ADV tickets, London Victoria to Brighton, after May 21st 2018

[Skimpot flyer]

I often get a very cheap Advance ticket, from as little as £5.00, for a regular Tuesday journey I make, from Victoria to Brighton. Obviously, one has to book well ahead to get the best price, and I successfully booked a £5 ticket for Tues 15th May, for the 20:20 Southern train.

I've just tried to book one for the following Tuesday (22nd May), when the new 'recast' timetable is up and running. I could not find, however any Advance tickets for any of the services (although one doesn't expect to see any being offered for the Gatwick Express-branded journeys anyway).

Is this an error / deliberate attempt to 'encourage' people to travel via London Bridge on Thameslink-only tickets ?

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

I often get a very cheap Advance ticket, from as little as £5.00, for a regular Tuesday journey I make, from Victoria to Brighton. Obviously, one has to book well ahead to get the best price, and I successfully booked a £5 ticket for Tues 15th May, for the 20:20 Southern train.

I've just tried to book one for the following Tuesday (22nd May), when the new 'recast' timetable is up and running. I could not find, however any Advance tickets for any of the services (although one doesn't expect to see any being offered for the Gatwick Express-branded journeys anyway).

Is this an error / deliberate attempt to 'encourage' people to travel via London Bridge on Thameslink-only tickets ?

Network Rail still hasn't finalised the timetable for then, so no Advance tickets are being sold as these are only valid on the specified time of train departure (and said departure could be a few minutes out, causing havoc with confused passengers).

If you buy a ticket now and a cheaper ticket later becomes available, RDG has claimed that you can get a refund of the difference. I'm not sure I trust them or the retailers to uphold that.

 

[Wallsendmag]

I don’t see the point, why not just wait until the tickets are available and save the hassle of a refund

 

[Skimpot flyer]

I don’t see the point, why not just wait until the tickets are available and save the hassle of a refund

The concern has to be that if the Advance tickets are only released close to the start of the new timetables being confirmed, that none of lowest-priced tiers (e.g. £5) will be offered!

 

[Wallsendmag]

So if they aren’t offered you can get one. The part I don’t understand is buying a flexible ticket now because it will be the same price on the day