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| Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 12/05/2012 at 04:56 #32265 | |
Peter Bennet
5375 posts 
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Just found this on another forum- bit limited in it's scope as yet but helps you find if splitting rail journeys into two tickets can save you money. Be aware that there are rules on when and how you can travel on split tickets- essentially the train must stop at the station where the tickets join. Peter I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs! Log in to reply The following users said thank you: postal, DaveHarries |
| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 12/05/2012 at 07:57 #32266 | |
postal
5208 posts |
Peter Nice find, and thanks. For those who want to try even harder and who are prepared to do the legwork it can be cheaper again to split into more than 2 sectors which appears to be the Tickety Split default. For example, at the last Derby meet I got the round trip price from Alnmouth down from the Advance return of £54.10 to £39.25. However, that involved: Day Single Alnmouth - Newcastle and change train. Advance Purchase Single Newcastle - York Advance Purchase Single York - Sheffield Day Return Sheffield - Derby and the equivalent on the return (but changing train at York rather than Newcastle). Whether the time spent on research justified the saving of £15 is clearly a subject for debate. “In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe Log in to reply |
| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 12/05/2012 at 08:18 #32267 | |
Sacro
1171 posts |
" said:essentially the train must stop at the station where the tickets join.Unless they are Zonal tickets or one of the tickets is a season / rover / leisure travel pass and the others aren't. Leisure must be either 7 day, or at least a 3-in-7. Log in to reply |
| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 12/05/2012 at 10:19 #32270 | |
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Peter Bennet
5375 posts
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" said:" said:But this tool does not do those tickets (yet).essentially the train must stop at the station where the tickets join.Unless they are Zonal tickets or one of the tickets is a season / rover / leisure travel pass and the others aren't. Peter I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs! Log in to reply |
| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 12/05/2012 at 10:32 #32272 | |
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Peter Bennet
5375 posts
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Given (or so I understand) that the Rail Regulator requires TOCs to offer the cheapest tickets I wonder if now this technology (in beta form) seems to work, it is something that ATOC should be required to take forward. I feel an email coming on.... [update- Sent!] Peter I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs! Last edited: 12/05/2012 at 11:17 by Peter Bennet Log in to reply |
| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 12/05/2012 at 11:17 #32275 | |
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Stephen Fulcher
2047 posts |
I did hear a rumour not so long ago that they were on about banning buying a ticket in this way. To be honest, it is absolute madness that it is cheaper to do so, they could save a lot of hastle by just charging the combined lower rate for the whole journey. I remember working out once that to go from Banbury to Aberystwyth was considerably cheaper if you were to split the ticket at Birmingham International, and then going to Banbury Station to buy the tickets during my break from work and ending up having an almost full-blown argument with the ticket clerk about whether or not buying a ticket in that way was legitimate. It was made all the worse by me being covered from head to toe in NR orange safety gear, so the public waiting in the queue thought I had some kind of access to "bend" the rules! Log in to reply |
| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 12/05/2012 at 11:23 #32276 | |
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Peter Bennet
5375 posts
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" said:I did hear a rumour not so long ago that they were on about banning buying a ticket in this way.Had a similar argument many many years ago at Dundee buying a ticket to Kirkcaldy and then to Edinburgh but last month I purchased a set of double split tickets with reservations from tele-sales and they were fine about it. Normally I do it on-line and I can't see how that can be prevented. Peter I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs! Log in to reply |
| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 12/05/2012 at 22:32 #32288 | |
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Signalhunter
177 posts |
I did similar, from Woodlesford to Derby, for the Derby meet. Woodlesford-Derby return and Sheffield-Derby return. Saved a reasonable figure. The best thing was that the young Conducter, on my train home the night before, bent over backwards to sell me them! He was a trainee and looking for an excuse to sell an unusual ticket(s).
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| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 13/05/2012 at 07:57 #32292 | |
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Sam Tugwell
493 posts |
Its not just Ticket Splitting that will save you money. If you look on the ATOC Website, you can find the Routing Guides that specify which route a ticket is valid via. An example of this (Headshot119 will confirm this) is a Wrexham General-Shotton via Shrewsbury, Crewe and Chester  Headshot119 knows more on the subject of routing guides, so Id recommend talking to him if you have questions "Signalman Exeter" Log in to reply |
| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 15/05/2012 at 12:18 #32351 | |
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clive
2756 posts |
" said:Given (or so I understand) that the Rail Regulator requires TOCs to offer the cheapest tickets I wonder if now this technology (in beta form) seems to work, it is something that ATOC should be required to take forward.The requirement is to sell the cheapest ticket, not tickets. Log in to reply |
| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 15/05/2012 at 15:08 #32352 | |
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Sacro
1171 posts |
" said:" said:And even then, it'll be from the origin to the destination, I doubt they'll sell tickets where stopping short / starting late saves a lot of money, or ones with more esoteric routing.Given (or so I understand) that the Rail Regulator requires TOCs to offer the cheapest tickets I wonder if now this technology (in beta form) seems to work, it is something that ATOC should be required to take forward.The requirement is to sell the cheapest ticket, not tickets. Log in to reply |
| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 20/05/2012 at 22:33 #32453 | |
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Copping
95 posts |
Ticket office clerks are obliged to sell the cheapest fare from point to point. We are not obliged to split tickets. Basically, what you ask for is what you get. You might get the odd clerk to look into it further 
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| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 20/05/2012 at 22:43 #32454 | |
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Stephen Fulcher
2047 posts |
A friend of mine who used to work in a booking office would look into things like that further if the customer concerned was able to pop back later on as he said he used to like to do it to pass away the boredom for a while.
