Amex travel questions and *now* answers

[empire]

No he can't as he has too have a full car load of "1901" to get a space - we thought of that too!!

he wont be driving much im sure,he will be drinking!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Insider has responded to some ATC questions on Travel Vouchers. There is also some information on the Club website.
Confirmed information is shown in RED.

THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN POSTED, AS AT TUESDAY EVENING, 5 JULY. Some have been reworded, to ensure that they are "general" questions, rather than questions that are specific to an individual poster's circumstances:-


TRAVEL VOUCHERS

Travel Vouchers come in books of 30. Are the vouchers specific to a particular match?

Yes, vouchers can be used at P&R, bus or train by any person, but will be match specific. 30 vouchers are for the one season only.

Can unused Vouchers be carried over to next season?
Can one book of Vouchers be shared between several people, travelling together (eg a group of people using park & ride)?
Because of the answer from Insider, set out above, it is presumed that the answer to these two questions must be NO

When will Travel Vouchers become available?
Will books of Travel Vouchers be sold on-line?
Travel vouchers, for use on trains, Brighton & Hove and Stagecoach buses and at any of the three park & ride sites, are available priced £30 for 23 Championship match vouchers and 7 vouchers for cup/friendly matches.
Applications can be made by telephone to the ticket office on 0845 496 1901 or customer services on 0845 873 0251. They are not available online. - from the Club website.

Can the Club clarify whether there is a booking fee for purchasing Travel Vouchers?

Some fans committed to paying £25 for a book of 25 Travel Vouchers when they attended season ticket presentations. Will they now have to pay an additional £5 to obtain a book of 30 vouchers?

Are Travel Vouchers transferable to other fans?

Will one Voucher be sufficient for a journey that involves both a bus and a train, or two buses run by different companies (Stagecoach and Brighton & Hove), or two buses run by B&H Buses?

Will it be possible for fans who cannot attend most games to purchase single Vouchers?

Are all passengers using park & ride services required to have Travel Vouchers, or can some users (eg young children, senior citizens, etc) travel without a Voucher?

Will Travel Vouchers be made available to away fans?


BUS SERVICES

Will the post-match regular scheduled buses to Brighton call at the stadium? Or should passengers wait for them at the stop outside Falmer Station?

Where will the regular buses to Lewes pick up passengers, post-match? What is the pedestrian route to the bus stop?

Will passengers without a Travel Voucher be able to pay cash on the football special buses (eg the buses from Shoreham or the shuttle service from Rottingdean)?

How many buses does the bus company intend to use on the football special services? Will there be enough capacity to carry everyone who wants to use a football special, especially those people living closer to the ground than the early pick up points?

Do the bus companies (including Stagecoach) plan to run any extra matchday service buses or football specials from areas outside Brighton (eg Haywards Heath)?

Will there be any special buses running from Telscombe, Saltdean, Rottingdean and Woodingdean?

Young people aged 5-19 currently pay 20 pence for bus journeys they make on B&H local buses when they hold a BusID pass and are travelling with a fare paying adult. Will travelling with an Albion Travel Voucher holder on a local B&H bus service count as travelling with a fare-paying adult?

Will Brighton & Hove Buses be running extra buses on the route from Tunbridge Wells, Crowborough and Uckfield?

Will arrangements be made post-match to ensure that fans returning by bus to places beyond Lewes (eg Uckfield, Crowborough and Tunbridge Wells) get priority over Lewes-bound passengers to ensure that they can get a place on one of the few journeys that will be available to meet their needs?

Are B&H Buses planning to make the purchase of "Saver" tickets online so that you can print them out yourself rather than getting them by post?


TRAIN SERVICES

Some train journeys have a “kids for a pound” deal for young people accompanying a fare paying adult. Will this deal be available when the adult is using a Travel Voucher?

What extra train services will be running on matchdays (Saturdays and evenings, pre-match and post-match)?

When will the matchday train timetables be published?

When evening games are played, what is the latest time to catch a train from Falmer to ensure a connection with a train to Haywards Heath or beyond?

Can the Club provide an estimate of how many spaces on trains will be available for supporters, pre-match and post-match – for both Saturday games and evening games?


PARK & RIDE SERVICES

Is every passenger in a car required to have a Travel Voucher? Or is it one voucher per car?

Yes, you would need one each. The voucher is needed to ride on the bus - not just to park.

Will it be possible to pay cash to travel on a park & ride bus?

Will car users who turn up at a park & ride site without a travel voucher for each passenger be turned away?

Is park & ride available to away fans?

Will "Walk Up and Go" passengers, "Kiss and Riders" and cyclists who park at, say, Mithras House or the Racecourse, and then use the park & ride buses, have to produce a Travel Voucher?

Are Senior Citizens’ Concessionary Bus Passes valid on the park & ride buses?

What happens when a park & ride site becomes full? How will this be publicised on the day?

Does the Club have any plans to increase the number of park & ride spaces available?

