Not sure if this is a question about the Forum's booking site, or my stupidity - you can be the judges...
Family members staying with us in Cambridge are going to London tomorrow and will need off-peak Day Travelcards for 2 adults and one (6-year-old) child. For maximum flexibility (and speed) I'm suggesting they don't restrict themselves to "Greater Anglia only" tickets.
According to my own calculation this should be: 2 x £45.30 plus 1 x £2 (ie 2 adult OP Zone 1-6 Travelcards and 1 One Day Travelcard "accompanied flat fare" for the child). Total: £92.60.
I can't get the booking site (or, indeed, the National Rail website) to offer anything less than £113.25.
The outward journey is set for the 0909 Cambridge-King's Cross, which is definitely valid for the Off Peak TC fare (restriction code C4). I've tried setting the return journey for both the middle of the rush hour (1739 ex-KGX) and for something more obviously off peak (2039 ex-KGX), but that doesn't affect the price offered. (Yes, I know 2039 from London is late for a 6-year-old - all I can say is that she's French, and inexhaustible...)
Can it be that there's something about these child "flat fare" tickets that booking engines can't cope with? (If that's the case, how would prospective passengers know they exist??). Or am I simply missing something crucial?
We're fortunate in Cambridge in having a ticket office with generally well-trained staff, so all will resolve itself in the morning. But I'd be interested in the Forum's thoughts before I send them down there tomorrow armed with the wrong information
Comments/corrections much appreciated.
Family members staying with us in Cambridge are going to London tomorrow and will need off-peak Day Travelcards for 2 adults and one (6-year-old) child. For maximum flexibility (and speed) I'm suggesting they don't restrict themselves to "Greater Anglia only" tickets.
According to my own calculation this should be: 2 x £45.30 plus 1 x £2 (ie 2 adult OP Zone 1-6 Travelcards and 1 One Day Travelcard "accompanied flat fare" for the child). Total: £92.60.
I can't get the booking site (or, indeed, the National Rail website) to offer anything less than £113.25.
The outward journey is set for the 0909 Cambridge-King's Cross, which is definitely valid for the Off Peak TC fare (restriction code C4). I've tried setting the return journey for both the middle of the rush hour (1739 ex-KGX) and for something more obviously off peak (2039 ex-KGX), but that doesn't affect the price offered. (Yes, I know 2039 from London is late for a 6-year-old - all I can say is that she's French, and inexhaustible...)
Can it be that there's something about these child "flat fare" tickets that booking engines can't cope with? (If that's the case, how would prospective passengers know they exist??). Or am I simply missing something crucial?
We're fortunate in Cambridge in having a ticket office with generally well-trained staff, so all will resolve itself in the morning. But I'd be interested in the Forum's thoughts before I send them down there tomorrow armed with the wrong information
Comments/corrections much appreciated.
