Southern Flexi anomaly

[Argyle_mikey]

Rye to London Terminals Flexi (inc. Hispeed) - £563.10
Hastings to London Terminals (inc. Hispeed) - £414.50

Is there any reason why you couldn't buy the Hastings Flexi and tap in and out at Rye every day on the way to STP ? I can't see anything in the T&C which require a Flexi to start at one of the named stations.

Cheers

Mike

 

[Alex365Dash]

Is there any reason why you couldn't buy the Hastings Flexi and tap in and out at Rye every day on the way to STP ? I can't see anything in the T&C which require a Flexi to start at one of the named stations.

There’s no reason why you couldn’t - a Flexi Season once activated provides unlimited travel between the origin and destination for the day, including break of journey.

That said, pricing teams in the railway industry regularly browse this forum and you may find something might be done about it at some point.

 

[Argyle_mikey]

Thanks Alex, I guessed my cunning plan was too good to be true.

 

[Alex365Dash]

Thanks Alex, I guessed my cunning plan was too good to be true.

You can still use it!

Answering a question beginning with “Is there any reason why you couldn’t” with a yes/no answer, it turns out, is very easy for someone else to get the wrong answer from it.

I’ve updated my post as appropriate.

 

[yorkie]

Yes it can be cheaper to go further.

This is nearly always allowed, except in the case of Advance tickets which doesn't apply here.

However the train companies are requested by Government to maximise revenue and this can lead to changes being made to the fares so that people are no longer able to pay less than the market rate. Sometimes they are powerless to do anything but it depends on the situation. Publicising it is more likely to lead to the good value fare being withdrawn, going up in price or having restrictions imposed on it.

 

[Argyle_mikey]

Re “publicising”, I did consider constructing a scenario with station a, b and c, but assumed it wouldn’t be allowed :

“When asking for advice, please ensure you post the following:

• The origin and destination stations of your whole journey (and any via points if applicable)”

 

[MrJeeves]

I think we often break that rule (whether right or wrong) when having found a potentially incorrectly priced journey.

 

[Argyle_mikey]

Right. Thanks.

 

[30907]

This particular example: Hastings "not HS1" seasons (regulated fares, of course) are traditionally priced by the shortest route (via Battle) but valid by the longer routes. And the conventional seasons from Rye are priced the same.

I can see sound commercial reasons why a flexi from Rye might reflect the attractiveness of WFH in Rye