Includes Hovercraft - Or Not?

[fkofilee]

Question for the floor - Does this ticket include the hovercraft to the Isle of Wight - Its not clear that its included in the cost?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Wightlink ferry from Portsmouth Harbour to Ryde, unless otherwise specified, isn't it?

P.S. Is a split ticket being offered for this itinerary?

 

[fkofilee]

No - Its the Hoverport on this one!

 

[M28361M]

£40.05 is the correct fare for an Off-Peak Return with Network Card discount from Gatwick Airport to Ryde Hoverport via Barnham, according to BRFares.

What is the full itinerary you are shown - presumably train, then hovercraft, then walk from Hoverport to Esplanade?

 

[fkofilee]

£40.05 is the correct fare for an Off-Peak Return with Network Card discount from Gatwick Airport to Ryde Hoverport via Barnham, according to BRFares.

What is the full itinerary you are shown - presumably train, then hovercraft, then walk from Hoverport to Esplanade?

Correct - What im trying to understand is if the Hovercraft is included with the ticket.

 

[Gloster]

In my experience of going the other way, the default position is the Hoverspeed route and you have to specify if you want to use the Wightlink FastCat via Pier Head. The FastCat is, I think, more expensive, but it does drop you at Portsmouth Harbour station, rather than a bus ride away in Southsea.

 

[Haywain]

Correct - What im trying to understand is if the Hovercraft is included with the ticket.

Yes, it is.

 

[ainsworth74]

Question for the floor - Does this ticket include the hovercraft to the Isle of Wight - Its not clear that its included in the cost?

I believe if the destination is Ryde Hoverport then yes it includes the Hovercraft, it has to be routed via the Hovercraft if it's another station on the island but tickets to the Hoverport are valid even without saying "Via Hovercraft" or similar.

 

[paul1609]

In my experience of going the other way, the default position is the Hoverspeed route and you have to specify if you want to use the Wightlink FastCat via Pier Head. The FastCat is, I think, more expensive, but it does drop you at Portsmouth Harbour station, rather than a bus ride away in Southsea.

Conversely in the other direction the Hovercraft delivers you to the bus station (every Island destination except Sandown/Shanklin/ Brading)/ short walk to Ryde town centre. Wheras the Fastcat drops you at the end of the Pier either a long walk in the wind or the rain or waiting for a Island train to turn up if ones working/ theres no closure for planned improvements which uniquely in the IOW goes on for months on end!

 

[fkofilee]

Interesting - Thanks for the tip - This shows via Wightlink



But the question - does the cost include the ferry is more what I am after.

 

[ainsworth74]

But the question - does the cost include the ferry is more what I am after.

Yes but I'd buy to Esplanade as there's nowt at Pier Head and it can be a miserable walk in bad weather!

It might be helpful to know exactly what you're planning as it feels a bit like we're playing a guessing game at the moment

 

[Haywain]

But the question - does the cost include the ferry is more what I am after.

Yes, that one includes the ferry.

 

[paul1609]

Interesting - Thanks for the tip - This shows via Wightlink

View attachment 153429

But the question - does the cost include the ferry is more what I am after.

Yes all through tickets to the IOW via Portsmouth include either the Wightlink Fast Cat (Portsmouth Harbour to Ryde Pier Head) or Hovercraft Southsea to Ryde Hoverport. The Hovercraft tickets include the Hoverbus which goes Portsmouth and Southsea > Hoverport > Portsmouth Harbour > Portsmouth and Southsea.
Ryde Hoverport is over a footbridge from Ryde Esplanade Bus Interchange and Rail Station and a short walk from the town centre. If you dont want an inclusive ticket you need to buy a ticket to Portsmouth Stations and rebook at the appropriate terminal.

 

[fkofilee]

Arh sorry - Quick break away - 2 nights in ryde going tonight
Hotel all booked.

I was just speccing up ticket costs as well as Ferry Didnt realise they were included.

 

[JonathanH]

Technically, passengers using rail tickets on the hovercraft are requested to book in advance for a particular sailing, and at busy times may not be able to board the first service at Southsea or Ryde if there isn't space. That problem doesn't arise on Wightlink.

 

[Haywain]

On most booking engines, and at most times, if you set a destination of Ryde Esplanade you will, by default, get a journey by Hovercraft to the Hoverport and a walk to the station as it is slightly quicker than the Wightlink ferry and train down the pier.

 

[fkofilee]

Thanks All

 

[paul1609]

Technically, passengers using rail tickets on the hovercraft are requested to book in advance for a particular sailing, and at busy times may not be able to board the first service at Southsea or Ryde if there isn't space. That problem doesn't arise on Wightlink.

