september sorrows

Whoa! Is it September already?

September brings forth anticipation: start of school, shorter days, and amber-coloured leaves. That said, I love Indian summers (hopefully!), apple-baked goods, and corduroy jackets associated with this month.

Yesterday, I discovered that September also means a change in train ticket fares and by that, I mean a change for the worse.

With my Young Persons Railcard (it's not my age that qualifies me as a 'young person' but rather my student status), my train ticket to Sheffield normally would cost £9.75 and during the summer, the kind train company offered a stellar summertime rate of £9.65. (I realize that is expensive but I live in the UK; let me continue with the story...)

When I wanted to purchase my ticket online yesterday, the class of ticket I would normally purchase was not available anymore. Instead, a ticket for use before 9 am was £14.60. Arghhh! A rise of nearly £5.

So I ended up working from home today and ran to the train station after lunch to confront them regarding their fares. [Aside: You may wonder why I didn't just pick up the phone to call and ask. The thing is that we get charged a daytime rate to call anywhere within the country and some business -- including the train companies -- have a special phone number which costs extra.] But after 10 minutes of arguing the fact that I used to purchase a significantly lower fare with the ticket agent, I accepted defeat.

Then I remembered a wise friend once mentioned that when he used to travel to London, he would purchase a ticket to Southampton instead. Even though it was 80 miles away from the nation's capital, the ticket was, surprisingly, cheaper.

So with my fingers doing the walking (on the keyboard), I found that a saver return ticket to Barnsley (22 miles north of Sheffield) would cost £10.70. Alternatively, I can travel after 9 am for £8.

If I am able to figure out the rationale for the train companies' pricing of fares before I move back to Canada, I think that would qualify as success.