Hello,
GWR recently updated their website and it is quite different. I was used to making reservations only (BritRail pass) on their old site but I haven't figured out how to do it on the new site yet. Does anyone have any experience with this? Or is there another site now where you can make reservations only? TIA
Katie, I knew that they had changed a lot, as I received an email a few weeks ago letting me know and asking me to change my log in information, which I did.
At any rate, I was just on there, and it looks like they have a separate page dealing with seat reservations only.
Here is a link to it: https://www.gwr.com/your-tickets/seat-reservations
ETA: I did notice that they said if you have any questions, you can message them on Facebook. If you're on Facebook, I would try that. I have been very successful messaging companies using Facebook Messenger. I'm not sure why it works so well, but I guess they pay attention to it. Anyway, here is the link for their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/gwruk
You can also message them using WhatsApp: https://wa.me/447890608043
Having said that, they also noted that you can email them with this information (see below).
If you have a season ticket, you can make reservations for your regular trains by emailing details of your services, seat preferences, the duration of time you’d like the seat reserved for, and your photocard number to [email protected].
I realized that's if you have a season ticket, but I would imagine you could use that same email address to get information about how to reserve a seat using your BritRail pass and giving them the same or similar information.
That function has been suspended. When they migrated to their new web provider a coding error was made, and the reservation function was instead providing free travel tickets.
Oops!!
I actually got 3 of those free 'golden' tickets when making reservations for someone else on the forum as a favour, but couldn't use them.
So while that is being fixed the same thing can be done on the TPE (Transpennine Express) on the normal website and the app (not their mobile website, another coding problem).
Create an account with TPE then in 'My Account Details' select 'Make a seat/bike reservation'
PS- I did try TPE the other day, in preparation for using a 14 day All Lines Rover (the domestic version of Britrail) and it works.
Hi Mardee,
Thanks. Yes, I found that page which gives explanations about seat reservations but when I click on the route from that page, it just takes me back to ticket purchase not seat reservation. What am I missing?
Katie, it sounds to me like you can't make a reservation online, but that you can contact them and explain what you need, and they will help you do it that way. That is my understanding of what I read.
That said, it sounds like Stuart's suggestion to use TPE may be the way to go. I did a dummy booking through them just now to check it out, and it worked well. You create an account, then, as he said, go to book "Book a Seat (or bike) Reservation", and enter the information for the train that you're requesting.
It will then give you a choice of options for a seat reservation with preferences, such as aisle, window, facing forward, and so on. Once you do that, it will issue you a seat reservation and give you all the information.
Below is a screenshot of what I got after I booked it all. Obviously, this was all dummied up stuff, but you can see what it looks like and what you get.
Stuart - Haha! Quite the oops. Thanks for the alternative.
Mardee - thanks for doing a trial run.
Thanks to you both. I now have reservations!
Edited to add: one more question- I did have reservations through the GWR site before it changed but it was a very long route with bus replacement. Is there anyway to cancel that since GWR no longer show me having that reservation? Or does it mean they eliminated all the reservations I had made before the change?
I don't know that I would worry about it. It sounds like it might have been eliminated with the change. If you have no way of canceling it, then there's really not much you can do. If it were me, I would probably just ignore it.
Glad you were able to make a reservation! And that reminds me that I should go in and cancel my dummy reservation, lol!
As far as I am aware the reservations on GWR still stand, as the underlying data is on the National servers, thus any member of staff can look at the reservation anywhere in the country.
However it can't do any harm to make a new reservation on TPE- on a 'belt and braces' approach. Because the reservation is not linked to a ticket you could have a dozen reservations on the same train (or on different trains on the same route), and no one would know.
I've done that before now, had reservations on the 1630, 1730 and 1830 Euston to Carlisle- planning on the 1730 but back ups in case I was early or late. No one except me knew I'd done that.
At least on Avanti the senior conductor also has a print out of all the reservations on his/her train, so if there is a query, (s)he can refer to the print out. LNER also do that (or did)- I saw the data sheets once ready in Leeds control room (!!), ready for the Senior Conductor to pick up.
Okay, thanks for all your help, both of you. I'm all set with reservations for our longer travel days. 27 days and counting until our flight!!
Katie,
An addendum- on your TPE reservations you will have noticed a collection code. Although you are hardly ever asked to prove a reservation, and you have them electronically, it turns out that you can also print them at any ticket machine. It must be over 20 years since I've had a paper seat reservation, so that is quite quaint.
I've had to do several today (so have a sheaf of paper) as I'm suddenly and unexpectedly going to North Wales twice in the next week, so am doing that on a rover ticket for £12 return per day with railcard from Cumbria to Chester.
As the rover is unrestricted travel, while I don't need reservations they are very useful for the trains I will be using.
Stuart
Good to know. Thanks!
