Irish Rail Cheap fares gone?

studiorat

Just booked a fare from Cork to Dublin.

No option for the €20 online fare anymore!!
So it's now cheaper to drive!!

Well done Irish Rail...

schemingbohemia

I just did a random check for next week and there are €10 tickets available, as well as €20 tickets.

What dates and times did you pick? Those prices are only available on off-peak services.

Victor

Not every train will have cheap fares. There may be no cheap fares on days that there are big events or they may be sold out.

For today, the best fare I can get is €36, for Wednesday €25 and for 7 May €10.

NuMarvel

They're definitely still there. I know this because if I got my act in gear last week, I'd have gotten Dublin/Cork return tickets for this week at €30 instead of the €50 I paid for booking them yesterday.

And based on the current petrol prices, that's still cheaper than driving up and down to Cork.

Zoney

@NuMarvel

It's pretty hard to second-guess the system. I've experienced the opposite where I would have paid extra had I booked a few days in advance as intended. Instead booked less than 24 hours beforehand and the price had dropped (presumably seats not filling up).

I'd imagine it's some kind of computer-guesswork pricing system based on peak/off-peak but also existing seats filled and time to departure (there must have been seats left over that they weren't expecting to fill when I booked).

dowlingm

Yield management in effect (book while train empty = cheap, book on day of travel = dear)

http://www.railusers.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=11656&page=2

Sweenball

Does anyone know if it matters what name is used when purchasing Irish Rail tickets online? I booked two return tickets for me and the misses but they're both in my name..could this be a problem? Cheers.

bg07

Sweenball wrote: »

Does anyone know if it matters what name is used when purchasing Irish Rail tickets online? I booked two return tickets for me and the misses but they're both in my name..could this be a problem? Cheers.

It doesn't matter. I have previously booked tickets for my girlfriend and put my name on it by accident and I wasn’t even travelling and there was no problem. You will definitely be fine if you are travelling with her. There is only a problem if you try to use the tickets for different time train without paying the fee to change it at the station.

Sweenball

Good stuff..thanks.

Victor

Sweenball wrote: »

Does anyone know if it matters what name is used when purchasing Irish Rail tickets online? I booked two return tickets for me and the misses but they're both in my name..could this be a problem? Cheers.

The name is only used for collecting the ticket, not for the person who travels. If there is a problem at the ticket machine and you go to the booking office, they may ask for ID.

Cool_CM

Victor wrote: »

The name is only used for collecting the ticket, not for the person who travels. If there is a problem at the ticket machine and you go to the booking office, they may ask for ID.

In that case, I should probably stop travelling under an assumed identity:



"Tony Yeboah" was on my brother's train once:D

popebenny16

surely thomas d. tank or ivor d'ingine would be more appropriate?

kc66

There was a group of us heading to Cork, booking train tickets. I found a time that worked out at €35 return. I could have booked 6 at that price but another lad said he would put his on his own credit card, so I booked 3. They were the only 3 booked at that time. He tried to book another 3 immediately after and the price had increased to €50. Stupid system.

bigpink

Anyone know why they stopped these?I used them alot but deffo wont be paying 58 euro so thats me lost as a customer

LXFlyer

They are not gone completely.

They are gone when you book on the day of travel apparently, but are still there when you are booking in advance - check different trains.

dowlingm

merge please?
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056243056

dowlingm

The next time you see Michael O'Leary on his palatial Mullingar estate leading one of his Cheltenham winners you should tell him how stupid yield management is :rolleyes:

studiorat

Same again today...

All fares €36 for tomorrow. So should I be booking on the day or a week in advance?

NuMarvel

Respectfully, I think the first three replies of the thread give you a good indication of when to book.

LXFlyer

I'll copy what I posted in the Dublin/Cork bus thread on 27th April:

IE have changed their booking system in the last month to a yield management system.

