On Aug 10, 1:34*pm, "Peter Masson" wrote:

"John C" wrote:

I'm curious to know what happens when the ticket inspector turns up? Is
he/she allowed to excess someone with a ticket for less than £13?

In the past I've had a Southeastern ticket machine, and a Southeastern
ticket office, both failing to apply the GBP 13 (or earlier GBP 10) minimum.
I've also had a Southeastern conductor querying a cheaper ticket bought with
a Network Card on a Saturday (when the minimum doesn't apply). He didn't
press the point when I asserted that I was correct and he was not, and a
subsequent email to Southeastern elicited a response that indicated that
that conductor would receive advice/extra training.

One scenario that's crossed my mind before is buying a sub-£13 Network
Railcard discounted period return ticket on a Saturday, then extending
one's stay wherever it is and trying to use the return portion on a
Monday.

However having just thought about it, I don't think there are any
period return tickets (as opposed to day return) in the south east
that are cheap enough for the railcard-discount of a third to result
in the fare coming in below £13.

As a complete aside, playing around with a booking engine I see that
Southeastern is offering a new type of ticket that I hadn't noticed
before - the "SE Weekender", which is priced at just a little above
the Off-Peak Day Return fare. Plus one can travel out on a Friday as
well as a Saturday, and hence can return on Saturday or Sunday (n.b.
any travel on a Friday has to be at off-peak times).

This is a welcome innovation (shades of the Network Awaybreak
perhaps), and can work out a fair bit cheaper than buying the relevant
Off-Peak period Return fare - however I note that the SE Weekender is
also available for many shorter journeys where there's no period
return fares available (e.g. it's even available between Dartford and
London, though not Dartford and Margate - the potential for misuse, or
rather undetected re-use, on journeys such as the latter is presumably
considered greater).