Surbiton - Fratton this Saturday....

[coupwotcoup]

Hi chaps

'er indoors is off to Fratton for the weekend, leaving early Saturday and coming back
around Sunday lunch.

She has an all zones Oyster Card so should it not be easy enough to purchase a return
to Fratton from Boundary Six from most stations?

I realise she's left it late - thought it had been sorted to be honest - but she's
just informed me that her and my daughter went to Harold Wood the other day
and the ticket guy said he couldn't issue from Zone 6 to Fratton and was told to
go to Romford, which they did, and were given the thumbs down there too.

Any quick response to this would be more than appreciated.

Cheers.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Hi chaps

'er indoors is off to Fratton for the weekend, leaving early Saturday and coming back
around Sunday lunch.

She has an all zones Oyster Card so should it not be easy enough to purchase a return
to Fratton from Boundary Six from most stations?

I realise she's left it late - thought it had been sorted to be honest - but she's
just informed me that her and my daughter went to Harold Wood the other day
and the ticket guy said he couldn't issue from Zone 6 to Fratton and was told to
go to Romford, which they did, and were given the thumbs down there too.

Any quick response to this would be more than appreciated.

Cheers.

The cheapest tier of Advances, at £8.00 each way, is still available on almost all services, rather surprisingly! These cost the same no matter whether you buy them from Waterloo or Surbiton (which is the last station within the Zones in that direction), so you may as well buy it from Waterloo, as you will then also be booked onto the fast service, taking around 1:30-1:40 to Fratton.

An Advance there and another back represents quite a considerable saving over an Off-Peak Return (which is £43.20, vs £16.00 for two Advances), which is what would otherwise be required in view of the fact that it's not a same-day return.

If it's a same-day return the cheapest Day Return would still, however, cost £31.40, and require travelling via Three Bridges. It's £33.00 for the Any Permitted equivalent.

I think Advances are an attractive option here. Remember that it is only possible to book Advances on SWR until 23:59 the day before travel, so you will want to book soon to avoid having to buy walkups.

 

[coupwotcoup]

Thanks for responding...the price is not the issue as much as her being
able to buy a ticket for said journey from another station, despite having
been knocked back at two of them.

I thought it was possible at most in the London area.

Been looking on Trainline and can see nothing at £8. She needs to be in
Fratton for c11.30am Saturday and coming back on Sunday around midday.

 

[Hadders]

Sounds like staff are making up their own rules. Harrold Wood and Romford should both be able to issue Boundary Zone fares. Having said that I had an issue at Harrold Wood a couple of months ago - I wanted a BZ6 - Shenfield ticket but it was issued from Harrold Wood rather than BZ6. Sadly I didn't notice until I was on the train otherwise I'd have complained. The ticket can be purchased on the day at Waterloo if necessary - I've purchased BZ fares there without hassle before.

If all else fails a Surbiton - Fratton ticket will suffice as you will be combining with a season ticket which there is no requirement for the train to call at Surbiton.

 

[Kite159]

Thanks for responding...the price is not the issue as much as her being
able to buy a ticket for said journey from another station, despite having
been knocked back at two of them.

I thought it was possible at most in the London area.

Been looking on Trainline and can see nothing at £8. She needs to be in
Fratton for c11.30am Saturday and coming back on Sunday around midday.

The £8 advances are only on the SWR website, which doesn't charge additional fees

 

[Kite159]

Sounds like staff are making up their own rules. Harrold Wood and Romford should both be able to issue Boundary Zone fares. Having said that I had an issue at Harrold Wood a couple of months ago - I wanted a BZ6 - Shenfield ticket but it was issued from Harrold Wood rather than BZ6. Sadly I didn't notice until I was on the train otherwise I'd have complained. The ticket can be purchased on the day at Waterloo if necessary - I've purchased BZ fares there without hassle before.

If all else fails a Surbiton - Fratton ticket will suffice as you will be combining with a season ticket which there is no requirement for the train to call at Surbiton.

Waterloo also has the benefit that the TVMs will sell tickets from boundary zone 6, just to avoid some long queues

 

[bb21]

Been looking on Trainline and can see nothing at £8. She needs to be in
Fratton for c11.30am Saturday and coming back on Sunday around midday.

The £8 fares are mostly not from the quota of the lowest tiers of regular Advance fares. They are part of the January Seat Sale promotion which can only be booked on the SWR website.

 

[coupwotcoup]

Thanks for all your advice but went for the easy option as she will be travelling
alone and just need her to have tickets as opposed to splitting and other variances.

Cost £36 return through Trainline but as she will be moving out of her comfort zone
then might have to supply a ball of string to get back safely.

Cheers again.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Thanks for all your advice but went for the easy option as she will be travelling
alone and just need her to have tickets as opposed to splitting and other variances.

Cost £36 return through Trainline but as she will be moving out of her comfort zone
then might have to supply a ball of string to get back safely.

Cheers again.

Advances there and back aren't particularly complex, but if you prefer the flexibility of the Off-Peak Return then it's probably the most appropriate. Cheapest ≠ best in all circumstances!

 

[Hadders]

Thanks for all your advice but went for the easy option as she will be travelling
alone and just need her to have tickets as opposed to splitting and other variances.

Cost £36 return through Trainline but as she will be moving out of her comfort zone
then might have to supply a ball of string to get back safely.

Cheers again.

What ticket did you purchase? A Gold Card discounted Off Peak Return shouldn't cost that much. Of course Trainline will add their booking fees.....

 

[coupwotcoup]

What ticket did you purchase? A Gold Card discounted Off Peak Return shouldn't cost that much. Of course Trainline will add their booking fees.....

To be honest, her trip is time sensitive and needs to be there before midday tomorrow [Saturday] plus, for
reasons various, has to be on the same train back as my daughter, so just went with what was convenient.

As I stated earlier, I'd been under the impression that they [wife and daughter] had sorted their travel
details out a few weeks ago, hence the need to buy what was available to hand.

The latter has a Gold Card but she is travelling today, so that option was defenestrated.

Didn't know about the prices being less on the SWT home page though and to be honest,
it never entered my head to try and buy on their site.

Having a Freedom Pass and rarely travel outside TfL's kingdom, apart from a few trips to Spain each year,
makes one lazy and ignorant of all the many alternative options that are out there.

Again, cheers chaps.

 

[Hadders]

For future reference never purchase tickets through Trainline as they're never cheaper due to them adding a booking fee, despite their misleading advertising claims. Train company websites sell exactly the same tickets but are not allowed to charge a booking fee.