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Question for Yorkie et al: Railcards at Cheltenham Spa

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Ivo

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Hey all,

On Tuesday, I went to Cheltenham for the afternoon. (Which was a mistake, courtesy of the snow, but I shan't go into that.) Anyway, I made the mistake of buying an OP return, not an Anytime return, so - unless the Ticket Salesman mis-informed me - I couldn't break the journey at Gloucester, which I had planned to on the way back. So I decided to look into buying a Single from CNM to GCR (I didn't in the end due to it being very cold!), which was £3.60 without my 16-25 Railcard...

...and TWELVE POUNDS with!!!!! Can anyone explain this please?
 
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Hey all,

On Tuesday, I went to Cheltenham for the afternoon. (Which was a mistake, courtesy of the snow, but I shan't go into that.) Anyway, I made the mistake of buying an OP return, not an Anytime return, so - unless the Ticket Salesman mis-informed me - I couldn't break the journey at Gloucester, which I had planned to on the way back. So I decided to look into buying a Single from CNM to GCR (I didn't in the end due to it being very cold!), which was £3.60 without my 16-25 Railcard...

...and TWELVE POUNDS with!!!!! Can anyone explain this please?

Quite simply it would have been before 10am and the minimum fare of £12 applies to all rail card discounted tickets. My guess is that it was around 09:30-09:45.

It is important to realise that with your railcard you have:

1) The railcard restriction, which states if travelling before 10am M-F (except for Summer), you must pay a minimum fare of £12.
2) The ticket restriction, which varies by ticket. Just because it is "off-peak" doesn't mean you can use your railcard. For example, the un-discounted £3.60 ticket is valid after 0930, but the railcard discounted £2.50 ticket is not available until after 1000, despite that ticket TYPE being available earlier. (Someone might be able to simplify that a bit for you).


16-25 Railcard Website said:
...for all journeys made at or before 10 am Monday to Friday a minimum fare applies. (The exceptions are when you travel at weekends, on Public Holidays, or during July and August). If you travel regularly before 10 am, then a weekly or monthly season ticket may be more appropriate, though you won’t be able to get a Railcard discount). More information about minimum fares can be found at Tickets & Travel times.
 

dan_atki

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Anyway, I made the mistake of buying an OP return, not an Anytime return, so - unless the Ticket Salesman mis-informed me - I couldn't break the journey at Gloucester, which I had planned to on the way back.

I think he did misinform you. Break of journey is permitted on both the outward and return portions of a Bath to Gloucester Off Peak Return, and on both portions of an Off Peak Day Return. I'm guessing your origin is Bath so please correct me if I'm wrong!

Quite simply it would have been before 10am and the minimum fare of £12 applies to all rail card discounted tickets. My guess is that it was around 09:30-09:45.

It depends when Ivo was purchasing the tickets. He said he was going for the afternoon so I took that to mean he was going around lunchtime! I'm sure he'll confirm, though.

Either way, if your guess of time is correct, I do not understand how you can get from Bath to Cheltenham so quickly in order to need to pay the minimum fare to use the railcard!
 

Ivo

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Well, okay, fair enough; but regarding the time of the YPRC... It was 19:00! My origin was indeed Bath Spa, but I didn't even buy that ticket until something like 15:00. This i why I asked about the Railcard. I had asumedthat I had set it for the following day by mistake; however, it happened several times so I assume not.I should say that I was using a ticket machine, as opposed to asking staff; not that I see the difference.
 

krus_aragon

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I should say that I was using a ticket machine, as opposed to asking staff; not that I see the difference.

That suggests to me that the machine had forgotten what time of day it was: that's the behaviour the ticket machines normally display in the morning.

As for the member of staff, he may have been thinking of off-peak return tickets on the Cardiff-Newport-Gloucester-Cheltenham route, which are priced by ATW. From memory, those have ticket restriction 8A, disallowing break-of-journey on the outbound leg. Tickets from Bath would be priced by FGW, so a different restriction (if any) would apply.
 

yorkie

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There are no restrictions on break of journey on return portions of any ticket that I am aware of!

Some "Ticket salesmen" are badly trained and uneducated, quite frankly.
 

Solent&Wessex

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There are no restrictions on break of journey on return portions of any ticket that I am aware of!

Some "Ticket salesmen" are badly trained and uneducated, quite frankly.


I may be wrong but I think there may be some restrictions in both directions on some fares priced by Virgin West Coast, but without looking through the fares manual which I haven't got time to do now, I can't be certain. I do seem to recall seeing something in there in the past when flicking through looking for something else.

When time permits - tomorrow morning at work perhaps, I will have a look and see.
 

krus_aragon

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There are no restrictions on break of journey on return portions of any ticket that I am aware of!

Some "Ticket salesmen" are badly trained and uneducated, quite frankly.

Epic misread on my part, I thought the OP was discussing the outbound leg.
 

Solent&Wessex

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I may be wrong but I think there may be some restrictions in both directions on some fares priced by Virgin West Coast, but without looking through the fares manual which I haven't got time to do now, I can't be certain. I do seem to recall seeing something in there in the past when flicking through looking for something else.

When time permits - tomorrow morning at work perhaps, I will have a look and see.

Well I looked, and I was wrong! I had seen tickets with breaks being prohibited on the outward journey, but not the return. Sorry!
 
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