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| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 21/05/2012 at 04:53 #32457 | |
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Peter Bennet
5375 posts
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My point is that in the past it may have been unreasonable to expect the TOCs/clerks to do that, not least because of the complexity of doing so. However, now that there is an embryonic tool for doing so then perhaps it's something that the Rail Regulator should be supporting/pushing forward. Peter I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs! Log in to reply |
| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 21/05/2012 at 08:58 #32460 | |
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kbarber
1719 posts |
I think it's quite reasonable to ask the booking clerk to look into this sort of thing, though it may depend on the level of knowledge each clerk has - not everyone knows the railway system to the level of detail that would be required. I don't think it's reasonable to ask such a thing when there's a queue of would-be passengers waiting to get their train and there's no other (staffed) window. Sadly, given the trend to increase productivity by ensuring there's never quite enough staff to handle the queue, that makes it remarkably difficult. Log in to reply |
| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 21/05/2012 at 09:33 #32463 | |
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Sacro
1171 posts |
The problem is you're trying to solve the travelling salesman problem with the added complexity that a going from b to c, can be valid on a ticket from a to d, and that some routes have cheaper season tickets than returns, and cheaper off-peak returns (with no return restriction) than a peak single. Add in rovers/rangers and other things, it'll never get solved by a computer. Log in to reply |
| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 21/05/2012 at 13:58 #32465 | |
andyb0607
260 posts |
" said:The problem is you're trying to solve the travelling salesman problem with the added complexity that a going from b to c, can be valid on a ticket from a to d, and that some routes have cheaper season tickets than returns, and cheaper off-peak returns (with no return restriction) than a peak single.The only real way would be to tear up the existing ticketing/routing system and start again with a more simplistic one. Can't see that happening though! Log in to reply |
| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 21/05/2012 at 17:09 #32476 | |
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Copping
95 posts |
Its not just the experience on the clerk, its also how busy a station can be. My station can be busy most of cthe time, yet I have solved a few cheaper deals for customers. A couple of years ago a off-peak return ticket from Eastbourne to Bournemouth via the coast was in the region of £50 a ticket, but Rye (Sussex) to Weymouth, on the same route, was £20 odd. Yet you was passing Eastbourne and Bournemouth. If the rail company that sets the fare sees something similar they have the choice of either matching one of the fares to the other. In this case Southern did match the fare, or similarly on one of the yearly increases. Well infact they created the fare. The Eastbourne to Bournemouth fare was routed via Havant and set by South West Trains. Rye to Weymouth was routed via Barnham (a few miles down the line). Southern just simply created a fare from Eastbourne to Bournemouth and matched it to the Rye Weymouth price. Lastly, Southern is one of the very few companies that have a capped price. Basically any off peak day journey wont cost more than £15 if the journey is wholly outside the London Travelcard area and on Southern only. hope that is of use to you all. Log in to reply |
| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 05/08/2012 at 19:44 #34654 | |
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tonyreese
28 posts |
So over the weekend I went from Crewkerne to Exeter, staying overnight, so had to buy an Anytime off-peak return. It was cheaper to buy a return to Crediton, or Topsham, than to Exeter. And if I want a day return after the 4.49, then it's cheaper to buy a day return to Axminster and an evening Devon Ranger (leaving Axminster after 6pm). Is there no end to this madness?
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| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 05/08/2012 at 22:23 #34661 | |
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postal
5208 posts |
" said:So over the weekend I went from Crewkerne to Exeter, staying overnight, so had to buy an Anytime off-peak return. It was cheaper to buy a return to Crediton, or Topsham, than to Exeter. And if I want a day return after the 4.49, then it's cheaper to buy a day return to Axminster and an evening Devon Ranger (leaving Axminster after 6pm). Is there no end to this madness?Not while the TOCs can make money by having such a complicated ticketing system that the average punter is unable to find their way through the maze and gives the TOC money for nothing. “In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe Log in to reply |
| Re: Tickety Split - saving money on rail fares. 06/08/2012 at 08:03 #34663 | |
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john havenhand
58 posts |
family rail card cannot be used according to the website
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