Advice on a Ely to Leeds ticket

[mawallace]

I am going from Ely to Leeds next Friday, September 9th.

I need to get there by 9.15am, but my return could be any time after 7.45pm.

This means I could go an advanced single on the outbound, but what about the return trip? What would my choice be if I wanted to have the flexibility of returning any time after 7.45pm? or if I returned on the nearest departure from this time?

 

[LexyBoy]

Do you mean Friday 6th September?

If so, there is an Advance on the 0658 departure, arriving 0917 (change Peterborough) for £27.50 (£26.95 from eastcoast.co.uk). For the earlier departures only the £73 Anytime Single is available.

For the return, you can use the 1945 (change Peterborough, arrive 2152) for £34.50 (£33.80) Advance, or the 2045 (change Stevenage and Letchworth, arrive 0025) for £33.50 which comprises a £20.50 Leeds-Letchworth Advance with a £13.00 Letchworth-Ely Anytime Day Single.

If you need flexibility on the return then you could book a Super Off Peak single for Leeds-London through eastcoast.co.uk for £48.50 (it will be nearly double this price from other sites). You may then use this Leeds-Peterborough-Ely and stop short there, or to Stevenage (you'll need a new ticket for Stevenage-Ely). Personally since the 2045 departure takes so much longer I would try and make sure I could get the 1945 and book an Advance on that.

 

[Deerfold]

Do you mean Friday 6th September?

If so, there is an Advance on the 0658 departure, arriving 0917 (change Peterborough) for £27.50 (£26.95 from eastcoast.co.uk). For the earlier departures only the £73 Anytime Single is available.

For the return, you can use the 1945 (change Peterborough, arrive 2152) for £34.50 (£33.80) Advance, or the 2045 (change Stevenage and Letchworth, arrive 0025) for £33.50 which comprises a £20.50 Leeds-Letchworth Advance with a £13.00 Letchworth-Ely Anytime Day Single.

If you need flexibility on the return then you could book a Super Off Peak single for Leeds-London through eastcoast.co.uk for £48.50 (it will be nearly double this price from other sites). You may then use this Leeds-Peterborough-Ely and stop short there, or to Stevenage (you'll need a new ticket for Stevenage-Ely). Personally since the 2045 departure takes so much longer I would try and make sure I could get the 1945 and book an Advance on that.

If you're really late you could also get the 2142 to York and then the 2219 Southbound from there on this ticket - but you'd have to stay in Peterborough, Stevenage or London (or possibly Cambridge - from Stevenage) or travel by other means as you'd be too late to get back to Ely.

 

[John @ home]

If you need flexibility on the return then you could book a Super Off Peak single for Leeds-London through eastcoast.co.uk for £48.50 (it will be nearly double this price from other sites). You may then use this Leeds-Peterborough-Ely and stop short there

I would not recommend a half price Super Off-Peak Single Leeds - London ticket for a Leeds - Ely journey. Condition 6 of the Offer's Terms and conditions is clear that a passenger may not start, break and resume or terminate their journey at any intermediate station if using this ticket.

Terms and Conditions

6. You may not start, break and resume or terminate your journey at any intermediate station. If you do so you will have to pay extra, up to the normal price of the Super Off-Peak Single ticket for that journey.

http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/special-...ff-peak-travel-for-less/terms-and-conditions/

 

[Deerfold]

Curious - It's promoted as simply being a half price SDS -

We've made our Super Off-Peak Single 50% cheaper, giving you the flexibility to decide when you want to travel and saving you money into the bargain.

http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/special-...el-savings/flexible-off-peak-travel-for-less/

but the restrictions are quite different. That's rather misleading, isn't it?

 

[LexyBoy]

I am very dubious as to how enforceable that is - nowhere in the booking process is any mention made of this restriction. Clicking the 'i' icon in the Mixing Deck, or the "Terms and Conditions" link in the booking confirmation, you find:

A break of journey is allowed unless otherwise indicated by a restriction shown against the ticket's Restriction Code.

If you can work out what the cryptic "Restriction Code" refers to, and look it up, you will find that BoJ is permitted. There is nothing printed on the ticket to prohibit it either.

Unlike additional restrictions imposed by a Railcard discount, the customer at no point agrees to any additional terms beyond those of the ticket type and NRCoC during booking as far as I can see.

 

[mawallace]

Thank you - lots to think about - what about if I purchased a return ticket and did this as a split!

 

[LexyBoy]

The Ely-Leeds Anytime Return is £98.50, valid on any train and return within a month (would staying in Leeds be an option?).

Not sure what you mean about a split?

 

[mawallace]

I meant rather than buying an Ely - Leeds return - are there better return splits available for the trains e.g Ely - Peterborough, then Peterborough - Leeds return?

 

[bb21]

Curious - It's promoted as simply being a half price SDS -



http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/special-...el-savings/flexible-off-peak-travel-for-less/

but the restrictions are quite different. That's rather misleading, isn't it?

It's not promoted as a half-price SDS. It is promoted as a half-price SSS. There is a major difference.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/46590.aspx

Break of journey is always permitted on the return portion of a return ticket, or on Anytime tickets. They can be restricted on a (Super) Off-Peak Single ticket or the outward portion of a (Super) Off-Peak Return ticket.

 

[LexyBoy]

Except where the SDS has a restriction prohibiting BoJ.

To be enforceable such a restriction has to be (a) applied to a ticket which can be restricted in that way, and (b) made clear at the point of purchase.

 

[bb21]

Except where the SDS has a restriction prohibiting BoJ.

To be enforceable such a restriction has to be (a) applied to a ticket which can be restricted in that way, and (b) made clear at the point of purchase.

That one is indeed unenforceable in my eyes.

 

[Deerfold]

It's not promoted as a half-price SDS. It is promoted as a half-price SSS. There is a major difference.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/46590.aspx

Break of journey is always permitted on the return portion of a return ticket, or on Anytime tickets. They can be restricted on a (Super) Off-Peak Single ticket or the outward portion of a (Super) Off-Peak Return ticket.

Apologies, SSS. Nonetheless with different restrictions from the full price product.

 

[bb21]

Apologies, SSS. Nonetheless with different restrictions from the full price product.

That is true, however I cannot possibly say how far one can get by arguing that the restriction should be the same as the full-price ones.

 

[jkdd77]

For what it's worth, it's quite possible for an average member of the public to buy a discounted SSS ticket from the East Coast without ever seeing the supposed 'additional T & Cs' on the webpage linked to by John @ Home.

The webpage containing the 'special' half-price SSS T & Cs are not remotely obvious from the East Coast homepage, and, when actually purchasing the ticket, the pop-up 'information' box containing T & Cs simply says:

Break of journey:
A break of journey is allowed unless otherwise indicated by a restriction shown against the ticket's Restriction Code.

and, of course, there is no such restriction shown against the ticket's restriction code, which is the same as the corresponding full-priced SSS.

That being the case, I question whether the restriction forms part of the contract entered into at the time of purchase; if not, NRCoC 16 implies that there would then be no such restriction.

Having said that, I would not recommend using such a ticket to attempt a BoJ.