Cheltenham to Luton

[taxidave]

Myself and 3 friends are looking to travel from Cheltenham to Luton on Dec 3rd (for football) using First Group, Groupsave 4. I can book using the 7.30 departure from Cheltenham and a post 18.00 return from Luton for a total of £102.00 which seems ok. But when I alter the outward journey time to travel out on the 8.59 departure from Cheltenham Groupsave 4 does not seem to be available and yet if I split the journey Groupsave 4 is available on the 8.59 from Cheltenham to Paddington and of course St Pancras to Luton using FCC but this fare is a few pounds dearer than the straight through fare and would of course involve paying on the underground.
Can anyone explain why Groupsave 4 is not available for the the straight through journey on the 8.59 from Cheltenham.

 

[yorkie]

The fare of £102 you quote is a Super Off Peak Return (SSR) Route: +RDG STRD INC LDN (in other words, you have to go via Stroud, Reading and London), and would be valid on any train on Saturdays via Stroud. If the booking sites won't reserve you seats on the 0859 then try telesales or ask at your local station.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

It may be that the journey planner has the 0859 as connecting with the 1200 EMT service to Corby rather than an FCC service. EMT have their own version of Groupsave which is not the same as most other Groupsave schemes.

 

[taxidave]

The fare of £102 you quote is a Super Off Peak Return (SSR) Route: +RDG STRD INC LDN (in other words, you have to go via Stroud, Reading and London), and would be valid on any train on Saturdays via Stroud. If the booking sites won't reserve you seats on the 0859 then try telesales or ask at your local station.

I am not looking to reserve seats, I am asking why the Groupsave ticket is valid on one FGW train and not on another even though it is valid for a different journey. You say it is valid on any train but the Groupsave does not seem to apply to the 8.59 from Cheltenham to Luton.

 

[island]

It may be that the journey planner has the 0859 as connecting with the 1200 EMT service to Corby rather than an FCC service. EMT have their own version of Groupsave which is not the same as most other Groupsave schemes.

That's correct. Groupsave isn't valid on that particular journey because EMT doesn't accept normal Groupsave. You could get the 0859 from Cheltenham Spa to Paddington arriving 1108, and then get the 1204 FCC service from St Pancras to Bedford and come off at Luton, arriving 1240.
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I am not looking to reserve seats, I am asking why the Groupsave ticket is valid on one FGW train and not on another even though it is valid for a different journey. You say it is valid on any train but the Groupsave does not seem to apply to the 8.59 from Cheltenham to Luton.

See what hairyhandedfool said. FGW and EMT Groupsave tickets are not interchangeable.

You can get your tickets at the station on the day of travel. You don't need to buy online, but if you do wish to do so (to get seat reservations from Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington), to force this journey to appear online use the Advanced options in National Rail Enquiries to exclude East Midlands Trains services.

The last return train you can use on this journey appears to be the 1846 from Luton to London St Pancrs, so bear that in mind.