Great Western Coffee Shop

Hi - if I use the FGW online booking system, the earliest I can get a Didcot-Bath open return (^15.30) is 1012. But a colleague tells me he buys one at the station and is able to use it on the 0912.

Can anyone tell me when off-peak official starts on this route?

Cheers
John

Off Peak starts at 0915

Thanks - so I guess my colleague is lucky to get away with it.

Make sure you are comparing the exact same fare.  

There are different availability times for the Offpeak Return, and the Offpeak Day Return, and this is fairly normal elsewhere as well.

Paul

The open off-peak return (SVR) at ^25 is valid after 0905 from Didcot.

The ^15.30 fare isn't open - it is a day ticket - which is valid after 0915.

Your colleague probably gets away with it as the train manager doesn't know/doesn't realise the 10 minute difference in off-peak times between the two fares (after all, you wouldn't expect them to know the restrictions for every possible ticket on their route!)

Thanks again. Is this stuff written down somewhere, online?

As to whether it's written down, that's debateable. National Rail Enquiries have recently added pages to their website with the validity codes and their explanations for each journey you put into the journey planner (with some exceptions). Finding this information isn't easy though - it's slightly buried and is a tortuous process to find.

First put in your journey criteria. Then when you get to the list of trains click 'check fares'. Select the service(s) you intend to use then scroll down to the blue summary box marked 'Tickets'. The name of your ticket type will be underlined, i.e. Off-Peak Day Return, click on this and you will be directed to a page titled 'Ticket Terms and Conditions'. Scroll down to 'Restrictions' and buried in the text is the line: view the specific 'Validity Code' applicable to the journey plan that you have selected. Click on this and you are finally(!) presented with the restriction information applicable to your ticket!

For those of you out there interested in validity codes, the full list (well nearly!) relating to off-peak and super off-peak journeys can be found here:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/pdfs/OffPeak.pdf

That's great, thanks.

Thanks,

Where do I find teh validity code for my journey?  Is it printed on my ticket?

The validity code and its explanation for you journey can only be found by asking at a ticket office, using the tortuous process outlined above or using the Avantix Traveller fares CD-ROM available (for a fee) from: http://www.tsoshop.co.uk/bookstore.asp?FO=1241783&DI=627311.

Don't rush out and buy the CD-ROM though, a new one will be published shortly for the period Jan-May 2011.

Validity codes are not printed on tickets.