Season ticket changeover worthwhile?

[Peck]

Mods note: See our Fares Guide, 5.12 Season Ticket Refunds / Changeovers

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, so please excuse me if this question is a re-hash but I'd like your advice. I'm a gold card season ticket holder, last renewed at the tail end of 2010. I am going on an extended holiday for 2 months soon and I (naively) assumed I would just be able to suspend my season ticket for a couple of months. Clearly not on looking into things. Cancelling and then re-issuing seems to be pretty pointless for just 8 weeks. However, would enacting a changeover to a nearby station to my hometown for the period of the holiday be worth considering?

On the face of things this might be worth a few hundred quid. Is this sort of thing permitted? Also, would I easily be able to change back to my gold card when I return?

Apologies for all the questions, hope one of you can provide some advice!

Thanks..

 

[LexyBoy]

Hi and welcome,

You may find this thread informative. Without knowing what your ticket is, it's hard to know whether it's better to refund and buy again or to do a changeover.

I believe that doing a changeover would mean that the refund/cost of changing the ticket is based on the price at the time it was originally bought - i.e. before the price increase. This could be significant depending on your route - remember also that an annual ticket gives you nearly 8 weeks "free" (compared to monthly tickets).

It would depend also on the cost of the "temporary" season you choose (I suppose you could ask for a Ryde Pier Head - Ryde Esplanade ticket if you wanted to be cheeky).

As to whether it's permitted or not, I'll defer to the many more knowledgeable members of the forum and leave this quote from National Rail:

'Changeovers'
If you move house, change your place of work or wish to change the class of travel, you may apply to exchange any Season Ticket with a month or more remaining, for one with the same expiry date for your new journey or class. This is called a changeover.
A changeover may be applied for at any rail ticket office (preferably one relevant to the new journey), a few days in advance of the date of the change. Any additional charge or refund will be based on the ticket prices when the original Season Ticket was bought, pro rata to the periods before and after the changeover.
No administration charge is made. Any ticket that has already been exchanged in this way may be accepted for further exchanges if necessary.

(i.e. you're supposed to have a reason for doing so, I don't know whether this is compulsory or if it's ever checked).

 

[barrykas]

(i.e. you're supposed to have a reason for doing so, I don't know whether this is compulsory or if it's ever checked).

No, we don't check. There's not even a space on the form for a reason.

If you can, it's best to do the change-over at the station where you bought the original ticket, particularly if you plan on changing back again at a later date, as it'll result in headaches all round otherwise.

Depending on the TOC and station, you may need to allow some time for the cost to be calculated (it's a fairly arcane ritual to calculate, doubly so if Passenger's Charter discounts or void days are involved) and the form to be signed off. We generally say to allow 72 hours, just in case.

Cheers,

Barry

 

[Peck]

Thanks guys - really appreciate your comments