F&F Railcard question

cherylelizabeth1

Hi,
I am going from Chelmsford to Stratford tomorrow with my 2 boys and baby. I will be dropping the boys off with their father and returning home with my baby.
Can i use my railcard to buy our tickets (12.80 return) or not? If I buy singles it will cost me over £20 even if I use the railcard on the out journey.
Have a feeling I can't but I want to, its so much cheaper!!
Thanks

wealdroam

cherylelizabeth1 wrote: »

Hi,
I am going from Chelmsford to Stratford tomorrow with my 2 boys and baby. I will be dropping the boys off with their father and returning home with my baby.
Can i use my railcard to buy our tickets (12.80 return) or not? If I buy singles it will cost me over £20 even if I use the railcard on the out journey.
Have a feeling I can't but I want to, its so much cheaper!!
Thanks

Yes, you can use your railcard.
Buy return tickets for one adult and one child, and a single ticket for the outward leg for your second child, with your railcard.
On the outward journey your baby travels free.
On the return leg your baby will use the return half of the child return ticket you bought.

You need to do it this way because with a F&F railcard there must always be a paying child traveling.

moonrakerz

From the Railcard website:

"You’re eligible to buy a Family & Friends Railcard if you travel with a child who is five to 15 years old. The good news is that up to four adults and four kids can travel on one Railcard – and they don’t even need to be related.

Any two adults can be named Railcard holders.

All kids under five travel free - and each adult may take up to two 'under fives' with them. However, if the only child in the group is under five, you'll need to purchase a discounted child ticket to qualify for the adult Railcard discount. All child fares are subject to a £1 minimum fare."

cherylelizabeth1

Excellent thanks, bought my single child ticket with my red spotted hanky voucher so will only need to pay £10 at station tomorrow, much better!

IanD

wealdroam wrote: »

Yes, you can use your railcard.
Buy return tickets for one adult and one child, and a single ticket for the outward leg for your second child, with your railcard.
On the outward journey your baby travels free.
On the return leg your baby will use the return half of the child return ticket you bought.

You need to do it this way because with a F&F railcard there must always be a paying child traveling.

That would cost £16 - £10.45 for the railcard tickets and £5.55 for the child single ticket.

It would have been simpler and cheaper to buy 1 adult and 2 child tickets with the railcard and simply discard the return half of the second child ticket. That would still have cost £12.80 and the respottedhanky voucher could still have been used.

wealdroam

IanD wrote: »

That would cost £16 - £10.45 for the railcard tickets and £5.55 for the child single ticket.

It would have been simpler and cheaper to buy 1 adult and 2 child tickets with the railcard and simply discard the return half of the second child ticket. That would still have cost £12.80 and the respottedhanky voucher could still have been used.

Well I make it...

£10.45 Off Peak Return for one adult and one child with F&F railcard (as you say).

A child Off Peak Single ticket is £5.55 without a railcard, but if bought with the railcard, as suggested, that price drops by 60% to £2.20 (or maybe £2.25, depending on rounding).

That brings the total to £12.65 (or £12.70).

I agree with your Redspottedhanky point, but we didn't know about that at the time.

IanD

wealdroam wrote: »

Well I make it...

£10.45 Off Peak Return for one adult and one child with F&F railcard (as you say).

A child Off Peak Single ticket is £5.55 without a railcard, but if bought with the railcard, as suggested, that price drops by 60% to £2.20 (or maybe £2.25, depending on rounding).

That brings the total to £12.65 (or £12.70).

I agree with your Redspottedhanky point, but we didn't know about that at the time.

If you can buy a single ticket with the railcard without purchasing a corresponding adult single ticket then that would be ideal. You certainly can't do that on-line and I'm not too sure they'd let you at the ticket office either.

wealdroam

IanD wrote: »

If you can buy a single ticket with the railcard without purchasing a corresponding adult single ticket then that would be ideal.

Yes you can.
Its the ticket seller's job to sell you the ticket you ask for.
He can also explain the restrictions, but he is not allowed to refuse to sell the ticket.

It is when the ticket is used that the restrictions are if force, and if there is one adult and one or more children with F&F railcard discounted tickets and an F&F railcard at that time then there is no problem.

However, tickets are not transferable.
So an older child using one half of a return and the baby using the other half is definitely not allowed.
Just how that rule breaking would be discovered in this situation is not clear to me.

Quentin

IanD wrote: »

If you can buy a single ticket with the railcard without purchasing a corresponding adult single ticket then that would be ideal. You certainly can't do that on-line and I'm not too sure they'd let you at the ticket office either.

You "can't do it online" is down to the way the software works (if you use a FF card online, then each purchase needs to have an adult and a child ticket bought together.

But it isn't against the "rules" for one child in the party to just have a FF single! Just cannot be bought online.

The rules say everyone in the party must have a valid ticket, not an identical type.