In message , at 23:02:23 on Sat, 14
Jul 2012, Clive D. W. Feather remarked:
In message , Roland Perry
wrote:
I think the logic is that it is not a BZ to/from wherever 'ticket'. It is a
BZ 'extension fare' used in conjunction with a ticket that you
already have in your possession.

An online site cannot determine if you already hold a suitable ticket to be
extended...

Why does that matter? They don't have the same problem selling any
other kind of half-a-split-ticket (or are they institutionally in
denial that split tickets are valid).

I'm not sure what you mean by half-a-split-ticket.

I mean buying one half of a split ticket. For example if you already
have a season ticket to Huntingdon and buy a day single from there to
Peterborough (intending to use it on a train that doesn't stop at
Huntingdon). The online site doesn't ask if you really do have the
season ticket.

A BZ coupon is *not* a rail ticket.

Quack, waddle, bit of card with orange stripes. But yes, most "normals"
call every coupon a "ticket", even if we know that to the railways a
ticket is the combination of coupons.

It is evidence that you have paid the additional fare to turn your
zones N-6 ticket into a "N-6 plus one journey to X" ticket. It's
therefore more like a reservation or an upgrade to first class or from
Saver to Open or a route excess [1] - it's not valid on its own, only
with another ticket.

Does it have, like an excess coupon does, "Only valid with ticket nnnnn"
printed across the top? That itself might be a better stab at a reason
not to sell them online.

[1] If there are two routes from A to B with different fares, and you
have a return from A to B at the cheaper fare, you can buy a route
excess to allow you to do the B to A leg on the more expensive route.
The cost should be half the difference in fares. You should be issued a
separate coupon for this. Said coupon has no validity on its own.

Yes, I had to get one of those the other week, coming back from Stansted
and XC was stuck in a flood near Birmingham, so cancelled my train
[haven't got the delay repay through yet] so I had to change my route
back to Nottingham.

[Was Stansted-Melton-lift, changed to
Stansted-Stortford-Ely-Nottingham-bus, although the part of the
diversion via Stortford was free].
--
Roland Perry