(Super) Off Peak fares on Boxing Day Brighton-Victoria

[8ace]

I'm looking to travel from BTN to VIC tomorrow and the fares I'm seeing (NRE/Southern websites) are looking a bit pricey. Offpeak travelcard is £93.20 for 4 and the first train I can get is the 0925 - ideally I'd like to get the 0825. Isn't Boxing Day a bank holiday so these restrictions shouldn't apply? Any advice greatly appreciated

 

[island]

The Super OffPeak Day Travelcard priced £16.25 (assuming GroupSave) does not exempt bank holidays from its restrictions.

There are cheaper options at £13.45 any permitted and £11.10 if route Thameslink Only works for you (don’t know if they’re running) – you can still use any train company within the zones. You may need to purchase these from a booking office as they are not consistently shown online.

 

[alistairlees]

The Super OffPeak Day Travelcard priced £16.25 (assuming GroupSave) does not exempt bank holidays from its restrictions.

There are cheaper options at £13.45 any permitted and £11.10 if route Thameslink Only works for you (don’t know if they’re running) – you can still use any train company within the zones. You may need to purchase these from a booking office as they are not consistently shown online.

The £13.45 WTC product is only available at weekends.

The £16.25 AM3 product (super off peak day travelcard) does normally have its restrictions lifted on bank holidays. For example it’s unrestricted on New Year’s Day and at Easter. The failure to lift restrictions on Boxing Day is probably an error. You could ask at the station or via Twitter.

 

[8ace]

Thanks @island - no Thameslinks (my usual preference) running tomorrow unfortunately.
It seems odd that they exempt 1st January but not 25th - 26th December (maybe they assume zero trains?)
Very useful website BTW

 

[8ace]

The £16.25 AM3 product (super off peak day travelcard) does normally have its restrictions lifted on bank holidays. For example it’s unrestricted on New Year’s Day and at Easter. The failure to lift restrictions on Boxing Day is probably an error. You could ask at the station or via Twitter.

Yeah does look like an error. I'm not sure what time the ticket office opens tomorrow or if it's even open. Southern Rail twitter are off today

 

[Wallsendmag]

Yeah does look like an error. I'm not sure what time the ticket office opens tomorrow or if it's even open. Southern Rail twitter are off today

WHAT Southern's Twitter team have a day off that's disgusting ffs

 

[island]

The £13.45 WTC product is only available at weekends.

That’s incorrect. It is clearly valid on bank holidays, as noted at https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/FB . If, as appears, that has been coded wrongly into online booking engines, that does not affect its validity.

 

[8ace]

WHAT Southern's Twitter team have a day off that's disgusting ffs

Maybe that did sound a bit scrooge like.
I should really have sorted this out earlier.

 

[island]

Maybe that did sound a bit scrooge like.
I should really have sorted this out earlier.

Knowing Wallsendmag also works for a train company, I am sure the comment was meant in jest.

 

[alistairlees]

That’s incorrect. It is clearly valid on bank holidays, as noted at https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/FB . If, as appears, that has been coded wrongly into online booking engines, that does not affect its validity.

True, I should have said "and bank holidays" too! Nothing's been 'wrongly coded' by booking engines though - the fares data says it isn't valid tomorrow, so booking engines are behaving correctly if they show it as not valid for tomorrow.

 

[island]

True, I should have said "and bank holidays" too! Nothing's been 'wrongly coded' by booking engines though - the fares data says it isn't valid tomorrow, so booking engines are behaving correctly if they show it as not valid for tomorrow.

Sorry if I’m a simple kind of man, but if the text of the restriction code says that the ticket is valid on bank holidays and the booking engines have been coded to say that it is not valid tomorrow, a bank holiday, they have been wrongly coded. Simple as.

 

[Wallsendmag]

There is a lot of coding errors and hidden calendar bans knocking about at the moment . Makes fault finding with a new TIS most interesting

 

[alistairlees]

Sorry if I’m a simple kind of man, but if the text of the restriction code says that the ticket is valid on bank holidays and the booking engines have been coded to say that it is not valid tomorrow, a bank holiday, they have been wrongly coded. Simple as.

Booking engines use data, not text in restriction codes, to determine validity. So they have been correctly coded in this case. What does need fixing is the inconsistency between the text in the NRE description and the data that's behind it.

 

[gray1404]

Hopefully the OP was able to obtain the ticket they required, at the cheaper Super Off Peak rate due to boxing day being a bank holiday, from the booking office or ticket machine at the station before departure. If this was not possible and they paid more then they were required to, GTR should provide a refund of the difference due to, in essence, over charging.

 

[8ace]

Managed to get the tickets for £13.45 each from the booking office thanks. I don't think you can buy Groupsave from the machines.