AIBU to think that this brave new world of everything needing to be booked in advance while simultaneously being non refundable is a massive PITA?

[Uptee]

And that it's all down to the internet?

Yeah, it's "easy" to book things online, but it's not always "easy" to turn up for them. Life gets in the way, people get sick, have pressing commitments appear, plans change. And when that happens, easiness goes out of the window. Suddenly it's not so easy, to do anything at all, because none of this ease is really for the convenience of customers. It's just to push cash flow forwards.

Half the time, you have no choice but to book in advance. There are no walk-up tickets. Or, if you're talking walk-up tickets on the train, they're £200. So instead you buy a train ticket for £70 which is still let me remind you a fuck of a lot of money, and even though your journey that you won't make (say for example, because a booking you had as a self employed person got cancelled) is weeks and weeks hence, there is no refund. You might just have well have burnt that bloody money. It's a fucking con.

Yes yes yes. Yanbu.
I’m planning our summer holiday in the U.K. at the moment. Many of the things will only be worthwhile if the weather is nice. They are not cheap! But I can’t say what August will be like, and I don’t want to risk the whole thing being a waste of time and money. So I will take my chances with booking in the week before, and hope the forecast is reliable. If there’s no space then so be it.

Dh has been stung for trains and flights before now, where clients cancelled last minute. In the last year he’s got far more careful about making sure he passes costs on where he can. In fact he’s gone back to teams and online calls more than he would like, because the costs are just ridiculous.

Right?? I can’t even book a child’s swim session any more without setting up an entire profile for my toddler ie handing over all the data for someone not yet 3 fucking years old to a huge corporation. I won’t do it. They used to let you book a child ticket with an adult profile but now they won’t. It’s cynical and I won’t take her swimming til I find an alternative.

Sorry that was slightly OT but YANBU - I think in encouraging everyone to book everything businesses are probably losing custom. I would happily turn up to a cinema etc on the spur of the movement but family makes it hard to plan and turning up without booking seems a no no. When I was younger you’d only have to book for the first night of a huge blockbuster.

Make it up? Don't need to know your child's name or anything to book swimming lessons.

I make up loads when doing things online. I mean, just ordering something to wear - they ask my DOB. Ha, sod off, I tell them am 180 years old. Never give out my telephone number, have a sep email for anything like this too. Sometimes it can be quite fun, making things up..

Pre smartphones, I don't remember it being that much more expensive to just get tickets on the day, and there was usually space (not always, obviously).

I think a lot of places do this now because of too many no shows. People would just book stuff 'just in case'. I think it really started to get worse post covid when things were just opening up again.

I do miss just being able to be spontaneous and go when it suits. I did a trip to London with my DD and there were several things we wanted to do so had to have a stressful game of trying to figure out when we would arrive somewhere, how long we would stay and then how long to travel to the next thing we wanted to do. 😰

Yeah it's like being on a never ending coach trip but with high risk stakes. You want to see that art gallery? You feeling lucky? Huh?

What?!!! Not where I am. Not unless you’re in a van at least.

I think it's better for the big tourist attractions. I recall having to get up in the dark and queue for hours for things like the Sistine Chapel, and you still weren't guaranteed entry.

You can say that again! 😀

As a young, carefree man I remember hitching round Spain and Portugal, deciding on a whim where to go, and finding somewhere to stay when I got there (and it was really easy to do so) Sigh! Take me back to when everything was so much simpler 🙂

Booking ahead (non-refundable) is such a lottery if you're booking for family days out. My dc are older teens now but when they were little, there were often last minute tummy bugs / tummy aches etc that would have been a real pain if I'd already forked out for, eg, Legoland or similar!

Re the tip - we started having to book during covid times and it's just continued here (Kent).

It's the bloody apps that piss me off. I don't want my phone to be my ticket. For anything. I just want to turn up and hand over folding money without giving my bloody life story.

I am currently in Singapore and it’s actually quite nice that u can book attractions on the day when you know how you feel (juat arrived and jet lagged and concerned about heat). It’s more relaxing to play it by ear eaxh day rather than force yourself to do stuff to avoid losing money.

I hadn’t actually ever spotted trains going down in price though. I assumed like others they just went up and have to book at least before 6 the day before to avoid highest cost?

It’s because tomorrow is a Friday. Nobody goes into the office in London from commuter towns on a Friday anymore so tickets are mega cheap.

The one that gets me is ticket protection insurance at the theatre. The tickets are already extortionate, why should I need to pay extra in the event that I genuinely can’t come? Most people aren’t flaky with the theatre anyway as it’s so expensive so an extra charge like that is a slap in the face.

I really don’t think that poster is talking shite. I’ve checked from my home in Devon for tomorrow and it’s £36 a person return to Gatwick. I’ve paid £55-60 for the same trip before.

Trains being substantially cheaper booked in advance goes back well before booking online was popular and common. It was normal decades ago.

A couple of years ago I was looking at booking a very fancy restaurant nearby. They only offer a tasting menu and were looking for the full cost to be paid upfront (almost £100pp). It only had availability a few weeks out so there was no way I was risking that. They then went out of business a few months later and I wondered how many people had lost a couple hundred pounds from that...

I also miss spontaneous travel. I used to go backpacking around countries and just sort accommodation when I arrived somewhere. Hard to do that now.

Fucking hell, make sure you get a refund from the charm school anyway.

Did you mean to be so rude?

I think the problem is the insurance you tack onto these prebooked tickets and excursions. It never pays out when you need it . I lost the price of a Vietnamese tour because of the war , last month 82 yrs mother became unwell as we were due to go to the theatre that night and insurance wouldn’t pay because she didn’t require an ambulance or have a doctors letter confirming her illness . Why would we bother a Dr for that when she didn’t want a Dr . As if they don’t have enough to do .

YANBU. I hate having to plan a day around a half hour window weeks in advance, especially when it's not clear what the rules are. I book for 12 pm, and that means what? I need to be there before 12? Between 12 and 12.15/12.30? How late do I have to be before you won't let me in? Although having said that, I have arrived outside the slot at The Tate and was let in without comment.

I find that trains are variable. If you can go off peak, ie at the weekend or after about 9 am on a weekday, sometimes an off peak return is a reasonable cost and then you can get on any train you like. You can also buy it on the day, the price doesn't change so once the cheaper advance tickets sell out, it often becomes the cheapest option - trains don't have dynamic pricing like airlines, with a train they go from cheaper to expensive as sales increase, but with an airline, if you get close to the travel date and the flight is undersold, the price goes down.

However, I think that only works for local or short/medium distance trains, if you need to travel to London from far away, especially if you want to go for a day trip so set off in the morning and return the same day, it's often hugely expensive unless you book many weeks in advance.

Tricky with the train because they obviously need to reserve the seats and not overbook. It doesn’t matter for all trains but some are inevitably more popular routes than others and nobody wants to get on a 2 hour train and find no seat.

I'm tired of booking everything, frankly.

I'm surprised McDonalds doesn't have a booking system or does it??