- Hindsight aims to stop people wasting money on train tickets they don’t need
- Free app developed by British tech start up Global Travel Ventures Limited
- Technology automatically swaps commuters to available lower-priced tickets, after they’ve travelled
- Passengers effortlessly get the lowest-priced set of tickets across the week – even if their plans change
Perth, Scotland, 2018-Dec-05 — /Travel PR News/ — Transport group Stagecoach is testing the world’s first retrospective pricing app created by British tech start up Global Travel Ventures Limited (GTV) to give better value to rail commuters.
Hindsight, developed by GTV with investment from Stagecoach Group, is a free app that allows customers to only pay for the journeys they actually take, rather than the ones they thought they would.
The app uses unique technology called Retrospective Pricing™ to spot when customers could have spent less. With increasing agile working across the economy, the app’s flexibility solves the dilemma many rail commuters face around what ticket to buy when their week might not turn out as expected.
Instead of having to commit to a particular ticket type (e.g. single, peak return, season ticket, off peak), customers can use the app with confidence to select their journey, scan through the ticket gates and get the train they want. Each time they travel, the app looks at all the journeys they’ve already taken that week and automatically swaps them to lower priced options if available to match the journey they actually made. For example, it can spot if a customer has done enough trips for a weekly season ticket, or convert a single to a cheap off-peak return because the customer came home earlier than expected.
Stagecoach is testing the new app on a number of East Midlands Trains routes.
Previous research carried out by the Rail Delivery Group highlights that two in three customers aren’t confident they bought the best value fare for their last journey. Hindsight is a simple, quick and effortless way of making sure that customers are only charged for the journeys they actually take.
Neil Micklethwaite, Rail Commercial and Business Development Director for Stagecoach Group, said: “This is all about offering our customers a better deal and giving them confidence they are always getting the right ticket for their journey. That’s why, as well as supporting this app, we’re working with the rest of the rail industry on proposals for governments to overhaul the fares system.
“The new Hindsight app is a revolutionary tool that provides the kind of digital experience we know our customers are looking for. We’re pleased to continue our record of innovation at Stagecoach by backing a British tech company in their development of this app, and becoming the first transport group to run a major pre-launch test across our rail services.
“This is a great step forward in providing more flexible and simpler ticketing”.
Simon Veingard, CEO for Hindsight said: “Working life is unpredictable…plans change, but tickets don’t. We can now give train commuters a killer combination of flexibility and low cost. No longer will people have to commit to weekly seasons they might not use, or shell out for peak returns they didn’t need.
“We’re delighted to be working with Stagecoach as a forward thinking operator to show how smart technology can both provide better value and also improve the daily experience of rail users. We look forward to making Hindsight available nationally in the near future.”
The Hindsight app is completing private tests and trials and people can register their interest at gethindsight.com.
Separately, a wider rail industry review is underway into the fares structure following a major national consultation over the summer. Fares regulation set in the 1990s has not kept pace with modern retailing, preventing train companies from offering better value travel to passengers. Proposals are being developed to make the system easier for customers and bring fares and retailing up to date with technology and modern working patterns.
Notes to editors
- Hindsight is able to operate on any train operator on the UK network who has enabled barcode ticketing.
- Advance Purchase fares are not included in the trial as customers already benefit from the cheapest price for the specific journey they are taking with an Advance Purchase ticket.
- Research which highlighted customers uncertainty with respect to their tickets was conducted by Rail Delivery Group as part of their 2018 Easier Fares Consultation
About Hindsight
- Hindsight is a trading name of Global Travel Ventures Ltd, the developers of the app. They are based in Oxford and London
- Hindsight calls this technology Retrospective Pricing™ and has spent the past 3 years developing it
- The founder, Jeremy Acklam was part of the team that launched Trainline in 1997
- The Chairman, Alan Tomlin, was CEO of Trainline for 6 years and sold the business to Exponent Private Equity for approximately £200m
- Simon Veingard is the CEO and previously ran taxi app Hailo (now MyTaxi) in the UK and helped take it to 20+ markets in 3 continents
- For more information, visit gethindsight.com
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Source: Stagecoach Group