Has anyone created a "the ticket to somewhere else is cheaper" engine?

[talldave]

I know split ticket engines proliferate, but it seems there are savings to be made when making a journey that can't be split, by buying a ticket to the wrong destination.

I was just looking for a friend for an Off Peak Day Return (Saturday) journey from Horsham to Shepherds Bush - price £15.90.

Whilst looking for splits, I find that an Off Peak Day Return Horsham to Clapham Junction is £16.70.

So why would anyone travelling to Clapham Junction ever buy the £16.70 ticket when the Shepherds Bush one is cheaper? And of course there may be cheaper options still - I've effectively only looked at 1 alternative.

 

[bb21]

Not anything released to the public AFAIK. This is far more complicated than a split-ticket engine.

There has been beta versions for testing by some forum members, but I don't know if a public version would ever be available, due to the sheer processing power required per query if nothing else.

 

[yorkie]

I know split ticket engines proliferate, but it seems there are savings to be made when making a journey that can't be split, by buying a ticket to the wrong destination.

No, and I hope that never happens, because much of the general public just won't get it!

I was just looking for a friend for an Off Peak Day Return (Saturday) journey from Horsham to Shepherds Bush - price £15.90.

Whilst looking for splits, I find that an Off Peak Day Return Horsham to Clapham Junction is £16.70.

So why would anyone travelling to Clapham Junction ever buy the £16.70 ticket when the Shepherds Bush one is cheaper? And of course there may be cheaper options still - I've effectively only looked at 1 alternative.

They'd generally only get if if they don't know about the cheaper ticket, or were on expenses, etc.

Recommending tickets that people don't understand would cause some people to get very confused, and cause conflict between passengers who do not know why the ticket is valid, and staff who are not familiar with the conditions & permitted routes.

It could also invalidate expense claims, as many organisations will not pay any expense claims that are for a longer journey, in particular the public sector.

 

[RJ]

I know split ticket engines proliferate, but it seems there are savings to be made when making a journey that can't be split, by buying a ticket to the wrong destination.

I was just looking for a friend for an Off Peak Day Return (Saturday) journey from Horsham to Shepherds Bush - price £15.90.

Whilst looking for splits, I find that an Off Peak Day Return Horsham to Clapham Junction is £16.70.

So why would anyone travelling to Clapham Junction ever buy the £16.70 ticket when the Shepherds Bush one is cheaper? And of course there may be cheaper options still - I've effectively only looked at 1 alternative.

National Rail Enquires occasionally does this. Otherwise, if you're looking for these kind of loopholes, it's better if you find them manually. Anomalies tend to be corrected, the process being accelerated when they're easy for the powers that be to identify.

A good start would be to interrogate the fares database using soil's program. If you know what to look for, you'll find plenty of them.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Plus the fact that while split ticketing is grugingly accepted as legitimate, stopping short isn't and if it became popular, inspectors might start clamping down.

Plus if they close the "loopholes" it means more expensive tickets for people who do use those routes.

 

[LateThanNever]

Plus the fact that while split ticketing is grugingly accepted as legitimate, stopping short isn't and if it became popular, inspectors might start clamping down.

Plus if they close the "loopholes" it means more expensive tickets for people who do use those routes.

Bit of a contradiction there in bold- and surely stopping short is generally fine - except specific advance fares?

 

[talldave]

Indeed, stopping short means paid for capacity available for resale again. However in my example Southern have priced the longer journey cheaper; I don't have enough knowledge to work out if this is because they're stupid or cleverly ripping off people going to Clapham Junction.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Bit of a contradiction there in bold- and surely stopping short is generally fine - except specific advance fares?

Nothing to stop something that is not technically allowed from becoming popular.

I was assuming that many people using these sites would be looking at advance fares as well, or discounted off-peak tickets that may have restrictions on break of journey.

 

[tsr]

NRCoC Condition 16:

...You may also end your journey (in either direction in the case of a return ticket) before the destination shown on the ticket. However, these rights may not apply to some types of tickets for which a break of journey is prohibited, in which case the Ticket Seller must make this clear when you buy your ticket...

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/documents/content/NRCOC.pdf