Bournemouth [BMH] to London [PAD/WAT] & return

[Visualante]

Heya, been sick of paying expensive fares to London. Might be working there soon so looking to learn how to find cheaper fares.

Your origin and destination (and any via points if applicable)
Bournemouth to London (any is station is fine)
Date(s) and time(s) you wish to travel
15th of July return. Departing 8-10am (or arriving at noonish at least). Returning at 11pm ish (arriving at 12pm/1am)
Whether you have a railcard or some other form of discount
I'm a student but I don't have any widely accepted cared such as a railcard/NUS. Just student's union card.
Whether you require flexibility or are happy to be booked on a specific train
I'm not sure really, I'm happy to stick to trains in the morning as I need to arrive at around noon. But I have a bad back and I might not want to sit in a Waterloo waiting room for 4 hours. If I book like an 11pm train to return and then say take an 8pm train home because my back hurts am I likely to get fined? I heard it's kind of at their discretion.

 

[SS4]

Your first line implies you travel to London quite a bit, therefore my main bit of advice would be to get a 16-25 railcard. As a full time student you're eligible and it costs £28 for a year but gets you a third off travel (in July there is no minimum fare)

You would have to buy a new ticket if you bought an advance ticket and travel on a different train than the booked one.

There are advance tickets available for £22 outbound (9:18-11:20) and £10 on the return leg (22:35-00:21 or 23:05-01:17) which is a total of £32

If you'd rather not tie yourself to specific trains then I suggest an Off-Peak return which is flexible but would cost £48.60 but allow you to travel home at any time (there don't appear to be any evening restrictions out of waterloo). You can still reserve a seat with off-peak tickets and I'd recommend it


A railcard would save you £15.60 on the off-peak return so even making two trips would get the railcard to pay for itself

 

[AlterEgo]

If I book like an 11pm train to return and then say take an 8pm train home because my back hurts am I likely to get fined? I heard it's kind of at their discretion.

DO NOT DO THIS. It is fare evasion and you run the risk of being prosecuted and gaining a criminal record if you are caught by an RPI on the train. Usually you will be made to purchase the full open single fare, with no discounts. It will be a very expensive mistake.

If you do want to travel against the restrictions on your ticket, see a member of staff at the station BEFORE you board, or see the guard, again BEFORE you board.

Don't be tempted to chance your arm. Fare evasion is taken very seriously - check the history on this section of the forum for tales of woe from people who range from being very silly to simply being mistaken.

 

[Visualante]

Your first line implies you travel to London quite a bit, therefore my main bit of advice would be to get a 16-25 railcard. As a full time student you're eligible and it costs £28 for a year but gets you a third off travel (in July there is no minimum fare)

You would have to buy a new ticket if you bought an advance ticket and travel on a different train than the booked one.

There are advance tickets available for £22 outbound (9:18-11:20) and £10 on the return leg (22:35-00:21 or 23:05-01:17) which is a total of £32

If you'd rather not tie yourself to specific trains then I suggest an Off-Peak return which is flexible but would cost £48.60 but allow you to travel home at any time (there don't appear to be any evening restrictions out of waterloo). You can still reserve a seat with off-peak tickets and I'd recommend it


A railcard would save you £15.60 on the off-peak return so even making two trips would get the railcard to pay for itself

Well the lead time on getting a YPRC is always so long, so I'm too late now. It would only be valid until September but I shall consider it.

These prices are the same as the ones I found (up £3 from last night, however on the morning fare) so I will book today. Thanks.

Appreciate the advice on fare evasion AlterEgo, I used to do it all the time on local trains, only got caught a few times and they just made me pay for the fare as the stations I used had no staff/machines. I will talk to someone on station of course. The reason why this ****es me off is because I had a peak single once, and wanted to go home on an offpeak train early (around lunchtime). The jerk at the station wouldn't let me on. Further putting stress on their network and station seating at peak hours. It just blind and ignorant to me.

I don't know much about pre-privatised railways, as I was young. But it really saddens me how much of a business this nation's railway is.

 

[AlterEgo]

I had a peak single once, and wanted to go home on an offpeak train early (around lunchtime). The jerk at the station wouldn't let me on. Further putting stress on their network and station seating at peak hours. It just blind and ignorant to me.

Are you sure it was a "Peak Single"? These are called "Anytime" tickets which are valid at - you guessed it - any time. You probably had a heavily discounted Advance Single ticket which just happened to be on a train which left at peak-time. Advance tickets are valid on the booked train only - that's why they are so cheap.

The railways use them to put bums on seats on those trains which might otherwise be commercially unviable.

 

[OwlMan]

Well the lead time on getting a YPRC is always so long, so I'm too late now. It would only be valid until September but I shall consider it.

No a 16-25 railcard is available immediately at a manned station and are valid or either one year or three years. Se http://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/

Peter

 

[Visualante]

Are you sure it was a "Peak Single"? These are called "Anytime" tickets which are valid at - you guessed it - any time. You probably had a heavily discounted Advance Single ticket which just happened to be on a train which left at peak-time. Advance tickets are valid on the booked train only - that's why they are so cheap.

The railways use them to put bums on seats on those trains which might otherwise be commercially unviable.

Trust me this ticket wasn't cheap. And he wouldn't let me on any train. I had to wait at the station for like 4 hours, go through London at peak time and then get another train out of Liverpool St. at peak time. It was a horrible day.

 

[AlterEgo]

No a 16-25 railcard is available immediately at a manned station and are valid or either one year or three years. Se http://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/

Peter

He will be able to purchase only the one year railcard, if I'm reading between the lines correctly.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Trust me this ticket wasn't cheap. And he wouldn't let me on any train. I had to wait at the station for like 4 hours, go through London at peak time and then get another train out of Liverpool St. at peak time. It was a horrible day.

Sounds like you had a restricted ticket.

There's no reason somebody will deny you boarding on a train at off peak times unless you had an invalid ticket.

You could have been

Off-route (i.e. not allowed to travel via London)

Travelling at the wrong time on an Advance ticket (sounds entirely likely - Advance tickets are cheapER but not always "cheap" by everyone's definition!)

or any number of different things...

 

[FGWman]

If you'd rather not tie yourself to specific trains then I suggest an Off-Peak return which is flexible but would cost £48.60 but allow you to travel home at any time (there don't appear to be any evening restrictions out of waterloo). You can still reserve a seat with off-peak tickets and I'd recommend it

Correct me if I am wrong but I think SWT dont do seat reservations any more.

 

[island]

Correct me if I am wrong but I think SWT dont do seat reservations any more.

No correction necessary. They do advances tied to a specific train but there won't be any seat reserved.

 

[yorkie]

. If I book like an 11pm train to return and then say take an 8pm train home because my back hurts am I likely to get fined?

If you are blatantly lying about a false injury in order to avoid the fare, then yes you could be prosecuted, given a criminal record and a fine. The fine could be several hundred pounds and the offence would appear to any employer who does a CRB check.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

x The reason why this ****es me off is because I had a peak single once, and wanted to go home on an offpeak train early (around lunchtime). The jerk at the station wouldn't let me on. .

Sounds highly unlikely. Scan in the ticket then and we'll be able to comment.

I must warn you though to reconsider the tone of your posts in future.

 

[thefab444]

An anytime return from Bournemouth to Brighton rte Not London will get you to Clapham Junction for about £32 (the off peak return is only 10p cheaper). You would then need an extra ticket or use an Oyster card for your travel into Waterloo.