Advance Ticket Thameslink/Greater Anglia Validity

[bobster1001]

I have an advance (paper) ticket from Luton to Cromer. No times are printed on the ticket itself, with them being on a separate coupon. The only times listed on there are for the Thameslink service from Luton to Farringdon and the Greater Anglia service from Liverpool St to Norwich. The Norwich to Cromer portion isn't listed.

Advance fares aren't available to buy on their own between Luton and London on Thameslink services.

Presumably I can travel between Norwich and Cromer on any service as there's no time listed.
Can I travel on any TL service between Luton and London or does it have to be the specified train?

 

[Merseysider]

Presumably I can travel between Norwich and Cromer on any service as there's no time listed.

Correct.

Can I travel on any TL service between Luton and London or does it have to be the specified train?

Specified train only.

If delays occur whilst travelling, then provided you started your journey at the correct time, you may take the next available train to complete your journey (eg if delayed on the train from Luton, just take the next Norwich train from London).

 

[Hadders]

Although it isn't publicised GTR does have an easement when they operate the connecting service. Internal Industry Guidance states:

• Where a passenger has a through Advance Ticket and reservations for a journey which involves using a Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern and / or Thameslink train, as a connection to or from a different operator’s train service.

For example, Advance Tickets routed "AP SLOUGH", “AWC &CONNECTIONS” or "LNER & CONNECTNS".

They can use any Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern or Thameslink train to complete their journey even if they have a reservation for a particular Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern and / or Thameslink train.

 

[Watershed]

Presumably I can travel between Norwich and Cromer on any service as there's no time listed.

In theory you are supposed to stick to your exact booked train. However, since that isn't listed on your ticket you are free to take any 'reasonable' connecting service. In general I would suggest this involves either the quickest possible connection or perhaps the train after that. I wouldn't push it much further than that.

There are barriers at Norwich and you can change trains without leaving them. Breaking your journey isn't permitted on an Advance ticket, however using station facilities doesn't count as a break of journey. Therefore you should be allowed through the barriers in order to use one of the station shops or go to the toilet (which is on the public, non-paid side of the barriers).

Can I travel on any TL service between Luton and London or does it have to be the specified train?

In principle the answer would normally be yes, however GTR specifically (GX/GN/TL/SN) have an exception to this rule, as quoted above. This means you can take any TL service that day, though again I wouldn't push the boat out too far here.

 

[Haywain]

Can I travel on any TL service between Luton and London or does it have to be the specified train?

Any train but don't be surprised if barrier staff want to check the itinerary, which happens at Parkway. The automatic barrier will, almost certainly, reject the ticket.

There are barriers at Norwich and you can change trains without leaving them.

I've never experienced any difficulty passing through the barriers at Norwich between trains when using Advance tickets.

 

[Silver Cobra]

Advance fares aren't available to buy on their own between Luton and London on Thameslink services.

That appears to no longer be the case. Thameslink are now selling advance fares from Luton to Farringdon. Here are some screenshot from the Thameslink app for Luton to Farringdon advances for 12th August:



From what I can see these advances are only available directly from Thameslink or through Trainsplit (and by extension the forum's booking site; I recently purchased an Arlesey to St Pancras advance through the forum). I wasn't able to find these advances on either the GWR or LNER booking sites.

 

[Watershed]

That appears to no longer be the case. Thameslink are now selling advance fares from Luton to Farringdon. Here are some screenshot from the Thameslink app for Luton to Farringdon advances for 12th August:

View attachment 183363 View attachment 183364

From what I can see these advances are only available directly from Thameslink or through Trainsplit (and by extension the forum's booking site; I recently purchased an Arlesey to St Pancras advance through the forum). I wasn't able to find these advances on either the GWR or LNER booking sites.

Yes, Thameslink have offered Advances for some TL-only journeys for a couple of years now. Madness really when you think about the frequency of trains from e.g. Luton to London.

I believe it's a prelude to eventually withdrawing their cheap weekend Super Off-Peak Day Return ('CBA') fares - the justification ostensibly being that two of these Advances will cost less than a CBA. Of course that ties you to a specific train in both directions which is really inconvenient for a day trip, especially on the return journey. Moreover, down the line it gives them the opportunity to quietly ramp up the prices (or dry up the availability) until there's no longer any saving

The fares should in theory be available via any retailer, it's just a question of adding the relevant ticket type codes to the whitelist. Obviously it's not really GWR or LNER territory hence it's not appeared on their suppliers' radar. I'm sure there are other retailers who also sell them too, in fairness.

 

[yorkie]

I have an advance (paper) ticket from Luton to Cromer. No times are printed on the ticket itself, with them being on a separate coupon. The only times listed on there are for the Thameslink service from Luton to Farringdon and the Greater Anglia service from Liverpool St to Norwich. The Norwich to Cromer portion isn't listed.

Advance fares aren't available to buy on their own between Luton and London on Thameslink services.

Presumably I can travel between Norwich and Cromer on any service as there's no time listed.
Can I travel on any TL service between Luton and London or does it have to be the specified train?

For future reference, generally speaking, if you want to take an earlier train from Luton (a later one would be highly inadvisable due to fouling the minimum connection time), in order to minimise chances of missing your onward train, and/or allowing time to grab some food at Liverpool Street station, you should specify additional interchange time at the time of booking.

Our site allows you to specify this.

However, for this particular journey, you are covered by the fact that GTR permit the use of a reasonable alternative, as quoted above.

Note that break of journey is not permitted, so you would need to keep it reasonable.

 

[bobster1001]

That appears to no longer be the case. Thameslink are now selling advance fares from Luton to Farringdon.

I just noticed this. That's a very recent thing that started a few days ago. I know Thameslink have sold advance fares on other parts of the network for a while, but Bedford-London haven't. We have had EMR advance fares.

 

[Sonic1234]

The automatic barrier will, almost certainly, reject the ticket.

GTR have a policy of rejecting Advance tickets at their barriers (confirmed to me in a complaint I made to Southern several years ago). A few GTR barriers do accept them - I assume this is where someone has forgot to apply the block.

On a 2-part Advance ticket, I've never been asked to show the second coupon.