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Instances where rovers are cheaper than singles/returns

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paddy1

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How blinking much??? That's eye watering! Hope there are decent advances for that journey.
You can undercut it substantially by buying off peak returns Nuneaton to Nottingham and Nottingham to Cleethorpes plus two cheap LNW advances from Milton Keynes to Nuneaton and v.v and save around £30.00 but it does restrict you routewise compared to the offpeak for the full journey or the 3 in 7 rover.
 
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DeeGee

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How blinking much??? That's eye watering! Hope there are decent advances for that journey.

It used to be much cheaper and also quicker to get a pair of advances, split at Manchester or Stockport. Or to travel via London on a pair of tickets.
 

stut

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I won't go into the fares that the Anglia Plus undercuts (there are many), but the ticket offices round that way are really good at offering it (and Manningtree splits) unprompted.

Do they still have the Day Rangers as the default option on the St Ives Bay line?
 

317 forever

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Plenty on the West Midlands Day Ranger. Cheapest (Off-Peak) return Northampton to Gobowen is £55.50 compared to £27.30 for the Ranger. It would be interesting to see what the ticket office would sell an unsuspecting passenger, obviously assuming they intend to return the same day.

I similarly used one from Crewe to Worcester last year. I got a Ranger as I wanted to use all 3 recently electrified routes to get there: Crewe-Stoke, Rugeley-Walsall and Barnt Green-Bromsgrove. I had started out from Heaton Chapel, but even splitting the ticket was cheaper than a through ticket, even assuming my routeings would have been valid (which I doubt).
 

David57

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The ticket office at Great Yarmouth has a note in the window explaining that it might be cheaper for you to discuss your travel plans with them, as a Day rover may be cheaper.
 

londonbridge

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I think it depends on what you mean by “what the customer asks for” - the journey or the ticket type? The ticket office (and the systems that underpin it) should offer the best value ticket that meets the customer’s needs.

It shouldn’t be for the customer to know the intricacies of the fare structures, peak and off peak, what rover tickets may or not be available etc etc. It’s this approach that alienates “non railway savvy passengers” when they discover they’ve been ripped off.

A customer saying “I’d like a ticket from x to y, going now and returning later today” should automatically be offered the cheapest appropriate ticket

Despite my years of experience travelling by rail this is where I almost slipped up recently. On a Saturday morning late last year (before the landslip) I asked for a return from East Croydon to Tunbridge Wells. It was only when the clerk quoted the price that I realised he was about to sell me a via Redhill ticket, at which point I stopped him and said I needed to go via London Bridge. (Going via Redhill/Tonbridge would not have got me to Tunbridge Wells in time for what I was going there for). He then said that I should have specified I wanted the any permited ticket.
 

Flying Snail

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At approx £105 std class or £152 1st class (including international postage) for those who can meet the non UK resident criteria a 2 day in 30 Britrail flexipass will undercut a huge amount of long distance anytime and many off-peak return fares.
 

richw

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Do they still have the Day Rangers as the default option on the St Ives Bay line?

not sure if they’re still available but there was a time when all the Cornish branches had day rovers at the same price as an end to end return.
 

yorkie

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Despite my years of experience travelling by rail this is where I almost slipped up recently. On a Saturday morning late last year (before the landslip) I asked for a return from East Croydon to Tunbridge Wells. It was only when the clerk quoted the price that I realised he was about to sell me a via Redhill ticket, at which point I stopped him and said I needed to go via London Bridge. (Going via Redhill/Tonbridge would not have got me to Tunbridge Wells in time for what I was going there for). He then said that I should have specified I wanted the any permited ticket.
They should give you the options, but an excess would have been available at no extra cost. Presumably you were returning via the more expensive route too (otherwise, you overpaid).
 

londonbridge

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They should give you the options, but an excess would have been available at no extra cost. Presumably you were returning via the more expensive route too (otherwise, you overpaid).
Yes, I did. Actually, can you just clarify, using Croydon-Tunbridge Wells as an example, is it allowed to buy the cheaper via Redhill ticket and excess only the outward portion, so that you would go via London Bridge and return more leisurely via Tonbridge/Redhill (and yes I know the Redhill-Tonbridge line is disrupted at the moment, but if you can do this it'd be useful to know for when it opens up again). What would be the cost of such an excess?
 

yorkie

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Yes, it is :)

It's half the difference between the relevant fares.
 

londonbridge

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Thanks Yorkie. Something new I’ve learnt today which is handy to know for use in the future.....
 

lightbulb

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In-boundary London Travelcard Zones 1-6 off-peak day tickets undercut equivalent Day Returns:

Std class £13.50 undercuts SDR Zones 1-6 £15.00, and if crossing London from Zone 6 to Zone 6 via Zone 1, £19.00.

1st class £19.60 undercuts FDR Zones 1-6 £22.80, and if crossing London from Zone 6 to Zone 6 via Zone 1, £32.20.
 

