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Start of Southeastern offering advance tickets

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Cletus

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Looking through Southeastern's journey planner I've noticed that there is now an advance single option for travel wholly within their network.

Eg:
St Pancras to Dover Priory Thursday 21st May
£13.50 valid on Highspeed services

Doesn't appear to be showing on NRE though (or TPE through RailUK forums link).
 
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thebigcheese

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I suppose the digital seat reservation displays above each seat on the Javelins might finally get some use then.
 

jopsuk

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doubt it- more likely to go with the LM/SWT/GA (Cambridge services) Advance model where you have to get the specified train, but not a specified seat
 

Hadders

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Hmmm, this sort of thing concerns me.

£13.50 each way sounds a bargain but there'll probably be very few at this price. More likely is that you'll pay £15-20 each way. Still it sounds cheap. Remember you'r restricted to your one booked train only.

Far better value is an off-peak day return with a railcard or Groupsave at £26.15 (CDR) or £27 (SVR), offering far more flexibility.
 

RJ

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doubt it- more likely to go with the LM/SWT/GA (Cambridge services) Advance model where you have to get the specified train, but not a specified seat

Agreed, given these new "SEE" type Advance tickets are available with the "Not Valid on HS1" route as well.
 

gray1404

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They might start offering combined Advance tickets with LM and SE for longer distance journeys.
 

thebigcheese

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Shame about the seat reservation. would have been good to have got one between Ebbsfleet and Gravesend ;)
 

Starmill

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What's the route? Have they adopted the comical 'AP' in the route field?
 

Cletus

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Southeastern have now put confirmation on their website.
http://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/your-journey/tickets/regular-tickets/952/

What are Advance tickets?
Advance fares are standard class Single (one-way) tickets which offer great value for money. They can be bought up to 12 weeks in advance of travel.

You can now buy Advance tickets exclusively on our website, which means you can always get the cheapest London tickets when you buy online.

Tickets are sold subject to availability so you must book early. You can mix and match Advance fares for a return journey.

Choose from a large variety of options to travel on our high speed and regular services.

Advance tickets bought online can be collected from ticket vending machines in our stations or delivered by post.

When can I use an Advance ticket?
Advance fares are valid only on the date and the train shown on the ticket. They are non-refundable but you can change the time / date of travel before departure. The difference between the price paid and the price of the next suitable fare for your journey will be payable, but we will not charge you an admin fee.

What discounts are available?
Child discounts apply for all Advance fares. National Railcard holders get 1/3 off all Standard Class Advance fares.
 

Kentish Paul

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Be aware.<D Just looked on the SE website for an advance from Ashford International to St P on 28th July. With my senior railcard they offer an £8.80 fare. Great you say, but its only valid on the 11:15 departure via Dover, Ramsgate and North Kent. i.e. 2.45 hrs !

The 11:15 departure the other way (37mins) is not allowed.

Seems like SE are up to their usual tricks. Not checked the classic line yet.:cry:
 

greatkingrat

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I can imagine the newspaper story now.

"I had a ticket for the 1115 to St Pancras and I caught the 1115 to St Pancras but was given a fine because my ticket was only valid on the 1115 to St Pancras!"
 

MikeWh

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I can imagine the newspaper story now.

"I had a ticket for the 1115 to St Pancras and I caught the 1115 to St Pancras but was given a fine because my ticket was only valid on the 1115 to St Pancras!"

It'll be interesting to see how that is described on the ticket/reservation.
 

Starmill

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It would be impossible for anyone checking the ticket to differentiate between them I think.

To answer my own question it appears the same routes for Advance tickets are being used as for certain walk-up ones: PLUS HIGH SPEED and NOT VALID ON HS1. Just the one tier for each seems a bit strange...
 

Kentish Paul

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It'll be interesting to see how that is described on the ticket/reservation.

Indeed. Just checking my last advance with SWT from Waterloo to to Yeovil Junction. (£13.20 1st class with railcard), the route is "AP SWT only" and validity is "book'd train only". The return reservation shows from/to and Valid at 10:29 on xx:jun:xx.

I assume the SE one would somehow show "AP SE only" and "Plus High Speed" along with Book'd train only.

Whether they can squeeze any more routing info onto either ticket or reservation we will see.:|
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I can imagine the newspaper story now.

"I had a ticket for the 1115 to St Pancras and I caught the 1115 to St Pancras but was given a fine because my ticket was only valid on the 1115 to St Pancras!"

Well said. I did think of that after posting. As others have said it will be interesting to see what turns up on the reservations. :lol:
 

Starmill

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I assume the SE one would somehow show "AP SE only" and "Plus High Speed" along with Book'd train only.

Whether they can squeeze any more routing info onto either ticket or reservation we will see.:|

Doesn't look like it! The route field just shows PLUS HIGH SPEED and the validity field BOOKDTRAINONLY.
 

