Different Fares

[aelius]

It's only 15p but...

I've been looking to purchase a ticket from Carlisle to Kendal.

Nationalrail website gives me two Off-Peak Singles at £5.35 each = £10.70 or an Off-Peak Return of £10.85. I suppose the Off-Peak Return has greater validity - return within a month as opposed to on the day for Off-Peak Singles. Both fares appear on brfares.

But when I try to book them on EastCoast (for rewards), the Off-Peak Singles are not there.

When I checked again the Nationalrail website, it only directed you to Greater Anglia, ATW, C2C, CrossCountry, East Midlands, Grand Central, SWT and Virgin Trains. But for the £10.70 fare it directed you to 21 sites.

 

[Hadders]

I assume you're referring to prices discounted with a railcard?

The £5.35 fare is an off-peak single (SVH) which can only be purchased on-line to complement an Advance fare in the other direction. You can't buy this fare on its own and only booking sites based on thetrainline booking engine sell them anyway.

An Anytime Single is £8.90.

The off-peak return at £10.85 allows you to return any time within a month and also allows you to break your journey on the return.

 

[jkdd77]

The Virgin website will happily sell me 2 railcard-discounted SVH singles, one in each direction, for a total of £10.70, assuming no minimum fare applies.

SVH tickets may be purchased on the Virgin website with any single ticket in the other direction, including SOS, SDS, SVS, CDS, and other SVH tickets, as well as advances.

 

[yorkie]

The Virgin website will happily sell me 2 railcard-discounted SVH singles, one in each direction, for a total of £10.70, assuming no minimum fare applies..

If the return is within a month, you'll probably actually be issued with an Off Peak Return. At least that was the case a while back when someone reported back, but of course things can change!

 

[Hadders]

If the return is within a month, you'll probably actually be issued with an Off Peak Return. At least that was the case a while back when someone reported back, but of course things can change!

I seem to remember Virgin's website saying that this is the case when I last used them to book a ticket.

 

[button_boxer]

If the return is within a month, you'll probably actually be issued with an Off Peak Return. At least that was the case a while back when someone reported back, but of course things can change!

This particular case is slightly odd though, as for Carlisle to Kendal the SVH is priced at less than half the SVR fare (£8.10 vs £16.40 undiscounted), so two SVHs come out cheaper than a SVR.

 

[yorkie]

This particular case is slightly odd though, as for Carlisle to Kendal the SVH is priced at less than half the SVR fare (£8.10 vs £16.40 undiscounted), so two SVHs come out cheaper than a SVR.

I guess the only way to find out for sure, is for someone to buy it on the Virgin Trains website, and see what happens!

 

[SickyNicky]

TrainSplit will also sell SVH tickets, provided they are part of a return journey. For Kendal to Carlisle, it will recommend them.

 

[kieron]

But when I try to book them on EastCoast (for rewards), the Off-Peak Singles are not there.

The National Rail web site does try to warn you about this. If you select one of those singles and look at the "Ticket provider:" list at the bottom of the page, East Coast won't be listed. The sites which are listed should all offer that ticket, though.