Ernest
Stupid IDIOT
Where are the rules ridiculous ? Seem straight forward unless you're either too thick like you to understand or want to avoid paying the correct fare for the journey
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Railway silly season
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Where are the rules ridiculous ? Seem straight forward unless you're either too thick like you to understand or want to avoid paying the correct fare for the journey
Actually I think the main problem here is the disparity in ticket prices between cheaper advance purchase tickets and normal priced fairs.
It can't be right that I can buy a return ticket from London to Scarborough for less than £50 if I buy well in advance, yet I'd be expected to pay FOUR times that if I just turned up at the station on the day of travel.
I think an early bird discount is fair enough but not when it's discounted by 75%!
Ernest
Stupid IDIOT
You specify which train you wish to travel on and to where you want to go and you pay a ridiculously cheap fare on the understanding that you cannot change any of your booking.
You wish the flexibility of catching which train you wish and be able to break the journey then you buy the normal off peak or super off peak single or return.
Can't see the problem or the ridiculousness in it myself unless you are wanting to avoid paying your correct fare and that is what you get fined for.
Everything is clearly explained when you book the tickets online so why the fuss ?
You wish the flexibility of catching which train you wish and be able to break the journey then you buy the normal off peak or super off peak single or return.
Can't see the problem or the ridiculousness in it myself unless you are wanting to avoid paying your correct fare and that is what you get fined for.
Everything is clearly explained when you book the tickets online so why the fuss ?
skipper734
Registered ruffian
It's like all these so called fines, for not reading the fine print (did you see what I did there) issued by non judicial bodies. Real fines are far less harsh or non existent, this is what upsets people.
Maybe, but my gripe is that it is ridiculous that you can jump off a train early and be fined. Where's the issue in paying for something you do not use? What difference does it make?
Barrel of Fun
Abort, retry, fail
Agreed.
Weirdly I have just returned from Scarborough (a wedding) - my earlybird ticket from Kings X to Scarborough was pretty much the same price of a 'on the day' return from Victoria to Brighton.
Hatterlovesbrighton
something clever
It's all economics innit. The normal prices are set at a price which the market dictates i.e. they have enough demand at peak times to ensure that the prices they charge get them enough custom. These are mostly people that have no flexibility over the time that they travel i.e. commuters or business people
The advance prices target those who have discrection over whether they travel or not and so are far more sensitive to prices. If they think they are getting a bad deal they won't travel or travel some other way, so the companies offer bargain deals to get their discrectionary spend.
The operators always 'change' the booking though. I rarely catch a train which is on time. The railways have only had 150 years to master the system after all.
Much as I understand how cheap tickets work, it does seem that the fine is vastly disproportionate to the offence. It hasn't cost SWT revenue on that train by stopping a full fare paying customer taking the seat.
That said, they knew what they were getting into and therefore have to accept the consequences. I must admit to having bent the rules on tickets before, I'vedone it as a calculated risk, but one that if I got caught, I would be in trouble. I may not be happy about any penalty, but I wouldn't cry like a little bitch to the papers.
That said, they knew what they were getting into and therefore have to accept the consequences. I must admit to having bent the rules on tickets before, I'vedone it as a calculated risk, but one that if I got caught, I would be in trouble. I may not be happy about any penalty, but I wouldn't cry like a little bitch to the papers.
Also, try and buy a return from Hove to Gatwick. You cannot (or you could not a few months back) And when I asked why, it is because it is not far enough away. But, as advised by the ticket window bod, you can buy (from Hove) a return from Worthing to Gatwick because it is far enough away.
This make any sense to anyone?
This make any sense to anyone?
Easy 10
Brain dead MUG SHEEP
Come on.
Whatever way you slice it, a customer simply deciding not to use the full entitlement of the ticket they paid for, getting off a couple of stops early and getting FINED for it is absolutely bloody ridiculous. Why should they be "imprisoned" to the full distance on their ticket ? It makes stuff-all difference to the rail company where they get off, as long as they're on the right train in the first place.
Jesus christ, this takes Jobsworthness up to a whole new level.
No, but to be clear, you're talking about a period return aren't you?
It's the same between Southampton and Portsmouth.
rant over
Buying a ticket that goes further than your stop or buying one that starts before the station where you commence your journey is sometimes a way of getting a cheaper ticket bizarrely. This is not allowed - I suspect this it what they were trying to do.
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I cannot fully recall but I guess it must have been, as I was going to an airport. Still nonsensical though.
sten_super
Brain Surgeon
That's definitely what they were trying to do, and as a result I have little sympathy for them.
However, it does show how ridiculous the cheap fare system is that a destination further away can be cheaper. I suspect that they run the cheapest fares between major hubs, as they have small margins on them and therefore need a substantial number of people to take up the offer to give a decent return. I can see the logic on a non-stop train, but if someone is allowed to book one of these tickets on a stopper then that same fare should be available to ALL stations en route.
I'm not complaining at all - I must have saved thousands going to away games over the years using them.
I don't think one person is saying that, to be fair.
Not from me. My gripe is with some of the restrictions which are placed on them. Some I understand, some just seem plain nonsense.