Return London to Derby at Christmas

[Belperpete]

I am intending to travel from London to Derby on the 24th December, and return on the 27th. There are engineering works on the MML on the 24th, with bustitution for part of the journey. I have tried EMT's web-site, and it refuses to offer me a return: it will only offer singles, travelling out via Euston and Tamworth, return direct to St. Pancras. I tried the Nation Rail web-site, it too only offered singles, until I mistakenly said I was travelling at 00.00 on the 27th, when it then offered Off-Peak returns (again out via Tamworth and return direct), and allowed me to step-forward to a more reasonable time.
But why can't I buy a Super Off-Peak return? Surely this should be valid via the Tamworth diversionary route on the 24th, or via the bustitution. Anyone using the EMT site is being forced to pay nearly twice as much for two single tickets than they should really have to pay for a return. Likewise with the NRail site, unless they are lucky enough to put in the 00.00 departure time, and even then they are only being offered the more expensive Off-Peak not a Super Off-Peak ticket.

 

[Haywain]

What times are you looking for? Are they affected by time restrictions on the use of Super Off Peak tickets?

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

I am intending to travel from London to Derby on the 24th December, and return on the 27th. There are engineering works on the MML on the 24th, with bustitution for part of the journey. I have tried EMT's web-site, and it refuses to offer me a return: it will only offer singles, travelling out via Euston and Tamworth, return direct to St. Pancras. I tried the Nation Rail web-site, it too only offered singles, until I mistakenly said I was travelling at 00.00 on the 27th, when it then offered Off-Peak returns (again out via Tamworth and return direct), and allowed me to step-forward to a more reasonable time.
But why can't I buy a Super Off-Peak return? Surely this should be valid via the Tamworth diversionary route on the 24th, or via the bustitution. Anyone using the EMT site is being forced to pay nearly twice as much for two single tickets than they should really have to pay for a return. Likewise with the NRail site, unless they are lucky enough to put in the 00.00 departure time, and even then they are only being offered the more expensive Off-Peak not a Super Off-Peak ticket.

This is a poor show but not surprising. You can book a flexible return ticket with no specific itinerary for the return, by using a booking site based on the likes of MixingDeck (or in fact The Trainline, if you select the 'open return' option).

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

What times are you looking for? Are they affected by time restrictions on the use of Super Off Peak tickets?

CI and CJ restriction codes, which are the relevant ones for the tickets in question, have a note stating:

Seasonal variations
Restrictions are lifted from 24 December to 1 January 2019

 

[Belperpete]

What times are you looking for? Are they affected by time restrictions on the use of Super Off Peak tickets?

It wasn't offering me ANY type of return, not even an open return.

 

[Belperpete]

This is a poor show but not surprising. You can book a flexible return ticket with no specific itinerary for the return, by using a booking site based on the likes of MixingDeck (or in fact The Trainline, if you select the 'open return' option).

Thanks for that. I also found that, using the open return option, the mixingdesk does then allow me to buy the usual Super Off Peak and Off Peak returns. However, the problem with using the open return option is that doesn't allow me to reserve a seat for the return journey, which could be busy. Suppose I can always ask at the ticket office at Derby on my outward journey, assuming there isn't too much of a queue and there are any seats left to reserve by then.

I also found that it is necessary for me to specify London (ALL) as my start. If I enter St.Pancras (STP, as I usually do) it only finds tickets that include a day travelcard, presumably to get me from St Pancras to Euston to start my outward journey.

I have gone back to the EMT site, and found that if I likewise specify London (ALL) and open return it will also find me my usual £66.50 Super Off Peak return. However, the EMT web-site claims that it is not valid on the 1640 and 1732 services from Euston, whereas the MixingDesk says that it is!

I am beginning to realise why people complain about the difficulty of booking tickets on-line!

 

[mailbyrail]

Last time I tried to get to London from Derby when there were buses from Leicester to Bedford I couldn't get any sensible fares on line or even alternative routes I never thought of "London All" and never have at any other time either - must remember that possibility.
Since my actual journey was Matlock to West Hampstead it was almost two hours quicker to drive, even with the joys of M1 roadworks at junction 23a-25.