Basically, it runs as follows:

• EUR 10 euro seats are available on every single intercity service on all routes (including cross-border) but only if you book in advance of the day of travel.
• Each train has a quota of EUR 10 seats, and when this is filled the fare will increase in stages up to the standard web fare.
• If you book on the same day as you are travelling you pay the standard web fare

The key is to book in advance.

As an example I've checked Friday 20th of May for Dublin/Cork (remember this was on 27th April):

The 0700, 0800, 1100 and 2100 trains all have seats at EUR 10.
The 1000, 1200, 1400, 1700, 1705, 1800 and 1900 trains are all EUR 20.
The 1500 is EUR 25.
Only the 0900, 1300 and 1600 are EUR 36.

Returning on Sunday 23rd of May:
The 0830, 1030, 1330, 1430, 1530, 1830, 1845 are priced at EUR 10.
The 1230 and 1630 are EUR 25.
Only the 1730 is EUR 36.

Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy

is something on this weekend? my boyf is coming down from Dublin and always gets the 12 train and €29 and normally it's always €15

schemingbohemia

Sera wrote: »

is something on this weekend? my boyf is coming down from Dublin and always gets the 12 train and €29 and normally it's always €15

If he always gets the same train why doesn't he book it well in advance to make sure he gets the cheapest fare?

gerocks

Looking to head home Saturday & back on Monday.
Every train to Tralee on Saturday is € 36!
Except for the 9 train, which is only € 20, the snag is that the € 16 that you'd save would be going towards a B&B in Mallow cos the train doesn't get to Tralee until the following morning! That's a non-runner.
€ 36 on Saturday it is.
I don't mind paying full whack on one leg of the journey but all Monday trains back to Dublin are € 36 also (with the exception of 2 trains at € 25).
So the best price online is € 61 return.
Total BS!

LXFlyer

The bottom line under the new system is that you need to book further in advance to get the cheaper fares.

EUR 36 is the standard web fare which means that the EUR 10, EUR 20 and EUR 25 fares already used up by other travellers.

schemingbohemia

Yeah but it's always someone else's fault - how can anyone be expected to book something in advance to get a better deal?:rolleyes:

An option that many might not be aware of is that if you have an annual commuter/taxsaver ticket you can get a cheaper price - It's like the weekender fare of old, might save you €20 for a weekend return.

Losty Dublin

gerocks wrote: »

Looking to head home Saturday & back on Monday.
Every train to Tralee on Saturday is € 36!
Except for the 9 train, which is only € 20, the snag is that the € 16 that you'd save would be going towards a B&B in Mallow cos the train doesn't get to Tralee until the following morning! That's a non-runner.
€ 36 on Saturday it is.
I don't mind paying full whack on one leg of the journey but all Monday trains back to Dublin are € 36 also (with the exception of 2 trains at € 25).
So the best price online is € 61 return.
Total BS!

What is BS about it? The fact that they won't offer you a discount on a busy day or the fact that you missed out on a € 10 fare?

slinky2000

What the hell is happening, my weekend €25 Limerick - Dublin return I used to get is now €58

Even for the next 4 weeks it's the same. Actually I can hardly find any €10 weekend fares on the Limerick - Dublin route at all for the next few weeks.

EDIT, The odd 5.30am one is €15. Great...

slinky2000

Looks like they've changed the cheap trains too.

None of my regular €10/15 trains in the evenings are below €29 now. But for example the 6.30pm this Sunday from Dublin - Limerick is €10 (at the moment) and it never was before.

Looks like I'm either gonna have to change my travelling times or pay up

Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy

slinky2000 wrote: »

Looks like they've changed the cheap trains too.
None of my regular €10/15 trains in the evenings are below €29 now. But for example the 6.30pm on this Sunday from Dublin - Limerick is €10 at the moment and it never was before.
Looks like I'm either gonna have to change my travelling times or pay up

Same here. Just made a post and deleted it, asking did they change the cheaper train times because I tried the last weekend since it says book in advance for cheaper trains the one I get is usually a €15 and is now €22 and there was only 3 people booked on it already. Someone in the same boat at least kinda

gerocks

Losty Dublin wrote: »

What is BS about it? The fact that they won't offer you a discount on a busy day or the fact that you missed out on a € 10 fare?

