Young Persons Railcard Loophole?

waster_2

Domipheus wrote:

Hey, I need some info on something I have heard from a work mate. It could save me quite a bit - hence the query.

The young persons railcard, as per the Terms and Conditions, cannot be used for certain types of ticket - the ones mostly used to travel at commute times (standard day return etc). For these types of ticket it states a minimum fayre of £16 applies. So, if you were to buy a ticket at £18 hoping to get 1/3 off it, instead you would pay £16.

However, my friend has been getting really cheap tickets for the past year using a totally different method.

He makes sure his ticket is just above £16, usually by asking for a ticket to the station just after his destination. Then, because the ticket is greater than £16, he gets a full 1/3 discount meaning his ticket could be as low as £10.70.

This is a huge saving for me, as i'm paying £276 for a season ticket and i think I could save £70 a month using the method described above (by not travelling weekends, etc). As I am just out of uni, this can go right into paying off my credit card etc which would be fantastic.

Does anyone have any information on this?

So you are saying that your friend only pays £10.70 as the full rate for his ticket is over £16.00 and he gets the full one third discount?

But you say your ticket which costs £18.00 is capped at a minimum of £16.00, the lowest cost for a discounted ticket.

I may be well thick, but why does he get his ticket for £10.70 which is below the £16.00 minimum price limit? And if he does, why is your ticket then capped at the £16.00 minimum discount price, but his allowed to be sold at £10.70 when they are both above the £16.00 threshold for the discount to apply in the first instance?

Or, is it that your friend's ticket is one of those that falls in to the £8.00 minimum level, whilst your ticket falls in the £16.00 minimum level? In which case you are comparing apples with pears.

Domipheus wrote:

This is exactly my point! The terms and conditions say exactly what you have just said, yet if you go into a station and ask for a young persons return to XX, even at peak times, as long as the price without the discount is greater than £16 you WILL get a third off.

I think im going to try this when my season ticket is up for renewal.

But why do you think this will apply to “wherever”, when you do not enjoy that benefit at the moment? Surely it is more likely to be that the ticket office staff are “cocking up” the tickets and the prices of the tickets they are selling to your friend? And, you are unfortunatley buying tickets from a ticket office that know the T&C's, whilst your friend is getting his tickets from somewhere that is not too clued up?

Your problem could be if you travel and on the train a bright ticket inspector/train manager sees your ticket does not comply with the T&C's you may end up paying the full single fare on top of what you've already paid. Your gamble?

budgetflyer

exept on 2nd Wednesday of any month with a J in it when the triple saver super apex will apply to all journeys before midday so you would be better off asking for double standard regular offpeak,unless you have 2 under 5s with you in which case provided you are a single parent you qet an extra 20% off
with a offpeak family discount card. (excludes Alton Towers)

Domipheus

Alfie_E wrote:

Just in the same way that a longer journey can make it eligible for an off-peak fare, your friend was asking for a longer journey to make it eligible for the rail-card discount. The rules don’t allow you to buy a ticket for a specific journey, just to get it at a reduced price, when you have no intention of making that journey in full. Although, I wasn’t suggesting you wouldn’t get away with doing so.

As I said, he did it not to become eligible for an off peak fare, but so that his ticket would cost more than £16 so that he could use the trick he has been using successfully for the past year. The rail prices went up early june, so he no longer needs to do this.

waster:

He uses the same line as me, so it isnt anything about train prices. I can see your just as confused as me, but he HAS been doing this successfully for the past year: getting through automatic ticket barriers, having his ticket checked when getting off the train, having his ticket checked on the train (First Scotrail are now checking several timer per journey) - and he has bought his ticket from multiple stations and all give him the discount.

I'm posting here for more information, I already know that it works - ive seen some of his tickets. Just wanted to know if this was a well known tip...

Altarf

If it does work, it shouldn't as the T&Cs are quite explicit:

From http://www.youngpersons-railcard.co.uk/terms_conditions.htm

Minimum fares / Time restrictions
Travelling before 10am minimum fares:
This applies to all tickets except the Off-Peak Day Travelcard (All Zones only) which has separate minimum fare conditions. On or before 10am Monday to Friday (except Public Holidays and during July and August) there is a minimum fare that applies to all purchases with a Young Persons Railcard. This is either £8.00 or £16.00 depending on the type of ticket being purchased. Most will be £8.00, but the following ticket types have a minimum fare of £16.00: Standard Day Returns, Standard Open Returns, European Open Returns.

For example: If an undiscounted Single ticket costs £8.50 and the normal 1/3 discount makes the fare £5.60, you will have to pay the minimum fare of £8.00.

If an undiscounted Standard Open Return costs £27.00, then you will get the full 1/3 discount as the discounted fare of £17.80 is higher than the £16.00 minimum fare.

And just having tried it with a route where a standard day return is £16.20 and a off peak day return is over £12, they would charge £16 and £8 with a young persons rail card.

So it looks like your friend is being lucky at the moment, but it may not last forever.

As for the posts earlier about whether you can get off the train early, it all depends on the type of ticket you have. Some you can get off early and some you cannot.

Domipheus

Hey guys: An update!

My season ticket ran out today so decided to give this a try, and it works! It was inspected 3 times, every one saying it was ok; used through automatic ticket barriers ok; and bought at a ticket stall (though, the ticket machines also have it working - as i tried that also).

So go forth for cheaper rail. My £17.50 ticket now costs me £11.70. It is cheaper than my season ticket by around £20, and if you take a few days off a month then your already saving quite a bit.

:j