tubechallenge.com

Here's one for those of you who work in the ticketing side of things, or have knowledge of it:

I'm travelling back from London on the 25th and my plans have changed since buying the original ticket. Instead of returning to Ipswich, I'll now be heading back to Norwich.

Considering that changing my destination to Norwich will just mean staying on the same train, is there any way of getting my ticket amended without having to buy a fresh ticket? I've seen mention of a 'change of route excess' on the Railforums forum, but can't quite get my head around it.

Wouldn't you just buy a single from Ipswich to Norwich? I think excesses are for when you travel outwards by one route and return by a more expensive route, eg London - Birmingham out via Chiltern, return via Virgin.

If it isn't an advance then just go to a station and ask them to excess it to Norwich for you, it'll just be the cost of a ticket to Norwich minus What you've already paid. This is often cheaper than buying an extra ticket.

Hope this helps

Sam wrote:If it isn't an advance then just go to a station and ask them to excess it to Norwich for you, it'll just be the cost of a ticket to Norwich minus What you've already paid. This is often cheaper than buying an extra ticket.

Hope this helps

Dang, it's an advance! Does that mean my only option is to buy an extra ticket?

Hide in the loos until you get to Norwich.

(Other methods of fare-dodging are available.)

You can change an advance subject to the ticket you now require being available... So say you've paid £20 for your ticket and the new ticket is £30, you would pay £10 Plus an admin charge of £10 on top so do your research and see if it's cheaper to change your advance or buy a separate single from Ipswich to Norwich.

Fare evading is not recommended

tubeguru wrote:Hide in the loos until you get to Norwich.

(Other methods of fare-dodging are available.)

Well that's the bloody annoying thing. I would have been tempted to just keep shtum (especially given that the London-Norwich ticket would have cost exactly the same!), but there are barriers at Norwich and knowing my luck they'd still be manned at 0130hrs!

uefacup81 wrote:

tubeguru wrote:Hide in the loos until you get to Norwich.

(Other methods of fare-dodging are available.)

Well that's the bloody annoying thing. I would have been tempted to just keep shtum (especially given that the London-Norwich ticket would have cost exactly the same!), but there are barriers at Norwich and knowing my luck they'd still be manned at 0130hrs!

A little trick i used to do Bournemouth has barriers but Pokesdown 2 miles away does not i used to get out there and walk not sure if that helps for Norwich though where is the closest station which hasnt.?

palkanetoijala31 wrote:

uefacup81 wrote:

tubeguru wrote:Hide in the loos until you get to Norwich.

(Other methods of fare-dodging are available.)

Well that's the bloody annoying thing. I would have been tempted to just keep shtum (especially given that the London-Norwich ticket would have cost exactly the same!), but there are barriers at Norwich and knowing my luck they'd still be manned at 0130hrs!

A little trick i used to do Bournemouth has barriers but Pokesdown 2 miles away does not i used to get out there and walk not sure if that helps for Norwich though where is the closest station which hasnt.?

Diss, which is about 20mi away!

Has this turned into the best fare-dodging tips thread?

While we're doing that then...Portsmouth Harbour has no barriers, and is less than a mile walk from Portsmouth & Southsea. Once you're past Fratton, guards never bother checking tickets. So if you're going to Portsmouth, save the extra £2 they charge you to go to 'Portsmouth Stns' and get one to Fratton and get off at Portsmouth Harbour.

EDIT: ok, i might have overestimated the benefits of this having actually checked the fares, and the difference is less than a pound. but never mind

Stansted Airport tickets are much dearer than Bishop Stortford ones. It's only about four miles between the two, and it's such a pretty walk in the Summer.

Starkey7 wrote:It's only about four miles between the two, and it's such a pretty walk in the Summer.

Probably not so lovely if you're dragging a 30kg suitcase though.

When I used to visit my girlfriend in Brighton, I would buy a ticket at Victoria station that allowed the return journey to be made any time in the next few weeks (can't remember exactly how long it was, or what the name of the ticket was). Then I'd decide which day I wanted to return and buy a £4.80 1-D (as it was back then) Travelcard for that day in advance. Upon returning to Victoria from Brighton, I'd use the Travelcard to operate the barriers, thus keeping my Brighton ticket, which was valid for another couple of weeks, and save myself some money the next time I went there.

dudey wrote:While we're doing that then...Portsmouth Harbour has no barriers, and is less than a mile walk from Portsmouth & Southsea. Once you're past Fratton, guards never bother checking tickets. So if you're going to Portsmouth, save the extra £2 they charge you to go to 'Portsmouth Stns' and get one to Fratton and get off at Portsmouth Harbour.

EDIT: ok, i might have overestimated the benefits of this having actually checked the fares, and the difference is less than a pound. but never mind

Unless it has changed, Fratton tickets use the same fares as Portsmouth Stns - i.e. the Portsmouth Group fares. Only if you are buying a ticket from within the Portsmouth Group should Fratton and Portsmouth Stns be different.

Most of the time Fratton isn't staffed by Revenue Staff either!

I used to see my ex in Plymouth. I used to buy a return which the return portion was valid for 30 days. As I always got back so late, the barriers at Cardiff were always open so I was able to keep the ticket. I got four journeys out of the one ticket; one time, i went to Plymouth and back for only £9 using an advance out and the original return to come back