Irish Rail’s inflexible approach to so-called flexible tickets

Earlier this year, we highlighted how inflexible some of Irish Rail’s flexible tickets can be. That story started with a reader we are calling “Disgruntled from Cork” buying what was effectively the most expensive return ticket from Cork to Dublin and assuming it would give him a degree of leeway when travelling. He left his home place in the morning and planned to travel back from Dublin on the 3pm train.He set off from Dublin city centre in plenty of time to make that 3pm train but, as can happen, he got involved in a traffic snarl-up along the way and was met with an unfortunate sequence of red traffic lights.READ MOREThe series of unfortunate events meant he arrived at Heuston Station two minutes before his train was due to depart.In a bit of a flap, he raced through the concourse and arrived at the automated ticket barriers just in time to see his train departing the station.It was annoying – but he knew services to Cork ran hourly, so he got himself a coffee and waited. [ ‘Get to the back of the queue or leave the station’: Train users on Irish Rail inflexibilityOpens in new window ]As he attempted to board the 4pm train, he was met with intransigence and terms and conditions that he was unaware of. He tried to explain to Irish Rail staff that he had bought a flexible ticket but was told the one he bought was invalid and would only have worked on the 3pm train he had missed – so he had no choice but to buy a new ticket. It turned out that flexible tickets bought online are only flexible up to a point – and if the travel time stated on them is not changed at least one hour before the scheduled departure of the first leg of the journey, the travel time for both legs is set in stone.‘They suggested I go to the customer service desk and maybe they could authorise me to take a seat on the train. But again, I got a no. There was nothing they could do for me. They suggested I buy a new ticket’— Rob, Irish Rail customerIn response to our queries at the time, Irish Rail said its “terms and conditions are expressed clearly in respect of the amendments being available up to 60 minutes in advance of the outward journey. Benefits in advance booking include the ability to secure a seat, and the availability of discounted fares – walk-up open-return fares do not benefit from discounts.”This is all by way of introducing a different example of how flexible tickets can turn out to be decidedly inflexible. “Maybe you can make sense of Irish Rail’s interpretation of a flexible ticket, I’d be curious to see their take on it,” begins this other mail, from Rob.“I purchased a return ticket from Tralee to Dublin, and specifically booked the flexible option for €5 more to allow me the chance of coming home early if my plans changed,” he says. The flexible return ticket cost €60.98.On the morning of his scheduled return he went online to change his return time from 5pm to 1pm, only to discover that “you cannot amend your ticket if you printed off a physical ticket”.Rob went to the station early “and went to the ticket office and asked if they could please assist me to avoid waiting four more hours, but no, they can’t do that. They commented how ridiculous it was but there was nothing they could do. I checked if there were seats available on the 1pm train and there were,” he says. Heuston Station, Dublin: 'To find the devil in the detail, you must click on the online ticket section,' writes Rob. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw So he went to the ticket inspectors at the gate and “explained my situation and they said nothing they can do, I’d to wait four hours, they suggested I go to the customer service desk and maybe they could authorise me to take a seat on the train. But again, I got a no. There was nothing they could do for me. They suggested I buy a new ticket.”Rob was “frustrated with the lack of any consideration [and] opted to buy a new ticket ...€49.45 one way! My flexible/nonflexible return ticket had only cost me €60.98.”After he got back to Kerry he looked at the Irish Rail website and focused on the rules around flexible tickets. “To find the devil in the detail, you must click on the online ticket section,” he writes. He was eventually able to find what he was looking for and says the terms and conditions state “you can amend your physical ticket online up to 60 minutes before the journey [but] it can only be done if you have not collected your ticket from a ticket machine.”‘I believe the summary information that appears when you select the flexible ticket is a reasonable summary’— Barry Kenny, Irish RailRob says his is issue is that when he “originally booked and paid for my flexible ticket online, it gave me two options to get my ticket, a QR code, or to collect tickets at the station. It should not have allowed me to select the choice of collecting my ticket at the station if [doing so] cancelled my options of using the flexibility of the ticket I had paid for,” he says. “Apart from this, there were empty seats on the train, and I had paid for a return ticket. While I acknowledge Irish Rail is a commercial semi-State company, they could have waived my additional costs for a new ticket given I had already paid for a return ticket.” It strikes Pricewatch that this reader has a legitimate gripe, and while Irish Rail might argue that it is protected by its terms and conditions, this approach does the company no favours with those who use its service. We contacted the company. “I believe the summary information that appears when you select the flexible ticket is a reasonable summary,” said spokesman Barry Kenny. “Yes, the full T&Cs follow on from that, but in clear language it provides a summary of the provisions under a Flexible ticket, clearly detailing that the ticket being printed prevents further amendment.”He said Irish Rail “appreciate and regret that our customer was unhappy, but feel that the terms applying to Flexible tickets are not ones that are hidden, but are integral to the booking process. We will continue to work to ensure customers are aware of all terms and conditions associated with our fare categories, which are in place since December 2020.”