Advice please - excess ticket

[richardtheblue]

Hi,

I recently travelled from London Marylebone to Banbury, and bought an super-off-peak return (£11.20 I think) as it was only 5p more than the single and I thought I might use the return part in the next month. I now wish to travel from Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone on Sunday. Do I need to buy a single from Moor Street to Banbury to join up to the return part of the other ticket, or is it possible to 'excess' the super-off-peak return to make it a return from Marylebone to Moor Street (£12.85 I think) which I could use for the whole journey?

(I have a 16-25 railcard)

Many thanks for any help,
Richard.

 

[glynn80]

Hi,

I recently travelled from London Marylebone to Banbury, and bought an super-off-peak return (£11.20 I think) as it was only 5p more than the single and I thought I might use the return part in the next month. I now wish to travel from Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone on Sunday. Do I need to buy a single from Moor Street to Banbury to join up to the return part of the other ticket, or is it possible to 'excess' the super-off-peak return to make it a return from Marylebone to Moor Street (£12.85 I think) which I could use for the whole journey?

(I have a 16-25 railcard)

Many thanks for any help,
Richard.

It is possible to purchase an "over distance excess" for a journey, it is calculated at the difference between the two fares purchased and usually has to be excessed to the same type of ticket you have purchased previously i.e. a Super Off Peak Return. If you only want to excess one portion of the ticket it is calculated at half of the difference between the two fares.

However it is often very difficult obtaining the excesses as many booking office staff are not familiar with the procedure and I would advise obtaining it from a large station that has lots of people on duty that can assist yourself.

 

[Techniquest]

Try going to the Travel Centre at Birmingham New Street, I had expected them to say they couldn't do an excess but they managed it just fine.

Never done an over-distance excess before though so not sure how it would be done or if they'd ask why you didn't buy to Birmingham in the first place or whatever.

Since the Travel Centre at New Street's quite big, they ought to have plenty of staff on that can help. Still, I'd allow at least 15 minutes to get it done, just in case.

 

[me123]

However it is often very difficult obtaining the excesses as many booking office staff are not familiar with the procedure and I would advise obtaining it from a large station that has lots of people on duty that can assist yourself.

I got one on a North Clyde service recently because the ticket guy only sold me a ticket to Queen Street (I wanted to go to Partick). I was surprised he gave me the excess; thought he'd just have given me another ticket for the next part.

At the last resort, you could purchase Birmingham-Banbury single but only use this if the train stops at Banbury.

 

[metrocammel]

It is possible to purchase an "over distance excess" for a journey, it is calculated at the difference between the two fares purchased and usually has to be excessed to the same type of ticket you have purchased previously i.e. a Super Off Peak Return. If you only want to excess one portion of the ticket it is calculated at half of the difference between the two fares.

However it is often very difficult obtaining the excesses as many booking office staff are not familiar with the procedure and I would advise obtaining it from a large station that has lots of people on duty that can assist yourself.

Also, some booking office do not carry out the correct procedure; for example, if you only want an XS for one part of your ticket, there is a button for them to press; (which should be 'RTN' (rather than the button 'OUT & RTN' or 'SGL'). If they click 'Out & Rtn', which they often do, it will effectivley XS both portions of the ticket, and therefore you pay for both portions - (double the correct XS fare, which is half the difference).