train travel with a senior rail card

sandraroffey

does anyone know please, what is the earliest i can leave my local station on the south coast, to get to london, using a senior rail card. i know there is time restrictions but i'm not sure if it works on the time i leave, or the time i get to london.

wealdroam

The Senior Railcard website explains this.

You can buy pretty much any ticket and get the discount.

When you are able to travel depends on the ticket that you buy.

In other words, if you buy an Anytime Ticket, you will get the railcard discount and you can travel at anytime*. If you buy an Off Peak ticket, you can only travel when that ticket is valid, but you still get the discount.

What is your local station?


*there are some exceptions.

sandraroffey

bognor regis. i am confused. because a couple of weeks ago when i went to my daughters in ipswich, via london victoria, i asked for my usual ticket of a monthly saver return and i was told that i couldnt use the card to leave at the time i wanted to - it was half past 8 in the morning - because for a monthly saver return with a senior card, i couldnt leave until after about half 9. i had to pay the full price or i would have missed my coach.

wealdroam

sandraroffey wrote: »

bognor regis. i am confused. because a couple of weeks ago when i went to my daughters in ipswich, via london victoria, i asked for my usual ticket of a monthly saver return and i was told that i couldnt use the card to leave at the time i wanted to - it was half past 8 in the morning - because for a monthly saver return with a senior card, i couldnt leave until after about half 9. i had to pay the full price or i would have missed my coach.

OK.

A Monthly Saver Return is now known as an Off Peak Return.
The first train in the morning to London that that ticket is valid on is the 09:30 departure from Bognor.
That is true whether the ticket is purchased with a railcard or not.

If you want to leave at 8am, you need an Anytime Return which will cost more [STRIKE]but you can still get the railcard discount[/STRIKE].

Just to add...
An Off Peak Return from Bognor to Ipswich costs £35.00 when purchased with a Senior Railcard (£53 without railcard).
The first train that this ticket is valid on is the 08:32 departure from Bognor.

sandraroffey

so if i want to go just on a day return to victoria, is it still the 8.32 i have to get?? nothing earlier??

wealdroam

sandraroffey wrote: »

so if i want to go just on a day return to victoria, is it still the 8.32 i have to get?? nothing earlier??

The first train that you can travel on to Victoria with an Off Peak Day Return is the 08:13 Bognor departure, via Brighton. But it only gets you to Victoria six minutes earlier than the 08:32.
Costs £17:35 with railcard if bought at the station.

Info from Southern Railway website.

sandraroffey

what a little sweetie you are. thank you so much. trying to get any sense out of the national rail enquiries line was just a pointless exercise..xxx london here i come!!!!

dzug1

wealdroam wrote: »

OK.


If you want to leave at 8am, you need an Anytime Return which will cost more but you can still get the railcard discount.

.

No you can't.

If your travel is in the former Network South East area you cannot travel at discounted rates in peak hours whatever the type of ticket you hold:

However, you won’t be able to enjoy a Railcard discount when travelling in the morning peak time Monday to Friday within London and the South East, including all South West Trains services to and from London Waterloo. The only exception to this rule is if you travel on Bank Holidays.
The times of morning off-peak services do vary by route, so it’s best to check with ticket office staff before buying your tickets.

Outside London - no problem. It's the London area (former Network South East) where this applies

My local station won't sell an anytime discounted ticket to London until off peak times.

wealdroam

dzug1 wrote: »

No you can't.

If your travel is in the former Network South East area you cannot travel at discounted rates in peak hours whatever the type of ticket you hold:

However, you won’t be able to enjoy a Railcard discount when travelling in the morning peak time Monday to Friday within London and the South East, including all South West Trains services to and from London Waterloo. The only exception to this rule is if you travel on Bank Holidays.
The times of morning off-peak services do vary by route, so it’s best to check with ticket office staff before buying your tickets.

Outside London - no problem. It's the London area (former Network South East) where this applies

My local station won't sell an anytime discounted ticket to London until off peak times.

Thanks Dzug.

I felt slightly uncomfortable writing that, and checked. But on the page I linked to earlier it does not mention that restriction. On a Senior Railcard official webpage entitled Tickets & travel times, I would expect to find that sort of info, wouldn't you?

I have now seen where your quote has come from... it's buried on a page entitled features.

I have now corrected my earlier post.

OP, sorry to have posted wrong information.
I hope it doesn't affect your daytrip in this instance.

This restriction will not affect any trip to Ipswich though.
Ipswich being outside the NSE area.

sandraroffey

no. my day out in london is safe. thank you all.xxx

The_Crunchy_Nutter

Just as an addendum, the former Network South East area (now known confusingly as the Network Railcard area, covers much more than just the 'London' area - it includes the likes of Worcester, Northampton, and even Exeter! But Wealdroam is right - Ipswich is (just) outside.

See this link for a map.