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"HALF PRICE SVR" Edinburgh-Perth ?

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MKD

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Was looking for a ticket from Edinburgh to Perth, out one day (off-peak) and back next day (off-peak) next month for 1 Adult with no Railcard(s).

When I looked/booked (for TOD) last month on the Southern Railways website (the one I use for most of my tickets as local station on their network) it offered Off Peak Return at £21.10 but also 'HALF PRICE SVR' Route any operator at £10.55 and I bought that - no extra T&Cs were displayed and their 'i info' link just shows a blank screen. On the site's account for my purchases, that ticket's T&C's throws up a 404 error! It's still being offered today.

I assumed it was some 'Half price' offer just as Southern Railways themselves have in the past down 75p and upto 95% off offers.

However just having a thought now as to whether they have sold me a valid ticket, or it's really for some limited use or I'm meant to have some voucher/coupons/railcard etc to go with it.

Googling hasn't helped, and nothing on Scotrail's own site helps (they don't offer the "HALF PRICE SVR" there!). However Google did throw up this site and your expertise...

Help/clarification anyone?
Thanks in anticipation.
 
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LexyBoy

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No idea on the ticket type - thought only Virgin did such tickets - but if you were sold a ticket for that journey then you have a contract with the vendor for the journey booked. At worst it should be a TIR, you would be allowed to continue your journey. In reality I can't imagine many guards paying too much attention to the ticket type.

It would potentially be a home idea to take a printed itinerary if you don't have reservations.

Given recent Atos shenanigans, I'd not be suprised if you were being offered incorrect fares. Other (much more blatantly wrong) tickets have been accepted.
 

hairyhandedfool

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Virgin do an Off-Peak Day Single (SVH), which is not the same thing.

Not heard anything about a half price Off-Peak Return (SVR) though.
 

Paul Kelly

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When London Midland do their occasional 50% off off-peak returns sale, I think the descriptions printed on the tickets might be HALF PRICE SVR and HALF PRICE CDR.
 

yorkie

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Yes, Scotrail do the same as LM and issue tickets like "HALF PRICE SVR"; this is clearly the Advance Club tickets being sold to non-Advance members. I have an Advance card however this offer isn't particularly useful to me (plus I am not going to be in Scotland during this period!).

I am surprised this error has been around for a month with no-one at Atos, Scotrail or Southern noticing, however now it's been posted here it probably won't be long before it's fixed.
 

MKD

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This sounds like the promotional offer intended for members of Scotrails "Advance Club"

http://www.scotrail.co.uk/content/advance/half-price-peak-travel-anywhere-scotland

Yes that would tally. Checked the site again and the HALF PRICE SVR fare's offered to 31/3 but not from 1/4.

So seems as if Southern's website mis-sold that fare to me as no way did I input/select anything to say I was entitled to Advance Club fares (nor any Railcard).

Where does that place me and my ticket that I would be trying to use without what seems to be the required voucher & Advance Club membership card?
 

yorkie

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Where does that place me and my ticket that I would be trying to use without what seems to be the required voucher & Advance Club membership card?
You have a contract to travel, and I have no doubt the contract will be honoured.

It is unlikely that the conductor will ask to see an Advance card, but if they do, simply explain what you said in your first post. The conductor could take a photo of the ticket, or take the original ticket, or make notes of the number, or may simply ask where you bought it, so that the error can be investigated and potentially whomever is responsible to get a telling off and told to fix it. In the unlikely event that your ticket is withdrawn, a free (zero fare) replacement ticket must be issued, so that you can complete your journey.

A few months ago Southern were giving 25% off all Off Peak returns, this then was reduced to only tickets with the Day suffix. This applied nationwide. It was unclear from Southern's publicity whether their offer was intended to apply for tickets not priced by them, but some small print revealed it was not. Many people booked tickets with 25% off the full price.

Errors do happen, and they are not as infrequent as you might think. If the vendor makes an error, they could cancel the ticket (and refund you of course) before you collect it. But once collected, they cannot do this, and the tickets will be honoured. It is very rare that a guard acts incorrectly by charging a passenger an excess fare, and if that does occur, a refund can be requested and the TOC can issue appropriate guidance to the guard.
 
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Deerfold

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Why not obtain an Advance card?

The presupposes they meet the conditions to join - or are prepared to make additional purchases to do so which seems a bit mean when the ticket as advertised did not say it required this card.

And it can take up to a month to receive the card - so the OP may not get it in time anyway.
 

MKD

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Thanks for all the input/advice guys.

Seems as I bought the ticket in good faith without any notified restrictions (other than Off Peak as per printout I have), and we're now only guessing how it might have been priced, I should just get on with it. Thanks everyone for your time/knowledge/ideas!

MKD
 

yorkie

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Not sure why they've called the promotion "Advance" when it says a few lines down "There’s no need to book rail travel in advance"!
Advance perhaps was not the best choice of name, but bear in mind that the scheme had been running for at least 2 years before the Advance ticket type came into existence. At that time, tickets that had to be purchased in advance were given a variety of names (Apex, SuperAdvance, 4Sight, Daypex etc!) and any ticket can be purchased in advance so I guess they did not see it as an issue.
 

michael769

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As and Advance member I have already used this promotion.

It seems the majority of staff have not been briefed on the offer as I have not been challenged to produce either my advance card nor the accompanying 50% off voucher that (according to the T&Cs) must accompany an online purchased ticket. The same was the case when they ran it last year.

Indeed I was asked my a member of staff where I had got the ticket from and when i told him he looked confused said "oh" and moved on (still without asking to see anything).

Incidentally the blurb on the advance booklet claims there were two 50% off vouchers
even though there was only one, and the website version says the voucher can be downloaded from the site - even though a link from where it can be downloaded is nowhere to be seen.

They have made a bit of a pigs ear of this promotion IMO.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
It seems Scotrail are offering half price off peak tickets to everyone throughout march:

http://www.scotrail.co.uk/marchmadness
 
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MKD

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It seems Scotrail are offering half price off peak tickets to everyone throughout march:

http://www.scotrail.co.uk/marchmadness

Ah thank you for solving the mystery/uncertainty. Seems the Southern Rail site was just being all-knowing early!

(Meanwhile they're offering 34% off their own Advance fares for a while - and with their RainyDayGuarantee, that's has meant further savings on various trips along SouthCoast.)

MKD
 
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