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Season ticket refund

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ajhard

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Sorry if this has been covered already, I couldn’t find it.

For people who are now going to be working at home for the foreseeable future, what’s the situation with cancelling a season ticket, and then buying a new one at some point in the future...and to extend further what about parking season tickets issued by Acpoa?

Does anyone have any experience or thoughts...?
 
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221129

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Sorry if this has been covered already, I couldn’t find it.

For people who are now going to be working at home for the foreseeable future, what’s the situation with cancelling a season ticket, and then buying a new one at some point in the future...and to extend further what about parking season tickets issued by Acpoa?

Does anyone have any experience or thoughts...?
Standard terms and conditions apply as far as I can tell.
 

ajhard

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And are the standard terms easy to work out, I guess I’m trying to understand how long I need to be not using the train for before it becomes sensible to cancel. For the parking I can’t find anything clear describing what the deal is.
 

yorkie

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A £10 admin fee applies and the cost of a Season up to the point of refund is taken into account

See https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...n-5-multi-journey-tickets.67598/#post-1154248

It's likely to be worth it if you are going to be off for around 6 weeks or more, but other factors worth considering are whether or not you got it just before the January fares rise, how many days per week you will be travelling when you do return, etc.

For people who typically work predictable 4-day weeks then switching to odd period monthly Seasons to last 5 working weeks may be better.
 

kristiang85

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I presume doing a changeover to a cheap season ticket would be allowed, rather than getting a full refund? (e.g. Exeter St.Davids to Exeter Central). Given the calculations involved, I think this would work out cheaper for me.
 

bb21

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I presume doing a changeover to a cheap season ticket would be allowed, rather than getting a full refund? (e.g. Exeter St.Davids to Exeter Central). Given the calculations involved, I think this would work out cheaper for me.
What do you mean? A season ticket changeover is always allowed. It isn't always tricky either, as some systems now have changeovers programmed in, and calculation is done automatically on the spot.
 

kristiang85

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What do you mean? A season ticket changeover is always allowed. It isn't always tricky either, as some systems now have changeovers programmed in, and calculation is done automatically on the spot.

Ah OK, that's good then - thanks.
 

mrmatt

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changeover to a cheap season ticket would be allowed, rather than getting a full refund? (e.g. Exeter St.Davids to Exeter Central). Given the calculations involved, I think this would work out cheaper for me.

I'm thinking the same thing - I worked out I'll need to be home for 8 weeks before a refund on standard terms makes economic sense and that's right on the edge of likelihood right now. However a refund I can do online but a changeover I don't appear to be able to which means leaving the house to go to a station which isn't ideal...

National Rail Enquiries now say plans are to waive the admin fee for season tickets refunds, due to coronavirus

I don't see that for season tickets? Reads as business as usual to me. But I imagine that will have to change soon.
 

Medicy

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I'm thinking the same thing - I worked out I'll need to be home for 8 weeks before a refund on standard terms makes economic sense and that's right on the edge of likelihood right now. However a refund I can do online but a changeover I don't appear to be able to which means leaving the house to go to a station which isn't ideal...



I don't see that for season tickets? Reads as business as usual to me. But I imagine that will have to change soon.

Annoyingly, they seem to have removed it (it was specifically mentioned in the update yesterday). Perhaps there wasn't agreement from all TOCs?
 

mrmatt

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Annoyingly, they seem to have removed it (it was specifically mentioned in the update yesterday). Perhaps there wasn't agreement from all TOCs?

Given tonight's advice on non-essential travel, and given people see the railways as something the government controls I can't see them not offering admin fee free refunds pro-rated without the 40x weekly calculation. Plus anyone on old pricing will pay new prices when they head back to work which will negate some of the effect.
 

Timster83

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I arranged to have my Scotrail season ticket (on smart card) cancelled on Friday with a refund of the unused period.

The person I spoke to in the smart card hotline said that Scotrail were waiving the administration fee for season ticket refunds due to the current situation.
 

kristiang85

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OK continuing from my post above, it has just been confirmed by my company that we will be working from home from tomorrow for the forseeable future, so I just want to work out what is best value for me (apologies if this is a thread hijack, but it seems a similar enough topic to warrant not opening a new thread).

My ticket is Basingstoke to London Zones 1-6 (Starting 31st December 2019); cost £5432

OPTION 1: Refund

SWR says they calculate it thus: "To calculate the refund value we’ll work out the total cost of the tickets you’d have needed to buy to make one return journey a day up to the date you returned your Season ticket. The refund will be the difference, if any, between this total cost and the price you paid for the Season ticket, less a reasonable administration fee (no more than £10). "

So would this be peak returns or off peak returns? The peak is £44.20, and off peak £26.30. Then does this mean every day, or just working days? If I work on the assumption it is working days only, then I'm looking at a 'cost' of 55 days, so that's either 55x44.20 (£2431) or 55x26.30 (£1446.50). Thus a refund of either £3001 or £3985.50 - could someone clarify which is correct? (or if I'm completely wrong!).