It wont apply at this time of year and very rarely at any time on the hovercraft unless there is something like the IOW or Victorious festivals on, when you will have to queue at Portsmouth harbour or Ryde pier as well. You simply go to the check in desk and on the next departure.

 

[hermit]

Just to add that tickets via the hovercraft are not valid via Wightlink, nor vice versa. I have had visitors who were wrongly advised by railway staff that they are interchangeable. (Though if hovercraft services are cancelled - they are more vulnerable to bad weather than the Wightlink ferries - arrangements are made for their tickets to be accepted by Wightlink).

 

[Watershed]

It's certainly not as clear as it could be, but this ticket is valid on the hovercraft.

It is both intended and priced to be valid on the hovercraft - it is issued to "Ryde Hoverport" (which denotes the hovercraft validity) and the equivalent fare to Portsmouth is £20.55 so you are paying an extra £19.50 for the 'flight'. And note that you don't receive the full 34% Railcard discount on the entire fare (it's £55.50 undiscounted), this being because only a reduced discount is offered for the hovercraft portion of the journey.

It's also contractually valid - and would be even if there had were some error. You are entitled to rely on the itinerary offered by a booking site when you buy your ticket; it would be a breach of contract if you were charged anything extra to travel in accordance with that itinerary.

 

[fkofilee]

So i ended up buying for a ticket machine to Ryde Pier Head - With Wightlink included.
Added railcard discount and I got the FULL 33% off. This included travel on Super Off Peak via Any Route

Further question for the floor. What route is my ticket valid on?
Yellow Pages doesnt have my specific stations listed (GTW Yes - IOW Group or Ryde No)

So is Portsmouth to Guildford and Then GWR to Gatwick?
What about Portsmouth To Clapham and Then Southern to Gatwick?

It does make me wonder when there is no clear guidance

 

[Watershed]

So i ended up buying for a ticket machine to Ryde Pier Head - With Wightlink included.
Added railcard discount and I got the FULL 33% off. This included travel on Super Off Peak via Any Route

Further question for the floor. What route is my ticket valid on?
Yellow Pages doesnt have my specific stations listed (GTW Yes - IOW Group or Ryde No)

So is Portsmouth to Guildford and Then GWR to Gatwick?
What about Portsmouth To Clapham and Then Southern to Gatwick?

It does make me wonder when there is no clear guidance

View attachment 153481

View attachment 153482

Portsmouth Group is the only associated Routeing Point for Ryde's various stations and fare locations, so there is no need to undertake the fares check; it is "appropriate" by definition.

The Yellow Pages only lists Routeing Points or RP Groups. In this case you're therefore looking for Gatwick to Portsmouth Group.

 

[fkofilee]

Thanks for that - Spoke with some staff and on the train with SWR - They have told me that my ticket is valid via

- Southern Portsmouth to Brighton then to Gatwick
- Southern Arun Valley (Via Horsham)
- SWR From Portsmouth to Guildford and then Guildford to Gatwick Airport
- SWR From Portsmouth to Clapham via either Guildford or Winchester / Basingstoke and then Clapham to Gatwick

But the routing points are not widely shown / known by the public.

Thats a bit mental that they take **ANY PERMITTED** as literally any route! (Reasonable of course)

I can see why the fares system is a little messed up and needs reform! :/ It needs to be stated clearer I think.

 

[hermit]

I believe that Southern Portsmouth to Gatwick via Brighton and Lewes would also be valid, though perhaps an expert could confirm.

 

[Watershed]

Thanks for that - Spoke with some staff and on the train with SWR - They have told me that my ticket is valid via

- Southern Portsmouth to Brighton then to Gatwick
- Southern Arun Valley (Via Horsham)
- SWR From Portsmouth to Guildford and then Guildford to Gatwick Airport
- SWR From Portsmouth to Clapham via either Guildford or Winchester / Basingstoke and then Clapham to Gatwick

Strictly speaking that's not right. Only the routes via Barnham (i.e. the first two in your list) are permitted on an "Any Permitted" ticket from Portsmouth or the Isle of Wight to Gatwick. You need a ticket routed via Clapham Junction and/or London for the other routes you mention to be permitted.

Whilst the "Any Permitted" fares to/from the Isle of Wight are intended to be valid this way (they're priced by SWR on the basis of using their services), they therefore actually aren't. They'd need to route them via Clapham Junction or similar to achieve that validity.

