New data from Seatfrog suggests that 79% of passengers are missing their booked train, with 65% spending up to £100 to replace a single ticket.
However, Seatfrog has now teamed up with CrossCountry to allow passengers to change their ticket to a different train from just £10.
CrossCountry operates 240 services every weekday and sees around 42 million journeys each year is now the latest operator to join up with SeatFrog after Northern and East Midlands Railway partnered with the company.
Ian Griffin, CEO and co-founder of Seatfrog, explained: “Two-thirds of us buy advance tickets because they're the cheapest. But the lack of flexibility with these tickets means we're either missing out on life – leaving dates, gigs and work events early – or we're paying a hefty price for a new ticket. Add to that the frustration of queuing at a ticket office or ringing a customer service line to book a new ticket, and it's easy to see why passengers are put off making important journeys via rail.
“We want rail to enable life, rather than just get in the way of it, so it's fantastic to see rail operators like CrossCountry partnering with us to improve the passenger experience and make their services more flexible when people's plans inevitably change.”
Colette Casey, CrossCountry's Customer Director, said: “We want customers travelling with CrossCountry to have as many options as possible for if plans change on their journey. We know that plans can change which is why we're pleased to partner with Seatfrog on their new TrainSwap feature, which will allow passengers greater flexibility.”
