Re: Trains a Rip-Off?

Bob Wood <bobwood@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and
prestwich tesco 24h offy wrote:
Bob Wood <bobwood@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

The OP was travelling to Manchester from London and therefore
'travelling against the flow'; there was never any reason to buy
more than a Saver Return ticket and cheaper (than Saver)
rail-tickets were (and are still) available. He had quoted
discounted air-fares but not, for some reason, discounted rail-fares.

Remember the peak fares apply on London to Manchester in the morning.
On a week day, there is no way of getting to Manchester on a virgin
train until 1224!

Did you miss something out of that last sentence?

No, but you're saying "for some reason" he missed out the saver fares.
It's perfectly possible that the OP needs to travel in the morning.

I feel the same as you do about disproportionate peak fares, and I am
pleased that I rarely have to spend money on them. The OP however
was being disingenuous in criticising as he did.

I don't know what the OP's motives were, but I've had conversations
with people who don't travel by train much who are genuinely confused
by the bewlidering array of fares, and it's also fair to say that
when calling for ticket information, things are not always explained
as clearly as they might be.!

Are you saying that there is not also a bewildering array of airfares?

Of course not, but that's hardly an excuse for the mess which is the UK
railways' pricing structure.

More to the point is that even on a like for like comparison, I think
the train will still be cheaper, especially as it's London to Manchester
and back, not the other way around.

AIR- LGW-MAN leave 0640, return 1930 £69.50
Train leave Euston 0703, return 1815 £69 (combining advance standard B
and value advance C)

--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer http://soundjunction.org
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Trains a Rip-Off?
    ... 'travelling against the flow'; there was never any reason to buy more ... than a Saver Return ticket and cheaper rail-tickets were ... for some reason, discounted rail-fares. ...
    (uk.railway)
  • Re: Saver Ticket Validity
    ... But we're really looking for the South TransPennine route here, ... But travel via Leeds, or indeed ... It's a permitted route and the ticket is valid. ... saver is valid). ...
    (uk.railway)
  • Re: Selling travel insurance at booking offices
    ... used to write in large writing V.A.T. RATE ZERO PERCENT for no other ... reason than it was part of the training. ... I travel on expenses a lot and I know full well that UK rail travel is ... I have no idea whether life in large ticket offices is any where near ...
    (uk.railway)
  • Re: Why is a return ticket so much cheaper than two singles.
    ... >if you book at a different time; the railways are at least reasonably ... what the air fare is going to be if you (for whatever reason) can't ... If it's a "classic" airline then the prices are likely to be static, although many have a range of tickets - so you'll have to guess if a static-priced inflexible ticket is still going to be available, or whether you'll need to buy a static-priced flexible ticket. ... I've never found one of these on a day I wanted to travel. ...
    (uk.railway)
  • Re: Penalties for not using Ticket Machine?
    ... It doesn't, however, require an intent to travel without ... Which isn't the situation if you travel thinking you've got a ticket, ... legitimate reason for not having paid - namely that you'd have missed your ...
    (uk.railway)