Fare a lot cheaper reverse direction?

[Dewedin]

Been looking up some fares for a visit down south.

Anytime Day Return Chelmsford-Stratford is £11.55
Anytime Day Return Stratford-Chelmsford is £7.45

Is there anything to stop someone buying the latter and using the halves out of order?

 

[Mojo]

This is common on a few routes, particularly in the London area, where there is more demand for travel into London than from it.

You are required to have available for inspection the unmarked return portion of your ticket when using the outward (this is in the National Conditions of Carriage), so unfortunately this combination is not valid and if your return ticket was inspected or passed through ticket gates then you would have to buy a single ticket to get back to Chelmsford.

 

[Dewedin]

Ah I see that makes sense.

I'm actually travelling return to Harrow and Wealdstone in the morning peak. Is the cheapest way with 16-25 railcard a return to Zone U2345 London at £14.20, travelling NXEA to Stratford, Overground to Willesden Junction and finally Bakerloo to Harrow and Wealdstone? On this ticket can I take either overground or underground between Willesden Junction and Harrow & Wealdstone or do I have to use the underground?

 

[MikeWh]

TfL treat overground as the same as underground for fares, so I'm sure you could use either, especially as you've just used overground to get from Stratford to Willesden Junc. The anytime return from Chelmsford to Harrow & Wealdstone seems to be £23.35 with a railcard, so the U2345 ticket would appear to be the best bet.

 

[Dewedin]

That seems rather amusing that I could travel to a Zone U destination and never travel on an underground service! It will be my first time ever using Overground services, actually, so it's good to know TfL treat these the same as Underground. I don't go to London often

It seems I can't book the Zone U2345 ticket online. A few extra pounds squeezed out of each uninformed person again it seems.

 

[moonrakerz]

If you were to do this journey regularly and there was the a similar difference in period returns you could buy a single to start off then use the returns "out of phase" as it were.
I used to do this years ago between Eastleigh and Woking - don't know if the fares are still the same now.