rail ticket +family railcard

skate1966

This may sound like a stupid question , but I have noticed that on many rail fares it is actually cheaper for me to buy a ticket for me and my son with my family railcard than for me just to buy a ticekt for me at standard price.

now I was wondering if i purchase the tickets for us both do you think he would actually have to travel with me ?

I cant see a problem in principle as i will have a ticket for myself and my son its just that he wouldnt physically be on the train !!

if anyone has tried this or know if it is allowed can you let me know please

thanks very much

dzug

He has to travel with you for you to get the reduced fare.

skate1966

so if i purchased the ticket in advance and he couldnt make it , what would I do then ? it is so weird cheaper for us both to travel than just me !!!

skate1966

Does anyone have any more info on my question ? has anyone tried this ?

alanrowell

Dzug gave you the answer, so there's nothing more to add

skate1966

Oh i can appreciate dzug gave me an answer but the whole point of a forum is to get more than one opinion surely !

Just because dzug gave me that answer doesnt mean to say various other people couldnt give me a different take on it i just wanted a balanced opinion !!

Surely that is the point of a discussion forum or am i missing the point somewhere ???

sockospice

http://www.family-railcard.co.uk/terms-and-conditions

To enable discounted tickets to be used the minimum group is one child and one named Railcard holder.

The only way around it is to hope that the person checking tickets isn't that bothered that there are no children with you. However, given that by rights if you are travelling with a discount to which you are not entitled, you may be asked to buy a new ticket for the journey you're making, it's quite a gamble and may end up costing you more in the long run.

TheImportanceOfBeingIdle

Here's your answer.

The family railcard entitles the holder to a discount. One of the conditions is that there must be a minimum of 1 adult and 1 child travelling. Simple as.

If you purchased tickets and your son could not travel then you would have to get a refund for your sons ticket and pay the difference for the ticket you have.

You don't get a discount on all the advanced fares with a family railcard. Same goes for any other railcard and advanced tickets.

If you boarded a train with a ticket that you had purchased with a discount then you'll either be charged the difference by the guard on the train or the guard will give you a fine for not travelling with a valid ticket. Alternatively, he could ask you to get off at the next stop and buy a valid ticket.

Voyager2002

skate1966 wrote: »

so if i purchased the ticket in advance and he couldnt make it , what would I do then ? it is so weird cheaper for us both to travel than just me !!!

In that situation your tickets would be invalid (unless you could 'borrow' a child from someone else) and so you would need to buy a new ticket.

I have been in this kind of situation, except that my son was in another carriage on the train. The ticket collector was polite but made absolutely sure that I did have a child with me.

And no, I don't find this weird in the slightest. When I am travelling without a child I am likely to be on business, and so I (or my employer) have to pay the fare that is required. When I am travelling with a child I am likely to be travelling for fun, and so if the fare were really high I might be deterred from travelling.