I'm sorry about the off-topic, but I thought one of you might know the answer.
I've just booked a train ticket for my husband, to be picked up at the station. It's my credit card account, he's an authorised user. He can't find his card...it's possible the wrong one was tossed when the new one arrived, as he CAN find the old one. I've heard that in the recent past, people have been able to retrieve their paid-for tickets from the machine using the reference number and a card other than the one used to make the booking, if that card has the correct name on it. Anyone know if that's true?, If not, I'll need to make another reservation (and will have wasted the cost of an Edinburgh-Inverness ticket).
The short answer - it depends. Tickets booked by travel agents can be collected with any card. Some booking sites set this for all tickets, so all tickets booked through that site can be colelcted with any card. Some ticket machines accept any card even if the booking site hasn't said to do so. However, if the site and machine both require the correct card, then only the correct card will do. However, the booking site customer services can change this - give them a call and they should be able to change the card or allow any card.
I didn't use an agent, I booked through the ScotRail site. The info on the site says it should be the card used to book the ticket - is that likely to be true?
If it is a manned station, try calling at the booking office. There can be a number of reasons why the automatic machines won't cough out the tickets and in the past I've been able to get my ticket from the booking office by showing them the ticket reference number.
It looks to me as if you need which offers email or telephone or Twitter ....
I say that as Scotrail still *say* you need the card used to buy the tickets. ("Please carry the debit/credit card that was used to purchase the ticket along with the Ticket Collection Reference.")
*But* they appear to share the ticket system with rUK (eg offering collection from ticket machines outside Scotland). And all the tickets I've bought in England in recent years require *a* card for ID purposes
- *not* the card used to buy the ticket.
I suspect failure to update their website. But you patently need better than that.
If your husband had been able to find his in-date card, would that have worked? If you bought the ticket on your card and are supplying his card as verification, would it be enough that the cards are linked in some way such that his card is an authorised user of yours? Or would they be really picky and say: "It's a different card number" (and a different registered user name) without checking that the cards are linked and that the surnames are the same therefore probably husband and wife?
Companies really do need to solve the husband orders, wife collects (or vice versa) situation. Our library allows my wife and I to have separate tickets but has no way of linking them. That means that if we were to reserve books, the person who collects would need to carry *both* tickets if they wanted to collect books that had been reserved on separate tickets - at least in theory. In practice they *say* that they could issue the books on the ticket that had reserved them even if the person who collects doesn't have that ticket. We've never put it to the test and always reserve books for both of us on my wife's ticket since she's the one who is more likely to be passing the library. And if she can't get to the library before closing time she gives me the ticket so I can go another day.
What is needed is separate tickets so there's no need for us to lend the ticket to the one who's collecting, but with the two tickets regarded as interchangeable in terms of being eligible to collect a book.
I've just got off the phone with them - I was told they can modify/flag my account, so that any other correct-name card can be used. But the system was down (as it often seems to be these days). The CS rep said he should be able to get it done by tomorrow, and said he'd email me once it's been done.
Collect it in person from the booking office at the station you're travelling from - if you can find one open. Did this recently. Provided you have the reference number and some identification it worked for me at my local one. On the only time I've booked a ticket online. They didn't want to see the actual card used to pay for it.
There are only two retail web ticketing systems in the UK - WebTIS and Trainline. Train operators use one or the other (and the Trainline.co.uk obviously use their own, but with added charges).
The reason I used that card, is that, unlike some others, the numbers are the same, even the 3-digit verification code. Only the name on the front is different. It makes things easier, as I generally do the booking, and I don't need to remember (to use) different numbers. Except this time, when the card can't be found.
I purchased a ticket to Taunton travelling on 16 Oct via the GWR website on 22 August paying by credit card and arranging to collect the ticket from Liverpool Street station. On the booking confirmation it said "Please note that this card is due to expire near to your travel date" and "To collect your tickets, you must have both the credit/debit card used to purchase the tickets and your ticket booking reference", so I checked and was told that I had to collect the tickets before the credit card was renewed.
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