Has Withdean Stadium been considered as a site? Would Waterhall be acceptable as an emergency overflow site, should Mill Road fill up?

How many buses will be used for each park and ride?


COACH SERVICES

Do Travel Vouchers give a discount on coach journeys? Or is the Club's subsidy to coaches paid in some other way? And does it apply to all coach services?

Is the subsidy being given to coach travel sufficient, or will comparatively high coach prices from places like Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill and Hassocks have the effect of encouraging fans from these areas to travel on an already overcrowded train network?


COMMUNITY ORGANISED COACH & MINIBUS SERVICES

Is there capacity in the coach park for all community organised coaches and minibuses to park and pick up passengers at the end of the match?


PARKING FOR DISABLED PEOPLE

Bearing in mind that there are only 46 disabled parking spaces that are available to buy (on a seasonal basis only, at a price of £130 a season), what criteria will be used to decide which disabled people will be permitted to buy these places? And who will decide?

Is it fair to charge for a disabled parking space?

Did the Club advise BODS that disabled parking spaces would be made available free of charge?

If a Blue Badge holder (or other disabled supporter) is unsuccessful in applying for one of the available disabled parking spaces, what alternatives will be offered?

If none of the alternatives is suitable, will the Club offer a refund on the season ticket and PSL that has been purchased?

Are there any plans to help disabled people get from the Sussex University car park to the stadium, if they find that they are unable to get a designated disabled parking space, but do succeed in getting a space elsewhere on the University campus?

If a wheelchair is necessary to assist a disabled supporter to get from Sussex University to the stadium, does the Club propose to make wheelchairs (and pushers) available for this purpose?

Where at the stadium can wheelchairs be parked?

Will it be possible for disabled supporters who do not have an allocated parking space to be dropped off and picked up close to the stadium entrance?

What arrangements are being made for disabled parking spaces to be made available to away fans? How many spaces will be available? And where will they be located?


NEAR-STADIUM CAR PARKING

Tickets go on sale on Wednesday 6th July for a period of one week to Amex season-ticket holders who held a 2010/11 season ticket at Withdean, and 1901 Club members without parking provision.From Wednesday 13th July they will be offered to all Amex season ticket holders on a first-come first-served basis.Applications can be made by telephone to the ticket office on 0845 496 1901 or customer services on 0845 873 0251. They are not available online. - from the Club website.

Parking spaces are priced at £360 (£180 for the disabled spaces) - charged as a one-off payment with a £2 booking fee - and can be renewed on an annual basis. Spaces are not reserved, and will be allocated on arrival. - from the Club website.

How will “block parking – bumper to bumper” (as promised on the Sussex University website) work? Will this delay post-match departure times?

The club have been in touch as they have been deluged with calls saying something like...
"I read on NSC that bumper-to-bumper block parking will be used."
...and apparently it will not other than in extraordinary circumstances, and then only for late-comers. They don't envisage having to use it.
It seems the stuff on the Uni site is incorrect.
Just posting this so people know and can make a better informed choice.

Will there be any parking available at Sussex University (or another nearby car park) on a match by match basis?

What is the recommended walking route between the car parking areas and the stadium? Is it safely lit?

Will the registration numbers of cars parked at the University be cross checked against season ticket seat numbers?

Is free matchday parking being made available to stewards and other stadium staff?

The club has announced that: There are 650 parking spaces available for 1901 club members in Bennett's Field; 700 pre-bookable parking spaces are available for purchase by STHs located on the Sussex University campus; 46 pre-bookable parking spaces are available for purchase for disabled attendees. According to the City Council, there are 2,004 near site, match day parking spaces. Where are the other 608 spaces located? Who will they be made available to? And on what basis?

Information on the Sussex University website states that there are 1,100 pre-bookable spaces available for day time matches and 700 for evening games. How will the shortfall be met for evening games? If there is no alternative location, how will the club continue to comply with the conditions of the planning consent?


MOPEDS & MOTOR CYCLES

What parking is available near the stadium for mopeds and motor cycles?


PARKING IN NEARBY RESIDENTIAL AREAS

Do stewards have any legal authority to prevent parking in nearby residential areas (eg Coldean or Moulsecoomb)? If fans do park legally in these areas, will any enforcement action be taken?

Are there any plans for any additional, legally enforceable, matchday parking restrictions to be introduced in Coldean or Moulsecoomb?

Bearing in mind the fact that there will inevitably be people (including away fans) who are unable to use any alternative to the car to get to games, what advice will the Club give them about where to park, assuming that paid parking near the stadium won’t be available and there is a likelihood that park & ride spaces will be fully subscribed?


KICK OFF TIMES OF EVENING MATCHES

Has the Club considered a 7.30pm kick-off time, to clear the stadium in a timely way, and help fans who need to make travel connections as part of their journeys home?


TRAVEL DATA

Will the Club publish the information collected in the travel survey conducted when season tickets were on sale?

