Ticket Advice (am I covered)

[cuna84]

Hi guys, becoming a semi regular enquirer now so hopefully I'll get the usual spot on advice! I am off on another sojourn up to Aberdeen on Friday and coming back on the 27th. I will be traveling from Kings Langley going via Kings Cross. Both ways from Kings Cross to Aberdeen I've taken advantage of the EC rewards (same conditions as an advance ticket) offer. Now to ensure I am covered for any delays on route do I need to buy both portions of my Kings Langley to Euston journey in advance? (I am planning to walk from Euston to Kings Cross both ways). From previous experience I know I need to buy the Return journey from Euston to Kings Langley in advance since intent isn't enough to cover me, (I'll be traveling on the 14:50 from Aberdeen on the 27th) so I'm slightly at risk of missing the last train from Euston to Kings Langley should I have any heavy delays into Kings Cross. The part I'm intrigued by is do I need to buy the portion from Kings Langley to Euston in advance or if I turn up in good time to catch the 8:40 from Kings Langley (10:00 from Kings Cross to Aberdeen), is that sufficient to show the intent if I get delayed?

 

[DaveNewcastle]

. . . . to ensure I am covered for any delays on route do I need to buy both portions of my Kings Langley to Euston journey in advance?

In advance of what?
If you mean in advance of the date of travel, then no, not necessarily.
If you mean in advance of the departure time of the 8:40 Kings Langley service, then Yes.
If you mean in advance of the delay occurring, then most definitely and obviously Yes.
If you mean in advance of the cause of the delay which has not yet affected your scheduled travel (excepting scheduled and previously notified delays), then it is unclear to me.

If you hadn't already been issued with tickets for a portion of your journey then its hard to see how anyone could imagine that it was part of the journey, even less how it could be taken into account when honouring the tickets which you do hold on later services after incurring a delay on the earlier service. You wouldn't have a contract.

(Speculate for a moment on the situation in which every time a commuter service was delayed, passengers then approached the Guard for a nice cheap Super Off Peak ticket to a remote destination, then claimed that they were entitled to travel in the Peak because their connecting service was delayed)

. . . . The part I'm intrigued by is do I need to buy the portion from Kings Langley to Euston in advance or if I turn up in good time to catch the 8:40 from Kings Langley (10:00 from Kings Cross to Aberdeen), is that sufficient to show the intent if I get delayed?

The key factor surely is not just your 'intent' but your 'contract'.

It would be simpler to understand if you had booked both legs of the journey in the one booking, but as long as you have the two contracts in place (allowing for the minimum connection times, as in your example) before the delays occurred, then you will expect to be conveyed.

In my opinion, this requirement "before the delays occurred" extends to the delay on the portion of the service on which you have contracted to travel, and not to the unexpected cause of a delay which may already have begun to impact the network in ways that have not yet affected your journeys.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

There is no requirement to buy all the tickets for your journey at the same time or even from the same place, but, unless you have no opportunity to buy at the station on the day (i.e. ticket office closed and no machines working), you should make sure you have all parts to cover your journey before you travel. Buying tickets from different vendors *may* complicate any refunds or compensation you are due.

Once you have all the tickets, you are covered for any delay caused by the railway on that journey, provided you allow atleast the minimum suggested connection times at stations where you change trains (I believe Euston-Kings Cross is 35 minutes).

Dave does make an interesting point about delays that have already occurred before you buy the ticket, though quite how that would affect things I suspect is open to interpretation.

 

[cuna84]

Thanks for the responses guys, yes I was somewhat unclear in parts of my post. By in advance Dave, I mean buy on the day, in advance of the 8:40 but should I get there and there are already delays then my guess is that I wouldn't be covered if I missed the 10:00am departure from Kings Cross.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Sorry to dig out an "old thread" but I am on the verge of buying my tickets for the London Midland Journey tomorrow. My question is, am I covered in the event of delays if I buy an anytime single from Kings Langley to London Terminals for £9.90 or technically do I have to buy an anytime single from Kings Langley to Zone U1* which costs £12.00 (Y-P discount applied). This would obviously then encompass the bit between Euston and Kings Cross. Ideally I would like to buy the ticket for £9.90 and walk from Euston.

 

[Max]

From what I can gather, a London Terminals ticket should be sufficient as the tickets will be TO London Terminals and FROM London Terminals, thus meaning one journey. Oyster can complicate things but since it is perfectly sensible to walk from Euston to Kings Cross I don't foresee any problems.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

IMO, if you require the tickets to cover your entire journey and your journey is in to Euston, walk to Kings Cross and then by train out from there, you don't require the underground ticket.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

I agree with Max and HHF, and support for their view comes from the fact that there is a published walking time for that interchange.

FWIW I travelled from Tring to Newcastle just a few days ago with that walk and never even considered that there would be any difficulty in EC accepting the ticket in the unlikely event of a delay on the London suburban leg of the journey. And on reflection, I still wouldn't consider that there would be any difficulty.

If, on the otherhand, you made the opposite mistake of not allowing the minimum connection time which would be to allow several hours, and then you mananged to miss the next leg of the journey, I'd expect some questions may be asked.

 

[cuna84]

Thanks for the quick replies guys, I don't actually remember what it says on my EC rewards ticket (away from home at the moment), re whether it says London Terminals or London Kings Cross, but I'm guessing even if the latter it should be fine. I will look to buy the 9.90 ticket when I get home. Minimum connection time is covered I believe, I am getting the 8:40 from Kings Langley (arr London Euston at 9:08) and catching the 10:00 from Kings Cross to Aberdeen.

 

[calc7]

Thanks for the quick replies guys, I don't actually remember what it says on my EC rewards ticket (away from home at the moment), re whether it says London Terminals or London Kings Cross,

It's printed like a 2-part advance ticket.
So the £0.10 travel ticket says London Terminals, whereas the seat reservation coupons say London Kings X.