Discount on train travel?

wealdroam

thelawnet wrote: »

Now let's say that starting on February 11th, you bought a season valid for 1 month + 5 days (to expire Friday March 15th).

Just a very small point, but in Thelawnet's excellent example I would make that first ticket from Monday February 11th to Thursday March 28th.
Then start the second ticket on Tues 2nd April.
This is simply because Easter is here.

Subsequent dates will also need adjusting so that the duration of all tickets are at least of one month.

redux

wealdroam wrote: »

Just a very small point, but in Thelawnet's excellent example I would make that first ticket from Monday February 11th to Thursday March 28th.
Then start the second ticket on Tues 2nd April.
This is simply because Easter is here.

Subsequent dates will also need adjusting so that the duration of all tickets are at least of one month.

... as I had suggested in the previous post, and a month and a couple of days from the Tuesday after Easter is also in phase with the first May bank holiday, so the next ticket can start on a Tuesday as well

thelawnet

wealdroam wrote: »

Just a very small point, but in Thelawnet's excellent example I would make that first ticket from Monday February 11th to Thursday March 28th.
Then start the second ticket on Tues 2nd April.
This is simply because Easter is here.

Subsequent dates will also need adjusting so that the duration of all tickets are at least of one month.

Yes I think the overall cost is much the same, given the statutory holiday requirement amounts to I think six weeks including bank holidays, and I just did examples with one 4-week and one 2-week break rather than odd bits here and there.

Here's a list of bank holidays:

29 March Friday Good Friday
1 April Monday Easter Monday
6 May Monday Early May bank holiday
27 May Monday Spring bank holiday
26 August Monday Summer bank holiday
25 December Wednesday Christmas Day
26 December Thursday Boxing Day

So as you say 2nd April to 3rd May, which is 1 month + 2 days then 7th May to 7th June would be 1 month + 1 day. Obviously you would have to pay for the 27th even if you weren't working, but it's still works out cheaper than weekly, because you can't have odd-period season tickets for less than a month, and because a monthly costs only 3.84 weekly tickets.

So you might have to pay for the odd bank holiday in spring time, but mostly you can avoid it.

Obviously it makes sense to keep the tickets as close to a month as possible, because effectively with each monthly ticket you save the cost of 2 days (the Saturday and Sunday), so if the average duration of your ticket is 33 days, that would be 6.1% saving, whereas if they average 40 days, that would only be 5% saving. Of course given that you save 2 days in just over a month on average, it will make sense to extend a month by another couple of weeks to save another day.

helenc1902

Hi everyone, i can't say thanks enough for all your help, you guys all know so much (feel quite inadequate lol). i have just been given my start date of Monday 11th March. i will go down the monthly ticket route and do the sowerby bridge-morley route to save money. i have been trying to work out my first month and have scraps of paper everywhere. what does everyone think???........if i bought a monthly ticket on the 11th of march there are two bank holidays a couple of weeks later. Sorry that i need more help but am getting very confused.

helenc1902

ps i dont work bank holidays :-)

helenc1902

PPS i only have one week of annual leave booked so far Monday 10th - Friday 14th of June (inclusive)

thelawnet

You'll have to pay for the two easter bank holidays.

I would be tempted to do

March 11 - May 3 = 1 month + 24 days = 6.92 weekly
May 7 - June 7 = 1 month + 1 day = 3.97 weekly

total cost is equivalent to 10.89 weekly season tickets

terryw

And just in case you ever have to buy odds days travel, save up your Tesco points and convert to Tesco Rewards for two times the value.

helenc1902

Hi there
Thanks again for the useful info. My hubby is here now and trying to help plan out the year however we are getting a bit confused with some of the examples as they seem to differ month to month in how many days are deemed in a month. This may seem like a silly question as we know that months can have 30 or 31 days in ,28 in Feb :-) however does the train companys work on a 30 day month as standard for the ticket pricing?

Also can I just ask re the Sowerby Bridge - Morley ticket....... Am I valid for a Halifax to Leeds journey because they are in the same zone. I have done this journey today and don't know if my train started in Sowerby Bridge but I definatley did not go through Morley and the end destination was Leeds. Sorry if I am 'not getting' but I have read other posts on people not paying the correct fares on trains and the implications of this and am a bit scared.

Thanks again for bearing with me.

thelawnet

The point is that a Sowerby Bridge - Leeds single is cheaper than a Sowerby Bridge - Morley single. Therefore it is valid to travel from Sowerby Bridge to Leeds, before doing Leeds - Morley on a separate train, on any Sowerby Bridge - Morley ticket (the comparison is done based on single fares, even if you have a season ticket). This is because the valid routes are based on Routeing Points and their associated stations. Halifax and Sowerby Bridge are both considered to be Halifax, while Morley can be linked to Huddersfield and/or Leeds, depending on the comparable fare (if the single fare to Huddersfield is lower/the same as a single fare to Morley, then you can travel on routes via/en route to Huddersfield, and if the single fare to Leeds is lower/the same as a single fare to Morley, then you can travel via/en route to Leeds)

You do not of course have to continue to Morley, you are entitled to stop short at Leeds, and indeed start short at Halifax, rather than at Sowerby Bridge

Validity is shown e.g., on National Rail Enquiries:

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/timesandfares/SOW/MLY/tomorrow/1730/dep?via=Bramley_(W_Yorks) which shows the trains passing through Halifax and Leeds on a Sowerby Bridge - Morley single (and therefore valid also on the season ticket)

As regards months, if you buy a 1 month ticket, it is calculated to a month later, minus one day.

E.g.,

11th May would end 10th May
12 February would end 11th February
1st August would end 31st August
1st September would end 30th September