Southeastern Weekender ticket price been reduced?

[seahermit]

I am planning another trip around the Kent coast and want a Weekender ticket for a Friday to Sunday, from Ashford Int. to Ramsgate. It's good value, with cheap BnB's I managed to travel up to Rochester and numerous other places (and ate well) for three days in June, all for just over £100!

Does anyone know if the price has been knocked down? The Trainline site is quoting me £9.10 but in June it cost me £13.80. Very odd and I cannot find any info about it on the internet or announcements on the Southeastern sites. Sorry if I'm missing something ... but I have never heard of rail fares going DOWN!

 

[Mojo]

£13.80 is the full price of the ticket - £9.10 is the price with a Railcard. According to the Southeastern website Railcard discounts are permitted; when I last wanted to use one of these tickets a few years ago you could not use a Railcard. Not sure when they changed this policy.

By the way; do not buy this ticket on theTrainline as they charge more than buying from any other website or the station ticket office.

 

[seahermit]

Thanks for that and I know it all seems very obvious but on my previous trip the discount wasn't applied. Because I was new to the whole complicated ticketing website business, I ran my intended route through both the Trainline and the Southeastern websites - despite my carefully ticking the Railcard box, both sites quoted the £13.80 price and I merely assumed that the discount didn't apply to Railcards. It seems unlikely that there has been a recent change of policy, so presumably the websites can't always be relied upon to work perfectly and produce a correct total.

I did actually in June use Trainline to buy the ticket - I found that navigating the site was so supremely easier than using the National Rail one that I didn't begrudge a few pence to finish the job and make a purchase. Maybe I won't do that when I'm buying a much more expensive ticket somewhere ..

 

[Paul Kelly]

It seems unlikely that there has been a recent change of policy, so presumably the websites can't always be relied upon to work perfectly and produce a correct total.

On the contrary I would say, while there are plenty of discrepancies in routeing and itinerary options between different websites, calculating the price of a fare is something that on the whole is done fairly accurately and "just works". So I think it's much more likely there has been a change - although it could also be a mistake on Southeastern's part.

 

[D.K.TAYLOR]

Thanks for that and I know it all seems very obvious but on my previous trip the discount wasn't applied. Because I was new to the whole complicated ticketing website business, I ran my intended route through both the Trainline and the Southeastern websites - despite my carefully ticking the Railcard box, both sites quoted the £13.80 price and I merely assumed that the discount didn't apply to Railcards. It seems unlikely that there has been a recent change of policy, so presumably the websites can't always be relied upon to work perfectly and produce a correct total.

I did actually in June use Trainline to buy the ticket - I found that navigating the site was so supremely easier than using the National Rail one that I didn't begrudge a few pence to finish the job and make a purchase. Maybe I won't do that when I'm buying a much more expensive ticket somewhere ..

Try Transpennine for booking no fee free postage and you get Necter points easier than Trainline stopped using those when they started charging a fee

 

[Hadders]

National Rail website doesn’t sell tickets, it simply redirects you to a train company website.

Many train companies use Trainline’s interface for their own booking sites but without the added fees (eg Virgin, Greater Anglia, Scotrail). Train companies also sell each other’s tickets. There is never a reason to pay trainline’s more expensive prices.

 

[Mojo]

On the contrary I would say, while there are plenty of discrepancies in routeing and itinerary options between different websites, calculating the price of a fare is something that on the whole is done fairly accurately and "just works". So I think it's much more likely there has been a change - although it could also be a mistake on Southeastern's part.

Thanks for that and I know it all seems very obvious but on my previous trip the discount wasn't applied. Because I was new to the whole complicated ticketing website business, I ran my intended route through both the Trainline and the Southeastern websites - despite my carefully ticking the Railcard box, both sites quoted the £13.80 price and I merely assumed that the discount didn't apply to Railcards. It seems unlikely that there has been a recent change of policy, so presumably the websites can't always be relied upon to work perfectly and produce a correct total.

The SET website does have a page on Weekender tickets and clearly states that Railcard discounts _are_ allowed, so there clearly has been a change in policy and I’m not sure why this has been deemed “unlikely.”

 

[alistairlees]

Thanks for that and I know it all seems very obvious but on my previous trip the discount wasn't applied. Because I was new to the whole complicated ticketing website business, I ran my intended route through both the Trainline and the Southeastern websites - despite my carefully ticking the Railcard box, both sites quoted the £13.80 price and I merely assumed that the discount didn't apply to Railcards. It seems unlikely that there has been a recent change of policy, so presumably the websites can't always be relied upon to work perfectly and produce a correct total.

I did actually in June use Trainline to buy the ticket - I found that navigating the site was so supremely easier than using the National Rail one that I didn't begrudge a few pence to finish the job and make a purchase. Maybe I won't do that when I'm buying a much more expensive ticket somewhere ..

The Weekender tickets changed substantially in the data in the May fares round, to resolve some issues. The way they dealt with included / excluded days was changed, resulting in there being at least one extra Weekender ticket type. I assume that railcard discounts were added at the same time (I think the fares may have been non-derivable until May too, which would have prevented discounts unless they were already set up)

 

[seahermit]

Thanks for all the comments, somewhat reassuring. I didn't think I had made any errors when making the bookings (and two websites came up with the same £13.80 fare), so clearly there has been a change. I remember now that I booked during early May - so obviously a decision to allow discounts on railcards was implemented just after I had bought my tickets!

Thanks from all you knowledgeable guys.

 

[Cletus]

Railcard discounts on Weekenders for my regular journey Dover Priory to St Pancras (out Sat, back Sun) have been there for a number of years. Although the £28.65 cost is the same as an off peak return anyway.

 

[district]

The Weekender tickets changed substantially in the data in the May fares round, to resolve some issues. The way they dealt with included / excluded days was changed, resulting in there being at least one extra Weekender ticket type. I assume that railcard discounts were added at the same time (I think the fares may have been non-derivable until May too, which would have prevented discounts unless they were already set up)

You are right in that they have introduced WK4 tickets which allow a return on a bank holiday Monday, but SE certainly did do railcard discounts on Weekenders before May.

 

[seahermit]

An insoluble mystery then, why I was quoted the full Weekender price on two separate websites with no railcard discount applied, even though I was apparently entitled!

I won't be shedding tears over just £4 or so, but I have to say that I am dreading the day when I need to negotiate the websites for a really complicated journey - the whole system for booking train tickets is a complete mess with so many variations of prices and difficulty even getting accurate info from websites or railway staff. I think foreign tourists visiting here must think the British have gone somewhat mad!