Kentish Paul

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Just checked the classic line for 28th July and they offer £6.55 ( with railcard, £9.90 without) for Ashford international to London Terminals. All are off peak. Nothing before the 09:35 departure from Ashford. (Maybe Victoria is a bit earlier).

Also checked my other regular trip from Ashford to West Malling and as expected no advances. Thank god i have my railcard. :)
 

Starmill

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I haven't found any that aren't to or from London Terminals. I would guess at this stage they aren't offering any.
 

Kentish Paul

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I haven't found any that aren't to or from London Terminals. I would guess at this stage they aren't offering any.

Do any other TOCs offer short range advances? I always assumed they were for longer journeys.

Maybe a new thread for the shortest advance available in the UK :lol:

Switch PC off, time for bed (said Zebedee).
 

Starmill

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Guiseley to Cononley is probably the shortest I know of, route AP NORTHERN ONLY.
 

RJ

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I can imagine the newspaper story now.

"I had a ticket for the 1115 to St Pancras and I caught the 1115 to St Pancras but was given a fine because my ticket was only valid on the 1115 to St Pancras!"

It does seem to be a bit of a blunder - the service going the long way around would have a false destination, probably Ramsgate at that point. So the only advertised 1115 to St Pancras would be the train they aren't booked on.

Realistically speaking I'm skeptical that anyone would book the journey taking 2h45m.
 

bicbasher

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I found a £14.40 advance single from St. Pancras to Hastings via HS1.

Thanks, but no thanks Southeastern.
 

bb21

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It does seem to be a bit of a blunder - the service going the long way around would have a false destination, probably Ramsgate at that point. So the only advertised 1115 to St Pancras would be the train they aren't booked on.

Realistically speaking I'm skeptical that anyone would book the journey taking 2h45m.

Without seat reservations, the guard is not going to be able to tell the difference, as the reservation coupon would only be listing the departure time and not the arrival time.
 

SF-02

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Havn't checked any yet but on the surface all I can is FINALLY!

Not everyone has a railcard, or much use for one, and SE being one of the very few TOCs not offering good value advances has hurt Kent towns and resorts in attracting Londoners - particularly younger people in their 20s and 30s.

I have no railcard as not old or young enough, and none of the others are much good to me or most people I know, and so why would we ever go Kent and pay 4 times what it costs to go just about every other county or large town surrounding London? So hardly anyone I know does - they go Oxford, Cambridge, Norwich, Brighton, Bath, and coastal like Weymouth etc. It has been so much cheaper on other TOCs like GA or Southern.

With decent advances I will now look at going Canterbury, Margate etc.
 
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jopsuk

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if you travel a lot off-peak on TOCs in the London area, why don't you have a railcard?
 

SF-02

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Not many seem that useful. I don't travel with kids, and the two together requires the same 2 people at all times. I had a gold card but no longer as I don't have a season ticket anymore. If there was a standard card I could buy then I would, as there is in many other countries. As it is, advances do a great job with most TOCs.
 

Mojo

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Not many seem that useful. I don't travel with kids, and the two together requires the same 2 people at all times. I had a gold card but no longer as I don't have a season ticket anymore.
Network Railcard?
 

infobleep

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Be great if they offered advance fares across different Southeast companies. So an advanced fare from Guildford to Hastings for example or Guilford to Canterbury. Until they do I'm less likely to use an advanced fare ticket unless traveling west or north from Reading or north from London..

I don't head to Kent much. I do t know if I'd head there more if advance tickets existed. Perhaps it wouldn't make any difference.
 
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GatwickDepress

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hi vera,

you can now get advance off-peak single fares to or from london even cheaper than our normal super off-peak fares.

As a valued email subscriber, before publicly releasing this information, we wanted to let you know first. Advance fares are sold exclusively on our website and can be collected from ticket vending machines or delivered by post. Choose from a large variety of options to travel on our high speed and regular services.

Tickets can be purchased up to 12 weeks in advance of travel but make sure to book soon as there is a limited number of tickets available.

Don't miss your chance to get a cracking price on your ticket.

Some advance tickets examples:
Code:
from                 to                  classic   high speed
higham	       london terminals	        £5.60	£6.50
maidstone	london terminals	£8.80	£7.80
tonbridge	london terminals	£6.00	£11.90
canterbury	london terminals	£10.00	£12.40
dover priory	london terminals	£10.00	£14.20
Just got sent an email by Southeastern advertising their new fares.
 

clagmonster

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Interesting that Maidstone - London is cheaper on the high speed than the classic lines.
 

Medicy

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Is there any reason you can only buy these advance tickets for Southeastern trains on their website?

I had some vague idea that only promo fares could be restricted to a TOC's own website - barring technical limitations like with sleeper & international tickets - but there doesn't seem any reason these shouldn't be offered through other ticketing websites?
 
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