Gatwick to Ashford Intl via Brighton

[flyGRX]

Hi there,

My limited (very limited, indeed ) understanding of the routeing guide tells me that Gatwick Airport (GTW) to Ashford International (AFK) is valid through Brighton (BTN), but please correct me if I'm wrong. My question is: can I do that with a normal "NOT VIA LONDON" ticket?

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[CheapAndNerdy]

I'd agree (as does the National Rail Enquiries website) that travel via Brighton is a valid route from Gatwick to Ashford International.

The only 'Not Via London' ticket I can find is the child flat fare (which has its own restrictions), but otherwise is valid as long as you avoid heading into London.

 

[bb21]

There is no Not Via London fare. The Via Edenbridge fare is not valid via Brighton.

You will need the +Any Permitted fare.

 

[Hassocks5489]

I checked stations south of Gatwick, and the first one from which there is a "via Brighton" fare (specifically, VIA EDENB/POLEG, allowing you to go either way) is Haywards Heath. Depending on the journey you're making, a split ticket might be possible?

NOT LONDON tickets used to be available for this journey "back in the day"; I've got one in my collection dated April 2008. Not sure when they were withdrawn. The VIA EDENB/POLEG route is quite new, I think.

 

[flyGRX]

Thanks everyone for your help

I made reference to those NOT LONDON tickets as I used them 'back in the day', too, I didn't even know there weren't available on this route anymore. Knowing that I can split my tickets that way and still save a few pounds is quite helpful, anyway!

Thanks again for your time, folks!

 

[John @ home]

NOT LONDON tickets used to be available for this journey "back in the day"; I've got one in my collection dated April 2008. Not sure when they were withdrawn. The VIA EDENB/POLEG route is quite new, I think.

johnnycache, formerly Head of Revenue Development at Southern,

• explains the reasons for the replacement of some of Southern's route NOT LONDON fares by geographically routed fares in this February 2013 thread,
• had identified that some NOT LONDON fares were giving unintended validity within the Travelcard zones and "we will need to fix that" in this March 2013 thread and
• mentions VIA EDENB/POLEG fares in this April 2014 thread.

 

[johnnycache]

Another option you might like to consider is Gatwick Airport to Ham Street which is routed "Any Permitted" but without a cross-London (maltese cross) marker

This should really have been changed to via Edenbridge/Polegate but appears to have been missed

The Gatwick Airport to Ashford International flow route "not via London" (as stated above) only has a child flat fare and this should have been removed when the main flow was changed to via Edenbridge. Generally its simpler to put the child flat fares with the other fares on a flow - i don't know why they were done separately.

The problem with not via London flows is that they valid for routes that can take you very close to London Terminals (for instance Gatwick Airport-Clapham Junction-Peckham Rye-Bromley South-Maidstone East-Ashford International) which means they have to be priced very near the via London fare - this doesn't enable the sort of price reductions we wanted to make to be implemented without huge revenue risk on the London flows which are of course crucial to the business.