Farnborough Group to Haverfordwest: Could it be cheaper?

[Death]

Hail again everyone!
Firstly, cheers to those who helped me with split fares last time around! Thanks to that darned useful Chiltern fare from Woking to Birmingham, I've been able to take another two journeys Northbounde in recent times for little more than I'd normally pay for an SDR into London!

Anyhow; On the 7th August, I'll need to travel from Farnborough Group (FNB or BAW - Either's fine) to Haverfordwest for a coaster club event at Oakwood, returning on the 9th...But despite having sat down in front of Avantix for a total of at least four hours so far now, the one reduction that I've been able to find knocks a wapping £4.30 off of the standard Y-P Saver price!
Given the amount of poking and prodding and split/route experimentation that I've tried so far, I reckon that I should've found at least one way to knock a tenner or so off of the fare by now. :roll:

As far as I know the method that I'm using is fairly close to the "right" way (Split at TOC boundaries, cover as much distance as possible per TOC, and use as few TOCs as possible) but no matter whether I split at Reading, Salisbury, Bristol, Cardiff or Swansea (Or even all five! hock any reduction in the per-mile cost of one end of my journey seems to become balanced out by an above anticipated increase on the other end.
To give an example: If I use HVF-SWA-CDF-NWP-BRI-SWI-RDG as my route and I split at Reading, the fare comes in at £49.40 (6.50 + 42.90)...However if I split it at Cardiff, the eastern half goes for £35.65, but then ATW bump that up to a total of £51.25 by chinging me £15.60 for my western bit!

As far as journey/route preferences go I'm pretty flexible in this case as long as I can arrive there by 18:00 at the latest and don't mind which way I wind up going...I'm definitely open to routes that'll fill in a little more of my coverage maps in the process!
By the by: I'll be bailing at Clunderwen on the outward journey, just in case that info helps.

Anyhow...If anyone knows of decent semi/non restricted promo fares knocking around for the Western Region at the moment (Anything like the Chiltern one that I use as a budget return between WOK & BHM would be perfect!), or cheaper routes that I might've missed, then I'd be most greatful and thankful to hear about them. I've attached a copy of my current fares "research" to the end of this post so that ye can see where I've been already...Assuming that ye can understand my strange and fragmented ASCII heiroglyphs!

Farewell for now, and many thanks in advance for any further help!
>> Death <<

Death's home-brew fares research via Avantix:

[color=#AA0000][b]Northern route[/b][/color] - fGWR services along WoE line from BAW:

[b]Splitting:  Fare1 + Fare2 + Fare3 = Total  Remarks:[/b]
RDG, NWP     6.50 + 34.30 + 19.10 = 59.90
RDG, CDF     6.50 + 35.00 + 15.60 = 57.10
RDG, SWA     6.50 + 38.30 + 10.90 = 55.70
RDG, BRI     6.50 + 25.75 + 23.35 = 55.60
BRI, SWA    26.40 + 18.15 + 10.90 = 55.45
SWA         42.25 + 10.90         = 53.15
NWP         33.00 + 19.10         = 52.10
BTH         23.75 + 28.10         = 51.85  Split Bath. Call plumber for repair.
RDG, SWI     6.50 + 13.20 + 30.35 = 50.05
BRI         26.40 + 23.35         = 49.75
CPM         21.10 + 28.40         = 49.50
RDG          6.50 + 42.90         = 49.40
[color=#AA0000][None]      48.85                 = 48.85  Standard Y-P SVR fare chinged by fGWR[/color]
SWI         14.20 + 30.35         = 44.55  Split Swindon, SOR to Hwlffordd

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[color=#0000AA][b]Southern route[/b][/color] - SWT services via Salisbury & Warminster from FNB:

[b]Splitting:  Fare1 + Fare2 + Fare3 = Total  Remarks:[/b]
SAL         14.90 + 36.30         = 51.20
SAL, BRI    14.90 + 13.55 + 23.35 = 51.80
BRI, SWA    23.05 + 18.15 + 10.90 = 52.10
SAL, CDF    14.90 + 18.80 + 15.60 = 49.30
CDF         31.60 + 15.60         = 47.20
NWP, CDF    26.65 +  4.60 + 15.60 = 46.85
SWA         35.00 + 10.90         = 45.90
CDF         29.90 + 15.60         = 45.50

 

[yorkie]

Part of the problem is that there is a lack of SVR fares on several flows, e.g. Swindon to Cardiff, Bristol to Cardiff, etc.

CDR fares are massively discounted compared to SOR fares but these are no use for you returning a different day.

Is AP not possible?

I was going to suggest a ticket to Rosslare, but it only saves £10 for non-railcard holders and according to Avantix you can't get a railcard discount.

