FCC Season Ticket changeover assistance please

[DelayRepay]

Hi

I'd be grateful if someone could please give me some advice.

I've recently moved from Zone 4 to St Albans.

Current ticket:
Annual zone 1 - 4 travel card, purchased from South Eastern and printed on National Rail ticket stock, which expires on 21 May 13. Cost £1,672

Required ticket:
Annual return ticket from St Albans - London Thameslink (no travel card required).

I've asked FCC to do a season ticket change over but I've been told this isn't possible, and I should apply to South Eastern for a refund of the remaining part of my Travelcard, then purchase a new ticket.

I think this is bad advice and will end up costing me more than a changeover.

I've worked out that a changeover will cost:

Cost of original ticket : £41.80 * 40 = £1672.00
Cost of new ticket for same period as original : £74.70 * 40 = £2988.00

Base rate for original ticket : £1672.00 / 365 = £4.58
Base rate for new ticket : £2988.00 / 365 = £8.19

Number of days validity for new ticket (02/01/12 - 23/05/13) : 142

Credit due on original ticket : £4.58 * 142 = £650.36
Charge for new ticket : £8.19 * 142 = £1162.98

Additional payment due : £1162.98 - £650.36 = £515.62

Refund option:
I think I've used 31 weeks worth of ticket so would be due a refund for 9 weeks i.e. £41.80 * 9 = £376.20 less £10 admin fee = £366.20
Plus, unless I can resolve this today my new ticket would be purchased at 2013 prices so would cost more.

So my questions are:

1) Am I allowed to change my current ticket for the one I want?
2) Are my calculations roughly correct?
3) Can anyone recommend a helpful station on the St Albans - City Thameslink line who can sort this out for me?
4) Does the fact that my original ticket is a travel card, bought from South Eastern complicate matters?

I'm sorry for the length of this post and would be really grateful for any suggestions.

Thanks

 

[34D]

1) Am I allowed to change my current ticket for the one I want?

Yes

2) Are my calculations roughly correct?

Pass. Will defer to other members. One member in particular is expert at this sort of thing.

3) Can anyone recommend a helpful station on the St Albans - City Thameslink line who can sort this out for me?
4) Does the fact that my original ticket is a travel card, bought from South Eastern complicate matters?

Shouldn't complicate things, but I'd just be inclined to keep trying at different places. Maybe even try the same place as before but look for a different person.

Also I _believe_ that changeovers are at the prices when the ticket was originally purchased regardless of intervening price rises.

 

[DelayRepay]

Yes

Also I _believe_ that changeovers are at the prices when the ticket was originally purchased regardless of intervening price rises.

Thanks - I was rather hoping to sort this out today given that I'm sat in work on my own with nothing to do unless something "kicks off" (which it won't).

I'll try St Pancras on the way home...

I thought this would be simple...

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....So my questions are:

1) Am I allowed to change my current ticket for the one I want?....

Yes, at any National Rail ticket office.

....2) Are my calculations roughly correct?....

Looks like the changeover one is right, though I haven't done the maths. For a refund you need to work out what is USED, not what is left, then subtract that and the admin fee from what you paid.

....3) Can anyone recommend a helpful station on the St Albans - City Thameslink line who can sort this out for me?....

Depending who is on duty, City or Blackfriars, but expect them to ask you for some time to work out the amounts for themselves, they can't take your word for it.

....4) Does the fact that my original ticket is a travel card, bought from South Eastern complicate matters?....

No. If it is on Oyster there might be an issue, but I don't deal with them so I can't say for definite.

 

[DelayRepay]

Depending who is on duty, City or Blackfriars, but expect them to ask you for some time to work out the amounts for themselves, they can't take your word for it.

Thanks for your reply, I'll try again. I expected it to take some time which is why I wanted to sort it out today when there is nobody about. I appreciate they can't take my word for it but I'm slightly surprised that they have to work it out manually - I would have thought their computer system would be able to deal with these transactions.

It's not Oyster, it's a paper ticket.

 

[island]

I don't know whether you'll have more luck at a Southeastern booking office, such as Cannon Street or London Bridge. But there's not much need to worry about getting it done today or tomorrow, as a changeover is always done at historical fares.

 

[DelayRepay]

I don't know whether you'll have more luck at a Southeastern booking office, such as Cannon Street or London Bridge. But there's not much need to worry about getting it done today or tomorrow, as a changeover is always done at historical fares.

Thanks - the good news is St Albans processed it for me without a problem. My calculation above was £3 out which I suspect is to do with the changeover taking effect tomorrow.

Oddly enough the woman at the next window was also doing a changeover, and was complaining to the clerk that she had tried to do it elsewhere (not sure where) and been told it wasn't possible.

I wasn't worrying about getting it done today due to the price change, but I'll be working in London every day during Jan and Feb and didn't want to have to spend more money on extention tickets each day.

Thanks again to everyone who's taken the time to reply.

 

[barrykas]

No. If it is on Oyster there might be an issue, but I don't deal with them so I can't say for definite.

If the original ticket is held on Oyster, only a ticket office that retails Oyster products can do a change-over, as the ticket has to be unloaded from the card as part of the process. This generates a paper "ticket" for accountancy purposes.

NB: This only applies if the original ticket was issued by a National Rail ticket office. Tickets sold by TfL offices have to be processed by TfL.

 

[island]

Which in turn means that Oyster cards with Travelcards purchased from an NR station are inherently less useful than those with Travelcards purchased from an LU station, as the former can be changed over to a point-to-point season at a future date and the latter can't.

 

[maniacmartin]

Which in turn means that Oyster cards with Travelcards purchased from an NR station are inherently less useful than those with Travelcards purchased from an LU station, as the former can be changed over to a point-to-point season at a future date and the latter can't.

You mean NR-retailed Oyster Travelcards are more useful surely?

 

[island]

Yes, that.