Is my domestic train component of a Rail&Sail ticket valid if I ignore the ferry?
An Anytime Return London to Glasgow costs £365. The same route in Off-Peak costs £137.60.
An Anytime Rail&Sail Return London to Belfast via Cairnyran costs £108.
Rail travel from London to Cairnyran takes one through Glasgow, among other places.
Is the train ticket to and from Glasgow valid if I don't take the ferry?
There's not a lot they can do; they might figure out that I never appeared for the ferry and blacklist me, but that would be after the fact. The difference in price is very large and even the Anytime Rail&Sail is cheaper than the Off-Peak return, so for any train that can timetable-wise connect to or from a ferry, it should work. Similar tickets exist via Liverpool or Holyhead to Belfast or Dublin. The only additional restriction appears to be that the Rail&Sail ticket does not permit a break of journey, but that is a relatively minor restriction for most travellers.
(The advantage disappears for Advance travel.)
Best Answer
In theory, no:
Break of journey is not permitted except to change trains
Finishing your journey short at least used to count as break of journey (not sure this is still the case any more, I think it's ambiguous since the transition from Conditions of Carriage to Conditions of Travel. Reading the section in question I certainly get very confused as to whether finishing short is supposed to count as a break of journey or not. I get the impression that MAYBE they wanted to cover starting late as BoJ but not finishing short, which would mean you could only use it in one direction).
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