Changing an FGW Advance ticket

[sw15]

I'm trying to change the date of a return journey from Paddington to Hereford. I've booked the outbound and return journeys separately. The current outbound journey requires 1 change i.e. PAD to Newport; then Newport to Hereford. However, if I try to change the date of the journey then every alternate date I select requires 2 changes i.e. PAD to Reading; then Reading to Newport and finally Newport to Hereford. If I try to make a completely new booking on one of the alternate dates then a 1-change journey (going through Reading) for the same price as my current advance ticket is possible. The same applies to the return journey i.e. forcing me to get off a "fast Paddington" train at Reading to wait approx 20 mins for another one. Is this a deliberate policy by FGW to make it a hassle (as well as the understandable admin fee) to change the dates of advanced tickets?

 

[455driver]

Why don't you just go to a ticket office to get it changed?
You will have to surrender the old tickets anyway!

 

[bb21]

Yes, you would be better of sorting it out at a manned ticket office. Beware though that if you want to change both portions, you may have to pay a £20 admin charge (assuming that you mean Advance fares rather than flexible walk-on fares - Off-Peak, Super Off-Peak, Anytime - booked in advance).

 

[sw15]

Thanks to you both. Yes, I've come to the conclusion that speaking to a human-being at a ticket office is going to be more productive than banging my head against a web-site. And yes, they are Advanced fare tickets with reserved seats etc. so it will be be a £10 admin charge for EACH part of the journey (ho, hum) but that will still be a bit cheaper than throwing the tickets away and re-booking for another day.