Staines to Plymouth - cheaper to split at Exeter

[hawaii2468]

Just checked the single journey from Staines to Plymouth departing at 6:23 am arriving 10:41, change at Reading and Exeter, price is 46.50 pounds. If I split up the journey into Staines - Exeter and Exeter - Plymouth, exactly the same time and same train, the price will be: 22 + 7.8 = 30.8. That is almoust 16 pounds cheaper. Why can tickets be so different?

Am I safe to buy 2 tickets (Staines - Exeter 6:23- 9:30 and Exeter - Plymouth 9:30-10:41) rather than one (Staines - Plymouth 6:23 - 9:30-9:36 -10:41)?

 

[LexyBoy]

Loads of reasons they can be different, a few examples:
- the TOCs will price journeys according to demand and the type of customer using that route (e.g. more demand for Reading-Plymouth than Reading-Exeter, so it's more expensive);
- A-C is priced by TOC 1 but A-B by TOC 2 and B-C by TOC 3;
- Local council/government/PTE subsidy can reduce certain fares;
- Different ticket types, for example Day tickets (short distances) are cheaper than period returns (long distances).

You are fine to do so, provided that the train stops at the "changeover" station (in some circumstances the train doesn't need to stop, if one ticket is a Season and the other(s) not, for example).

 

[richw]

yes perfectly acceptable as long as the train calls at the station where your tickets are split,

 

[firespire]

You start your journey in peak so the whole journey is probably priced as such. When you arive in Exeter you are off peak and able to split and use Off Peak Tickets.

 

[LexyBoy]

Hang on a sec. The £46.50 fare you quote is an Advance fare (and no longer available anyway), not a proper fare. The Anytime Single is £116.50, or £97.00 to Exeter + £13.80 Exeter-Plymouth - so in this case, it's still cheaper to split the journey.

Advance tickets are even more liable to be different for "split" journeys as they are quota-controlled, so can sell out at the cheaper price for the full journey but still be available for intermediate journeys. Or vice-versa - for example it's often cheaper to buy Advance tickets from London to Edinburgh rather than one on the same train to Newcastle.

(This doesn't change the advice that you're valid on split tickets - this applies to any ticket type).

 

[John @ home]

The £46.50 fare you quote is an Advance fare (and no longer available anyway)

How do you know that this fare is no longer available? hawaii2468 has not provided a travel date. National Fares Manual NFM 10 confirms a price of £46.50 for one of the levels of Standard Advance Single Staines - Plymouth route AP Reading.

 

[LexyBoy]

How do you know that this fare is no longer available?

Sorry, for some reason I thought hawaii2468 was looking at fares for tomorrow. The cheapest AP tickets available for the 0623 tomorrow are £64.00. £46.50 does seem to be the cheapest tier available for this departure time, though lower priced AP tickets exist for the flow.