OPTION 2: Changeover to cheap season ticket.

As far as I'm aware using the helpful info posted above, this is divided by 365 and split pro rata. So if I went for an Exeter St Davids - Exeter Central season, which still gets me gold card access in case I need to make the odd trip into London, that would be:
5432/365 = £14.88
152/365 = £0.42

From 31st Dec to 17th Mar that's 78 days, so (78*14.88) + (287x0.42) = £1281.18, thus a refund of £4150.82.


Then, whichever option I go for, I'll just do odd period tickets until the end of the year when commuting starts again, as I'm away a lot (supposedly) in Q3/Q4.


So it looks like the changeover route is clearly the way to go, but can someone more learned than me clarify my maths? Basically I just want to know exactly what I'm expecting when I go to the ticket office tomorrow.

Many thanks!
 
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higthomas

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Has anyone got any experience of doing season ticket changovers from a smartcard to a non-smartcard?

My OH has a GTR key smartcard season tickets, but we're thinking about changing it over to Hatton-Lapworth or something for a while.

Otherwise, anyone know any similarly cheap GTR (ideally Great Northern) season tickets we could change to but stay on smartcard?
 

paul1609

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Has anyone got any experience of doing season ticket changovers from a smartcard to a non-smartcard?

My OH has a GTR key smartcard season tickets, but we're thinking about changing it over to Hatton-Lapworth or something for a while.

Otherwise, anyone know any similarly cheap GTR (ideally Great Northern) season tickets we could change to but stay on smartcard?
Pevensey and Westham to Pevensey Bay and Newhaven Harbour to Newhaven Town are both £176 on Southern. Not an expert on Great Northern.
 

CyrusWuff

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A season ticket refund would be calculated using the price of a season ticket for the period of use. Daily tickets only come into it if you've used it for less than a month.

So if you handed the ticket in tomorrow, it would have been used for 2 months and 17 days.

The period season factor for that is 9.86, giving a season ticket price of £1339.

As such, the gross refund would be £4093.

Doing it as a changeover for Exeter St Davids - Exeter Central from tomorrow:

Base rate for original ticket : £14.88 (£5432 / 365)
Base rate for new ticket : £0.39 (£144 / 365)

Number of days from 18/03 to 30/12 : 289

Credit on original ticket : £4300.32 ( £14.88 × 289)
Charge for new ticket : £112.71 ( £0.39 × 289)

Refund due : £4187.61
 

kristiang85

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A season ticket refund would be calculated using the price of a season ticket for the period of use. Daily tickets only come into it if you've used it for less than a month.

So if you handed the ticket in tomorrow, it would have been used for 2 months and 17 days.

The period season factor for that is 9.86, giving a season ticket price of £1339.

As such, the gross refund would be £4093.

Doing it as a changeover for Exeter St Davids - Exeter Central from tomorrow:

Base rate for original ticket : £14.88 (£5432 / 365)
Base rate for new ticket : £0.39 (£144 / 365)

Number of days from 18/03 to 30/12 : 289

Credit on original ticket : £4300.32 ( £14.88 × 289)
Charge for new ticket : £112.71 ( £0.39 × 289)

Refund due : £4187.61

Awesome, thanks so much for clarifying. So the changeover definitely looks better value then, especially as I keep Gold discounts.

I'm not sure why SWR aren't being clear about that re. refunds, but it doesn't surprise me I guess!
 

Haywain

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I'm not sure why SWR aren't being clear about that re. refunds, but it doesn't surprise me I guess!
Because changeovers are actually quite difficult for people to understand, and historically have been seen as a pain in the backside to calculate and process.
 

MadCommuter

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I have just submitted my Scotrail annual season for a refund. Start date was 29/12/19 and cost £1016 for travel between Hamilton West and Anderston. Could anyone tell me what my refund will be please?
 

mrmatt

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Has anyone got any experience of doing season ticket changovers from a smartcard to a non-smartcard?

My OH has a GTR key smartcard season tickets, but we're thinking about changing it over to Hatton-Lapworth or something for a while.

Otherwise, anyone know any similarly cheap GTR (ideally Great Northern) season tickets we could change to but stay on smartcard?

I changed from a Flitwick - London Zones 1-6 to a Flitwick - London Thameslink season a couple of years back on the Key. I think they took the smartcard and issued a paper replacement. I then had to go collect the updated smartcard and surrender the paper ticket - so I would assume it would be something similar, although the process may have been refined in the last couple of years.

Awesome, thanks so much for clarifying. So the changeover definitely looks better value then, especially as I keep Gold discounts.

I'm not sure why SWR aren't being clear about that re. refunds, but it doesn't surprise me I guess!

