VTWC weekend off-peak first pricing

[magd1272]

Just looking at Euston to Stafford return on Sunday 21 May.

The price for an off-peak standard one way is £31.70.

The price for an off-peak first one way is variously listed as £51.70 (correct, because it's the standard price plus a £20 weekend first upgrade) and £98 (surely incorrect).

For example, if I request an off-peak first return, leaving on the 10.15 on 21 May and returning on the 18.44 on 21 May, I'm quoted £196, whereas surely the correct price is £103.40?

Is this fare a mistake?

 

[Hadders]

The 1st Off Peak Return fare would allow you to return on any train within a month in 1st class (subject to time restrictions)

 

[Tetchytyke]

The price for an off-peak first one way is variously listed as £51.70 (correct, because it's the standard price plus a £20 weekend first upgrade) and £98 (surely incorrect).

The correct price for a 1st class off-peak single is £98 and return is £196 ANY PERMITTED.

That is the correct price for the ticket.

TrainLine powered websites (e.g. VTWC, XC) will identify where it is cheaper to buy a standard class ticket and a weekend first upgrade. But you're not buying a 1st class off peak return; you're buying a standard class off peak return and two weekend first upgrades. WebTIS powered websites won't identify this.

 

[magd1272]

The 1st Off Peak Return fare would allow you to return on any train within a month in 1st class (subject to time restrictions)

Interesting. On the VTWC website, both the standard and 1st class off peak returns seem to be sold as two off peak singles, with the ticket restrictions saying travel must be on the date specified (regardless of class of travel).

It also doesn't explain why the off peak first class tickets are priced at £51.70 for some trains and £98 for other trains, with no obvious difference in validity (i.e. it doesn't say that the lower priced one is sold as a Day Return).

There's a similar discrepancy in the Euston - Stoke-on-Trent ticket prices.

 

[magd1272]

The correct price for a 1st class off-peak single is £98 and return is £196 ANY PERMITTED.

That is the correct price for the ticket.

TrainLine powered websites (e.g. VTWC, XC) will identify where it is cheaper to buy a standard class ticket and a weekend first upgrade. But you're not buying a 1st class off peak return; you're buying a standard class off peak return and two weekend first upgrades. WebTIS powered websites won't identify this.

Ah ok, thanks, I get it. It just seems odd that the prices for certain trains are given as the any permitted price, whereas for other trains they're quoted as the cost of a single plus weekend 1st upgrade.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's because on some trains (single Voyagers principally, though not all of them) they block sales of in-advance Weekend First to prevent overcrowding.

It is however more than a little dishonest, as the correct price is still Off Peak Single/Return plus £20, it's just that you can't reserve and have to pay the £20 on board if there's space.