Avanti
West
Coast
is
launching
a
new
‘flexible’
Advance
ticket
today.

Passengers
who
buy
a
‘Superfare’
choose
the
date
of
travel
and
one
of
three
‘slots’
–
morning,
afternoon
or
evening.
But
the
precise
time
of
departure
will
be
sent
to
the
passenger
24
hours
in
advance.

Avanti
said
the
fares
are
fixed
by
destination
and
start
from
£12
for
a
single
ticket
between
London
and
Birmingham.
Other
destinations
in
the
trial
are
Liverpool,
Preston
and
Manchester.

The
number
of
tickets
available
on
a
route
each
day
will
vary
and
bookings
can
be
made
at
least
seven
days
and
up
to
21
days
before
travel.

Sarah
Copley,
who
is
AWC’s
executive
director
for
commercial,
said:
‘Superfare
tickets
are
aimed
at
customers
who
can
be
more
flexible
with
their
journeys.
Not
only
does
it
provide
a
cheaper
option,
but
it’s
also
quick
and
easy.
Customers
pick
their
date
and
time
of
day.
Then,
24
hours
before
their
journey,
we
match
them
to
an
empty
seat
and
give
them
their
departure
time
and
reservation.

‘We
want
to
give
our
customers
more
cost-effective
ticketing
options
in
an
innovative
way
when
travelling
with
us,
as
well
as
encouraging
more
people
to
take
the
train.’

Meanwhile,
third-party
retailer
Virgin
Trains
Ticketing
has
announced
that
it
is
now
making
’split’
tickets
available.
By
buying
more
than
one
ticket,
each
covering
a
section
of
a
longer
journey,
the
total
of
fares
can
be
lower
than
a
through
booking.

Virgin
Trains
ticketing
director
Mark
Plowright 
is
due
to
speak
at
an
All-Party
Parliamentary
Rail
Group
meeting
this
afternoon.

He
said:
’Split
tickets
is
just
a
sticking
plaster
on
the
bigger
issue
of
complicated
rail
fares.
Passengers
shouldn’t
need
to
split
their
tickets
to
get
the
best
deal;
rail
fares
should
be
simple,
easy
to
understand
and
offer
the
best
value
for
money.

‘When
we
launched
the
Virgin
Trains
Ticketing
app
in
June
2022,
we
genuinely
hoped
that
meaningful
fares
reform
would
have
already
been
introduced
to
negate
the
need
for
split
tickets,
but
unfortunately
that’s
not
yet
happened.
While
we
wait,
we’ve
made
the
decision
to
invest
in
the
functionality
to
ensure
our
customers
can
get
the
cheapest
fares.’