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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think seats aren’t reserved on a train if they don’t put tickets out?

121 replies

alligatortoss · 24/03/2018 21:19

Or are they still reserved regardless of tickets?

Some woman just asked me to move despite there being 8 rows of identical seats free behind me.

OP posts:

sinceyouask · 25/03/2018 14:49

If there were lots of free seats you had plenty of choice as to where to move to, and you were in their reserved seat, so what's the problem?

My parents came to visit us this weekend. People were sitting in their reserved seats and tried to refuse to move at first. Maybe they thought a retired couple wouldn't stand their ground, idk, but my dad was having none of it and the rude fuckers did indeed move. Having spent so long arguing with my dad, they had nowhere to move to, so they stood for quite a long time. Their own fault, as when my parents first got on the train there were other seats available and had the people in theirs moved as soon as they were shown proof that the seats were reserved they'd have been fine.

Dungeondragon15 · 25/03/2018 15:54

If the tickets haven't been put out then the system has failed and there are effectively no reserved seats. It's not fair but then it wouldn't be fair either if people were moved from the seat as they didn't have an opportunity to select an unreserved seat when the train was less crowded.

Dungeondragon15 · 25/03/2018 15:56

If there were lots of free seats you had plenty of choice as to where to move to, and you were in their reserved seat, so what's the problem?

They might get moved from those seats as well if more people come on claiming the seat was reserved for them.

Busy77 · 25/03/2018 16:14

It makes me want to avoid travelling on a train with small children as I need some guarantee we will be sitting together for an 8 hour journey - the thought of sitting in the corridor.... at least when you fly this doesn't happen and it's usually cheaper.

WhyteKnyght · 25/03/2018 16:17

They're reserved unless the train guard has made an announcement (which they sometimes do) saying that all reservations are void as the system isn't working.

Some people get so het up about their bloody reservations though. A while back I was on a train that was cancelled half way along its route and we were all transferred to a new train. Clear tannoy announcement saying that all seat reservations now void, just sit where you like, so I sat down at an empty table in a carriage with one other person in it. Along comes some woman with her friend, pulls out her ticket, rudely snapping at me that this is "her" seat despite being told that no, all seat reservations have now been cancelled and she can sit in any other seat she likes. What really irritated me was she had literally the choice of any other seat in the entire carriage but no, on and on she fussed and fretted until I finally gave her the seat just to cut through it.

mynamesjohnnyutah · 25/03/2018 16:24

Yes they are still reserved. Sometimes they don’t have time to do it, if the train was late arriving.

Ariesgirl1988 · 25/03/2018 17:24

@HunterHearstHelmsley That's bad they do that! in my situation the guy hadn't reserved the seat he just sat there and thought being rude would make me back down but no way I wasn't having it if you wanted the charger shoulda reserved and paid for it

Shednik · 25/03/2018 18:06

I don't expect people who have reserved seats to move for me, upsideup. But neither will I give up a seat on a service where there are no reservations.

You can't reserve seats for under fives, nor can you sit several under fives on your knee.

Nor cam you reserve a seat if you have no idea when you'll be ready to leave.

The train manager felt that I was in the right, I'll take his word over yours.

Shednik · 25/03/2018 18:13

SD, because I had taken a child to a hospital appointment and had no idea which tain I was going to be able to catch home. Also because I have more than one under five.

I shouldn't have to pay extra for a journey that is already £100 in order to make sure that I don't have to sit the children apart. If the seat was marked reserved, I would have sat elsewhere.

Like I said, the train manager agreed with me and asked the others to sit elsewhere.

It's the train company's issue, not the fault of someone who had sat in an unreserved seat.

crunchymint · 25/03/2018 21:43

And you can not reserve a seat at the last minute.
Train services are crazy in Britain as those paying the most for a ticket are the ones who can not reserve a seat.

sashh · 26/03/2018 05:29

You can end up standing for hours, seething because you’d booked a nice table seat and can’t sit in it.

Or go to first class. If you have a reservation they have to find you a seat, and if second is full then they have to put you in first.

SporadicSpartacus · 26/03/2018 07:29

This thread makes me concerned about booking train travel. I have autism and reserve a seat because I need the predictability. I always thought the ‘all reservations off’ type announcements referred to the paper tickets, not the actual reservations. Not being able to guaranteeably sit in the place I was expecting to, or having to have the ‘I have a disability and would prefer not to move’ conversation, makes the whole thing massively more difficult than it needs to be.

Might stick to Megabus for long distance - cheaper and I’ve never been unseated.

Youshallnotpass · 26/03/2018 08:25

This thread reminds me why I drive everywhere and never use buses or trains. Ugh

CalmBeforeTheWave · 26/03/2018 17:21

The only guarantees in life are death, taxes and the train driver always gets a seat.

LassWiADelicateAir · 26/03/2018 19:05

but no way I wasn't having it if you wanted the charger shoulda reserved and paid for it

I shouldn't have to pay extra for a journey that is already £100 in order to make sure that I don't have to sit the children apart. If the seat was marked reserved, I would have sat elsewhere

Once and for all you don't pay extra for a reseved seat. If anything a reserved seat will have been cheaper than an unreserved seat as it will have been bought for one and is only valid for one specific train only. Open tickets, especially for long journeys are by far the most expensive

TheRagingGirl · 26/03/2018 21:54

And the reason that it’s difficult to book seats for children under 5 is that they travel for free. But no seat reservation. So if you want to guarantee a seat, you need to buy your children tickets.

Shednik · 26/03/2018 23:20

That's not what I meant Lass. I meant that to reserve seats for under fives would cost extra.

Shednik · 26/03/2018 23:22

raging except I don't want to reserve seats for my children. I want them to remain seated on the seats they are sitting in, which are not reserved due to the train company's error.

NoWordForFluffy · 27/03/2018 06:03

We have a Family and Friend railcard and book seats for our two under-5s so we know we will get reserved seats together. It actually works out cheaper to buy 4 reduced tickets than 2 full price adult tickets quite often.

As we've bought tickets I wouldn't feel like I had to move the children onto our laps in a busy train. If they were travelling for free, I probably would feel like I had to move them if it was quite busy.

Shednik · 27/03/2018 11:44

I have a family and friends railcard too as I also have over fives. It does work out cheaper than full price adult fares. But if you have several under fives where do you move them to? You can't sit them all on your knee, you can't seat them separately from you and they're not safe standing.

I would give up my seat and I would seat my slightly older ones separately but I would keep my under fives seated.

In my case, there were plenty of seats, just not all together. And if the seat reservation signs had been out, I would have sat elsewhere before the train filled up.

I think that the fact that the train manager told me it was ok and I didn't need to move proves that the issue is between the people who have reserved seats and the train company who have failed to reserve the seats for them, not other passengers seated in the now unreserved seats.

TheRagingGirl · 27/03/2018 12:57

Although @Shednik I suspect it varies according to Train Manager, and train operating company - I've had train managers say that even if the electronic bookings haven't loaded, people should sit in their reserved seats. And have supported me when I've tried to do so.

So the reverse of your experience ...

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