Family & Friends Railcard loophole

themann

A group of me and our French exchange students are going to London from Bath Spa this weekend. I have managed to make it affordable by using this method. There is 6 of us in total, 3 of us adult fares, the frenchman 3 child fares. Surely it is within the rules to use family and friends even though it is only 1 year either side of the boundary. We are 16 and they are 15.

Any Advice?

Shazanddan

Try to see if you qualify for a groupsave ticket which may reduce the cost.

We have friends & family railcard & found the Groupsave offered a much better discount.

Google National rail group discounts or Groupsave or cheap train tickets

wealdroam

You are not very clear, but an F&F Railcard can be used for a party of up to four adults together with up to four children.
There must be at least one child in the party.

For further information, read this.

thelawnet

Groupsave is probably cheaper anyway.

themann

To clear up there is : 3 Adults (16 years old), 3 children (15 years old).. within rules I think, just the fact we all look like teenagers might make the RPI suspicious.

themann

thelawnet wrote: »

Groupsave is probably cheaper anyway.

Just checked and Groupsave is about the same price but only found it applied online on FGW website, not trainline, do trainline or other websites like that not do groupsave?

thelawnet

thetrainline is the worst place to buy tickets from, don't ever use it unless they pay you.

You can search train times and link to buy tickets from https://www.networkrail.co.uk

Shazanddan

We bought the Groupsave Tickets at the station, or on the train.

We checked at the station & they confirmed this was the cheapest way to travel as a group.

4 Adults & 1 Child was £35ish return from Hemel Hempsted to London, including the London travelcard for underground & buses.

We spoke to a family who paid nearly £30 more than us, as they were unaware of the Groupsave scheme

thelawnet

It depends on the number of people in your group.

For a typical 2 adult + 2 child family, groupsave will save 33%, but a F+F railcard will save 44%. Where the group consists of 4 adults, as yours did, groupsave will be cheaper.

dzug1

themann wrote: »

Just checked and Groupsave is about the same price but only found it applied online on FGW website, not trainline, do trainline or other websites like that not do groupsave?

So why not buy it from FGW? It will be the same price wherever you buy it

Some sites apply Groupsave automatically - others expect you to enter it in the railcard option

just the fact we all look like teenagers might make the RPI suspicious

You'll have that problem whatever tickets you buy. Easily resolved - the French will have their passports or ID cards proving their age

I assume you've factored in the price of the railcard? Two of you will have to be registered users of it

Oh and it's not a loophole - it's a feature

securityguy

themann wrote: »

A group of me and our French exchange students are going to London from Bath Spa this weekend. I have managed to make it affordable by using this method. There is 6 of us in total, 3 of us adult fares, the frenchman 3 child fares. Surely it is within the rules to use family and friends even though it is only 1 year either side of the boundary. We are 16 and they are 15.

Any Advice?

Yep, that's fine. It's exactly how it's meant to work.

Now my elder daughter is sixteen, I'm pondering putting her as the other name on our F&F, rather than my wife, so that when she travels with our younger daughter they can get the F&F discount, rather than buying one child ticket and one 16--25 ticket. This is perfectly legitimate.