TAP2GO - Works well from Surrey to London , but not so well to say Portsmouth. It was over double.

[mrg9999]

Notes - I have certain box privileges and also get nearly all my travel refunded by a railway related company.

For this example I was travelling as a normal member of the public without any privileges.

I was testing Tap2go for a client as a solution for their non priv staff travel.

A return ticket from Woking to Portsmouth and Southsea is normally £15.15
I used a Tap2go and the next day the calculated price was £39.20

In London a Woking to London Terminals is £21.50 £7.60 more with a Travel card 1-6
Tap2go for Woking to London return was £16.20 so perhaps with Oyster it might be cheaper though from experience TC is nearly always cheaper especially if you have to spend more than 90 minutes inside the infrastructure.

Q. Is there a way for a member of the public to work out which is the cheapest way to travel if they have Tap2go, Trainline and other apps or does someone have to try all the different journeys and work them out in advance?

 

[Ralph Ayres]

More details of the exact journey times would help, along with a screenshot of the SWR "My transactions" info which should give at least a clue. I can't see a logical charge lower than £23.00 for the Portsmouth journey, and anything with an odd 5p looks like a Railcard or Priv fare so wouldn't apply. £39.20 on the other hand seems far too high and might point to a missed tap or a different perceived journey.
In terms of knowing in advance (assuming the charges work correctly of course), there really is no way except to use a website or app to plan the journey much as you can't know the price of an actual ticket without starting to buy it. If you don't want to trust SWR to work it out for you and give best value then Tap2go probably isn't for you.

 

[Haywain]

£15.15 would appear to be a Super Off-Peak Return with a railcard discount applied.

 

[mrg9999]

Used Tap2go Woking to London Waterloo yesterday and price charged was £12.15 and and a £7.15 refund

 

[Fiyero]

I had similar to this. Have a season ticked on my touch card for Eastleigh to Winchester but was going to Wimbledon. Expected Day return Winchester - Wimbledon at about £30 but was charged for Winchester to zones 1-6 travelcard at £39.40. I am sure you can't even use a touch smartcard as a travel card on non-SWR services making it a bit redundant!

I have emailed customer service but it has put me off a little!

 

[Somewhere]

I had similar to this. Have a season ticked on my touch card for Eastleigh to Winchester but was going to Wimbledon. Expected Day return Winchester - Wimbledon at about £30 but was charged for Winchester to zones 1-6 travelcard at £39.40. I am sure you can't even use a touch smartcard as a travel card on non-SWR services making it a bit redundant!

I have emailed customer service but it has put me off a little!

Wouldn't you het get an over-distance excess of the difference between a return Eastleigh to Wimbledon and a Winchester to Wimbledon?

 

[Haywain]

Wouldn't you het get an over-distance excess of the difference between a return Eastleigh to Wimbledon and a Winchester to Wimbledon?

No, excess fares (other than change of class) do not apply to season tickets. A ticket from Winchester to Wimbledon would appear to be the appropriate charge in this case.

 

[paul1609]

This happens on GTR keygo when it price matches a journey that is cheaper as a travel card usually a super off peak from the south coast than the point to point ticket although wholly on the keygo area. Not sure where this would apply on SWR did you travel via Clapham Junction or London Terminals?

 

[fandroid]

I had similar to this. Have a season ticked on my touch card for Eastleigh to Winchester but was going to Wimbledon. Expected Day return Winchester - Wimbledon at about £30 but was charged for Winchester to zones 1-6 travelcard at £39.40. I am sure you can't even use a touch smartcard as a travel card on non-SWR services making it a bit redundant!

I have emailed customer service but it has put me off a little!

I have an SWR Touch Card that was bought specifically to enable me to have a one mode ticket setup for an outboundary Travelcard with Railcard discount*. It works perfectly well for the whole of Zones 1-6, and on whatever train service I use. I haven't tried it on buses, but I have a concessionary pass anyway for those.

It's not set up for Tap2Go. I just buy tickets when I need them and load via my smartphone.

*I have previously consistently had trouble with paper Travelcards due to corruption of the magstripe. The Touch card has never given me similar problems.

It annoys me that individual TOC smartcards are linked to their own ticket selling apps, but I regularly buy "Any Permitted" route Travelcards which, from my hometown of Basingstoke can be used via Reading on GWR and Cross-country trains as well as on SWR via Woking.

 

[Fiyero]

This happens on GTR keygo when it price matches a journey that is cheaper as a travel card usually a super off peak from the south coast than the point to point ticket although wholly on the keygo area. Not sure where this would apply on SWR did you travel via Clapham Junction or London Terminals?

I changed at Woking - though presumably the system wouldn't have known if I doubled back at Clapham Junction - though I am sure that would still be the same fare.