But that again would have been a mistake. At £29.10, I would have overpaid the German taxpayer, who ultimately owns Chiltern Railways.
Had I gone online, I could have saved myself 10%, paying £26.10 for the same journey. But that too would have been a mistake, because I was travelling with someone who had a Network Railcard and therefore could buy me a ticket for just £24 so long as we travelled together.
I say ‘a’ ticket. The catch was that the Network Railcard was valid only to King’s Sutton, a few stops up the line. So we were travelling there with a Railcard discount, then on a full fare to Birmingham – although these ‘split’ tickets were valid only on trains that called at King’s Sutton.
Confused? I was – and I would have paid 20% more than I’d needed to if somebody else hadn’t known better.
If you’ve regularly used trains for as long as I’ve been driving to nowhere via somewhere, I’m sure you’ve got the hang of it. But should one have to?
If I drive now to Edinburgh, say, all I have to think about is how long it will take me to get there. It will cost me the same amount as if I’d have thought about it three months ago.