Confusion Over Anytime/Off-Peak Pricing

[Tevion539]

Hi all,

I am in the process of buying some priv tickets for my partner. SWANSEA-CARMARTHEN on 20/03 @ 1100 and returning 1600. Now, an anytime return is £3, or £4.90 for off-peak. On NRE the same (full-price) tickets are £12 (anytime) and £19.60 (off-peak.) I thought the whole premise of off-peak tickets is that they are cheaper. Not that it really matters in this case, I just find this a little confusing. Also, I presume as this isn't classed as an advance ticket, she could travel on a train at any time, despite having to select a specific service on the RST website?

Thanks

 

[Doctor Fegg]

(Please use full station names first time out, not just three-letter codes.)

The £12 ticket is a day return. The £19.60 is a period return.

Look up fares for any train journey in Britain

Full details of all British rail Single, Return & Season tickets and Travelcards. Built-in Season Ticket Calculator.

www.brfares.com

 

[Watershed]

Hi all,

I am in the process of buying some priv tickets for my partner. SWANSEA-CARMARTHEN on 20/03 @ 1100 and returning 1600. Now, an anytime return is £3, or £4.90 for off-peak. On NRE the same (full-price) tickets are £12 (anytime) and £19.60 (off-peak.) I thought the whole premise of off-peak tickets is that they are cheaper. Not that it really matters in this case, I just find this a little confusing. Also, I presume as this isn't classed as an advance ticket, she could travel on a train at any time, despite having to select a specific service on the RST website?

Thanks

The £12 fare is an Anytime Day Return. The £19.60 fare is an Off-Peak Return, but in common with all other Off-Peak Returns priced by TfW, has restriction code 8A which means that it is actually valid at any time (very confusing and unhelpful, I know...).

So the difference is actually just that the Anytime fare is a day return and the Off-Peak fare is a period return, i.e. its return portion is valid for use on any day within a month of the outward journey.

As these are both walk-up tickets, you're not tied to the train you select when booking. You don't even have to select a train when using the RSTL site - you only have to select a fare in order to proceed to add it to the basket.

 

[Tevion539]

(Please use full station names first time out, not just three-letter codes.)

The £12 ticket is a day return. The £19.60 is a period return.

Look up fares for any train journey in Britain

Full details of all British rail Single, Return & Season tickets and Travelcards. Built-in Season Ticket Calculator.

www.brfares.com

No worries, edited the post. Suppose that makes sense.

The £12 fare is an Anytime Day Return. The £19.60 fare is an Off-Peak Return, but in common with all other Off-Peak Returns priced by TfW, has restriction code 8A which means that it is actually valid at any time (very confusing and unhelpful, I know...).

So the difference is actually just that the Anytime fare is a day return and the Off-Peak fare is a period return, i.e. its return portion is valid for use on any day within a month of the outward journey.

As these are both walk-up tickets, you're not tied to the train you select when booking. You don't even have to select a train when using the RSTL site - you only have to select a fare in order to proceed to add it to the basket.

Yeah, it is a little confusing (have plenty of time to learn all the fares/restrictions I suppose.) To be honest, I never knew that, my partners priv card came before her free travel pass. Just wanted to be sure before buying any tickets that the right one was being purchased. THanks for the helpful response.