 

[kingcole]

This issue of the travel vouchers being used for a specific game is 100% opposite to what 2 poeple of the ticket line have told me.

I understood I had 30 return vouchers. The ticket office even suggested, once they are used up I could buy another book. They would be on sale all season without restriction.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

This issue of the travel vouchers being used for a specific game is 100% opposite to what 2 poeple of the ticket line have told me.

I understood I had 30 return vouchers. The ticket office even suggested, once they are used up I could buy another book. They would be on sale all season without restriction.

I really want an answer to this.

Myself and two kids will need to use public transport for about 10 games. One book of 30 would do us for the season, if they are not match-specific.

 

[tinx]

I really want an answer to this.

Myself and two kids will need to use public transport for about 10 games. One book of 30 would do us for the season, if they are not match-specific.

Me too, This is the main answer I want to find out. I would rather buy one book now use them until they run out and then buy another. In theory that will be 15 games in as its for me and my son. That would be ideal for me as I don't really wnt to outlay £60 now especially as my son will only be going to saturday games as he is to young to stay up that late on a school night.

 

[Gritt23]

I really want to know if you can turn up and pay cash at the P&R?

My plans - certainly initially - could change from game to game as I work out what works best for me. I don't want a 30 ticket book, but I want to be able to pull up at a park and ride and get to the ground if I need to.

 

[Notters]

Me too, This is the main answer I want to find out. I would rather buy one book now use them until they run out and then buy another. In theory that will be 15 games in as its for me and my son. That would be ideal for me as I don't really wnt to outlay £60 now especially as my son will only be going to saturday games as he is to young to stay up that late on a school night.

I really hope it works like this; insider's answer worries me a little.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

I really want to know if you can turn up and pay cash at the P&R?

My plans - certainly initially - could change from game to game as I work out what works best for me. I don't want a 30 ticket book, but I want to be able to pull up at a park and ride and get to the ground if I need to.

It would be idiotic for them to lay on a Park and Ride (as a cornerstone of their sustainable transport policy) and then only allow people who have pre-bought a Season's worth of Travel Vouchers to use it. However everything I've read so far suggests that that's what they have been planning. Perhaps this slight silence is them reconsidering....

 

[Gritt23]

It would be idiotic for them to lay on a Park and Ride (as a cornerstone of their sustainable transport policy) and then only allow people who have pre-bought a Season's worth of Travel Vouchers to use it.

Any more idiotic than the rules about the family stand if your child cannot make, say and evening game with you, or is sick?

 

[Jameson]

Sorry if I've missed this somewhere but from what I see all the park and ride sites are positioned so that fans from the east have to drive past the stadium by some distance only to get the bus back. Are there any plans for a park and ride at, say, Lewes?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Sorry if I've missed this somewhere but from what I see all the park and ride sites are positioned so that fans from the east have to drive past the stadium by some distance only to get the bus back. Are there any plans for a park and ride at, say, Lewes?

Really? There are no park and rides to the east of the stadium?

 

[Gazwag]

Really? There are no park and rides to the east of the stadium?

Nope, they are West (M House), North West (Mill Rd) and South West (Racecourse) of the Stadium.

 

[Napper]

Few have said they will only use a few times in a season , so do they still need to buy an entire book ? . I don't think this question has been put to him yet

 

[southwickseagull]

So how many vouchers for the park and ride, one or one each way can somebody clarify?

 

[Gazwag]

OK I raised the question about getting to the bus stops the other side of the A27 (to go Lewes way). The article on the seagulls website regarding the opening of the bridge states that the new bridge provides a cycle/walking route joining the university sites thus avoiding the busy A27. Does this mean the bridge crosses the A27 therfore making it easy to get to the bus stops on the other side.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

It would be idiotic for them to lay on a Park and Ride (as a cornerstone of their sustainable transport policy) and then only allow people who have pre-bought a Season's worth of Travel Vouchers to use it. However everything I've read so far suggests that that's what they have been planning. Perhaps this slight silence is them reconsidering....

The questions have been raised with the Club.

I was advised - some months ago - by the Commercial Manager of the Bus Company that the Bus Company would not be selling seats on the park & ride buses on the day. The question is therefore whether people turning up at the P&R without the necessary Vouchers will be turned away. The option of the Club selling individual Vouchers at the Park & Ride sites might be something they would like to consider. There are obvious pros and cons to this idea which would need to be considered carefully, though.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

So how many vouchers for the park and ride, one or one each way can somebody clarify?

My understanding is that all Vouchers come in two halves - pre-match and post-match.

 

[Max Paper]

Has the 'bus then train' voucher issue been resolved?

 

[Max Paper]

Has the 'bus then train' voucher issue been resolved?

Sorry I just spotted it on the list, it seems not

 

[southwickseagull]

My understanding is that all Vouchers come in two halves - pre-match and post-match.

Thank you your lordship.