Validity of off peak return

[blakey1152]

Good morning,
Taking another trip with the family on 17th August from Slade Green to Preston returning on the Friday 20th August with an off peak return ticket.
And my bad luck with seat reservations continues with Avanti West Coast this time as they've kindly put the three of us in different coaches on the return train!

We have reservations on the 1259 from Preston to Euston and although Avanti have unreserved coaches I suspect it will be virtually impossible to get seats together in those coaches as the train originates from Glasgow.

But not to worry as checking the timetable reveals that there is a slower service to Euston leaving Preston at 1218 - this train starts at Blackpool North.
In theory should be much easier to get seats together on this train and as I wasn't sure whether the off peak return was valid on this service I went through the booking engines again to try and find out but they kept giving me a curve ball.
Seems that whenever I select the 1218 train the booking engine wants me to go to Crewe and change for another train to London - I couldn't find an option to say I am happy to stay on the same train all the way - even if it is a bit longer.

So can anyone confirm that an off peak return is valid from Preston to Euston on the 1218 (not changing at Crewe!) And how busy is this service usually?

Thank you

 

[Nova1]

I’d assume it’s valid, and you’re just running into another case of a journey planner wanting to change trains to make your destination five minutes faster.

There will be a restriction code on your ticket, this should outline exactly what times your ticket is and isn’t valid.

 

[clagmonster]

Your ticket is valid on any train arriving Euston after 11:30.

The 12:18 from Preston travels via Birmingham, hence journey planners will be suggesting that you change at Crewe for a quicker journey. However, you would be perfectly valid travelling through to Euston on this train.

As an alternative, you could contact Avanti or visit a booking office to attempt to get three seat reservations together on the 12:59 from Preston.

 

[Huntergreed]

Good morning,
Taking another trip with the family on 17th August from Slade Green to Preston returning on the Friday 20th August with an off peak return ticket.
And my bad luck with seat reservations continues with Avanti West Coast this time as they've kindly put the three of us in different coaches on the return train!

We have reservations on the 1259 from Preston to Euston and although Avanti have unreserved coaches I suspect it will be virtually impossible to get seats together in those coaches as the train originates from Glasgow.

But not to worry as checking the timetable reveals that there is a slower service to Euston leaving Preston at 1218 - this train starts at Blackpool North.
In theory should be much easier to get seats together on this train and as I wasn't sure whether the off peak return was valid on this service I went through the booking engines again to try and find out but they kept giving me a curve ball.
Seems that whenever I select the 1218 train the booking engine wants me to go to Crewe and change for another train to London - I couldn't find an option to say I am happy to stay on the same train all the way - even if it is a bit longer.

So can anyone confirm that an off peak return is valid from Preston to Euston on the 1218 (not changing at Crewe!) And how busy is this service usually?

Thank you

Hi.

As far as I’m aware, this should be permitted!

An off-peak return is valid on any service outside of peak hours which follows a permitted route as outlined in the routeing guide.

The routeing guide shows that the only permitted route is to travel via London. This means that to London you can take:

Any direct through train to Euston

OR

Any combination of trains following the shortest route (or any route up to 3 miles longer than the shortest route) to Euston

As you’re taking a direct train, this should be no problem.

The train at 12:59 will actually get you to Euston earlier than the 12:17, and might make more sense?

I would contact Avanti and make reservations beforehand to guarantee your preferred seating arrangements

 

[philthetube]

you would not have issues getting seats together on the Blackpool departure.