I'm going to do a changeover - as you say you keep the gold card and protect the discount. It does mean going to the ticket office though which I'd prefer not to have to do right now!
 

ajhard

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Just as an FYI - I received my refund today from GWR. In the online form it asks when you last used the ticket and they have refunded me from then which is another 10 days or so. Plus they did charge me the £10 admin fee.
 

infobleep

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I'm now debating what to do. My season ticket runs out in mid October. I need to social distance for 12 weeks, at this stage, due to being on immunosuppressant drugs. Thus I won't be doing much travelling, let alone seeing how busy the 18:24 Clapham Junction to Haslemere was the this evening, as I'd hoped to do.

Whilst I might engage in split ticketing, I do want support the railways, so I'm not entirely at ease with the refunding my season ticket.

On top of this my season ticket is covered by a season ticket loan from work, so if I make any changes, it gets even more complicated.
 

dar2008

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Also going to be working from home for a while. I’ve changed banks since I purchased my annual ticket last November, will I be able to get a cheque or the refund to my new bank account?

Mine’s with SouthEastern
 

kristiang85

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A season ticket refund would be calculated using the price of a season ticket for the period of use. Daily tickets only come into it if you've used it for less than a month.

So if you handed the ticket in tomorrow, it would have been used for 2 months and 17 days.

The period season factor for that is 9.86, giving a season ticket price of £1339.

As such, the gross refund would be £4093.

Doing it as a changeover for Exeter St Davids - Exeter Central from tomorrow:

Base rate for original ticket : £14.88 (£5432 / 365)
Base rate for new ticket : £0.39 (£144 / 365)

Number of days from 18/03 to 30/12 : 289

Credit on original ticket : £4300.32 ( £14.88 × 289)
Charge for new ticket : £112.71 ( £0.39 × 289)

Refund due : £4187.61

So I took it today and went for the changeover between the two Exeters, and got £4092.48 back (weirdly the same as the refund - but I got the gold card still, so overall I'm still up than if I had gone for the refund).

I asked why it was £100 difference from what I was expecting, and he said that the base rate is calcuated on a weekly basis not a daily basis. This seems at odds with everything I've seen on here and other sites (e.g. MSE) - do you know if this is true?

He also said that, even though I handed it in first thing this morning, he had to charge me for today's travel as if I'd travelled - which also seems wrong.

EDIT:

I've checked out the relevant NRCOT conditions, and it does seem to definitely be a daily calculation as @CyrusWuff says, although they were right to change from tomorrow (a bit annoying, as the ticket office closed early last night, but nothing major).

Is it worth me writing to their customer services to ask them to recalculate? If it was £10 or so I'd leave it, but £80ish is quite significant.

41.2. If your new Season Ticket is for a cheaper journey or class of travel, you will be entitled to a refund on the original Season Ticket, based on the number of days of validity remaining on your original Season Ticket at the time that you ask for your Season Ticket to be changed.
41.3. The validity of your new Season Ticket must start on the day after the original Season Ticket is handed in and must expire on the same date as that of the original Season Ticket. You will not have to pay an administrative charge.
 
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Belgravia

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I have a bit of an odd situation, and can’t seem to find a solution, advice welcome!

I bought a Z1-2 Annual Travelcard Oyster from Abellio Corporate Travel. To process the refund for the time remaining they have provided me with form RSP 25805 “Season Ticket Refund Application” to sign and return to them along with my ticket.

The issue I have is that I have £25 of pay as you go credit on the Oyster. TfL can’t refund this or transfer it to another Oyster without also transferring the season ticket.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get the £25 off before I return the Oyster?

Thanks.
 
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Refunding an Annual Z13 Oyster Travelcard is proving to be a nightmare. It was issued at Victoria by Southern, but they said (on Tuesday) that I have to go to the TfL Tourist Centre. Which is shut. I tried to do it online, it says you have call the helpline. Can't get through there, obvs. I've sent a query to SN's website, in case they might help. The transport providers have have now had two extra days income where I haven't used the card. The Mayor is saying that travellers should only make essential trips, but either he or Southern (not sure which) are holding onto the funds. I appreciate this is a First World Problem given the national emergency we are now in, but does anyone know if refunding this Travelcard is a TfL or SN responsibility as I could do without the hassle.
 

Haywain

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Refunding an Annual Z13 Oyster Travelcard is proving to be a nightmare. It was issued at Victoria by Southern, but they said (on Tuesday) that I have to go to the TfL Tourist Centre. Which is shut. I tried to do it online, it says you have call the helpline. Can't get through there, obvs. I've sent a query to SN's website, in case they might help. The transport providers have have now had two extra days income where I haven't used the card. The Mayor is saying that travellers should only make essential trips, but either he or Southern (not sure which) are holding onto the funds. I appreciate this is a First World Problem given the national emergency we are now in, but does anyone know if refunding this Travelcard is a TfL or SN responsibility as I could do without the hassle.
If it was bought from Southern it is their responsibility to issue a refund.
 

kristiang85

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Customer service departments are completely overwhelmed so it could be a while before they can look into this.

Yeah I know, I can wait for a response, but I just don't like being told I'm wrong when it seems I was right.
 
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