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Advance tickets v the Great British weather

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southernyoshi

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So the best prices for long-distance travel are generally those booked in advance. But as a leisure traveller, I always avoid them because I don't know what happens if the good old British weather is making home the only sensible place to be. Is it possible to get a refund on or defer advance tickets & how could I do it? Thanks :)
 
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me123

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The T&Cs are quite explicit, here they are.

You cannot get a refund, unless there's been a change/cancellation/delay imposed by the operator between you purchasing your ticket and the day of your journey.

You can change your train, however it's subject to an administration fee (usually £10 IIRC) plus any difference in the cost between the two tickets if the new ticket is more expensive (although if your new ticket is cheaper, then you don't get refunded the difference). You must do this before the first train departs.

If you're likely to need to change or cancel your travel plans, you may well be better off just buying the open tickets.
 
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cool110

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Refunds are not possible but if you take it to a ticket office before the train departs you can change it to a different date/time or excess to a walk up fare paying the difference + £10 admin fee.
 

Greenback

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That's exactly right! Here in my area most of the places you might want to go for a day out don't have Advances anyway. I'm talking about the likes of Swansea (Mumbles and Gower) Tenby, Cardiff, Llandrindod Wells, or Haverfordwest (St David's).

When it comes to longer trips, then the train travel part of it is usually the least of our concerns. We will have hotel reservations that can't usually be cancelled, so it's a case of planning a trip then hoping for the best. We've learnt down the years that while good weather usually leads to a better experience, a bit of rain and cold isn't necessarily the end of the world!
 

Tetchytyke

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Southern used to do a "rainy day guarantee" on their advance tickets, but sadly this was "confusing to customers" so GoVia pulled it.
 

PaxVobiscum

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Abellio should consider that for Fort William - a rainy day is virtually guaranteed. <D
 

Hadders

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So the best prices for long-distance travel are generally those booked in advance. But as a leisure traveller, I always avoid them because I don't know what happens if the good old British weather is making home the only sensible place to be. Is it possible to get a refund on or defer advance tickets & how could I do it? Thanks :)

If you let us know where you're proposing to go we might be able to suggest some good value walk up fares.

For example a family member of mine recently needed to travel from Enfield Chase to Brighton on a Sunday. She was over the moon when saw there were cheap advance tickets from Victoria to Brighton for £6 each way. She told me that combind with Oyster PAYG from Enfield Chase to Victoria that would be the cheapest way.

Until I pointed out that a Super Off Peak Day Return from Enfield Chase to Brighton was £13 and valid on any train.....
 

Starmill

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Southern used to do a "rainy day guarantee" on their advance tickets, but sadly this was "confusing to customers" so GoVia pulled it.

They didn't get rid of it entirely - it's still there and still applies to all:
Anytime
Anytime Day
Off-Peak
Off-Peak Day
Super Off-Peak Day

It's just not called the 'Rainy Day Guarantee' anymore.

http://www.southernrailway.com/offers/money-back-guarantee/

(I suspect they meant to include 'Super Off-Peak (Not Day)' tickets too, but perhaps they themselves don't price any of that ticket type, so forgot about them.)
 

Howardh

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Possibly OT but I always feel sorry for sports fans who travel by rail, buy advance tickets and find, on the day, the fixture's cancelled or been moved by Sky.

OK, the super-dooper £10 advance ticket from Huddersfield to Port Stanley is probably cheap enough to write off, but I've often wondered, especially with the price of train travel and sporting events these days, if you can get some kind of insurance when you book?

If not, wonder if it's something the railways should think about; as when you book an airline it almost forces you to take insurance...even if you have it already!!
 

CaptainHaddock

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Possibly OT but I always feel sorry for sports fans who travel by rail, buy advance tickets and find, on the day, the fixture's cancelled or been moved by Sky.

OK, the super-dooper £10 advance ticket from Huddersfield to Port Stanley is probably cheap enough to write off, but I've often wondered, especially with the price of train travel and sporting events these days, if you can get some kind of insurance when you book?

If not, wonder if it's something the railways should think about; as when you book an airline it almost forces you to take insurance...even if you have it already!!

Port Stanley? Never heard of it - care to enlighten me?
 

adrock1976

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What's it called? It's called Cumbernauld
Possibly OT but I always feel sorry for sports fans who travel by rail, buy advance tickets and find, on the day, the fixture's cancelled or been moved by Sky.

OK, the super-dooper £10 advance ticket from Huddersfield to Port Stanley is probably cheap enough to write off, but I've often wondered, especially with the price of train travel and sporting events these days, if you can get some kind of insurance when you book?

If not, wonder if it's something the railways should think about; as when you book an airline it almost forces you to take insurance...even if you have it already!!

Port Stanley? Never heard of it - care to enlighten me?

The only Port Stanley that I'm aware of is the one in Las Malvinas/Falkland Isles, miles away in the South Atlantic. There also seems to be another Port Stanley in Ontario, Canada.

Alternatively, Howardh may be referring to Accrington Stanley FC, the "Who are they? - Exactly" fame from the milk advertisements of the 1980s.

