the deal when I booked.

    I always look to book a few days in advance though anyway because I'd get the 14.99 ew deal which is still a reasonable saving.


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    #22
    Slunk
    Registered Users Posts: 2,556 ✭✭✭Slunk


    Looking to go to cork on a Wednesday and come back Thursday there's loads of 9.99 fares available.


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    #23
    January
    Closed Accounts Posts: 23,865 ✭✭✭✭January


    1 service this Friday from Dublin to Waterford has the 9.99 fare and it's the earliest train out also.


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    #24
    lewas93
    Registered Users Posts: 3 ✭lewas93


    Their website is an absolute joke, I cant seem to get anywhere past the information page about the 9.99 deal and when you ring them there is no answer. Typical.


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    #25
    LXFlyer
    Registered Users Posts: 17,558 ✭✭✭✭LXFlyer


    The website is working perfectly - you enter where you want to go, along with the dates/times at the top of the page.


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    #26
    lewas93
    Registered Users Posts: 3 ✭lewas93


    That's fine if your booking a standard ticket the prices that are displayed are the usual prices. No 9.99 offers are visible!


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    #27
    LXFlyer
    Registered Users Posts: 17,558 ✭✭✭✭LXFlyer


    lewas93 wrote: »
    That's fine if your booking a standard ticket the prices that are displayed are the usual prices. No 9.99 offers are visible!

    The offer is limited by quota.

    The further in advance that you book, the more seats are available.

    If you're booking for trains today or tomorrow, or indeed at peak times (such as Friday afternoon/early evening from Dublin) you're unlikely to get many €9.99 seats on offer.

    I just did a quick check for next week on several routes and I can see plenty of €9.99 seats.


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    #28
    ongarboy
    Registered Users Posts: 5,201 ✭✭✭ongarboy


    lewas93 wrote: »
    That's fine if your booking a standard ticket the prices that are displayed are the usual prices. No 9.99 offers are visible!


    The website is not a joke. I booked a return from Dublin to Tralee for 9.99 each way (plus €2 booking fee). The key is that I booked at least a week in advance and had to select the times that the 9.99 pertained to as all services on the day were not the same price. It's the same as booking a flight. Prices will fluctuate depending on demand and closer to date you wish to travel. So yes, you have to be flexible with which time service you avail of and ensure you book well ahead in advance.


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    #29
    Jamie2k9
    Registered Users Posts: 10,672 ✭✭✭✭Jamie2k9


    I don't know how people have such problems finding the 9.99 fares, they won't be available on peak Friday-Sunday services but for the majority of other services they are available up to 3 days before departure however to be sure its always wise to book earlier than that unless there is a big event on.

    A tip if anyone going to 1D concerts in April/May you must book end of Feb/ear March to get the few 9.99 fares that will be out, not point booking close to the time as fares will be up. It's the same with all major events. Once IE see a certain service filling up fast they will rise the fares to the next bracket.


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    #30
    Carawaystick
    Registered Users Posts: 8,779 ✭✭✭Carawaystick


    ongarboy wrote: »
    The website is not a joke. I booked a return from Dublin to Tralee for 9.99 each way (plus €2 booking fee). The key is that I booked at least a week in advance and had to select the times that the 9.99 pertained to as all services on the day were not the same price. It's the same as booking a flight. Prices will fluctuate depending on demand and closer to date you wish to travel. So yes, you have to be flexible with which time service you avail of and ensure you book well ahead in advance.

    So you paid €21.98 for two €9.99 fares?
    Seems like you didn't get a €9.99 fare so.


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    #31
    Jamie2k9
    Registered Users Posts: 10,672 ✭✭✭✭Jamie2k9


    Carawaystick wrote: »
    So you paid €21.98 for two €9.99 fares?
    Seems like you didn't get a €9.99 fare so.

    9.99 each way, each passenger + the extra 2 euro charge which is stated on the T & C of the adds.


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