Hamptons weekenders with money to burn bought up more choice seats on LIRR express trains than they ever planned on using last summer — which left regular riders stuck on long wait lists.
The well-heeled customers on average didn’t use up to 30 percent of their seats and had no problem paying a $10-per-ticket penalty when they sought hefty refunds at the end of the season.
Their greed made it even harder for the rest of the riders to get spots in the Hampton Reserve cars on the Cannonball — a direct, summer-only train service between Penn Station in the city and Westhampton.
In addition to losing revenue from the seats that could have gone to customers on the waiting list, the MTA missed out on bar-service sales from the customers who didn’t use their tickets.
The new service from Manhattan began last year — and the Hampton Reserve ridership saw a 107 percent jump.
“It’s such a popular service,” said Joe Calderone, a Long Island Rail Road spokesman. “People are willing to pay premium. They get bar service at their seat, a reserved seat.”
The premium tickets cost $47 to head east and $39.75 heading back to the city — an additional $20 above the price of a regular ticket.
Advance payment is required to reserve tickets on the trains, which begin running on Memorial Day weekend.
Last year, Hampton Reserve riders asked the LIRR for approximately $10,000 in ticket refunds.
At Monday’s monthly board meeting, the MTA will propose a system that would give refunds only if customers cancel reservations by noon the Thursday before the travel date.
The move is expected to free up the seats for other riders who want to use the premium cars for their trips to the beach as well as make ticket purchasing more efficient.
It will also prevent mass refunds for unused Hampton Reserve tickets at the end of the summer.
Calderone said it’s about fairness for riders as well as revenue.
“We want to provide service to as many customers as possible,” he said. “They tell us the day before, and we can put people in the seats.”
Before the Cannonball came to Penn Station and offered a 94-minute direct trip to the Hamptons, it departed from Long Island City, Queens, for over a hundred years.
Passengers coming from Manhattan used to have to transfer to the Cannonball at Jamaica.