In peace

Adam
 

CaptainHaddock

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The only Port Stanley that I'm aware of is the one in Las Malvinas/Falkland Isles, miles away in the South Atlantic. There also seems to be another Port Stanley in Ontario, Canada.

Alternatively, Howardh may be referring to Accrington Stanley FC, the "Who are they? - Exactly" fame from the milk advertisements of the 1980s.

In peace

Adam

I thought his spellchecker might have interfered and he meant Port Sunlight, but there's no advance £10 fare!
 

southernyoshi

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If you let us know where you're proposing to go we might be able to suggest some good value walk up fares.

For example a family member of mine recently needed to travel from Enfield Chase to Brighton on a Sunday. She was over the moon when saw there were cheap advance tickets from Victoria to Brighton for £6 each way. She told me that combind with Oyster PAYG from Enfield Chase to Victoria that would be the cheapest way.

Until I pointed out that a Super Off Peak Day Return from Enfield Chase to Brighton was £13 and valid on any train.....

I was planning to go to Leicester or Nottingham one Sat, but the straight walk-ups from Worthing are ridiculous - £50+ , & the Hove splitting wormhole doesn't work if going that far north :(
 

Hadders

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A Super Off Peak Return from Worthing-Leicester £85.50 and £94.60 to Nottingham. How about:

Worthing-Hove £5.10
Hove-Bedford £20.50
Bedford-Kettering £12.60
Kettering-Leicester/Nottingham £12.50/£20.70

All Off Peak day Returns except Hove-Bedford which is a Super Off Peak Day Return.

Total £50.70 to Leicester or £58.90 to Nottingham. These are full adult prices, you'll get 34% off if you have a railcard making it £33.45/£38.85.

The only other thing to note is that your train must call where you switch from one ticket to another so you'll have to get the hourly EMT service from St Pancras which calls at Kettering.

The lowest tier of full priced Advance tickets from Worthing to Leicester is £20 each way and £23 each way to Nottingham. You would make a saving if you can get the lowest tier of Advance in each direction but it's hardly worth it given the lack of flexibility they give.
 

najaB

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OK, the super-dooper £10 advance ticket from Huddersfield to Port Stanley is probably cheap enough to write off, but I've often wondered, especially with the price of train travel and sporting events these days, if you can get some kind of insurance when you book?
You can get event ticket insurance to cover if you aren't able to attend or the event is cancelled, but I don't know if any policies will cover the cost of train tickets, etc.
 

southernyoshi

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Wow, that's an amazing saving :) That's good too, because I like breaking long journeys to look round towns en route. OT, but why does splitting at Hove slash Worthing-north of London fares so much?
 

Hadders

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The split at Hove works because a few years ago First Capital Connect introduced super off peak days fares on their network at weekends which are significantly cheaper. Although FCC didn't serve Hove its fares are clustered with Brighton.

The other splits utilise off peak day fares which are available on shorter flows whereas only period returns are generally valid on longer distances.

One thing I forgot to mention is that your train must stop at Bedford as well as Kettering. This shouldn't be an issue as I believe all the Kettering trains at the weekend also stop at Bedford but do check before boarding.

And these fares are all 'walk up', available on the day of travel at the same price with none of the inflexibility of Advance fares.
 
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southernyoshi

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The split at Hove works because a few years ago First Capital Connect introduced super off peak days fares on their network at weekends which are significantly cheaper. Although FCC didn't serve Hove its fares are clustered with Brighton.

I thought it might be something to do with the Thameslink route.

The other splits utilise off peak day fares which are available on shorter flows whereas only period returns are generally valid on longer distances.

They don't expect anyone to be going from Worthing to Nottingham & coming back the same day :p

One thing I forgot to mention is that your train must stop at Bedford as well as Kettering. This shouldn't be an issue as I believe all the Kettering trains at the weekend also stop at Bedford but do check before boarding.

They do - I have been to Bedford & used a Nottingham-bound EMT to get there from London - much better than Thameslink :)

And these fares are all 'walk up', available on the day of travel at the same price with none of the inflexibility of Advance fares.

I don't have to get off at the split points though do I - but I do have the freedom to if I want to, say, get the Corby train & get off in Kettering or Bedford for a bit?

Also, out of interest, what's the best fare for the fast trains to Leicester/Nottingham? I do have a railcard btw.
 

Hadders

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Also, out of interest, what's the best fare for the fast trains to Leicester/Nottingham? I do have a railcard btw.

Taking a non-stop train would be more expensive. The best I can think of is (railcard prices quoted):

Worthing-Brighton £3.95
Brighton-St Pancras £6.95 (route not underground)
St Pancras-Leicester £38.95 (super off peak return)

Total £49.85.

A super off peak return from St Pancras to Nottingham is £39.95.

Note that if you split at Bedford and Kettering as per my original suggestion you can still take an East Midlands Train from St Pancras but it must be one that calls as both of these stations. Looking at a Saturday timetable these generally take 1h17 compared to 1h2 for a non-stop to Leicester.
 

anme

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If you're likely to need to change or cancel your travel plans, you may well be better off just buying the open tickets.

Or, and I'm very sad to write this, taking your car. Nice one TOCs!
 
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