On my return journey (Monday 15/06/09) the ticket inspector insisted I had an invalid ticket and charged me an additional £44 (single fare).
Were you allowed to keep the unused return portion of the disounted ticket? If so this remains valid for travel between Parkstone and London by any train Saturday or Sunday and any train from 1000 Monday - Friday (and there is an Easement allowing you also to use it on the 0954 from Parkstone). But it will expire at 0230 on 12 July.
At the very least he could have explained the situation charged me the difference!
By charging you the £44 single fare, the inspector was treating you as if you held no valid ticket, and no ticket where it was possible to pay an excess fare to make it valid.
Travel using a ticket dicounted by a Network Railcard is subject, among other things, to the Terms and Conditions of use of the Network Railcard
http://www.railcard.co.uk/network/terms. These give a number of examples of occasions where you may have to pay the difference between the discounted price and the full Standard fare.
Terms and Conditions of use of the Network Railcard said:
3. You will be asked to pay the difference between the price of your discounted ticket and the full Standard fare (or the Penalty Fare if travelling in the Penalty Fares area) if:
a) you travel beyond the station for which your ticket is issued;
b) you travel to a destination beyond the area shown on the map in this leaflet, without having first obtained the correct ticket for your journey;
c) you travel on a route for which a higher fare applies or at a time when reduced fares do not apply.
Your situation is covered precisely by Condition 3(c), so you should have been charged an excess fare of £29.90. Thus SWT
should refund you the difference and offer an apology. If they don't, escalate the matter to Passenger Focus [
http://www.passengerfocus.org.uk/contact-us/]. I would actually be very interested in PF's view on this case because they promoted the change to
Anytime tickets as part of
Fares Simplification. One of the reasons I oppose these changes is because not all Anytime tickets are valid at any time.
I plan to make this journey regularly. Does anyone know the most economical tickets I can buy?
If you need to leave Parkstone before 0930 on Mondays,
yorkie has recommended that your best ticket is a £69.80 Rugby - Parkstone Off Peak Return route + London. I would have done the same - this ticket certainly used to be unrestricted between London and Parkstone. But, on checking the current National Fares Manual CD, I fear this is no longer the case.
National Fares Manual 03 said:
Origin: Rugby
Destination: Parkstone (Dorset)
Route: + London
Ticket type: SVR Off-Peak Return
Adult price: £69.80
Restriction: 2C
These restrictions apply Monday to Friday. By any train on other days.
OUTWARD TRAVEL
You may travel on any train that is scheduled to DEPART as shown below:
DEPART: LONDON WATERLOO Between 0925 & 1630 (inc.) and at or after 1822
RETURN TRAVEL
You may travel on any train that is scheduled to ARRIVE as shown below:
ARRIVE: LONDON WATERLOO At or after 1050
So I don't think a £69.80 Rugby - Parkstone Off Peak Return will suit your needs. If you need to arrive in London before 1000 on Monday mornings then a £69.80 Parkstone - Rugby Off Peak Return no longer suits your needs either.
National Fares Manual 03 said:
Origin: Parkstone (Dorset)
Destination: Rugby
Route: + London
Ticket type: SVR Off-Peak Return
Adult price: £69.80
Restriction: 4M
Available as listed below MONDAYS-FRIDAYS (By any train on other days).
OUTWARD TRAVEL
By any train except those timed to arrive at London terminals before 1000
RETURN TRAVEL
By any train - SEE NOTE BELOW.
NOTE: In addition to the specific restrictions shown the availability of ALL Off-Peak tickets to destinations outside the Network Area which involve travel from London Euston, Kings Cross, Liverpool Street or St Pancras on part of the OUTWARD journey and to London Euston, Kings Cross, Liverpool Street or St Pancras on part of the RETURN journey, is as shown for tickets with validity code 9A 9B or 9D
In these circumstances, i agree with
mathmo that your best option is
an Off-Peak single with railcard on the outbound (£27.90) and an Anytime single without railcard on the return (£44). Total £71.90.
John