HSP 2

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Plenty of examples of Day Rangers undercutting point to point off-peak fares, and often with fewer time restrictions, as Rangers are now all valid after 0900 with no afternoon restrictions.

These are Rovers / Rangers that I tend to use a bit, and have afternoon restrictions Mon - Fri 16;01 - 1829.
West Yorkshire Day saver train £8.10 also valid on Grand Central.
Greater Manchester Rail Ranger £7.20 valid on the trams in the city centre.

There are still some Rover / Rangers that are not valid until after 09;30.
I'm not sure if these Rover / Ranges would save you money just showing that some still have restrictions in the afternoon and do not start until after 09;30.
 
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The one I tend to use, is the Cambrian Day Rover. Its priced at £13.10, which makes it cheaper for medium to longer distances in the covered area.

For example, Pwllheli to Machynlleth return, is £18.60. Buying the rover instead, represents a £5.50 saving.
 

HSP 2

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The ones noted above with restrictions I think are PTE Ranger tickets, rather than vanilla RDG Rangers.

I agree in that I think that they are PTE rangers but they do still have the restrictions (restriction code ND).
Question, vanilla RDG Rangers???
 

LNW-GW Joint

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I agree in that I think that they are PTE rangers but they do still have the restrictions (restriction code ND).
Question, vanilla RDG Rangers???

RDG = Rail Delivery Group (ex ATOC) who manage the cross-TOC products like Rovers and Rangers.
What I think I'm saying is that the "railway" tickets don't have afternoon restrictions, but the more localised PTE ones might (could be wrong of course).
Similar to many PTE products not having railcard discounts (Merseyrail's Day Saver, for instance, or Glasgow/SPTE's DayTripper).
 

HSP 2

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If your going for a bash around Liverpool / Merseyside you don't want the Merseyrail Day saver, it's only valid on Merseyrail. but for about 10p more you can get the Merseyrail Saveaway that covers busses, ferries, Merseyrail, and some of the main line network.
Sorry about going OT.
 

Rover

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If your going for a bash around Liverpool / Merseyside you don't want the Merseyrail Day saver, it's only valid on Merseyrail. but for about 10p more you can get the Merseyrail Saveaway that covers busses, ferries, Merseyrail, and some of the main line network.
That's correct but I've been told that if you buy the Saveaway from a Merseyrail station they are issued on "Metrocards" for which there is a £1 activation fee but if you buy it from the main NR station at Lime Street it's issued as a normal ticket.
 

HSP 2

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If you get the Merseyrail Saverway ticket it is not clear in the info. that you can use it for a journey on the ferry when it's running the Mersey tour (I know that it's OK on a Sat.). But it's only from say Liverpool Ferry Head to Seacombe or Woodside. IIRC Woodside is only available on the river cruse, this is the best "port" for Hamilton square.
 

Saperstein

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A one-off £1 activation fee. So hang on to your Metrocard for the next time you buy a Saveaway.


I’ve got mine on a Walrus Card, their previous offering. Bought it last year but essentially the same thing.

The only drawbacks are that you cannot buy a ticket more then two days in advance and, at the moment one cannot buy on-line.

If I need one for a few days in the future, I’ve found it much easier to buy from non-Merseyrail stations such as Chester, Liverpool Lime Street, Rainhill, ST Helens ect.

I haven’t tried buying outside of Merseyside/Chestershire though but see no reason why it wouldn’t work.

As said above, these are issued on orange ticket stock, from non ME stations.

There is also the option of Paypoint if you can find a retailer with a working machine... went to three shops recently and gave up!

Saperstein.
 

HSP 2

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If my mate or myself are going anywhere that we a rover/ranger we tend to get it from our local station, if your going to do this make sure that you have full name of the ticket.
I just tend to print the appropriate page off GB Rail Rover Guide. It also has what looks like a short code for them.
 

xotGD

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West Midlands Day Tripper £6.90 (valid after 9:30 with no afternoon restriction)
Dorridge - Stourbridge Town Off Peak return £8.10

National Rail Enquiries says that £8.10 is the cheapest fare!
 

SeanG

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Ffestiniog Round Robin is often cheaper than a return from Manchester to points in Wales
 

d1672

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Hi, In December 2019 I purchased a Senior Inter Rail Pass for 22 days First Class, unlimited travel, which cost me £475.00 + paid for Standard Premiere Return on Eurostar which cost me £62.00. I am off touring Europe, Benelux, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Switzerland for the 22 days. I must add that booking the IR ticket in December 2019 I got a 10% discount. So my total cost 1st class is £537.00. For Comparison a first class return from Cumbernauld (my home station) to London is £519.00.
 

Kite159

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Wolverhampton to Coventry Arena, day return is £9, but journey is covered by the WM Daytripper for £6.90
 
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