Right to disruption refunds on a split ticket

[Benjwri]

I am needing to travel into London and use an out boundary travelcard, however they are not offered from my origin so I am going to have to split the ticket.

When using a travelcard I like to get it on a smartcard because I always demagnetise CCST tickets. This will mean I have to book through two separate bookings.

I’m going to a time sensitive event, so if there is disruption I will not attend and will just refund the ticket and not travel. However if the first leg of my journey, on the first ticket, is disrupted, would I be eligible for a refund without an admin fee on the second ticket in the split, even if the train this ticket travels on isn’t disrupted?

Obviously if this was booked on an actual split ticketing site on one itinerary I would expect to, but I’m unsure of the industry position if I’m booking in two separate bookings on a site that doesn’t normally split.

 

[MrJeeves]

Yes, you should be able to get a fee-free refund in this instance, but it would likely be harder to do so in practice.

You would need to be prepared to show the other ticket for your journey, and it might be useful to provide evidence of which train was disrupted.

 

[Wallsendmag]

I am needing to travel into London and use an out boundary travelcard, however they are not offered from my origin so I am going to have to split the ticket.

When using a travelcard I like to get it on a smartcard because I always demagnetise CCST tickets. This will mean I have to book through two separate bookings.

I’m going to a time sensitive event, so if there is disruption I will not attend and will just refund the ticket and not travel. However if the first leg of my journey, on the first ticket, is disrupted, would I be eligible for a refund without an admin fee on the second ticket in the split, even if the train this ticket travels on isn’t disrupted?

Obviously if this was booked on an actual split ticketing site on one itinerary I would expect to, but I’m unsure of the industry position if I’m booking in two separate bookings on a site that doesn’t normally split.

Generally Third Party Retailers don't offer tickets on Smartcards

 

[Benjwri]

Generally Third Party Retailers don't offer tickets on Smartcards

Yeah that was my point, if I booked this through trainsplit I would be fairly certain I'd get a full refund, but as I'm booking it with a TOC I was unsure if they would be as happy to refund from two separate bookings.

Yes, you should be able to get a fee-free refund in this instance, but it would likely be harder to do so in practice.

You would need to be prepared to show the other ticket for your journey, and it might be useful to provide evidence of which train was disrupted.

Good to know, thank you!

 

[island]

Getting refunds on Travelcards on or after the first day of validity can be challenging because the position taken is that they could have been used on buses or other services. (I am not attempting to comment on the legality of this position, merely providing practical advice from experience.)

As all Travelcards are walk-up tickets I would advise simply waiting to purchase it until you know you will be using it.

 

[Haywain]

Getting refunds on Travelcards on or after the first day of validity can be challenging because the position taken is that they could have been used on buses or other services. (I am not attempting to comment on the legality of this position, merely providing practical advice from experience.)

For period Travelcards they are treated in the same way as other season tickets for refund purposes, and the amount paid is refunded less the cost of what has been used. Once the ticket has been returned there is clearly no opportunity to continue using it on buses or anything else. I have to say I am puzzled how anybody could claim you are using a ticket after you have submitted it for refund, although I may be misunderstanding.

 

[Benjwri]

Getting refunds on Travelcards on or after the first day of validity can be challenging because the position taken is that they could have been used on buses or other services. (I am not attempting to comment on the legality of this position, merely providing practical advice from experience.)

As all Travelcards are walk-up tickets I would advise simply waiting to purchase it until you know you will be using it.

Yeah I intend to purchase it on the day, however I have experienced incidents in the past where even on the journey I have had to turn around on the way to London (and get a full refund as is allowed in disruption), and I would want to purchase it at home to avoid mobile data issues.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Feb 2024 ==

For period Travelcards they are treated in the same way as other season tickets for refund purposes, and the amount paid is refunded less the cost of what has been used. Once the ticket has been returned there is clearly no opportunity to continue using it on buses or anything else. I have to say I am puzzled how anybody could claim you are using a ticket after you have submitted it for refund, although I may be misunderstanding.

My question is about a outboundary day travelcard (loaded onto a smartcard) and refunds in cast of disruption on the national rail part of that travelcard cause journey abandonment, so these rules wouldn’t apply.

 

[island]

For period Travelcards they are treated in the same way as other season tickets for refund purposes, and the amount paid is refunded less the cost of what has been used. Once the ticket has been returned there is clearly no opportunity to continue using it on buses or anything else. I have to say I am puzzled how anybody could claim you are using a ticket after you have submitted it for refund, although I may be misunderstanding.

The OP is asking about, and I am referring to, day Travelcards, which have no refund value for remaining days. Perhaps my previous post was unclear by including a stray "first".

 

[MrJeeves]

The OP is asking about, and I am referring to, day Travelcards, which have no refund value for remaining days. Perhaps my previous post was unclear by including a stray "first".

Although, in this case with the Travelcard being on ITSO, the TOC would theoretically receive the tap data from tube/buses/trams.

 

[island]

Although, in this case with the Travelcard being on ITSO, the TOC would theoretically receive the tap data from tube/buses/trams.

No requirement to tap Travelcards in when using a tram, and travel between ungated/gate-open stations might not be recorded either.

 

[MrJeeves]

No requirement to tap Travelcards in when using a tram, and travel between ungated/gate-open stations might not be recorded either.

No requirement, but I would personally always do it anyway because there's no harm done.

 

[redreni]

I'm not sure I understand why purchasing from different retailers is necessary? I appreciate a TOC wouldn't issue split tickets against a single itinerary, but surely you can add the two (or more) parts of the journey to the basket with itineraries that "join up" and buy all the tickets from the TOC for which you have a smartcard (ideally as a single booking)?

Failing that I would suggest a paper travelcard (even if demagnetised) might be less inconvenient than potentially trying to get a refund from a retailer that will look at the tickets they have sold you and think "hang on, there wasn't any disruption".

 

[Benjwri]

I'm not sure I understand why purchasing from different retailers is necessary? I appreciate a TOC wouldn't issue split tickets against a single itinerary, but surely you can add the two (or more) parts of the journey to the basket with itineraries that "join up" and buy all the tickets from the TOC for which you have a smartcard (ideally as a single booking)?

Failing that I would suggest a paper travelcard (even if demagnetised) might be less inconvenient than potentially trying to get a refund from a retailer that will look at the tickets they have sold you and think "hang on, there wasn't any disruption".

My question originally was if I would be able to get a refund. I would be buying the tickets from the same TOC, however their website doesn’t make it easy to use the same transaction, and even so it would be a different booking

Regarding the paper travelcard, this is what I was trying to work out, if trying to split into a smartcard was more hastle than it’s worth I would just use a paper one.

 

[Topological]

GWRs website is very easy to do multiple "split" parts on the same booking code. You just keep doing "Add another journey" and when paying for everything together it gives a single code. GWR are also very good at refunding the whole journey when there is a single booking code like this too.

Of course, being in Bath does not mean you are using GWR.

 

[Benjwri]

GWRs website is very easy to do multiple "split" parts on the same booking code. You just keep doing "Add another journey" and when paying for everything together it gives a single code. GWR are also very good at refunding the whole journey when there is a single booking code like this too.

Of course, being in Bath does not mean you are using GWR.

Sadly not this time, I am travelling from elsewhere into London.