Trainline refund

[appletree]

Hi all,

Today I purchased an open return Thameslink ticket from Luton Station to St Pancras on Trainline. When I was about to return I noticed the ticket said off-peak day return only, but it was 5pm.

I then purchased an anytime day single ticket from St Pancras to Luton Station, however, as the barriers were open, I went through without scanning any ticket.

Upon arriving at Luton Station, I scanned my off-peak day return ticket and the barriers opened. I then refunded my advance single ticket as I did not use it.

I am just worried that I was not meant to do so, and whether this is considered fraud? I am a bit confused after googling, and I am worried that I made a mistake by refunding the ticket (the refund is still processing), as it may mean I travelled with an invalid ticket.

Any thoughts would be appreciated! I am really worried about this and regret my actions.

 

[methecooldude]

I'm surprised it let you refund the Advance ticket as they are normally non-refundable.

Either way, as long as it's a one off thing, I'd just let it go. The worst thing right now is Trainline reject the refund.

 

[appletree]

I'm surprised it let you refund the Advance ticket as they are normally non-refundable.

Either way, as long as it's a one off thing, I'd just let it go. The worst thing right now is Trainline reject the refund.

Sorry, just checked and its an anytime day single! Not an advance ticket

 

[methecooldude]

Sorry, just checked and its an anytime day single! Not an advance ticket

That makes much more sense. My second line still applies

 

[transportphoto]

Was your return journey before 04:29 the following day? If so you’ve legitimately travelled using the off peak day return.

If challenged you can simply say you bought the ticket in error as your day return ticket was valid for the journeys you undertook.

 

[Hadders]

Just to check I've got this right.

Earlier today you purchased an Off Peak Day Return from Luton to St Pancras (which will be issued as Luton to London Thameslink)
You travelled to St Pancras
You made your return journey about 17:00 but you weren't sure whether your ticket was valid so you purchased an Anytime Day Single from St Pancras to Luton
The barriers were open at St Pancras (really? at 17:00 on a weekday?) so you walked through without scanning your ticket
Upon arrival at Luton you scanned your Off Peak Day Return ticket and the barriers let you out
You then applied for a refund on the Anytime Day Single ticket

The return portion of a Luton to London Thameslink ticket is not valid to depart between 16:00 and 19:00 on weekdays so technically your ticket wasn't valid. You could have been asked to pay an excess fare which would cost the difference between the Off Peak Day Return and Anytime Day Return which is £17.00. As it happens you were in possession of a valid ticket which I assume you would have shown in the event of a ticket check.

As long as your Anytime Day Single ticket wasn't used then there's nothing wrong in applying for a refund. I dount anything more will come of this but do be careful in future to make sure you travel with the correct ticket.

Note - what I've said above about ticket validity applies to tickets from Luton station. If your ticket was from Luton Airport Parkway then the answer is different because an off peak day return from Luton Airport Parkway to London Thameslink has no evening restrictions.

 

[appletree]

Thank you all.

Yes my journey was before 4:29am the following day (it was at 17:06 the day of purchase).

Also the barrier was open at st pancras - although only one, the larger barrier by the staff was left open as it was quite busy.

And I definitely will be more careful in the future. I’ve been quite stressed lately so I will admit this event frazzled me, but hopefully nothing much comes of this.

Thank you again!

 

[transportphoto]

Indeed - just pay attention to the time restrictions on the off peak tickets.

My interpretation was that your return journey was in the early hours of the next day (hence not the same day for the day return) rather than at 5pm!

Park this, don’t worry about it.

 

[Haywain]

As long as your Anytime Day Single ticket wasn't used then there's nothing wrong in applying for a refund.

As the only valid ticket held for the journey that was actually made, I can't agree that the single wasn't used.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

As the only valid ticket held for the journey that was actually made, I can't agree that the single wasn't used.

I'd agree with this - although in practical terms I think it's unlikely (but not impossible) that the railway will pick up on this and decide to take action.

At the risk of being judgemental, your previous thread seems to suggest that you were running rather close to the edge of the rules on that time as well, and with the same train company who deal with this issue. This time, in my opinion you have actually breached the rules. So while there's nothing wrong with going close to the edge, you need to be aware that our idea of where the edge is may be different from the railways. If you want to avoid hassle, then in future there may be a case for staying well within what is considered acceptable so that the railway don't have the opportunity to consider a future incident in the light of past ones.

 

[appletree]

Yes, I definitely do need to be more mindful of the timings!

Trainline issued me a refund today, so hopefully that means nothing will come of this event.

Thank you all for your comments, this may have been a meaningless thread but I’ve been very stressed lately so it was nice to get some other opinions.