Train journey including underground

Muttleythefrog

jack_pott wrote: »

I can't find anywhere on the website that enables you to specify whether you want the tube included. For a trip from here (Essex) to Bath, if I buy separate tickets for either side of London it's £57.30 instead of £65.80 if I leave at 09:00, or £47.50 instead of £30.50 if I leave at 11:00.

The problem with looking for cheap fares is that there are so many permutations you just lose the will to live trying them all.

lol.. yes the websites don't seem to enable you to remove the tube connection .. you'd need to buy the tickets to and from London separately. It sounds like you've discovered similar wild fluctuations in effective cost of the leg.

I must admit in looking at all the permutations for public transport Newcastle to Cornwall I've concluded as a life long hater of roads and cars that it poses the most sense (it's even the quickest with flights ruled out due to the crazy hour of arrival around 11pm Newcastle to Exeter and Newquay only services from Newcastle for summer months)... especially if booking as a small group where that adds even more confusion as my research reveals today. Virgin train east coast as it appears have a weaker 25% off for 3-9 travelling together yet Great Western a third off... but if I try this journey I have in mind I get the 25% discount from virgin if I book direct but the Great Western group booking amount is much more than 4 single tickets at full price if I try to book with them direct. I am losing the will to live. I could walk down there in 6 or 7 days and probably get better wifi than Virgin trains east coast en route.

Cornucopia

I don't think that the reality of it is that the Tube "part" of the ticket really is £20 or whatever. What is happening is that the two National Rail components are separately subject to advance pricing and competition that you do not get full access to if you book all the way through - it is the same concept as split ticketing.

It's not always more expensive. From down here on the wrong end of HS1, it's almost always cheaper to book a through ticket than to book Kent-St Pancras and then London-Wherever. In fact the ticketing is positively stupid in some cases:-

Gillingham(Kent) - Birmingham, best advance fare = £22 (2 singles, booked through including HS1 & Tube).

Gillingham - St Pancras, best fare = £17.40 (2 singles) or £20.30 return.

So Brum for £4.60 return. Nice.

[Deleted User]

Public transport rules are so arcane it's easy to spend several times longer researching a route than it takes to travel it.

What does any permitted route mean? Answer: any route that's "reasonable".
What's the difference between Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak? Answer: "Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak tickets may require you to travel at specific times of day"

The more confusing the system is, the more you can make out of fining people.