But the routing points are not widely shown / known by the public.

Indeed but most members of the public would approach it from the other end - they'd enter A to B into a journey planner, possibly specifying via or avoid if they had a particular route in mind, and see which ticket(s) it offers. That being said, I think the industry could certainly do more to make permitted routes accessible.

Thats a bit mental that they take **ANY PERMITTED** as literally any route! (Reasonable of course)

Strictly speaking "Any Permitted" means neither "any route is permitted" nor "any reasonable route" - although the latter interpretation (which was the rule under British Rail until around 1996) is, in practice, how most members of staff still judge ticket validity.

"Any Permitted" instead means "you may use any of the routes that are permitted". Permitted routes are defined by the NRCoT and the Routeing Guide, so "Any Permitted" really just means there are no additional restrictions and that you can use any route that the NRCoT or Routeing Guide allows.

I can see why the fares system is a little messed up and needs reform! :/ It needs to be stated clearer I think.

Be careful what you wish for. The rail industry has long deemed the concept of permitted routes to be "too complicated" - but rather than making it easier to determine permitted routes, they (unsuccessfully) tried to eradicate the term "Any Permitted" with "via X" or simply no stated route as all. The latter had to be implemented as "route dot" because some antiquated ticketing systems couldn't handle a completely empty route field...

In many cases the replacement "via X" routing are an inane restatement of the bleeding obvious - e.g. Cheadle Hulme to Manchester's "Any Permitted" fares became "via Stockport". What other route could you possibly take?!

In other cases the replacement "via X" routings have - intentionally or otherwise - restricted the validity of tickets along routes that were permitted. For example, Newcastle to London fares became "via Peterborough", even though these have long been valid on the Midland Main Line via Leicester. This might seem a trite point as it's a circuitous route, but during recent engineering works when the ECML was shut, some people travelling via the MML were forced to take a replacement bus to Peterborough due to this kind of routing.

 

[fkofilee]

Yes - Lewes is considered a routing point on "LP" at further glance.

Be careful what you wish for. The rail industry has long deemed the concept of permitted routes to be "too complicated" - but rather than making it easier to determine permitted routes, they (unsuccessfully) tried to eradicate the term "Any Permitted" with "via X" or simply no stated route as all. The latter had to be implemented as "route dot" because some antiquated ticketing systems couldn't handle a completely empty route field...

Thats interesting - i used to get a tickets from a ticket machine that used to put a "Via ." - I thought it was a printing issue but i see it was legit.
Technically it should have said via Barnham which occurred when i ask for tickets from a Ticket Office instead!

Thank you for clarifying.

Ive taken this thread way off its original query so apologies to the Mods. I dont need anything else with this

 

[redreni]

Technically, passengers using rail tickets on the hovercraft are requested to book in advance for a particular sailing, and at busy times may not be able to board the first service at Southsea or Ryde if there isn't space. That problem doesn't arise on Wightlink.

A friend and I intend to take the Hovercraft over to the IoW and back on Easter Sunday. I was wondering about this.

The train tickets we intend to buy are day returns from Hilsea to Ryde Hoverport. If we reserve seats on a particular crossing at least 48 hours ahead as requested, are we then obligated to cross at that time? Is it likely to be busy on Easter Sunday?

 

[fkofilee]

Likely as thats when trade picks up for Ryde and the season. Lots of open top buses and touristy things...
If you buy to Ryde Pier head then you can travel with Wightlink and then just buy a further ticket from Ryde Pier Head to where you want to go

 

[Gloster]

A friend and I intend to take the Hovercraft over to the IoW and back on Easter Sunday. I was wondering about this.

The train tickets we intend to buy are day returns from Hilsea to Ryde Hoverport. If we reserve seats on a particular crossing at least 48 hours ahead as requested, are we then obligated to cross at that time? Is it likely to be busy on Easter Sunday?

Likely as thats when trade picks up for Ryde and the season. Lots of open top buses and touristy things...
If you buy to Ryde Pier head then you can travel with Wightlink and then just buy a further ticket from Ryde Pier Head to where you want to go

Just in case there is some confusion: the Hovercraft runs to the Hoverport, which is near Esplanade station, while the FastCat runs to Pier Head, which (as the name hints) is at the far end of the pier. They are two different routes. I only know the FastCats, but Easter tends to be busy, particularly in the afternoons back from Ryde, although Monday is the worst.

 

[redreni]

Thanks, all!

We are taking the Hovercraft on purpose. We'll fill in the form to reserve seats if there's a risk of it being busy.