outward via one route, return another

[Halsebee]

If I want to travel from Taunton to Worthing outward via Reading, stopping there for a couple of hours, and return direct via Cosham and Salisbury, out early Good Friday, back late on Sunday, can I buy a return ticket that is priced halfway between the "via Reading" price of around £75, and the "direct price" of around £45?
Would any of the Southern Daysave or Downlander tickets be worth looking at?

Thanks

 

[wintonian]

The change of route Excess for the return portion only would be £13 i.e. half the difference between the not London fare of £71 SSR and the route Salisbury fare of £45 SVR, so £45 + £13 = £58

Edited as I misread the first time.

 

[Halsebee]

I want to travel out via the more expensive route first. Can I buy the ticket suggested upfront, or do I ask for a "change of route refund", rather than an excess to come back via the cheaper route?

 

[wintonian]

You can do the change of route excess in either direction at the ticket office before you travel. Though I'm not sure if it can be done at the same time you buy the ticket.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

You cannot get an 'change of route refund', they don't exist. Buy the ticket for the cheaper route and excess it to the more expensive route. If the ticket office do not know how to do it, buy the cheaper ticket and, when travelling, excess the ticket from the guard.

 

[John @ home]

You're right, Halsebee, it's the outward portion, not the return, which needs to be excessed and it would be easy to be charged more than necessary for this journey by mistake. There are three different routes which are priced for a Taunton - Worthing journey and two different fare types come into the calculation.

Both legs of your journey are intended to be made on days when no time restrictions apply. Therefore relevant fares for the whole journey are:

Taunton - Worthing

Route + Any Permitted
Off-Peak Return (SVR) £88
Super Off-Peak Return (SSR) £73

Route Not London
Off-Peak Return (SVR) £85
Super Off-Peak Return (SSR) £71

Route Salisbury
Off-Peak Return (SVR) £45

So the ticket combination that you want is a £45 SVR route Salisbury, with an excess of the outward leg to a £71 SSR route Not London, which should cost half the difference: £13. This makes a total of £58.

One or two points of potential difficulty. First it has occasionally been reported on this forum that the full difference rather than half the difference has been charged for a change of route excess. This has probably been due to ticket office staff being unfamiliar with excess fare procedures which they use infrequently. Fortunately, this problem appears to have been resolved by a new generation of ticket machines which calculate the amount of the excess fare automatically.

Second, it has on one occasion been asserted here that it is not permitted to excess a SVR to a SSR fare. Others have disagreed and there is nothing in the excess fare procedures to justify the assertion. We are in the fortunate position that one train company's internal excess fare procedures have been made public as a result of a request under the Freedom of Information Act. East Coast's procedures are attached.

If I were making this journey, I would attempt to buy the £45 ticket and the £13 excess in the same transaction at a ticket office before starting the journey. If not offered the correct excess fare, I would buy the £45 ticket only and excess it during the journey. On-train staff tend to be more familiar with excess fare procedures. Condition 13(e) of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage gives you the right to obtain an excess at no extra charge on the train.

B. VALIDITY OF TICKETS

13. The route you are entitled to take
(e) If you make your journey by a route other than those referred to in (a) and (b) above, you will be liable to pay an excess fare. This excess fare will be the difference between the price paid for the ticket you hold and the price of the lowest priced ticket(s) available for immediate travel that would have entitled you to travel by that route.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/system/galleries/download/misc/NRCOC.pdf

Don't pay too much! There is no refund due if you choose to use a more expensive ticket over a cheaper route.

 

[yorkie]

Indeed, hairyhandedfool is correct, the excess on board for change of route is the same as payable at the ticket office (if open). Or, in other words, the excess is the same on board irrespective of whether there was opportunity to buy before boarding or not. This is the case for both change of route and also change of ticket type excesses (other excesses are different) so if the ticket office can't do it, simply get the cheaper ticket and the guard should sell you the correct excess.

In my experience the chances of finding a guard that can do excesses correctly are greater than the chances of finding ticket office staff who can do excesses correctly.

Basically they need to select return ticket then outward portion (if they select single it will mess it up and overcharge you!!) if they ask for a higher amount than you expect, it is worth asking if they have done this by mistake.

 

[RJ]

If I want to travel from Taunton to Worthing outward via Reading, stopping there for a couple of hours, and return direct via Cosham and Salisbury, out early Good Friday, back late on Sunday, can I buy a return ticket that is priced halfway between the "via Reading" price of around £75, and the "direct price" of around £45?
Would any of the Southern Daysave or Downlander tickets be worth looking at?

Thanks

You should buy an Off Peak return from Taunton to Worthing (Route Salisbury) for £45.

Immediately after purchasing this, you should then ask to "excess the outward journey only to the Super Off Peak fare, route Not London." On my machine this excess fare comes up as £13.00 - so that's what I'd charge if I was selling the ticket.

Simple answer for a simple question .

 

[island]

Taunton is FGW-operated, and in my experience FGW staff are among the better ones at doing excesses. So ask for what RJ said. Then as yorkie said, if the station clerk can't/doesn't/won't issue the excess, board the train anyway and buy it from the guard.

 

[Halsebee]

Thank you everyone for very helpful and comprehensive information.
One last question, it may be I'll be making this journey using a family railcard with two children. Presumably all the advice given applies to this situation too?

 

[yorkie]

Yes, it makes no difference.

Railcard discounts on the change of route excess are available on board (providing the original ticket was discounted)

 

[Halsebee]

Many thanks to you all. I got the change of route excess at the station without fuss.
The clerk was very helpful, if a little flummoxed, and commented that its a good thing lots of people don't do this, as its time consuming! Also commented it was good practice to be asked issue such tickets.