Should I take advantage of this ticketing feature / bug

Rostock0

Jr. Member

Posts: 26

Should I take advantage of this ticketing feature / bug

« on: January 01, 2018, 00:29:39 »

Hello. I think I've found a ticketing error, and I'm wondering whether to take advantage of it. The GWR^▸ website lets me buy an off-peak single using my railcard for the 6:53 train on Monday the 9th of April from Oxford to Paddington. Which is a good saving compared to the full price of £32.60. But 1) I don't think the normal rules should let me use an off-peak ticket at 6:53 in the morning and 2) I don't think I can use a Network railcard at this time in the morning either. I'm inclined to the view that if the website sells me a ticket for this train, then I'm OK to buy it, and I can justify it if a ticket inspector asks - let's face it, the rules are so unbelievably complicated who knows what's allowed nowadays?

However. When I tried to complete the purchase online, the website said that no reservations for the 6:53 were available. So I'm guessing that if I buy this ticket online, I'll just receive a paper off-peak ticket with no time written on it, ie nothing to say that the website sold me that ticket for the 6:53am service. I have to catch that train or a similar one, so I refrained from purchasing. I'd be interested to hear what anyone else thinks, please.


	Logged

JayMac

Data Manager
Hero Member

Posts: 18924

Re: Should I take advantage of this ticketing feature / bug

« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2018, 02:05:23 »

Buy the ticket, print your confirmation email/itinerary.

Contract law and the Consumer Act 2015 are on your side.


	Logged

"Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for the rest of the day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."

- Sir Terry Pratchett.

broadgage

Transport Scholar
Hero Member

Posts: 5413

Re: Should I take advantage of this ticketing feature / bug

« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2018, 11:16:31 »

Provided that you can obtain a printed confirmation that the ticket is valid on the service that you intended to use, then I would buy and use the ticket.
If however "the system" will ONLY issue you an off peak ticket with no proof as to its validity at your intended time of travel, then I would think twice.

It might well be a bug in the system, but that is not your worry.


	Logged

A proper intercity train has a minimum of 8 coaches, gangwayed throughout, with first at one end, and a full sized buffet car between first and standard.
It has space for cycles, surfboards,luggage etc.
A 5 car DMU^▸ is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.

Trowres

Transport Scholar
Hero Member

Posts: 756

Re: Should I take advantage of this ticketing feature / bug

« Reply #3 on: January 01, 2018, 12:22:44 »

If this is a "bug", it has to be a Godzilla-size one. Starting Monday 5th March, National Rail journey planner will offer a vast selection of early morning "off peak" fares for journeys vaguely to / via the London area, in contradiction of the restriction code shown on the same website.


	Logged

Rostock0

Jr. Member

Posts: 26

Re: Should I take advantage of this ticketing feature / bug

« Reply #4 on: January 02, 2018, 19:34:16 »

How did you find that out, Trowres? Is it generally available public knowledge, please?


	Logged

Trowres

Transport Scholar
Hero Member

Posts: 756

Re: Should I take advantage of this ticketing feature / bug

« Reply #5 on: January 02, 2018, 21:27:14 »

Simple trial and error with www.nationalrail.com; starting with your initial lucky discovery and using a straddle-and-close-in approach to find the date. Tried a few more nearby origins and worked out... also to journeys with fares set by other operators.

So far, the most extreme example of "vaguely via London" I have tried that works is Trowbridge-York (which for some reason also works via Bristol, in addition to via London)... and an "anytime" return suddenly becomes super-off-peak (one month validity).

It beats doing Sudoku.


	Logged

Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

Pages: [1]

« previous next »