Strange train pricing (again).

[simon.r]

Split ticketing is an interesting concept that may be worth looking into:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/split-cheap-train-tickets/

 

[ColinJ]

Split ticketing is an interesting concept that may be worth looking into:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/split-cheap-train-tickets/

Just don't try it on trains that don't stop at the station that you are splitting at, even if they start where you want to start, finish where you want to finish, and pass through the station you are splitting at!

(Honestly, your tickets will not be valid. I did it once and was told off by the guard. He told me that he could have charged me for the 'correct' ticket for my journey but let me off with a warning that time. I thought it was crazy so I checked the terms & conditions when I got home and he was right.)

 

[snorri]

Scotrail are offering a £17 return fare to anywhere in Scotland just now with a Club50 card.
I haven't read any small print, but it looks worth investigating.
https://www.scotrail.co.uk/offers/club-50/club-50-£17-ticket-offer

 

[nickyboy]

Interesting issue regarding train stations with barriers.

On Sunday I was on a London - Manchester train with an Advance London - Manchester ticket. I arranged to get off in Stockport as it was more convenient. Stockport has ticket barriers. No problem going through the Stockport ticket barriers

 

[swee'pea99]

Scotrail are offering a £17 return fare to anywhere in Scotland just now with a Club50 card.
I haven't read any small print, but it looks worth investigating.
https://www.scotrail.co.uk/offers/club-50/club-50-£17-ticket-offer

Um, you don't have to get to the small print to find a pretty crucial substitution - " between any two stations in Scotland". Unfortunate, because I have to say it sounded good!

 

[green1]

Um, you don't have to get to the small print to find a pretty crucial substitution - " between any two stations in Scotland". Unfortunate, because I have to say it sounded good!

Last time I checked Largs and Lockerbie are both in Scotland.

 

[snorri]

Um, you don't have to get to the small print to find a pretty crucial substitution - " between any two stations in Scotland". Unfortunate, because I have to say it sounded good!

I understood the OP wanted to travel from Largs to Lockerbie, ie within Scotland.
Edit. I must learn to type faster!

 

[swee'pea99]

Last time I checked Largs and Lockerbie are both in Scotland.

Yeah, but I'm not. Sod the OP - I was thinking about *me*!

 

[TheDoctor]

Looking at the OP, the more expensive ticket is an 'Anytime' one, the cheaper ticket is a more restricted 'Advance' fare.
I appreciate that it's the same train, but the more expensive ticket is buying you some flexibility, in that you *could* use a different train, or even get a refund.

 

[TheDoctor]

When I used to go to South Wales regularly, a return to Swansea was always about £40 cheaper than a return to Llanellii.
A single Swansea - Llanelli was about £3 and you could buy it on the train, or not, as the case may be.

 

[presta]

Just bear this tale in mind:-

https://conversation.which.co.uk/travel-leisure/petty-train-fines-for-getting-off-early/

Well that's interesting, isn't it:

"The conditions of advance tickets do state that you have to make the journey printed on your ticket without breaking that trip or changing destination."

I've been in the habit of breaking my journey after expressly asking the question, and being told that it's ok. I buy a return ticket from home to the hospital, and routinely stop at an intermediate town on the way home to look around the shops. When I asked, I was told that's ok. When I bought a return ticket from Essex to York I came home from Leeds. Was told it was OK to buy a single from Leeds to Doncaster and then use the return half from Doncaster home. Presumably if I'd been fined they would just have denied telling me it's ok.

I've given up trying to understand the railways, every time I start chasing down prices and rules I lose the will to live. Just try finding out what 'any permitted route' means, or the difference between 'saver' and 'supersaver'. I think the arcane rules and crippling fines are just a scam put there to trip you up and raise revenue.

 

[nickyboy]

An ordinary return allows a break of journey. An advance is for a specific train, so breaking the journey would automatically mean that you are on the wrong train for one part of that journey.

Agreed...it sounds very strange to be allowed to get off the train your Advance ticket is specifically for, then get on a different one later (albeit the same route)

I seem to be able to curtail an Advance ticket journey and still get through the ticket barriers when I get off. I also remember getting on in Rhyl with a Llandudno to Manchester Advance ticket and the staff there said no problem, so long as it was the actual train you had an Advance ticket for

So I wonder if you can use an Advance ticket for any portion of the ticket's route rather than the whole route?

 

[nickyboy]

My understanding is that strictly you cannot. In practice the staff probably find the whole thing as bafflingly stupid as the rest of us, and don't always care as much as their employers might like.

That was my thinking too, and I can understand staff using discretion (like when I got on at Rhyl instead of Llandudno). But I wonder why the Stockport ticket barriers accepted my London-Manchester Advance ticket? Maybe they were nice, avuncular ticket barriers, what with it being a Sunday an' all