Hi all,

Just looking for someone who can explain some confusing pricing of One
Railway season tickets.

For reasons too annoying to go into, I'm probably going to have to start
commuting from Hertford East to London (I work in Covent Garden) for a
few months, so I've been looking at season ticket prices.

According to the main season tickets page at
http://www.onerailway.com/templates/...c.aspx?id=2013, "Season
tickets offer great value as the number of trips that can be made
between two points is unlimited."

This then leads to West Anglia Season Ticket page at
http://www.onerailway.com/templates/...c.aspx?id=2017 which states:

(1)
Season Ticket Prices to London
Hertford East Monthly
£198.20
Presumably, this just gets me to Liverpool Street.

Further down the page, it has:

(2)
Season Ticket Prices to London All Zones Travelcard
Hertford East Monthly
£282.70

Now, going back to the original season ticket page, it also gives a link
to Season Direct at
http://www.onerailway.com/templates/...c.aspx?id=2013 which says "For
'one' routes into London Liverpool Street, 'season direct' allows you to
purchase monthly season tickets by on-going direct debit arrangement."

So this leads to https://www.seasondirect.com/?tocid=1 which says:

"‘season direct’ offers:
A discounted price compared to a normal monthly season ticket

• Payment monthly by Direct Debit via bank / building society
• Unlimited travel between two stations
• Unlimited travel on all ‘one’ services at weekends and on Bank Holidays"
[snip]

But the prices come out as follows:

(3)
Monthly Basic Season
Hertford East to Liv St
£224 (first month) then £194 thereafter

(4)
Monthly Basic Season + Travelcard Addon Zone 1
Hertford East to Liv St
£313.10 then £283.10

(5)
Monthly Basic Season + Travelcard Addon Zone 123456
Hertford East to Liv St
£389.20 then £359.20

Now, unless I'm missing something, (5) and (2) offer what looks like the
same ticket, but rather than being "a discounted price" it would appear
to be the best part of £80 dearer.

Likewise, (4) and (2) are virtually the same price, but the latter
includes Z123456 rather than just Z1.

Can anyone help me make sense of this?

There is a further complication, which is that to get to Covent Garden,
it's much quicker, easier and less stressy in rush hour to change at
Tottenham Hale than Liverpool Street, but this option is not offered by
either of these season ticket pages. Does such a thing exist?

I'd also consider mixing a season ticket with a PAYG Oyster if this
looked like a better option.

Sorry for the rambling length - hope it makes sense (which is more than
I can do of One's website!)

Cheers

dave

But the prices come out as follows:

(3)
Monthly Basic Season
Hertford East to Liv St
£224 (first month) then £194 thereafter

(4)
Monthly Basic Season + Travelcard Addon Zone 1
Hertford East to Liv St
£313.10 then £283.10

(5)
Monthly Basic Season + Travelcard Addon Zone 123456
Hertford East to Liv St
£389.20 then £359.20

Now, unless I'm missing something, (5) and (2) offer what looks like the
same ticket, but rather than being "a discounted price" it would appear
to be the best part of £80 dearer.

Likewise, (4) and (2) are virtually the same price, but the latter
includes Z123456 rather than just Z1.

Can anyone help me make sense of this?

There is a further complication, which is that to get to Covent Garden,
it's much quicker, easier and less stressy in rush hour to change at
Tottenham Hale than Liverpool Street, but this option is not offered by
either of these season ticket pages. Does such a thing exist?

I'd also consider mixing a season ticket with a PAYG Oyster if this
looked like a better option.

Sorry for the rambling length - hope it makes sense (which is more than
I can do of One's website!)

Cheers

dave

With the Season Direct tickets, you are paying twice for usage within
the zones. Ideally the ticket should be to a boundary zone station,
but I can't get the website to offer me any.

On Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:46:55 +0100, Dave Newt wrote:

Now, unless I'm missing something, (5) and (2) offer what looks like the
same ticket, but rather than being "a discounted price" it would appear
to be the best part of £80 dearer.

Likewise, (4) and (2) are virtually the same price, but the latter
includes Z123456 rather than just Z1.

Can anyone help me make sense of this?

I don't think you've made any mistakes; it appears the claim about the
price being "discounted" is simply false.

There is a further complication, which is that to get to Covent Garden,
it's much quicker, easier and less stressy in rush hour to change at
Tottenham Hale than Liverpool Street, but this option is not offered by
either of these season ticket pages. Does such a thing exist?

Option (2) is the cheapest ticket that would allow you to do this.

I'd also consider mixing a season ticket with a PAYG Oyster if this
looked like a better option.

Your options are (all prices are for 1 month and assume 22 working
days per month and return journey starting before 7pm):

Hertford Stns - London Terminals season £198.20
Liverpool St - Covent Garden PAYG 22 x 2 x £1.50 = £66
Total: £264.20, but this involves travelling via Liverpool St

Hertford Stns - Z1-6 Travelcard season £282.70

Hertford Stns - Tottenham Hale season £188.20
Tottenham Hale - Covent Garden PAYG 22 x 2 x £2.50 = £110
Totel: £298.20

Hertford Stns - Tottenham Hale season £188.20
Z1-3 Travelcard season £105.30
Totel: £293.50

Avoid Seasons Direct!