61 return to tralee is what's bs. I'm heading on monday. Hardly a busy day. Friday evening going home and sunday going back to dublin, i'd expect it to be busy. Trains are always full on these days but the monday after a bank holiday?

slinky2000

looking at this again and all my options for a weekend Limerick-dublin return is now cheaper to buy in the station than online! You just don't get your reserved seat.

Losty Dublin

slinky2000 wrote: »

looking at this again and all my options for a weekend Limerick-dublin return is now cheaper to buy in the station than online! You just don't get your reserved seat.

Your online ticket never costs more than a booking office one (bar the admin fee); did you check the price icon on the bottom of the screen having selected your two journeys?

HivemindXX

Probably true but since we have to pay the admin fee I don't see why we should ignore it.

Fare to Wexford from Dublin was €26.20 both online and at the station. I paid €29.20 (an 11% premium) because I paid online. This will discourage me from paying online in the future since I don't know if I'm paying more than I need to. Is there any way of telling what the fare would be at the station?

Losty Dublin

HivemindXX wrote: »

Probably true but since we have to pay the admin fee I don't see why we should ignore it.

Fare to Wexford from Dublin was €26.20 both online and at the station. I paid €29.20 (an 11% premium) because I paid online. This will discourage me from paying online in the future since I don't know if I'm paying more than I need to. Is there any way of telling what the fare would be at the station?

Fair point; it's likewise in regards to airlines as well. This should be what you are looking for.

http://www.irishrail.ie/your_ticket/fares_enquiries.asp

bk

Actually, why is there an admin fee for online booking?

Online booking systems really aren't that expensive to run and are typically far cheaper then employing staff in a station to sell tickets.

The private bus companies like GoBus, CityLink, Aircoach have no online booking fee.

Surely they should be wanting to promote the use of online booking, the admin fee makes it less likely people use it.

I think it is just another excuse for IR to nickel and dime people.

Losty Dublin

bk wrote: »

Actually, why is there an admin fee for online booking?

Online booking systems really aren't that expensive to run and are typically far cheaper then employing staff in a station to sell tickets.

The private bus companies like GoBus, CityLink, Aircoach have no online booking fee.

Surely they should be wanting to promote the use of online booking, the admin fee makes it less likely people use it.

I think it is just another excuse for IR to nickel and dime people.

Why don't you contact them and find out?

studiorat

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Fair point; it's likewise in regards to airlines as well. This should be what you are looking for.

http://www.irishrail.ie/your_ticket/fares_enquiries.asp

It says

These lower day saver fares are only applicable on selected morning services Tuesday to Thursday and Saturday from Cork, Limerick & Kerry from booking offices, online or on telesales.

The lower cost fares are no-longer available on Fridays or Sundays. Plus the cheaper ones have had a price increase. It would also seem that it really would be cheaper to just book at the booking office rather than online, if that's the case.

Not much point in ringing to check IMO, as the staff usually don't have a clue. You can ask 3 or 4 Irish Rail staff and get a different answer from each.

LXFlyer

studiorat wrote: »

It says

The lower cost fares are no-longer available on Fridays or Sundays. Plus the cheaper ones have had a price increase. It would also seem that it really would be cheaper to just book at the booking office rather than online, if that's the case.

Not much point in ringing to check IMO, as the staff usually don't have a clue. You can ask 3 or 4 Irish Rail staff and get a different answer from each.

That refers to day saver tickets bought at booking offices. These were NEVER available on Fridays and Sundays.

These are completely different from the online fares which are available - where they are not it's just that the quota of cheaper tickets on that train has already been purchased by someone else.

studiorat

lxflyer wrote: »

That refers to day saver tickets bought at booking offices. These were NEVER available on Fridays and Sundays.

These are completely different from the online fares which are available - where they are not it's just that the quota of cheaper tickets on that train has already been purchased by someone else.

