10 Euro fare requires 90 minutes advance booking!
 

My friend from Australia went to booking office at Heuston this Thursday morning 40 minutes before departure time and asked for a 10 Euro one way ticket to Kilkenny.
He was told in order to get the 10 Euro ticket he would have to give 90 minutes notice. The price of the ticket was now 24 Euro!
I've carefully examined the IE website and am unable to find any mention of a 90 minutes cut off.
My friend is not a happy 'Teddy'!
Am I missing something?

Seamus

It is correct that the €10 fare (and all web fares) can only be purchased up to 90 minutes before departure. As an internet-only product, the €10 fare cannot be purchased at Heuston booking office at any stage. You will note from http://www.irishrail.ie/index.jsp?p=118&n=197&a=265 that the standard booking office fare for Heuston to Kilkenny is €24.00 (fare band K).

I had thought that €10 fares required to be purchased the day before travel at the latest, but that may have changed or have never been right.

You can book €10 fare for Waterford up to 90mins before departure provided they are not sold out. Other routes would most lightly have all the €10 fares sold out days before the departure.

On the Dublin-Cork route, there is only one train in the next week with a €10 fare available - Saturday's 8am Dublin-Cork. There is not a single Cork-Dublin train at €10, not even the 5am on the bank holiday Monday morning.

You have to wait til Saturday to even find a €26 fare.

The IE site states Reservations close 90 minutes prior to departure but it does NOT refer specifically to ONLINE reservations closing 90 minutes before train departs.
There should be an additional column stating what the Booking Office fares are.
I should have been able to let my Oz friend know the 10 Euro fare refers to online bookings only made 90 minutes before train departed, and the alternative booking office fare would be 24 Euro.
If this was clear from the website he would have got the bus for 9 Euro.
The more I think about it the more I realise the IE website is to be used with extreme caution when it comes to the fares shown.
In summary the special website booking fare should be shown alongside the booking office fare.
Bit of a con job really!

Can't say I agree with you. On the front page it says "Fares online from just €10", and clicking Fares and Tickets then Intercity Fares gives you http://www.irishrail.ie/index.jsp?p=118&n=197

"Select your route below to view the range of tickets and fares available at your station:"

And so on. I would say it's reasonable general knowledge that booking travel in advance online tends to be cheaper than turning up on the day.

The IE website will NOT show the fare for a train if it is no longer bookable

So if you look at Dublin Cork at 14:29 it will not show fares for departures up to 15:00, it will show the 16:00 fare and onwards. At 14:31 the fare for the 16:00 will no longer be shown and so on.

It does say 'Online fares from' on the website so it is not a case of false advertising the price on the screen is available from the website

Irish Rail is pretty generous to allow booking 90 minutes before departure, UK do next day at best.

Hi Thomas.
When one logs on to irishrail.ie it opens up with the Home page and across the top of this page - which catches the eye straight away - is the first Tab after the Home page and it is Fares & Tickets. This is the info any traveller wants.
(One has to be very sharp to spot the "Fares online from just €10" that is lost against the background).
If there was a column showing Booking Office fares side by side with the 'Online fares from' column it would be problem solved.

Seamus

Bookings can be made 28 day in advance and to be in with a chance of a €10 fare on Cork line you need to book it 28 days before.