27% train ticket increase in 6 months!

Blue_Peter_2

I moved out of London last year and now commute to work from Bedfordshire. When I bought my first monthly travel card, the advisor directed me to a specific route that made the travel card £50 per month cheaper than it would be if I bought the direct route. He also told me it was perfectly legitimate.

In Jan this year, prices went up as advertised - my ticket went from £237 to £247 per month, which was fair enough. Yesterday, I went to renew as usual and was told that my ticket now costs £303 - an increase of c.22% without warning.

I can only assume that they have closed a loophole that allowed me to get this cheaper ticket and I should be grateful that I was told about it in the first place. On the other hand, it means my ticket has gone up by 27% since the beginning of the year which is a real shock - my partner buys the same ticket so suddenly our already tight monthly budget is £110 down!

Do I have any right to complain? Would it do any good?? I'd be interested to know what you think.

KeithP

Of course you have the right to complain.

Would it do any good? What do you think?

westv

Have you considered an annual ticket? Also (if you don't use the tube that much) it can sometimes be cheaper to use a PAYG Oyster card then to add on tube and bus to a season ticket.

Blue_Peter_2

Hmm, sorry, I think I was too wordy but I wanted to get the facts down.

Essentially, I think the ticket we've been buying was a in a loophole that the service operator has now spotted and closed. From my perspective though, my ticket has just rocketed in price with no warning or explanation.

Should I be as shocked and angry as I am, or just grateful that we made the most of it for a while?

lisyloo

If you've been taking advantage of a discount for a while and now it's gone, then your price has been artificaially low in the past, not high in the present.
I think you should be grateful.

Presumably when you moved you factored in the costs of commuting?