[Anonymous]

[continentalclub]

East Coast, the directly-operated train operating company, quietly dropped its Rewards programme a couple of months ago.

The new, relaunched programme is live today, and new members can sign up at:

http://bit.ly/mS9Aqi

Unfortunately, the full terms and conditions link is currently broken, but the basic premise now is that all tickets bought on the East Coast website, including for travel on other operating companies’ services, will earn points redeemable against on board WiFi access, East Coast travel and also other train operating company travel.

New members can earn 100 bonus points for signing up, equivalent to 20% off a First Class return on EC (a free ticket is 500 points).

There is also a refer a friend system.

From the website:

eVouchers

From just 100 Points, and in any denomination, you can use your Points for an eVoucher to put towards another rail journey (worth 500 Points). The value of your eVoucher will depend on the number of Points you wish to use. So when you’re ready and need to sign into your East Coast Rewards balance, choose how many Points you’d like to use and your eVoucher will appear in the Your Rewards balance section and on the payment page. It will be ready for use within 24 hours.

Free First Class return tickets

You’ll be eligible for one Free First Class return ticket for every 500 Points you collect (or 900 Points for a ticket for two people). This is an introductory offer and will change from November 2011. To use your Points, simply sign into your East Coast Rewards balance and choose how many tickets you want to claim. Your tickets will then appear in the Your Rewards balance section and will be ready for booking within 3 working days. Remember, you will need to book your tickets at least seven days in advance and, as long as seats are available, you can travel any day of the week.

Free East Coast Wi-Fi

To enjoy Free East Coast Wi-Fi in Standard Class, you only need 50 Points. That will give you 24 hours of access to our on-board service – perfect for a day’s business travel. All you need to do is sign into your East Coast Rewards balance, choose on-board East Coast Wi-Fi and enter your Points. You’ll then receive a voucher code which lets you connect for Free to our on-board East Coast Wi-Fi when you’re travelling. Of course, we’ll tell you all the nitty-gritty details about how to connect to East Coast Wi-Fi when you use your Points.

[Bunnahabhain]

I already have a registration with the East Coast website so foolishly in hindsight chose the option to sign in first then click Login to my rewards – grand total of 0 points, no 100 points welcome.

Rather akin to the mobile phone operators who seem to prioritise new / the others’ customers over their own – a kind of non-loyalty scheme..

[JordanD]

Typical – the day *after* I buy a bunch of EC tickets!

continentalclub – if you want would like to refer me as a friend, then you can benefit from whatever the rate is; am intending to sign up, so might as well share the wealth, etc.

[continentalclub]

That’s a very kind offer, JordanD, although if email addresses are posted online then they tend to get spammed to high heaven!

So, disguising it from the spambots slightly, it’s ‘cc’ followed by the ‘at’ sign, followed by my username here, followed by ‘.co.uk’.

Hope that makes sense, and thanks again!

[continentalclub]

All may not be lost, JimBannerman1!

Check your account again today and you may find that the bonus points have updated overnight; they certainly have in my case and I too was logged in to my existing account when I applied for the new programme.

[Bunnahabhain]

Thanks, indeed the goddess of eastern promise has been good to me overnight.

This could be a new form of speed dating, all the regulars here referring a friend!

Just need a BA-style mobile app with ticket now… appreciate the station gates are a problem but the staffed gate could have a barcode scanner as at airport pre-security (which works with mobile and printed boarding passes for various airlines). East Coast or possibly NXEC did have a mobile ticket system going although it said the iPhone wasn’t compatible – anyone used it on other models? Can’t remember what it was called, probably no longer in use anyway. I remember the condition that you had to ensure enough battery power for the whole journey.

[JordanD]

Well, the joining points have now been credited, however the £80-odd of 1st class tickets bought 24hrs before joining haven’t been, despite it being on the same log in. Oh well, que sera, sera.

[JordanD]

A rather large health warning for this scheme.

It appears – having now read some of the ‘points explained’ items on this site – that points take an awful long time to post. If your ticket purchase contains anything other than an “Advance” fare ticket, it will take 2 months and 1 day to post, leading to a situation where you can only realise the value of these points long after bookings have been made.

If airlines took 60-odd days (on average) to post to your account, we’d be up in arms – it is a surprise BT hasn’t challenged East Coast on this!

[continentalclub]

It’s all to do with the fact that non-Advance tickets are usually refundable to a greater or lesser extent, JordanD. If the points posted immediately on these tickets then there’d be an enormous loophole in the system.

The airlines, likewise, do not award points (with some very isolated exceptions such as Jet2) until the flight is actually flown, which can be up to 11 months or more after booking.

Airlines, given their check-in and boarding processes, can employ systems that allow for points to be posted within a very short period after flying; the railways have no such processes, so a catch-all policy has presumably had to be developed.

Of course, if a passenger no-shows for a flight then in the majority of cases they won’t receive any points at all; with the East Coast system passengers will retain the points even if they don’t actually make the journey.

[continentalclub]

A very late warning, and one that I for one have not received notice of directly from East Coast, that the ‘introductory’ redemption rates on East Coast Rewards will rise tomorrow, Monday 9th January.

A First Class ticket for one will rise from 500 to 900 points, and a ticket for two from 900 to 1400.

Redemptions for free ticket awards at the current rates must be made today, although of course reservations using the awards can be deferred until redeemed awards themselves expire.

From the 9th, Standard awards may be redeemed for the first time, at the former First Class rates.

[MaryyDoll77]

How do I go about spending my Reward points?

And I signed up to the east coast trains site at the end of last year so will this affect my rewards that I have already gained before the site has been renewed?

[Author]

Posts