Appropriate fare for a ticket excess

[colinz]

Hello, please accept my apology if this was asked before.

I purchased an off peak day return (CDR) ticket from Southampton to Dorking stations routed 00947 "via Barnham," i.e. this ticket. I would like to return via Guildford, therefore decided to excess the route of the return portion into 00700 "not via London." Since I would be returning in the evening, I believed the most appropriate fare would be a super off peak return (SSR), i.e. this one.

In the morning of the day of travel, I visited the ticket office at Southampton Central before boarding my train. The clerk was very friendly and helpful. However, he insisted the ticket could only be excessed into a CDR of route 00700, i.e. this one, rather an SSR. This is more expensive and potentially prevents me from returning on another day if I decide to do this later. He said that a CDR can only be excessed into another CDR for change of route excess.

My questions are therefore:
1/ Is it allowed to excess a CDR into an SSR for a change of route excess? If so, I would be able to claim the price difference.
2/ Should 1 hold, if I later decide to return on the next day and have to purchase a new ticket, can I claim the price of that new ticket, since I would have been able to use an excessed ticket had that been allowed?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

1/ Is it allowed to excess a CDR into an SSR for a change of route excess? If so, I would be able to claim the price difference.

Changing an Off Peak Day Return (route via Barnham) to a Super Off Peak Return (route not via London) isn't a change of route excess. It's a change of ticket type.

 

[Class800]

Changing an Off Peak Day Return (route via Barnham) to a Super Off Peak Return (route not via London) isn't a change of route excess. It's a change of ticket type.

It's an excess, but not solely a route excess, it's excessing time restrictions. This can usually be done, at least in theory.

 

[Hadders]

The clerk was wrong, the excess should be to the appropriate ticket type, in this case the super off peak return.

Excess fares are notoriously difficult to obtain and it is often necessary to shop around. It's also worth noting that there is no requirement to purchase a change of route excess before boarding, as it is the same price if purchased on board the train.

 

[island]

It can certainly be done, although it is open to debate as to whether this should be a change of route excess (thereby incurring half the cost difference) or a change of ticket type (thereby incurring the full cost difference).

 

[Hadders]

It can certainly be done, although it is open to debate as to whether this should be a change of route excess (thereby incurring half the cost difference) or a change of ticket type (thereby incurring the full cost difference).

It is a change of route excess. The process states:

TRAVEL BY A DIFFERENT ROUTE WITH A HIGHER FARE Return Tickets
a) Travel in one direction
Anytime / Anytime Day Off-Peak / Off-Peak Day Super Off-Peak / Super Off-Peak Day	Charge HALF the difference between the fare paid and the appropriate Return fare for the journey being made. If no through fare, charge the appropriate Single fare for the part of the journey not covered by the ticket held.

 

[lehovec]

Surely, the most appropriate Return fare in this case is CDR - Cheap day return. Excessing it to SSR - Super Off Peak Rtn is extending the validity of the ticket from one day to one month.
Price paid is £17.50, if you excess it to SSR, the difference is £8.25 so the total paid is £25.75, this is much cheaper than any open return ticket, even the cheaper via Barnham SVR ticket, which is £28.40.

 

[Hadders]

Surely, the most appropriate Return fare in this case is CDR - Cheap day return. Excessing it to SSR - Super Off Peak Rtn is extending the validity of the ticket from one day to one month.
Price paid is £17.50, if you excess it to SSR, the difference is £8.25 so the total paid is £25.75, this is much cheaper than any open return ticket, even the cheaper via Barnham SVR ticket, which is £28.40.

Southampton Central to Dorking relevent fares:

via Barhham CDR £17.50
Not via London CDR £41.00
Not via London SSR £34.00

Excessing the return portion to the CDR costs £11.75, so the total paid is £29.25
Excessing the return portion to the SSR costs £8.25, so the total paid is £25.75

The Excess fare to charge is the difference between the price of the ticket held and the price of the cheapest ticket(s) available for immediate travel on the chosen service.

The cheapest available ticket(s) suitable for the journey being made may vary, depending on the specific train, time of day or day of week on which customers wish to travel. The cheapest ticket could be an Anytime, Off-Peak or Super Off-Peak ticket.

 

[_toommm_]

Surely, the most appropriate Return fare in this case is CDR - Cheap day return. Excessing it to SSR - Super Off Peak Rtn is extending the validity of the ticket from one day to one month.
Price paid is £17.50, if you excess it to SSR, the difference is £8.25 so the total paid is £25.75, this is much cheaper than any open return ticket, even the cheaper via Barnham SVR ticket, which is £28.40.

But the OP is not sure if they may want to return on another day, so they want to keep that flexibility.

 

[lehovec]

But the OP is not sure if they may want to return on another day, so they want to keep that flexibility.

OP bought Cheap Day Return, if they wanted flexibility they should have bought SVR - open return in the first place.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Dec 2021 ==

The Excess fare to charge is the difference between the price of the ticket held and the price of the cheapest ticket(s) available for immediate

Not disputing the amount, just the fact that this is completely open to abuse then. OP just got themselves open return ticket cheaper then any open return tickets that you can purchase.

 

[30907]

Not disputing the amount, just the fact that this is completely open to abuse then. OP just got themselves open return ticket cheaper then any open return tickets that you can purchase.

The VIA BARNHAM SVR is £28.40, so this cunning ruse - frankly a niche one - has saved them £2.65.

However, there is another issue with the NOT VIA LONDON SSR - it cannot be used on trains booked to arrive at London termini before 1400. Assuming the OP is making the outward journey at 0930 or similar, does that affect the decision to issue an excess or not?

 

[lehovec]

The VIA BARNHAM SVR is £28.40, so this cunning ruse - frankly a niche one - has saved them £2.65.

However, there is another issue with the NOT VIA LONDON SSR - it cannot be used on trains booked to arrive at London termini before 1400. Assuming the OP is making the outward journey at 0930 or similar, does that affect the decision to issue an excess or not?

£2.65 on this journey. London to Bristol, the difference is £11.05. I am sure there are routes around the country that it would end up being even more.

For argument sake, lets say you can excess it to SSR, I would still issue the excess but advise the customer of the restrictions and stamp it / write on it RA (Restrictions advised).

 

[bkhtele]

"However, there is another issue with the NOT VIA LONDON SSR - it cannot be used on trains booked to arrive at London termini before 1400. Assuming the OP is making the outward journey at 0930 or similar, does that affect the decision to issue an excess or not?"

Logically speaking any restrictions would need to be honoured for both portions of the return journey with the new ticket