Rail ticket lunacy

Voyager2002

esuhl wrote: »

Argh! That sounds like a "first class" service!

I remember buying a ticket for a 3.5hr train journey. I decided to travel first class (the only time I've ever done so)... Only to find that only ONE of the four trains I caught even had a first class section. What a con!

Not a con: the fare you paid would reflect the fact that for most of the journey you were in second class.

Ballard

nickcc wrote: »

Booked from Redruth to Bristol parkway single £36, usual price £86 to temple meads. Warned by train manager not to get off at temple meads as the gates are manned and I would be fined for getting of early.

Surely the answer would be to buy a ticket between the two Bristol stations for about £4 and exit the station with that. To be on the safe side it might be worthwhile waiting for a train to arrive that you might have been on.

Ballard

I posted on here a while ago that it's cheaper for a paper off peak train from Dartford to London than Sidcup despite Sidcup being three stations nearer to London.

It is far cheaper to use an Oyster or contactless card from Sidcup, though.

pendragon_arther

Re-nationalise the railways might be the answer. It would do away with all the greedy !!!!!!!s, complicated fares and packed carriages.

nickcc

Ballard wrote: »

Surely the answer would be to buy a ticket between the two Bristol stations for about £4 and exit the station with that. To be on the safe side it might be worthwhile waiting for a train to arrive that you might have been on.

Sure you are correct but having just lost the sight in one eye due to a detached retina things were a little more complicated. Mind you it would have been far easier having the op done at my local hospital rather than Bristol eye hospital but Truro only carry out that op once a week, but that's another story.

yorkie2

cmotd wrote: »

Apologies if this has been discussed before but I was very surprised to discover this cheap ticket option today:

Went to my local station today:

"Off peak return to Kings Cross please."

"that will be £46."

"Have you got any cheaper tickets?"

"Yes, buy a return ticket to Dartford and it is only £36.20"

" I don't want to go to Dartord - it is the other side of London with three changes of train."

" You don't have to - just get off at Kings Cross and ignore the rest of the journey."

"Are you telling me that it is cheaper to buy a ticket to somewhere I am not going that is further away?"

"Exactly - welcome to the strange universe of train ticketing."

Is it me that's barmy or the rest of the world?

Don't know if it works elsewhere but worth a try if you are going to London I would have thought.

Kings Lynn to London is set by Govia Thameslink Railway Ltd (Britain's worst train company, who operates 4 routes: Great Northern, Thameslink, Southern and the hilariously named Gatwick "Express") and is deliberately priced at a premium; they know London is a popular destination and they know that many people will want to spend a few days there, and so a day return won't do. They also know people are unlikely to drive to London. They can get away with charging whatever they want (within the confines of the rather lax fares regulation).

Kings Lynn to Dartford is set by Southeastern, and they have valued the overall journey at a much lower rate. If the price was too high, people would drive.

However if the anomaly came to the attention of GTR management, they might collude (which is against the rules, but who is going to stop them?) with Southeastern management to get Southeastern to rise their fare, or they could make a case to take 'ownership' of the Kings Lynn to Dartford flow. Being a fellow Govia company, Southeastern would not object to having that flow taken off their hands.

it is very rare that you can trust the system to charge a reasonable amount for the journey you are actually making.

It is nearly always cheaper to do one of two things (or even a combination of these):

1) Buy a ticket for a longer journey, which is priced by a more reasonable train company, or is cheaper for historical reasons or market reasons, or even simply by mistake. Finishing short is permitted on nearly all walk-up fares (except in some cases on the outward portion where it is made specifically clear)
2) Buy a combination of tickets intended for shorter, non-"premium" priced journeys, but the rules do allow you to combine them for one journey (under the described circumstances in the Conditions of Travel). One website will calculate, and sell, such combinations automatically: trainsplit.com (I introduced the creators of this website to each other, but have no involvement in it)

Near me, York to Doncaster and York to Leeds are charged at a premium, but in both cases you can buy to local stations beyond, and pay a lower fare.

York to Whitby is cheap (to compete with the quicker, and more frequent, direct bus) so anyone who is travelling from Thirsk to Whitby and is shocked at the high fare, can ask for a ticket from York to Whitby and start/finish "short".

However if too many people do this, the train companies seek to increase the price of the cheaper fare, to match the price of the higher fare! If you get a particularly mean Guard who knows what you are doing, and if they have a word with a pricing manager who is also particularly mean, then the "anomaly" can be wiped out within days.

I'd buy such tickets online, and not act in a way that may get the "anomaly" shut down. In some cases, that may mean buying a cheap ticket in advance to exit a gateline without the hassle of showing a (valid) ticket which may be questioned.

Personally, I think the cheaper fares are 'correct' and the more expensive fares are wrong. But the rail industry disagrees with me, and so does the Department for Transport. They want the cheaper fares to be raised to match the higher fares.

Head_The_Ball

nickcc wrote: »

Booked from Redruth to Bristol parkway single £36, usual price £86 to temple meads. Warned by train manager not to get off at temple meads as the gates are manned and I would be fined for getting of early.

That £50 saving would pay for a taxi from Parkway to Temple Meads or straight to your destination and leave you with lots of change.

esuhl

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Not a con: the fare you paid would reflect the fact that for most of the journey you were in second class.

An absolute con: I wouldn't have paid for first class tickets if I knew that there was no first class for most of the journey.

nickcc

Head_The_Ball wrote: »

That £50 saving would pay for a taxi from Parkway to Temple Meads or straight to your destination and leave you with lots of change.

Bang on as the taxi fare was £18 plus tip and dropped me off at the hospital doors

maisie315

If, like me, you're a Virgin Money customer you'll have all sorts of offers - including tempting Virgin Rail ticket discounts. Just wasted an hour going round and round attempting to take up one of these, in addition to my railcard, and the result is...? It is (much) cheaper not to take the discount. Why...? The trick is in the railcard: online Virgin chat (and parts of the website) suggest railcard discounts can be used in addition to Virgin Money offers, but the t&c reality is they're not. So my advice is: if you have a railcard and you're a V Money customer: ignore their tempting offers and stick to the main ticket sales sites. Who knows: One day simplicity may define rail travel.