Hitchin to Falmer Pricing

[RailRelatedPun]

Hello to all of the train experts here. I found this forum when trying to find an answer for a different question (for which I found the answer, thanks), and now I have a question/situation I would like help with.

I'm in a bit of a silly situation as I wanted to travel to Falmer from Hitchin on Friday (11th June 2010) with my 16-25 railcard. I've never done this journey before, and have, so far, only bought one part of the journey.

I have an 'anytime day single' ticket (see attachment, sorry for picture quality) that cost me £8.25 with the railcard, from Hitchin to London Terminals. I bought the ticket a couple of weeks ago, and now I actually have the ticket here with me, I'm not sure why I did this. Assuming this ticket takes me to Finsbury Park (or Kings Cross, depending on how I want to get through London), I then I assume I have to get another ticket from Kings Cross to Falmer (after 10am). This ticket would cost me another £16.10 with a railcard, making a total of £24.35 for the journey.

However, if I had bought a ticket from Hitchin to Falmer by itself, it's only £19.75. How is this the case? Is there a way for me to buy a second ticket from London to Falmer which adds up to £19.75 (when added to the £8.25 I already spent) or less, or should I (can I) get my ticket replaced for the £19.75 ticket from Hitchin to Falmer?

I'm sorry if this post is a little incoherent as I only just realised my plight. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[yorkie]

Welcome to the forum

I'm not sure what you mean by "How is the case?" when asking about the price.

However to answer your query, you can obtain an over-distance excess.

The excess is £11.50 (£19.75 - £8.25)

I recommend obtaining this before departure from Hitchin. If you attempt to get it at Finsbury Park or King's Cross, then you may have to spend longer queuing and some clerks claim (I cannot verify the claim) either that once you either start your journey or end it, you cannot get an overdistance excess. I cannot find this documented and I believe it's an excuse because they don't want to issue an excess. It's best to get it before the journey commences to avoid that potential 'discussion'.

Hope that helps

Note that this ticket (Hitchin to Falmer) is valid at or after 0929 on weekdays (any time at weekends), the first valid train is in fact at 0929 and is due into Finsbury Park 0952 and King's Cross 1002 (5 mins recovery time there!)

 

[RailRelatedPun]

Welcome to the forum

I'm not sure what you mean by "How is the case?" when asking about the price.

I was just wondering why, but that doesn't really matter.

However to answer your query, you can obtain an over-distance excess.

The excess is £11.50 (£19.75 - £8.25)

I recommend obtaining this before departure from Hitchin. If you attempt to get it at Finsbury Park or King's Cross, then you may have to spend longer queuing and some clerks claim (I cannot verify the claim) either that once you either start your journey or end it, you cannot get an overdistance excess. I cannot find this documented and I believe it's an excuse because they don't want to issue an excess. It's best to get it before the journey commences to avoid that potential 'discussion'.

Hope that helps

Note that this ticket (Hitchin to Falmer) is valid at or after 0929 on weekdays (any time at weekends), the first valid train is in fact at 0929 and is due into Finsbury Park 0952 and King's Cross 1002 (5 mins recovery time there!)

Thank you! I'll do this either tomorrow or before I start my journey on Friday. Just one more question; does this excess include a London Underground ticket, or which ticket should I use at the barriers? Thanks again for your help; it's really appreciated.

 

[yorkie]

I was just wondering why, but that doesn't really matter.

Well, I think you're asking why a through ticket is cheaper than 2 separate tickets? It really should be the case for all tickets!

For, I guess, historical reasons, it is nearly always cheaper to buy through tickets for journeys wholly within the former 'Network South East' area (as in this case), particularly where a cross-London interchange is required.

But it's not always the case, it can be cheaper to split the ticket - particularly when travelling at 'peak' times (peak times vary by route!) or where the longer distance operator prices tickets at a higher rate than local operators.

Thank you! I'll do this either tomorrow or before I start my journey on Friday. Just one more question; does this excess include a London Underground ticket, or which ticket should I use at the barriers? Thanks again for your help; it's really appreciated.

No problem

A ticket for a journey that involves a 'cross London transfer' should operate the barriers. If you get an excess, it would normally be stapled onto the original ticket in which case showing it should suffice (you get some LU barrier staff who insist on un-stapling it though). Don't put stapled tickets through the barriers (obvious I know but worth saying!)

 

[sonic2009]

here's an idea......

dont over excess, just get an advance from london to falmer, depending on what time you are going from hitchin, and over excess your london terminals to ticket to london underground zone 1, to get the tube included from kings cross... excess is £1.65

advance single's with a 16-25 yp. order from southern website and you get an online discount. ranging from £2.80 to £5.60.

times from 1147 to 1447, bar the 1306 departure..

 

[paul1609]

Sorry, didn't see this one in time but if you do this journey in the future and don't want to be tied to one train excess your ticket to London Underground as in sonic 2009 post as above.
Purchase on line a Super off peak return from Falmer to London Victoria for collection at Victoria station for £7.85 throw away the outward portion of the ticket (note that this ticket has evening peak restrictions).
The ticket delivery system is so quick that you can normally order it on your phone on the way in to Kings Cross and collect it straight away at Victoria (using southern web tis).

 

[RailRelatedPun]

I've returned from my excursion to Falmer and Bath.

Thanks everyone for your advice and tips; I went yorkie's advice as his was the last one I saw before I left. It was slightly more expensive than yorkie said, but still cheaper than what it would have been if I had bought a ticket from the nationalrail.co.uk website.

I'll certainly be back with more questions in the future! I've recommended you guys to my friends, so maybe you'll get more visitors and questions soon!

Thanks again

 

[tony_mac]

just out of interest, what were you charged?

Excesses seem to be done entirely manually, and with inexperienced staff they can easily get them wrong. Therefore it's handy to know in advance so that you can tell them how much it should be (and how to work it out!).

 

[RailRelatedPun]

As far as I can remember it was something like £12.25. I don't have the receipt any more, but I think it was that price.