Yorkshire Northern passengers with cheapest fares can now change trains last minute with little additional charge using Seatfrog app

People travelling on ‘Advance Purchase’ tickets with Northern can now benefit from greater ‘on the day’ flexibility if their plans change at the last minute.

Northern customers will be given the option to swap their ticket for another train on the same day following the partnership between the train operator and rail ticketing app Seatfrog.

This feature will allow passengers to swap their tickets from just £2.50 extra in just a few steps by using the app. It is part of a big move for the use of ‘Advance Purchase’ tickets which until now, once purchased, were only valid on one service.

Customers with ‘Advance Purchase’ tickets can visit the Seatfrog website for more information about how to swap to another service.

Commercial and customer director at Northern, Mark Powle, said: “Railcard discounts aside, ‘Advance Purchase’ tickets offer the cheapest fares on our network. But with those low prices came strict restrictions on travel dates and times.

“As such, we know some customers that had ‘Advance Purchase’ tickets were frustrated when their plans changed but they couldn’t easily change their train ticket.”

The rail ticketing app has already made waves in the rail industry with its simple and passenger-friendly tech and the partnership with Northern comes at an ideal time with the Easter holidays starting this week.

Northern customers can now organise their travel plans with the secure knowledge that it won’t be excruciatingly expensive to make any last minute changes to their itinerary.

Using the app, Northern customers are able to change their ‘Advance Purchase’ ticket starting from the day before their original departure date up until just 10 minutes before their original train is due to leave the station.

Co-founder of Seatfrog, Iain Griffin, said: “Two thirds of the 1.8 billion train tickets purchased every year are advance tickets which cost less, but lock passengers into rigid travel plans with no wiggle room.

“We know life doesn’t work to a set timetable and from today (April 3, 2023) Northern passengers will no longer have to miss out on unplanned life moments because of ticket restrictions.”

Northern has invested in the largest network of digital ticket infrastructure of any train operator in the UK, making it easier than ever to buy a ticket via its app, website or one of more than 600 ticket machines across the network.