Trains and open returns

[Ohmylovejune]

I live in Cornwall and need to take a trip that goes like this....

Cornwall....London Paddington....London Euston....Milton Keynes.

Going there is fine but coming home I will be leaving quite late and the time I leave needs to be flexible. So I'm thinking of travelling back to London because there's loads of trains and then booking a room in London for the night before coming back to Cornwall the day after.

Is that allowed with an open return?

Last time I used an open return the guard wrote the date on it as he punched it, when checking to keys. Answer is probably no but would depend if the stations are barrier less and whether the tickets are checked in the train

An open return should be valid for a month.
Go online (Trainline) and put your outward journey then select open return for the return journey and it should show you the rules / T&Cs.

@Ohmylovejune do you mean using the return ticket over 2 days?
If so - no you can’t. The return ticket is valid for 30 days but can only be used once.
You might be better buying 2 tickets Cornwall-Paddington open return and then separate Euston to MK open return.
That way you can return from MK on that ticket, stay overnight in London, then Return to Cornwall on the other ticket.

Great thanks.

I just think this way I won't have to worry about making it in time for a return train.

Really helpful

is everyone sure about this? Check the Ts and Cs, as I have definitely split the return journey in the past.

Look to see if 'break of journey' is allowed. I know it used to be!

There isn't actually a ticket called an 'open return', that's a category of tickets, so whether you can break your journey depends on the specific ticket type you are buying. But yes, on some of the 'open return' type tickets you CAN break your journey, including travelling on different days on the return portion of the journey (it's only on an 'advance ticket' that you cannot break your journey at all).

However, you might find that buying separate tickets for the two parts of the journey (Cornwall - London, London - Milton Keynes) could work out cheaper, though that would mean you wouldn't get the cross London portion covered in the ticket price.

Some operators allow break of journey on the return portion (including overnight), eg LNER or whatever it's called now, but I don't know if that's only if the whole journey is with the same operator, which it won't be in your case.

Ahh no. Mine will be GWR for the home run.

I'll do it separately. Or maybe just stay an extra night in MK.

Many thanks for your help

@Ohmylovejune it would probably be cheaper to stay overnight in MK (if you are staying in a hotel) rather than London.
I’d do that option personally.

Yeah it's looking like that is most sensible.

Originally I was full of fab ideas about a night in London but, realistically, I can't book anything like a show because of my unknown timings. Shopping is probably out as I'll have baggage.

It'll end up just being an expensive stop over.

TodayTix is fab for last min shows - amazing bargains on rush tickets