You've already done a lot of research and I can't think of anything better than splitting at Swindon.

 

[Death]

Hail again!

Part of the problem is that there is a lack of SVR fares on several flows, e.g. Swindon to Cardiff, Bristol to Cardiff, etc.
CDR fares are massively discounted compared to SOR fares but these are no use for you returning a different day.

I was surprised to notice that when I was looking up my fares, given that all of my forays through Avantix up to now have always shown Saver tickets to be available for journeys over 40 miles...Indeed, I was initially led to believe that I had a fault in my NFM installation! hock:
This does make me wonder though: What is the criteria for determining whether or not a Saver fare is available upon any given route? Are they mainly intended for fares involving travel via/near London, or do they just appear at random?

Is AP not possible?

Given the relatively short lead time before I travel, not really...All of the FES/FDS fares for trains that I can make would have been snapped up long ago - Especially as I'm travelling on Friday and Sunday!

I did manage to pick up a VES fare earlier today (My first ever AP ticket, EUS > SOT for £4.95! ) on the VWC website for another journey that I'm making in September. However I'll also be holding a Chiltern OPR for WOK > BHM via HWY when I travel...So if I fail to make my VT service for whatever reason, I'm still valid as far as Birmingham and can still buy a CDS for the remainder of my journey.
I bought the VWC AP ticket mainly as a suppliment to allow me to get some much desired Pendo coverage (Don't forget, I'm one of the few enthusiasts who likes the things!) and an added benefit is that it's cheaper than the CDR from BHM > SOT that I was originally planning to buy.

You've already done a lot of research and I can't think of anything better than splitting at Swindon.

Actually, I was reading the posts that Embers25 made previously Here and Here concerning an NRRG anomaly that legitimises travel between Woking and Reading via Bristol TM...And given that the NRRG is a standard text for the railways and lays down a big part of the rules, such a route should be perfectly valid (Legally speaking) even though the route itself is a completely illogical one.

In short, that would allow me to buy a Saver from WOK/FNB to Slough and bail short at Bristol TM, continuing my journey from there on an AXC or ATW Saver to Hwlffordd. Although I did see the major hassles that Embers25 ran into when he tried it, I'm thinking that I might pen a letter to SWT making clear my intent to use that anomaly in such a way - Paying special attention to clarifying the fact that any valid route shown in the NRRG may be rightly and lawfully used by passengers, even if it's existance could easily be perceived as an error - And asking them to produce a headed letter of clarification/authorisation that I can present to Guards and RPOs alongside the NRRG information. 8)

As SWT is a Government authorised TOC, I would argue that they have an obligation to assist their passengers with every reasonable request that they may make in connection with rail travel...And I cannot see why requesting a headed letter - Clarifying that such an unusual route is in fact fully legal and permitted by the NRRG - Could ever be considered an unreasonable request.

Whilst I'm on the subject of the NRRG and routing maps though; I have to confess that I'm not at all experienced in using the NRRG, as I normally select the most logical route for my journey unless my ticket states otherwise. Is there a decent Beginners Guide or NRRG HowTo available online that I could use to become familiar with and adept in it's use?

Farewell for now, and many thanks again!
>> Death <<

 

[t0ffeeman]

A few years ago one of the South West Flexi -Rovers was cheaper between Newport & Swindon than the SVR was. Dunno if it is now. I'll have a look at the maps if I get a mo.

Just looked. It was the Freedom of Severn & Solent 3 in 7 day. Now costs £40. I remember this being about a tenner!
Will get you from Eastleigh to Cardiff for £40, however the SOR is only £38 via Salisbury. Interesting to see no SVRs on the mainline anymore. Looks like FGW have done a bit of fares tidying up!

 

[yorkie]

In short, that would allow me to buy a Saver from WOK/FNB to Slough and bail short at Bristol TM, continuing my journey from there on an AXC or ATW Saver to Hwlffordd. Although I did see the major hassles that Embers25 ran into when he tried it, I'm thinking that I might pen a letter to SWT making clear my intent to use that anomaly in such a way - Paying special attention to clarifying the fact that any valid route shown in the NRRG may be rightly and lawfully used by passengers, even if it's existance could easily be perceived as an error - And asking them to produce a headed letter of clarification/authorisation that I can present to Guards and RPOs alongside the NRRG information. 8)

No, that's not going to work. SWT won't issue such a letter, and even if they did guards would still not believe it and say you created it (after all the guard slanderously accused Embers of making printouts say what he wanted them to say!) SWT are hardly going to endorse this route - indeed, they are certain to ask ATOC to remove it as soon as possible.

What could work is following Glynn80's advice, print out all the relevant pages of NCoC/RG, etc and quote what he quoted. That would make it difficult for them to refuse.