I don't believe that for a minute. Either the quota's have dropped or they have totally changed the way the booking system works, I used to always buy the ticket a day or two before now the lower ones are both more expensive and harder to find.

So now a five day return costs €71 from the booking office allowing you to travel whenever you want and an online fare costs €72 return and limits when you want to make the return journey and charges you €2 for the transaction.

So is there an express bus from Cork to Dublin yet?

LXFlyer

studiorat wrote: »

I don't believe that for a minute. Either the quota's have dropped or they have totally changed the way the booking system works.

That is the whole point. The system HAS changed - I put that in post #20 above.

Previously the cheap fares were only on certain trains. Now they are on every train, but only a certain number rather than the entire train. Basically a yield management system is now in place (similar to airlines). Yes it does mean that some people will lose out.

This post on the RUI site explains it more clearly....

http://railusers.ie/forum/showpost.php?p=62038&postcount=1

LXFlyer

studiorat wrote: »

I don't believe that for a minute. Either the quota's have dropped or they have totally changed the way the booking system works, I used to always buy the ticket a day or two before now the lower ones are both more expensive and harder to find.

So now a five day return costs €71 from the booking office allowing you to travel whenever you want and an online fare costs €72 return and limits when you want to make the return journey and charges you €2 for the transaction.

So is there an express bus from Cork to Dublin yet?

If all the cheap online fares are gone, then yes it would be cheaper to buy a 5 day return at the booking office for Dublin-Cork.

Basically the system favours people who buy as far in advance as possible.

studiorat

It also appears that there are less than seven fares available below the €36 mark for my regular train, out of what 350 seats? How ever it only allows booking 28 days in advance. Nice...

LXFlyer

studiorat wrote: »

So it appears that there are less than seven fares available below the €36 mark for my regular train. How ever it only allows booking 28 days in advance. Nice...

That I don't know....

studiorat

lxflyer wrote: »

That I don't know....

Would seem so...

Losty Dublin

studiorat wrote: »

So now a five day return costs €71 from the booking office allowing you to travel whenever you want and an online fare costs €72 return and limits when you want to make the return journey and charges you €2 for the transaction.

An online booking guarentees you an allocated seat, a walk up fare does not unless you pay a surcharge to reserve one.

bk

Losty Dublin wrote: »

An online booking guarentees you an allocated seat, a walk up fare does not unless you pay a surcharge to reserve one.

Doesn't really seem to be an issue on intercity routes anymore, considering how many people have deserted the train for the cheaper and faster motorways.

Even traveling Fridays and Sundays to Cork, I never see the train packed anymore.

Misticles

Trying to book Dublin-Waterford for next Friday! Coming in at 70e!! so no offer there, car it is

ArmaniJeanss

lxflyer wrote: »

[*]EUR 10 euro seats are available on every single intercity service on all routes (including cross-border) but only if you book in advance of the day of travel.

Can you give me an example of a €10 fare available either Dublin to Newry or Dublin to Belfast.
I've had a look at various times/days and can't see any, but am not au fait enough with the system to know if I'm just searching wrong.

LXFlyer

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Can you give me an example of a €10 fare available either Dublin to Newry or Dublin to Belfast.
I've had a look at various times/days and can't see any, but am not au fait enough with the system to know if I'm just searching wrong.

Took a day at random...

May 25th - both the 1320 and 2050 are EUR 10 from Dublin to Belfast

LXFlyer

Misticles wrote: »

Trying to book Dublin-Waterford for next Friday! Coming in at 70e!! so no offer there, car it is

How are you getting EUR 70?

The 0720 and 0910 trains on Friday 13th of May are both EUR 10 and all the others EUR 18?

studiorat

Losty Dublin wrote: »

An online booking guarentees you an allocated seat, a walk up fare does not unless you pay a surcharge to reserve one.

No it doesn't. Monday for instance, the seat was taken. Couldn't be bothered to ask someone to move. And couldn't say how many times I've boarded the train only for the reservation signs to be turned off. So in reality you are paying over the odds not to be able to return on a time of your choice.