Chichester to London via Staines?

[marshmallow]

Could someone please confirm whether or not a ticket (routed "Any Permitted") from Chichester to London (or Kentish Town, since often it's cheaper to buy the ticket to here even if you only want London Terminals due to the ticket being priced by Thameslink rather than Southern, which is interesting when they are part of the same group now anyway!) is valid via Staines?

There are weekend engineering works at the moment meaning that a lot of trains from Havant to Waterloo are going via Staines, which means that it would be valid on these days. If the trains are not diverted this way, then it would not be a normal route to go, however putting "via Chertsey" into a journey planner DOES return some options on a normal ticket going this route; changing at Havant, Woking and Weybridge (and the train from Weybridge goes through Staines) so I am pretty sure that it is valid.

However, a few days ago I wanted to travel from Staines to Victoria and then to Chichester, so I asked the ticket clerk for a return ticket from Chichester to Kentish Town, as I believe that this is the cheapest way to make these journeys! The ticket clerk searched for tickets from Chichester to Kentish Town via Staines but said that there were no options, so refused to sell me the ticket. As I was in a hurry and also ticket office clerks always think they know better than the customer when they don't always, I had to spend more on buying more normal tickets.

Could someone please confirm whether or not the Chichester to Kentish Town ticket should have been valid? And if so, is there any action that I should take given that I paid more due to the clerk refusing to sell me the ticket?

 

[Romilly]

By asking for journeys via Chertsey, I can get itineraries for: Chichester-Havant-Woking-Weybridge-Virginia Water-Staines and then either: Waterloo-Blackfriars-Kentish Town; or Vauxhall-St Pancras-Kentish Town. This is for the £27 day return.

Edit: and on a journey planner that allows multiple "via" points, I can for that ticket get an itinerary that after Staines goes via Clapham Junction, London Victoria and London St Pancras.