Cambridge to London op day return

[tivoli]

Taking my granddaughters to London Bank Holiday Monday.
Off Peak day return individually adult £15, child £10 = £25, yet when I enter 2 adults & 2 children as a group comes back as £60 total i.e. adults £20 each, children £10 each.
In practice, will use Friends & Family Railcard, but surely anyone trying to buy tickets may think £50 acceptable but £60 too much and choose to find another way of travelling, what causes this difference?

 

[dan_atki]

You have to be careful here. Child fares are half the price of adult fares so the fact this is not the case in your post should ring alarm bells.

The £10 child fare is for a child Off Peak Day Return route Any Permitted, the £15 adult fare is for a Super Off Peak Day Return route First Cap C Only. The appropriate adult fare to compare with the £10 child fare is the £20 Off Peak Day Return route Any Permitted - thus making the cost of £60 correct.

Day return fares available:
Super Off Peak Day Return (NXEA Only) £14.00/£7.00
Super Off Peak Day Return (FCC Only) £15.00
Off Peak Day Return (NXEA Only) £15.20/£7.60
Super Off Peak Day Travelcard (NXEA Only) £19.00/£9.50
Off Peak Day Return (Any Permitted) £20.00/£10.00
Off Peak Day Travelcard (NXEA Only) £20.20/£10.10
Super Off Peak Day Travelcard (FCC Only) £21.00
Off Peak Day Travelcard (Any Permitted) £26.50/£13.25
Anytime Day Return (Any Permitted) £32.50/£16.25
Anytime Day Travelcard £41.00/£20.50

As you are travelling on a Bank Holiday, only the Super Off Peak fares will apply to you . Undiscounted return to Liverpool Street would therefore be £42 and to King's Cross £45.

 

[clagmonster]

From Cambridge-Liverpool St there are two routes, NXEA Only, which is valid into Liverpool St only, or any permitted which is valid into both Kings Cross and Liverpool St.
On an bank holiday Monday, you can get an adult super cheap day return from Cambridge-Liverpool St (route NXEA only) for £14, or a cheap day return route any permitted for £20, which is restricted as follows:
OUTWARD TRAVEL
By any train scheduled to
arrive at London Liverpool
Street or London Kings Cross
at or after 1000, Stratford
(London) after 0950, Tottenham
Hale or Seven Sisters after
0940.
Not valid on any train
departing London Liverpool
Street or London Kings Cross
before 0930 or between 1629
and 1834 inclusive (1900 from
London Kings Cross), although
travel is permitted on the
16.34 from_London Liverpool St
to Braintree for destinations
Hatfield Peverel to Braintree
inclusive.

RETURN TRAVEL
Not valid on any train
departing London Liverpool
Street or London Kings Cross
between 16.29 and 18.34
inclusive (1900 from London
Kings Cross)
although travel is permitted
on the 16.34 from London
Liverpool Street to Braintree
for destinations Hatfield
Peverel to Braintree
inclusive.

Alternatively, you can get an inclusive travelcard.

 

[tony_mac]

Shouldn't the child tickets on FCC be £2?

And don't forget that up to four children aged 5-15 years can travel for £2 each with every adult - and children under five years old travel for free!

1. Bookings can be made at station ticket offices or online between 15 June and 6 September 2009
2. Travel is available on Saturdays and Sundays only (and bank holidays) between 20 June and 6 September 2009.

I can't seem to get the £2 option when booking online, and there is no child discount at all on the FCC only Super off peak day return .

(and again, despite the national rail website claiming that all off-peak tickets have child and railcard discounts)

 

[tivoli]

It's the being careful bit that worries me here. Not everyone knows that the child fare is half that of the adult. Before finding this forum I would have simply entered 2 adults & 2 children for my journey and believed the answer £60, which turns out is either 2 adults @ £20 + 2 children @ £10 (OffPeak day return) OR 4 adults @ £15 (Super OffPeak day return), there is no mention of £7.50 Super OffPeak day return for children, and I am looking on FCC. On this occasion I am looking for fast train to KX not NXEA to Liverpool St. It would not have previously occured to me to check the fare for each individual which produces the lower fares.

 

[dan_atki]

Sorry for the confusion, my mistake - just remembered that FCC's 'Super Off Peak' is a promotional fare and does not have the child discount of 50% as normal... so the £7.50 does not exist, but as tony_mac says, the accompanied children will be £2 each on FCC.

In that case, what you are being shown is £10 as the cheapest child fare (half the £20 Any Permitted Off Peak Day Return) and £15 as the cheapest adult fare (the Super Off Peak Day Return). Putting in a combination of adults and children will be changing the adults to have the same ticket type (Off Peak Day Return) as the children and charging you the extra £10 associated with it.

 

[tivoli]

My main concern here is how the National Rail & FCC fare planner appear to the casual leisure traveller, of which I am one.
Fortunately I have the time, the dogged determination and the knowledge gained from you guys on the forum not to accept the first price the planner provides.
I am very confident that when I turn up at Cambridge station, I will be provided with 2 adult tickets @ £15 and 2 children @ £2, which just so happens to equal the same price using a F&F railcard i.e. £34.
But for the casual traveller planning the day ahead and being told the price will be £60, I am suggesting that the use of an alternative means of transport may well be chosen because of the perceived cost, and the railways lose. Surely all should be done to attract off peak leisure business, and that means clear explanation of offers available, even FCC's weekend 25% discount offer isn't obviously available on the bank holiday until you read the terms & conditions.

 

[philjo]

The FCC 'Super Off Peak' fare does not give further discounts to railcard holders, so you would probably get a lower total fare using the off-peak return in conjunction with the railcard.