Flexi Season Split

[JessMatt]

Hi all,

I am hoping you can help. It looks like this may be possible based on other threads but I want to make sure I do it right...

I need to go from Manchester to Milton Keynes twice per week, with the ideal route being on the Avanti train via Rugby (which could also bankrupt me...)

There is no flexi season ticket for this, but I realised there is the option to have a flexi season ticket from Manchester to Rugby, and also Rugby to Milton Keynes.

• Am I able to tap in at Manchester with one pass, then activate the other (from Rugby leg) via the app? (And the opposite on the return)
• Is this even allowed?
• Can I get on any train?
• I'm assuming I can't reserve a seat, but that is a small price to pay.

Thank you!

 

[_toommm_]

Im not too sure on the tapping in part - I'll leave that for someone else to answer. But it is allowed, the train doesn't have to stop at Rugby (assuming the tapping in thing is okay), and you will be able to reserve a through seat, either through the station, or through your account on gwr.com

 

[jfollows]

You can activate the ticket using an “app”: (https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/tickets-railcards-and-offers/ticket-types/flexi-season-tickets/)

You can use your Flexi Season ticket at any time, in both Peak and Off-Peak periods. You must always activate a day’s worth of travel before you board your train. To do this, you can touch in on the ticket gate reader, platform validator or (in some cases) self-service ticket machine. Alternatively, you can activate your pass in the National Rail Smartcard Manager app.

so I see no reason why the proposed approach won’t be valid.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Oct 2025 ==


I think I’d simply use the app to activate both tickets at the same time.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@JessMatt. Welcome to the forum. The flexi seasons are route "Any Permitted" so you're not restricted to using just Avanti trains, although they're likely to be the quickest. Obviously you'll have to pass through Rugby every time, but you could, for example, change trains at Rugby (if the train you're on actually sets down there) and then get a West Midlands Train to Milton Keynes Central (via Northampton) if you so wished. Or you could get a Northern or TfW or XC train from Manchester Piccadilly to Crewe, and then another onward to Milton Keynes Central from there.

 

[Watershed]

Yes, this is absolutely fine. There might even be cheaper stations to split at than Rugby - I haven't checked, but it's worthwhile looking into as the savings can sometimes be surprisingly large.

The only limitation with splitting Flexi Seasons is that you have to pass through the station where you split - e.g. Rugby. All Manchester-MK trains obviously do, so that's not really an issue. At worst it might limit your ability to travel via Sheffield, Bedford and Bletchley in the event of serious WCML disruption but in such cases, ticket acceptance would tend to be in place anyway.

And yes it's advisable to activate both Flexi Seasons before you board the train in Manchester, so that you can show them both if asked. You can either get them on a smartcard which you'd activate at the barriers or (for the second Flexi Season) through the Smartcard Manager app. Alaternatively you can get them in the sTicket format through many apps - it's similar to an mTicket in that it is locked to the device and app where you have activated it.

 

[JessMatt]

Amazing, thank you so much! I'll also double check Crewe

 

[Watershed]

Amazing, thank you so much! I'll also double check Crewe

Remember that it doesn't have to be a station the train stops at - so I'd check every intermediate station along the route. You can see a route map here: https://projectmapping.co.uk/Resources/TOCs AS v59 May 2025.pdf

Crewe probably wouldn't be a station I'd split at for your journey. The hourly Manchester-MK trains tend to go via Stoke rather than via Crewe, so you'd be unduly limiting yourself by splitting at Crewe. As mentioned, you do have to pass through the station where you're splitting.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Crewe probably wouldn't be a station I'd split at for your journey. The hourly Manchester-MK trains tend to go via Stoke rather than via Crewe, so you'd be unduly limiting yourself by splitting at Crewe. As mentioned, you do have to pass through the station where you're splitting.

Indeed. Obviously, if you've just missed the direct Avanti train from Manchester to Milton Keynes Central, travelling via Crewe *might* get the OP there slightly earlier, rather than waiting an hour or so for the next direct train. But, as you say, Crewe is unlikely to be the optimal place for a flexi-season ticket split.

 

[Haywain]

But, as you say, Crewe is unlikely to be the optimal place for a flexi-season ticket split.

To have a full choice of trains the split wouldn't want to be anywhere north of Rugeley Trent Valley.

 

[jfollows]

Rugby is perfect, because a split at - say - Tamworth would likely preclude Birmingham also whereas Manchester - Rugby is valid that way, all sorts of routes via Birmingham then being valid.

 

[Wallsendmag]

If you have them on Smartcards you may need two cards as you aren’t supposed to have more than one Flexiseason per card. All to do with gates not knowing which one to activate