Cheap Train Fares guide discussion

wealdroam wrote: »

However, there is no such restriction for season tickets. So for your journey, a season ticket from B to A rather than from A to B may well be cheaper.

The "trick" works on (Super) Off-Peak flows, but seasons are the same price A->B, B->A aren't they (I've not seen any which aren't)?

I have seen the scenario where 5 Anytime Day Returns are cheaper than a season (especially going away from London in the morning and towards London in the evening).

Browntoa wrote: »

I actually only normally use the "home" rtn part of the ticket as its cheaper to buy an off peak return at £13.70 than buy a peak time single at £18.60 , the "out" to London half never gets used

That's legit.

e.g. if you turn up at York station right now and ask for a single to Peterborough for immediate travel, you will be asked to part with a whopping £62 (the rail industry wants to deter passengers from making certain journeys by pricing the fares at unaffordable levels), but you can ask for a Peterborough to York return, immediately throw away the outward portion, use the return portion only and only pay £49.10.

There are all sorts of loopholes, in terms of pricing policies, pricing errors, routeing anomalies, easements, and much more, all over the country. Many people are able to save hundreds of pounds each year by using various entirely legitimate methods.

They charge a higher fare to make a journey from Colchester to Stratford (and return) than the other way round, because of supply & demand and because they can get away with it.

wallofbeans wrote: »

Hello,

I've just found this oddity and hoped someone here might be able to explain. I've emailed the train company but it might be weeks before I get any kind of response.

I travel from London Stratford to Colchester Essex, and if I leave Stratford after 12noon I can buy a super off peak ticket. But it seems I cannot get the same ticket if starting in Colchester and travelling back to Stratford. The Greater Anglia website just doesn't offer the super off peak if travelling in that direction.

There's no mention of this being a restriction on their website but maybe I'm getting it wrong somehow... Can anyone explain this to me?

Thanks all...

A similar restriction works when going from Colchester to London. The exact phrasing is:

Not valid on trains timed to arrive:

London Liverpool Street after
04:29 and before 12:00;

Stratford (London) after 04:29
and before 11:52

Have you tried putting in a later arrival time?

On a similar note SWT ticket machines can be overridden to offer super off peak tickets when they hide them by selecting "tickets for future travel" and putting in today's date & an acceptable time.