I was going to use it as I liked the idea of unlimited weekend travel
on One (my local railway is actually a Southern station in Zone 3) and
yes, it added a train pass and a travelcard together. I emailed them
but received no reply.

Billy.


On 3 Apr, 15:43, asdf wrote:
On Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:46:55 +0100, Dave Newt wrote:
Now, unless I'm missing something, (5) and (2) offer what looks like the
same ticket, but rather than being "a discounted price" it would appear
to be the best part of £80 dearer.

Likewise, (4) and (2) are virtually the same price, but the latter
includes Z123456 rather than just Z1.

Can anyone help me make sense of this?

I don't think you've made any mistakes; it appears the claim about the
price being "discounted" is simply false.

There is a further complication, which is that to get to Covent Garden,
it's much quicker, easier and less stressy in rush hour to change at
Tottenham Hale than Liverpool Street, but this option is not offered by
either of these season ticket pages. Does such a thing exist?

Option (2) is the cheapest ticket that would allow you to do this.

I'd also consider mixing a season ticket with a PAYG Oyster if this
looked like a better option.

Your options are (all prices are for 1 month and assume 22 working
days per month and return journey starting before 7pm):

Hertford Stns - London Terminals season £198.20
Liverpool St - Covent Garden PAYG 22 x 2 x £1.50 = £66
Total: £264.20, but this involves travelling via Liverpool St

Hertford Stns - Z1-6 Travelcard season £282.70

Hertford Stns - Tottenham Hale season £188.20
Tottenham Hale - Covent Garden PAYG 22 x 2 x £2.50 = £110
Totel: £298.20

Hertford Stns - Tottenham Hale season £188.20
Z1-3 Travelcard season £105.30
Totel: £293.50

asdf wrote:
On Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:46:55 +0100, Dave Newt wrote:

Now, unless I'm missing something, (5) and (2) offer what looks like the
same ticket, but rather than being "a discounted price" it would appear
to be the best part of £80 dearer.

Likewise, (4) and (2) are virtually the same price, but the latter
includes Z123456 rather than just Z1.

Can anyone help me make sense of this?

I don't think you've made any mistakes; it appears the claim about the
price being "discounted" is simply false.

[snip]

Sorry I've not been on for a couple of days to thank you for all this -
very helpful!

Dave Newt wrote:
asdf wrote:
On Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:46:55 +0100, Dave Newt wrote:

Now, unless I'm missing something, (5) and (2) offer what looks like
the same ticket, but rather than being "a discounted price" it would
appear to be the best part of £80 dearer.

Likewise, (4) and (2) are virtually the same price, but the latter
includes Z123456 rather than just Z1.

Can anyone help me make sense of this?

I don't think you've made any mistakes; it appears the claim about the
price being "discounted" is simply false.

[snip]

Sorry I've not been on for a couple of days to thank you for all this -
very helpful!

A followup question to this if I may (and if you're still watching):

1) Presumably if these allow unlimited London-Hertford journeys each
day, I presume it would cost exactly the same if the person lived in
London and worked in Hertford, i.e. same ticket and same price?

2) Assuming the answer to (1) is yes, could it be bought on Oyster at
the London end?

Thanks,

On Tue, 24 Apr 2007 22:12:15 +0100, Dave Newt wrote:

A followup question to this if I may (and if you're still watching):

1) Presumably if these allow unlimited London-Hertford journeys each
day, I presume it would cost exactly the same if the person lived in
London and worked in Hertford, i.e. same ticket and same price?

Yes. (Although a Standard Day Return from London to Hertford is
cheaper than one from Hertford to London.)

2) Assuming the answer to (1) is yes, could it be bought on Oyster at
the London end?

I've never seen this advertised, but Paul C informed us in a
recent(ish) post that the answer is yes - you should be able to buy
one at any LU ticket office.

On 25 Apr, 23:49, asdf wrote:
On Tue, 24 Apr 2007 22:12:15 +0100,DaveNewtwrote:
A followup question to this if I may (and if you're still watching):

1) Presumably if these allow unlimited London-Hertford journeys each
day, I presume it would cost exactly the same if the person lived in
London and worked in Hertford, i.e. same ticket and same price?

Yes.

Great, thanks.

(Although a Standard Day Return from London to Hertford is
cheaper than one from Hertford to London.)

Don't I know it! Likewise an oddity that Hertford East to Tottenham
Hale single is cheaper than Hertford East to [whichever station is
equivalent to Boundary Zone 3, sometimes I get Whitehart Lane,
sometimes they give me Northumberland Park - of course, now I don't
ask], whereas on the way out, BZ3 is definitely cheaper.

2) Assuming the answer to (1) is yes, could it be bought on Oyster at
the London end?

I've never seen this advertised, but Paul C informed us in a
recent(ish) post that the answer is yes - you should be able to buy
one at any LU ticket office.

Excellent, thank you. (Obviously, I'm thinking convenience and also
cheaper extensions, depending on exactly which ticket I go for.)

Thanks,

dave
(this post may look weird as I'm exceptinally using Google to post
this)