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Did I need an excess?

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gray1404

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I had a Brighton - Haywards Heath Off Peak Day Return today. I used the outward part but on the way back I wanted to go to Hove. I know the fare from both stations is the same. I asked the booking office lady if she would do an excess fare and with a smile and matter of 20 seconds did me a zero rated excess to Hove.

But afterwards I thought, you could actually get a Haywards Heath to Hove and change there for Brighton. Not sure if its a permitted route, hence covering myself in case by trying to get the excess. Did I therefore need the excess or could I have exited at Hove on a break of journey/stop short?
 
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transportphoto

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No excess needed I believe, infact I don't think the clerk should have issued an excess as there isn't a category for it... it's not over distancing, nor is it change of route...

TP
 

bb21

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It can be thought of as over-distance if the OP travelled via Brighton.

No excess needed if not travelling via Brighton as Haywards H - Brighton via Hove is perfectly fine, but given that it was zero-fare, no harm done.
 

transportphoto

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It can be thought of as over-distance if the OP travelled via Brighton.
That would be applicable on the outward portion, however the OP is discussing the return portion which would have been a BTN to HHE ticket, so this has been under-distance excessed as it were?
No excess needed if not travelling via Brighton as Haywards H - Brighton via Hove is perfectly fine, but given that it was zero-fare, no harm done.
Indeed, whatever the technicalities of it, no harm has been done.
 

Merseysider

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Crikey, I have never managed to get a zero-fare overdistance excess issued, ever, and not for want of trying. Neither with a smile nor with a scowl.
It really is dependent on staff knowledge/TOC policy/how you ask for it/time of day/queue behind you and whether or not the machine says no. I've had a refusal to issue several times but all were remedied later on.
 

gray1404

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Sounds like in future though if I had either a Brighton - Haywards Heath or a Hove - Haywards Heath, I would be totally fine to start, end or beak my journey at either Brighton or Hove without an excess ticket. With the one exception below that this.

This would be because you can do
Hove/Brighton to Haywards Heath on a DIRECT service or do,
Haywards Heath to Hove and change for Brighton

HOWEVER the problem come in if I did Haywards Heath to Brighton then changed for a Hove train there because I would have already have reached Brighton and would be continuing.

So, if I am going via Brighton then changing, I would need the Excess ticket to allow continued travel to Hove.
 
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yorkie

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I had a Brighton - Heywards Heath Off Peak Day Return today. I used the outward part but on the way back I wanted to go to Hove. I know the fare from both stations is the same. I asked the booking office lady if she would do an excess fare and with a smile and matter of 20 seconds did me a zero rated excess to Hove.

But afterwards I thought, you could actually get a Heywards Heath to Hove and change there for Brighton. Not sure if its a permitted route, hence covering myself in case by trying to get the excess. Did I therefore need the excess or could I have exited at Hove on a break of journey/stop short?
Haywards Heath - Brighton is permitted via Hove.

It's less than 3 miles longer than the shortest route.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
HOWEVER the problem come in if I did Heywards Heath to Brighton then changed for a Hove train there because I would have already have reached Brighton and would be continuing.
Once you reach the destination shown on your ticket, that ticket ceases to be valid for further travel.
 

gray1404

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So therefore then I would need to zero excess if I wanted to to Haywards Heath - Brighton (change trains and onto...) - Hove? In which case the booking office were fine to issue me with the zero excess today.
 
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yorkie

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So therefore then I would need to zero excess if I wanted to to Heywards Heath - Brighton (change trains and onto...) - Hove? In which case the booking office were fine to issue me with the zero excess today.
Yes, and it needs to be obtained before travel. Good luck getting it though - a lot of places will refuse to issue zero fare excesses!
 

MikeWh

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So therefore then I would need to zero excess if I wanted to to Heywards Heath - Brighton (change trains and onto...) - Hove? In which case the booking office were fine to issue me with the zero excess today.

For Heaven's sake - please look carefully at all the posts not made by you in this thread. It's HAYWARDS HEATH. There is no 'e' in the first word!
 

gray1404

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Looks like I was lucky today then being able to get it at the booking office. The lady was Polish too and understood me totally. It turns out I didn't need it but I just wanted to try and cover myself. If ever they won't give it to me I'll get make sure I AVOID Brighton and board one of the direct Haywards Heath to Hove services. Would hate to get issued with a PF and then refuse to pay it on the basis they would not issue a zero excess. Also, if they refused I'd ask them then to either give permission to travel or endorse the back of my ticket to allow travel via BTN to HOV.

I'll have a look around the forum now for another post. I am guessing there has been much discussion about why a TOC will refuse to issue a zero excess and the total WRONGS of this! :(
 
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yorkie

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...and then refuse to pay it on the basis they would not issue an excess. Also, if they refused I'd ask them then to either give permission to endorse the back of my ticket to allow travel via BTN to HOV....
I'm not sure if there is an entitlement to an over-distance excess, so that may be a dangerous game. If you are refused an excess to travel onwards to Hove via Brighton, it would be far simpler to simply wait for the next train direct to Hove.
I'll have a look around the forum now for another post. I am guessing there has been much discussion about why a TOC will refuse to issue a zero excess and the total WRONGS of this! :(
There has indeed. Basically if a zero fare is issued, a form may need to be completed. Some Train Companies make this harder than others. Some staff may be instructed not to issue them at all. Some may not want to issue them because they may not want to complete a form. Some may not know how to do it, or even that it's possible.
 

gray1404

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didn't see her filling a form in today but of course, it could be done afterwards. hopefully she won't get into any trouble! I'd hate that to happen to her.
 
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