And, something else to throw into the mix.
You can, of course, split the Bristol to Birmingham part of the journey at Cheltenham as ChrisB originally suggested. However there's no need to buy a Cheltenham to Birmingham Standard Anytime Single at ^20.50. You can instead buy a Cheltenham (
CNM» ) to Bromsgrove (BMV) Standard Anytime Day Single at ^9.80 and travel to Birmingham (ending short) courtesy of this easement from the Routeing Guide:
300422 Customers travelling from Bromsgrove via Cheltenham Spa may travel via Birmingham New Street. This easement applies in both directions.
Again, the same caveat applies as mentioned earlier. Being armed with a print-out of the relevant section of the RG should help smooth any potential difference of opinion from on train staff.
As always, I provide the advice merely to show what the
potential cheapest fare could be. Whether you act on that advice is entirely up to you. As is whether you decide to arm yourself with the evidence from the Routeing Guide. Some folks won't want the hassle and will weigh up the potential saving versus the potential hassle. I can respect that. My experience having travelled this route with
XC▸ , on both the the
BRI» -
HFD» fare and the CNM-BMV fare, is that I've yet to experience any problems. Tickets queried yes, but by explaining how they're legitimate according the Routeing Guide has seen XC
TMs‡ allow me on my way.
Now, I'm aware that publicising these legitimate loopholes may see them closed in the future and I've had heated debates on another forum about whether certain loopholes should be discussed publicly. However, I'm of the opinion that these workarounds shouldn't only be there for a select few to share privately - that smacks of an "I know know something you don't" attitude that I'm not comfortable with. Why should I save money with my knowledge of the fares system and not others? Yes, I could've replied to the
OP▸ on this thread by PM but can I really add a condition to my advice saying "keep this to yourself"?
Of course, I run the risk, by providing this information publicly, of seeing these loopholes closed. I'm comfortable with that. It's a bit of a game. With such a complex fares system there are always going to be legitimate workarounds. I'm aware of examples where one loophole has been closed only to open another on the same route. Such is the nature of our current fragmented rail network. I make no apologies for highlighting these loopholes and potentially depriving the
TOCs▸ of what they see should be the correct fare for a particular journey. They are responsible (through
ATOC» ) for the massively complex system currently in place, so they get little sympathy from me when I, or others I provide the advice to, pay less than the TOCs believe should be paid for a particular journey.
It's not just me. Andrew Adonis made great play about the value that an All-Line Rail Rover could offer when he was SoS at the
DfT» . Consequently savvy business people realised the 1st Class 7 day
ALR▸ could be better value than just two 1st Class Anytime Returns in a week on certain journeys. ATOCs response? Put a 10am restriction on the ALR for flows into/out of London, surrounding major stations and Birmingham. Kudos to
FGW▸ for not agreeing to that restriction however. And there is still a legitimate workaround to avoid that 10am restriction at very small additional cost.....
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