Tis Grim Up North

[DaveB]

How about coach?

National Express- Chester to London. 4Hrs. £28 return.

[eternalnomad]

Leeds to London every week (home at weekends) for past 8 years

Once upon a time I used to be able to secure some decent discounts by booking my tickets a few weeks in advance...and then a month...and then several months.

The nice people at GNER stopped all that and it appears to me that if you intend to arrive in London weekday between 8am and 11am you are going to have to pay full wonga......that assumes you play by their rules.

I made it my business to get to know the travel rules and ticket combinations better than GNER themselves and I fondly remember a recent period of about 6 months where I was able to travel 1st class for just circa half price of a standard ticket.

I realise that from Chester you will be using Virgin.

Here is a big hint....have a look at prices of tickets that go BEYOND your true destination....they cannot stop you getting off at an earlier station than you have purchased the ticket to (I'm not sure if this scam still works with Virgin but it worked well for my ex colleague for a couple of years and saved him >£60 per week)

Hint No 2 :- look at national conditions of carriage, section 17 "Combination of Tickets"

[VectraMan]

I live in West London and worked in Poole for 6 months. Like feck was I going to do a 2 hour drive each way every day!! So I got a Studio flat at £500 a month and drove back home for weekends, simple really. Gave me a chance to enjoy life in Bournemouth and thereabouts.

Surely if you commute more than a couple of hours each way, every day for a few months, it's going to knacker you out and you'll get sick of it.

I did about that - 2 hours in the morning, about 1 1/2 back home due to leaving a bit late for 4 months. I always planned on staying over in B&Bs a lot, but actually only did a handful of times. It would get to 6pm and I'd start thinking "well I could be home by 7.30". It did mean I was effectively doing 12 hour days, which was tiring, but not that bad. Personally I think it gets quite depressing if you stay away from home too often.

Cheshire to London is a bit extreme though, short of owning your own helicopter. Is there a pence per mile allowance for a helicopter?

[VectraMan]

Here is a big hint....have a look at prices of tickets that go BEYOND your true destination....they cannot stop you getting off at an earlier station than you have purchased the ticket to (I'm not sure if this scam still works with Virgin but it worked well for my ex colleague for a couple of years and saved him >£60 per week)

Funnily enough I once took a train trip that meant crossing London on the tube from Paddington to Waterloo. I realised whilst on the tube I'd missed my connection, so decided to get out at Embankment and do the touristy bit for an hour. But the ticket machine and the underground staff wouldn't let me out! They told me that it didn't matter that I wanted to walk, Waterloo was the only place I could get off the Underground. How can they get away with that?

[bogeyman]

Funnily enough I once took a train trip that meant crossing London on the tube from Paddington to Waterloo. I realised whilst on the tube I'd missed my connection, so decided to get out at Embankment and do the touristy bit for an hour. But the ticket machine and the underground staff wouldn't let me out! They told me that it didn't matter that I wanted to walk, Waterloo was the only place I could get off the Underground. How can they get away with that?

Nonsense! When did this happen?

Any tube ticket will let you out of the station provided you haven't gone beyond the zone(s) you've paid for.

You're making this up, aren't you?

[BoredBloke]

Nope, I have had this also many many years ago. I wasn't feeling well and wanted some air - basically getting off a coluple of stops early. They made me go back to the train and would not let me out.

[eternalnomad]

I'm not clued-up about the tube regs. but I can tell you that the "National Conditions of Carriage" dictate the rules for the mainline train franchises (and have had several amusing incidents with GNER ticket inspectors educating them on what the rules actually say)

Getting off at an "earlier" stop than paid for is totally legit (but you probably cannot leave the station and come back into the station on the same ticket)

[VectraMan]

Nonsense! When did this happen?

Any tube ticket will let you out of the station provided you haven't gone beyond the zone(s) you've paid for.

You're making this up, aren't you?

No it's honestly true. This was about 3 1/2 years ago. I thought about going to the police and claiming I had been kidnapped by London Underground, but then I calmed down a bit. Believe me I pointed out that I wasn't planning on coming back in, going anywhere else, or indeed using the Underground again on the same ticket, but they completely refused. This was a train ticket, not an Underground ticket, but still.

[BoredBloke]

Mine was an underground ticket

[bogeyman]

No it's honestly true. This was about 3 1/2 years ago. I thought about going to the police and claiming I had been kidnapped by London Underground, but then I calmed down a bit. Believe me I pointed out that I wasn't planning on coming back in, going anywhere else, or indeed using the Underground again on the same ticket, but they completely refused. This was a train ticket, not an Underground ticket, but still.

Did you push the ticket through the automated barrier and found it refused, or was the ticked checked manually?

I think I'd have gone ballistic had I been confronted with some London Underground jobsworth pratt telling me I couldn't leave the station. And they wonder why the public likes to beat ten shades of sh1t out of them!