Block booking tickets for weekly travel

[wagemage]

I have a weekly commute, Eastleigh > Lincoln on Sunday night and LCN > ESL Friday afternoon. (1324 from LCN to WAT for Fridays // exact Sunday journey seems to change every week but intend to get to LCN between 2200 and 2300). The TOCs are LNER, SWR, and EMR on Sundays.

This journey is £43.00 with a Railcard as a super off-peak single, so £86/wk on rail fares.

The cheapest possible Advances, using split ticketing, tend to be around £25. However once or twice a month (on short notice) I drive the journey or travel home before the Friday, meaning an Advance would go to waste, so I've been just buying Super Off-Peaks. Buying an Advance a day or two before is only a saving of about £4 which isn't worth it against the flexibility/safety of the Super Off-Peak.

Is there a discount type I'm unaware of that I could use, or a simple way to block buy Advances that minimises change fees? I looked at flexi seasons, but they are vastly more expensive because they allow Peak travel (as well as not including the Tube transfer).

 

[Watershed]

Unfortunately, as you say, there's no point buying a Flexi Season. You're better off buying individual tickets for each journey.

If you're aged 31-59, are travelling on your own, aren't an armed forces veteran or reservist, and aren't eligible for a Disabled Railcard (the list of qualifying criteria is perhaps surprisingly wide) then the best "discount" you can get is likely to buy a cheap annual season ticket that gets you a Gold Card, or a Network Railcard.

There are pros and cons to each of those - e.g. a Gold Card is valid from 09:30 and has no minimum fare, but it isn't valid on LNER to Stevenage like the Network Railcard is. So it's worthwhile checking what the best option is for you, based on the trains you'd like to take.

It's also worth considering buying split tickets (i.e. a combination of tickets such as Eastleigh to London and London to Lincoln), as that may be cheaper than buying a through ticket. This can particularly often be the case with Advance tickets, e.g. if they're really expensive for one part of the journey but cheap for another.

There are quite a few retailers that offer split tickets, the most well-known being The Trainline - but their suggested splits are often far from the cheapest. Other sites include the forum's own-brand ticketing site (tickets.railforums.co.uk).

In terms of the best way to actually buy the tickets, other than retailers that offer split tickets, you might want to consider one that charges a lower (or no) admin fee for changes. For example, CrossCountry and TPE don't charge admin fees for changes to Advance tickets whilst Railsmartr don't charge a fee for any ticket type. There are slight differences in the way that each retailer processes changes, so you might want to do some research to decide which one to go with.

Finally, you might want to consider any incentives that a retailer offers for using them. Some offer cashback (through sites such as Topcashback/Quidco, or through your card such as Amex or your bank/lender) and LNER offer "Perks" for certain purchases made through their site.

 

[JBuchananGB]

The OP is already a Railcard holder. It all seems to depend on how far ahead he can be sure of not wasting an Advance. For example Advance single Eastleigh to Lincoln is available for Sunday 15 October for £32, saving £11 if booked today but "only 1 left at this price". I think the suggestion to book with a TOC which does not levy charges for changes to Advances would be a good idea.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

I've edited the post to show the station names so it's easier for forum members to know where ESL and LCN are.

To add to what @Watershed as well as changing the date and time of an Advance ticket (which costs the difference in fares plus an Admin fee (although some companies don't charge an admin fee)) you can also excess an Advance ticket into a Super Off Peak Single ticket which would cost the difference in fare plus a £10 admin fee. This might be worth considering because:

- the excess can be obtained at a ticket office (in theory at least...)
- you can obtain this even if Advance tickets have sold out of are not available
- you would have flexibility in the time you could travel

A couple of things to note about this:

- the excess must be obtained before the departure time stated on the oroginal Advance ticket
- the routeing on the Advance ticket still applies to the Super Off Peak ticket - this won't be a problem for you because Advance tickets between ESL and LCN are routed LNER & Connections.

 

[wagemage]

Hi forum members, thanks for the help!

I do indeed already have a Railcard.

Is there a list of which companies don't charge an admin fee for changing an Advance?

Is changing a split-ticket Advance tricky, given that it means changing/refunding multiple little journeys? I've split-ticketed the trip before, but never changed/refunded one.

The idea of buying all Advances and excessing up to Super Off Peak as and when needed is an interesting one, I didn't know you could do that; is it possible to do this over the phone/online rather than at the ticket office or do you always have to do it at a manned station?

As for perks, I've usually been buying the tickets through the LNER website/app using an Avios credit card.

 

[Hadders]

Is there a list of which companies don't charge an admin fee for changing an Advance?

As far as I know it's only Cross Country, TPE and Railsmartr

Is changing a split-ticket Advance tricky, given that it means changing/refunding multiple little journeys? I've split-ticketed the trip before, but never changed/refunded one.

If you've got split tickets then the forum's site will only charge one admin fee per booking but other retailers usually charge per ticket (although as noted above some retailers don't charge but there'd potentially be a degree of 'faff' involved depending on the number of splits.

The idea of buying all Advances and excessing up to Super Off Peak as and when needed is an interesting one, I didn't know you could do that; is it possible to do this over the phone/online rather than at the ticket office or do you always have to do it at a manned station?

It can be done online but depends on the retailer. With most retailers you purchase a new ticket and submit the original one for a refund. For example, with the forum's ticketing site you must re-book before the original travel date/time for the same journey (the origin, destination and passengers must remain the same). The departure date/time and ticket type (advance or flexible) can be different, but you must claim for the refund before the original ticket's departure time. A refund administration fee will apply.

 

[ServerHoster]

Is there a list of which companies don't charge an admin fee for changing an Advance?

I would personally recommend CrossCountry. If you use TPE, I heard they have to send you an excess ticket in the post for some reason? Whereas if you use CrossCountry they just send you a new ticket collection code or e ticket. Their website says you can only change up to 18:00 day before travel, but I’ve managed to make a fee-free change up to 2 hours before.

So if you end up driving, you can just change your ticket to the next available date you haven’t booked yet.

If doing split tickets you’d just need to change each ticket individually.

If you still want the super off peak option I’d recommend the Southern (or any GTR) website as they refund unused flexible tickets. You just need to choose “ticket on departure” when booking, and ensure the ticket isn’t collected until you’re sure you want to travel.

 

[sheff1]

I too use XC for Advances when there is a possibilty I might need to change the booking. The process is very straightforward. For various reasons I have one booking which I have already changed twice and will be looking to change it again shortly - don't know if there is a limit to how many changes can be made to any one booking.

 

[ASharpe]

I used to do a similar commute from Guildford to Leeds but plans would often change. I settled on a routine of buying the cheapest tier advance between London and Leeds/Bradford as soon as released. The cheapest tier sometimes isn't available as a through ticket with connections. Then nearer the time or on the day I'd buy a ticket to underground zone 1. You might benefit further from an Advance fare to London the oyster with railcard to get accross.