MSE News: Two Together Railcard to cut train fares for couples and friends

socks_uk

Unfortunately, with us living in Grimsby, there aren't that many rail fares that work out cheaper (even with a third off) than me and my husband using the car and driving.

When I heard about the 'Two Together' railcard I got a bit excited that we could leave the car at home and avoid the 'silly drivers' on the motorway but the only route that seems to work out good for us is Grimsby - Sheffield (& Meadowhall) but I'm not sure how many times we could visit in a year before we felt we'd had enough and want to go somewhere new.

Oh well, the thought was there!

IM

Andyt1981 wrote: »

I bought one online on Tuesday and it arrived yesterday morning.

Is this a typical delivery time?

Reason I ask is that I'm about to buy tickets for a first journey in mid-July, and was wondering when to buy the actual card.

(I'm assuming you only need the card to travel - not to purchase the ticket)

wealdroam

IM wrote: »

I'm assuming you only need the card to travel - not to purchase the ticket.

Technically that is correct.

However, in practice you will probably have difficulty buying railcard discounted tickets from a ticket office without showing the railcard.

Buying online will be easiest, and can be done before you have the railcard.

IM

wealdroam wrote: »

Technically that is correct.

However, in practice you will probably have difficulty buying railcard discounted tickets from a ticket office without showing the railcard.

Buying online will be easiest, and can be done before you have the railcard.

And since I've just discovered that I can't buy online using Rail Travel Vouchers (from a previous claim after a delayed train) I'll have to go to my local station...

Don't know if I've ever bought a ticket from a ticket office....

Should I be able to get the same fare I'm finding on take the train.co.uk?

dzug1

IM wrote: »

Should I be able to get the same fare I'm finding on take the train.co.uk?

You should, yes

Kevinf

wealdroam wrote: »

Well one ticket will not be used... depending on value and ticket type, may be eligible for a refund, or partial refund, or no refund.

You will need to pay the one third that has already been discounted before using the other ticket.

We just booked tickets last week to travel and then my partner's ex father in law died and she is going to his funeral, so travelling a different route. You would think I could use the ticket to travel on my own, and pay any additional cost but no. We lose the £46 we paid for the two together discounted tickets AND I have to pay a full fare to buy another ticket for myself. This is all because my partner was tempted by the apparent convenience of an 'e-ticket' which is not refundable or changeable.
Spent 30 fruitless minutes on the phone to Cross Country Trains who basically were not in the least bit sympathetic and siad that the Terms & Conditions were made perfectly clear at the time of purchase!
I'm tempted to use the ticket anyway and tell the conductor that I'm happy to pay the difference between the two prices (there isn't one).

Kevinf

Wow, the power of Twitter! Got a response to a tweet about this from Cross Country within a few minutes and a replacement ticket to travel within the hour.

cprgirl

wealdroam wrote: »

Well one ticket will not be used... depending on value and ticket type, may be eligible for a refund, or partial refund, or no refund.

You will need to pay the one third that has already been discounted before using the other ticket.

I can answer this from direct and bitter experience. I booked tickets on line with twotogether railcard (EastCoast website). Husband can no longer make the trip. Railcard helpline say I can't travel alone - I'll have to pay a penalty fare if I travel by myself without sorting out my ticket. Train station can't help, because I booked online. EastCoast website won't allow me to split booking (or rather, it will, but still shows the railcard price and the twotogether railcard against my ticket. And the EastCoast phoneline, after first person tells me to just travel ("how will they know your husband isn't in the toilet?"), next lady I speak to tells me that they can't amend the booking, so I'll have to buy a new ticket. So, I've paid £30 for a railcard I can't use and £100 for two tickets I can't use and £65 for my new ticket. I've put back the travel date for the outbound journey, another £20, so we can go back to Glasgow another weekend. But now can't book the inbound journey because advanced tickets aren't yet available for the weekend that I've booked the outbound journey...a choice of losing the £80 I already paid, or paying £87. I only hope they become available in the next three days, otherwise the whole £200 is down the drain.

yorkie2

cprgirl - I knew this would happen to people! This railcard is a bit of a con; an illness affecting one passenger makes the other passenger invalid through no fault of their own. It's a ridiculous Railcard with very anti-passenger T&Cs. I advise people to both boycott it and write to their MPs expressing dismay at the awful T&Cs, making it an unusable railcard for many people.

However if you visit a competent ticket office, they can remove the Railcard discount from your ticket, by issuing an excess fare, which will cost you the difference between the fare paid and the non-discounted rate. East Coast ticket offices tend to be good at this. Where is your local station?

datlex

I have a two together card with my OH. It has already saved us more than it cost. Well worth getting. I don't live in the south east nor do I fall into the categories for any other cards. Also if you check the website it has offers on other services.