Excessing anytime standard to off-peak first

[gpmartin]

Apologies if this has been asked and answered previously - the fare guide doesn't seem to cover it, and I couldn't find any directly relevant threads from a search. I am travelling from Derby to London on Thursday, and have a standard class anytime return ticket. It looks like I might be taking a slightly later train on the outward leg of my journey, on which an off peak ticket would be valid. I am not yet sure what time I will make my return journey - it may be during the afternoon peak period (off peak returns not valid).

The first class off peak return is cheaper than the standard open return, so I understand that I could excess to this ticket for no extra fee. If I did so, and then had to travel back during the afternoon peak, would I still be able to use the original ticket (in standard class, of course)? Or alternatively, am I able to excess the outward and return legs from standard to first class independently of each other (in which case I could decide whether to do so immediately before travel)?

 

[Haywain]

Apologies if this has been asked and answered previously - the fare guide doesn't seem to cover it, and I couldn't find any directly relevant threads from a search. I am travelling from Derby to London on Thursday, and have a standard class anytime return ticket. It looks like I might be taking a slightly later train on the outward leg of my journey, on which an off peak ticket would be valid. I am not yet sure what time I will make my return journey - it may be during the afternoon peak period (off peak returns not valid).

The first class off peak return is cheaper than the standard open return, so I understand that I could excess to this ticket for no extra fee. If I did so, and then had to travel back during the afternoon peak, would I still be able to use the original ticket (in standard class, of course)? Or alternatively, am I able to excess the outward and return legs from standard to first class independently of each other (in which case I could decide whether to do so immediately before travel)?

Are you planning on chaging the ticket or not? You appear to want to have the best of both worlds.

 

[RJ]

I wonder if the rules should be stricter on excessing to a more restrictive fare in terms of time restrictions or period of validity or adding a railcard discount.

Quite a few people have cottoned onto the fact that restrictions on the outbound can effectively be dodged by later excessing to a fare that wouldn't have been valid on the outward leg.

 

[gpmartin]

Are you planning on chaging the ticket or not?

Well that depends on the answers to my questions. If in excessing the ticket I restrict the timing of my return journey, then I will consider whether to make the trade off. If it doesn't (i.e. if I can still travel back in standard class during the afternoon peak), then it seems like an easy decision.

 

[yorkie]

I think the ticket office would be within their rights to insist on a refund and re-issuing of the tickets, especially given what has been posted here!

If you were to obtain the excess, then there'd be nothing to stop you doing this, so it probably will be clamped down on now (if it wasn't already)

 

[gpmartin]

Sorry - to be clear, I am not seeking to obtain a refund on the difference between a Anytime Standard Return and an Off Peak First Return, and then using the ticket during the peak. Rather, I'm just trying to ascertain whether I can change ticket class at no extra cost (since I won't be travelling during the peak on my outward leg, and may not be doing on the return leg) - so essentially, whether I could turn the ticket into a kind of first/standard hybrid, with a less flexible first class ticket outward, and a more flexible standard class ticket on the return (given that the Off Peak First is quite a bit cheaper than the Anytime Standard). I am assuming from the responses that the answer is no (or at least, not officially).

 

[Bletchleyite]

That is indeed not the intention, though it being physically possible to do that may be a side-effect of how excesses are done.

(It's one of the many things that single-fare pricing completely solves - you'd just refund and replace the leg you want to change).

 

[Westcoast-ting]

I was told by my toc that if you wanted to change a SOR to a first class ticket (for use in off peak on the return portion) you would need to refund the return portion of the sor and purchase a new fss.

The reasoning for this was you are purchasing a first class experience.

Can’t say it was the most convincing explanation I’ve ever been given.