Advance ticket - using alternative operator for part of the journey

[johntea]

I’ve noticed LNER generally offer advances on their Harrogate services

£4.40 from Wakefield Westgate
£3.70 from Leeds

But if I start my journey in Castleford I have to buy an additional ticket to Leeds

If I bought the Wakefield advance would that be valid to then travel Castleford - Leeds via Northern then join LNER at Leeds?

A bit of a cheeky request perhaps but I’m curious now!

 

[AlterEgo]

If I bought the Wakefield advance would that be valid to then travel Castleford - Leeds via Northern then join LNER at Leeds?

No, the Advance is routed LNER TRAINS ONLY and is valid on the booked train only.

 

[30907]

I’ve noticed LNER generally offer advances on their Harrogate services

£4.40 from Wakefield Westgate
£3.70 from Leeds

But if I start my journey in Castleford I have to buy an additional ticket to Leeds

Or Wakefield, as you prefer.

If I bought the Wakefield advance would that be valid to then travel Castleford - Leeds via Northern then join LNER at Leeds?

I can't see how it would be valid from Castleford, what would your argument be?

 

[JBuchananGB]

You 100% require the additional ticket from Castleford to Leeds for your journey from Castleford to Harrogate. You could split your tickets at Leeds so as to use the LNER Advance ticket for Leeds to Harrogate, but as far as I can tell any combination of Castleford - Leeds plus Leeds - Harrogate will cost more than a simple Castleford to Harrogate ticket.

 

[paul1609]

No, the Advance is routed LNER TRAINS ONLY and is valid on the booked train only.

Are not LNER and Northern not just different brands of OLR?

 

[PG]

Are not LNER and Northern not just different brands of OLR?

Interesting way of looking at it. In which case given the way all non-open-access operators are not taking any revenue risk currently then effectively all are different brands of the UK government?

 

[AlterEgo]

Are not LNER and Northern not just different brands of OLR?

Not for ticketing purposes, but good try!

 

[Watershed]

Are not LNER and Northern not just different brands of OLR?

They are legally speaking two different companies (London North Eastern Railway Limited and Northern Trains Limited). They simply happen to fall under common ownership.

Chiltern has dedicated "Chiltern only" fares from Leamington and Banbury to Birmingham but you can't use those on XC just because they're both owned by Arriva/DB.

 

[johntea]

You 100% require the additional ticket from Castleford to Leeds for your journey from Castleford to Harrogate. You could split your tickets at Leeds so as to use the LNER Advance ticket for Leeds to Harrogate, but as far as I can tell any combination of Castleford - Leeds plus Leeds - Harrogate will cost more than a simple Castleford to Harrogate ticket.

Certainly a return journey you are correct but I only needed to make a single journey on Friday as I was staying overnight, so the combination of a £4.40 Castleford - Leeds single then the £3.70 Leeds - Harrogate advance saved a couple of quid!

Can be annoying sometimes how booking engines don't seem able to advise on using such a combination of tickets actually, like I've just done a search on the LNER booking engine for a Castleford - London Kings Cross trip in the middle of January and only get shown advance fares if I search Leeds - London Kings Cross for example!

 

[Wallsendmag]

I've just done a search on the LNER booking engine for a Castleford - London Kings Cross trip in the middle of January and only get shown advance fares if I search Leeds - London Kings Cross for example!

That's not the booking engine,that's the Northern service not having an allocation for the LNER Advance.

 

[Haywain]

That's not the booking engine,that's the Northern service not having an allocation for the LNER Advance.

It's that there are no Advance fares from Castleford to Harrogate. Nothing to do with availability on Northern.

 

[nanstallon]

More generally, if I buy an advance ticket,say from Plymouth to Taunton, for a specific train which stops at Totnes, would I be allowed to join the train at Totnes with that ticket?

 

[JonathanH]

More generally, if I buy an advance ticket,say from Plymouth to Taunton, for a specific train which stops at Totnes, would I be allowed to join the train at Totnes with that ticket?

No, not under the terms and conditions of the ticket. (In practice, there are no ticket gates at Totnes so you would probably not encounter any issues but technically it isn't allowed.)

 

[Wallsendmag]

It's that there are no Advance fares from Castleford to Harrogate. Nothing to do with availability on Northern.

Castleford to KGX was the example

 

[AlterEgo]

More generally, if I buy an advance ticket,say from Plymouth to Taunton, for a specific train which stops at Totnes, would I be allowed to join the train at Totnes with that ticket?

According to the terms, no, but in practice the railway will not enforce this unless there is a clear intent to evade a fare.