Special Offer fares from London - June to July 2010

[whole diary]

[super tm]

Thought you might be interested to know about some special offer fares coming along.

They are valid for off peak travel for journeys starting from London.  The only requirement is that you own an oyster card and download a voucher.  There is a first class  off peak fare from london to newport for ^40.00 which might interest some posters on this forum    Starting from Jun 26 until Jul 25

Full details available here:- http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/oyster

[ChrisB]

Off-peak, and you can only download the voucher once you've decided on wehich date to travel....it gets printed on the voucher, apparently.
I guess you could print one out for each day in advance.....

[JayMac]

..... and travelling short is permitted. So can board at Reading!. Just the problem of having to buy from London Termini though......

Looks a great offer, but I pondered on another forum why it was only available from London. There are plenty of Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) Card holders who live outside the M25. I'm one.

Still I plan to use the offer for a day out to Brighton, combined with ADV/SVS fare to PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains).

[ChrisB]

Can you buy from *any* London Termini, or must they be bought from the Terminus that you'd travel out of?....

[BBM]

Somewhat hidden on the site is a useful diagrammatic map showing the routes on which the offer is valid:

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/media/91696/oyster%20card%20get%20away%20map.pdf

[grahame]

Somewhat hidden on the site is a useful diagrammatic map showing the routes on which the offer is valid:

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/media/91696/oyster%20card%20get%20away%20map.pdf

It's an "interesting" offer ... if it ran a for an extended period it would make the "find best fare" folks need a doctorate and not just a degree 

London to Brighton - five pounds
London (Victoria) to Portsmouth - five pounds
London (Waterloo) to Portsmouth - fifteen pounds
London to Liverpool - fifteen pounds
London to Bath - twenty pounds
London to Westbury, Warminster, Melksham, Trowbridge ... not available. Comparison - 48.80 for super off peak return (Westbury)

[inspector_blakey]

if it ran a for an extended period it would make the "find best fare" folks need a doctorate and not just a degree

Declaration of interest: I have both, but fares still fry my brain pretty often. Actually, as you learn in my line of work (research science, for those who don't know), just because you have a doctorate it doesn't make you smart! 

[super tm]

..... and travelling short is permitted. So can board at Reading!. Just the problem of having to buy from London Termini though......

Are you sure about that.  Cant see anything to say starting short is permitted.  All the info seems to say starting your journey from London.

[Ollie]

..... and travelling short is permitted. So can board at Reading!. Just the problem of having to buy from London Termini though......

Are you sure about that.  Cant see anything to say starting short is permitted.  All the info seems to say starting your journey from London.

From the ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here) Brief:

9   Change of travel plans/break of journey or joining at intermediate stations/refunds

Normal conditions apply.

Promotional Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) tickets are only set up in the ticketing systems from London Terminals (*), but customers can join further on the same line of route.  For example, a customer wishing to travel to Oxford, but instead of starting at London Paddington wants to join at Ealing Broadway, must be issued with a promotional fare from London Terminals to Oxford.
(*) Except for FCC^▸ (First Capital Connect) Thameslink services issue tickets from London Thameslink or London Bridge; for Southern services (as far as Brighton) issue tickets from London Victoria.

[super tm]

..... and travelling short is permitted. So can board at Reading!. Just the problem of having to buy from London Termini though......

Are you sure about that.  Cant see anything to say starting short is permitted.  All the info seems to say starting your journey from London.

From the ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here) Brief:

9   Change of travel plans/break of journey or joining at intermediate stations/refunds

Normal conditions apply.

Promotional Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) tickets are only set up in the ticketing systems from London Terminals (*), but customers can join further on the same line of route.  For example, a customer wishing to travel to Oxford, but instead of starting at London Paddington wants to join at Ealing Broadway, must be issued with a promotional fare from London Terminals to Oxford.
(*) Except for FCC^▸ (First Capital Connect) Thameslink services issue tickets from London Thameslink or London Bridge; for Southern services (as far as Brighton) issue tickets from London Victoria.

As the promotion specifcally says you must start your journey with an oyster card i would read that you could only start you journey short at a zonal station in London  (Which Ealing Broadway is)

[JayMac]

Whereas I would read it as 'Normal Conditions Apply'. 'Passengers can join further on the same line of route' seem pretty clear. No mention of boundaries. The 'Normal Conditions' would relate to the equivalent Off Peak Return or Off Peak Day Return ticket validities.

The T&Cs accompanying the voucher also say:

4. Promotional tickets are only valid for journeys departing from London terminus stations. Customers may also join or alight at the intermediate stations where their train from/to London calls. Customers must make their own travel arrangements to travel to and from the London terminal station.


Ollie, is there any mention of the number of adults that can travel on one voucher in the ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here) brief to staff. The voucher seems to suggest that 2 or more adults can travel in the directions for ticket office staff to follow.

Booking Office:

1. Check that the customer holds their Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) card or Freedom pass shown on the voucher
2. Set Origin: 1072 LONDON TERMINALS. Except for FCC^▸ (First Capital Connect) Thameslink services issue tickets from London Thameslink or London Bridge; for Southern services (as far as Brighton) issue tickets from London Victoria.
3. Set Destination and Route: as required
4. Enter number of adults. Accompanying children are to be sold normal child fares, unless the promotional adult fare is cheaper, in which case up to 4 accompanying children are allowed to be sold the promotional adult fare.
5. Ticket type: select one of the following ticket types (note that not all ticket types may be available on every flow)
OY1 - OYST OFFPK DAYR, OY2 - OYST OFFPKDAY1R, OY3 - OYST OFF-PEAK R, OY4 - OYST OFF-PEAK1R
6. Issue ticket(s) as usual
7. Return voucher to customer to retain throughout their journey and show together with Oyster card/Freedom pass at ticket inspection
8. See The Manual for more information

[plymothian]

Hmm, more favouritism towards London/the SE.  They already have the Network Railcard.

[ChrisB]

I think they're pushing the Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) card for off-peak journeys (in the south-east, naturally!)

[devon_metro]

Hmm, more favouritism towards London/the SE.  They already have the Network Railcard.

Not to mention a very high quality metro system, with comparatively low fares.

How we can dream!

[Ollie]

From what I can tell it is one voucher per Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services)/Freedom Pass, as there is only space to include one number and each adult that travels has to be a holder of either an Oyster or Freedom Pass.