Been refused everything- now what?

epm-84

calcotti said:

We seem to have moved a long way from helping OP with their query!

Agreed, although the OP deleted her account after people started questioning whether actually she needs the financial assistance she doesn't qualify for, if she's got a £65k household income.

Aranyani

epm-84 said:

Aranyani said:

epm-84 said:

Aranyani said:

calcotti said:

Jeremy535897 said:

calcotti said:

TheShape said:

calcotti said:

epm-84 said: Not sure bus passes and eye tests have a legitimate reason, as they don't necessarily correspond with the age you can claim a state pension from. 

In England bus passes are not available until pension age. Rules in other parts of UK differ.

You can get a 60+ Oyster card in London from age 60 which allows: 

• Free travel on bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, TfL Rail (excluding between West Drayton and Reading) and most National Rail services in London

.  https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/60-plus-oyster-photocard

I forgot that London too is different (not being a Londoner).

Senior railcards offering a discount are offered nationally at age 60.

Railcards are rather different - after all there are also 2for1 cards, young person and family and friend cards.

Yes the only people who don’t benefit from a railcard are single adults aged 30-60 I believe. 

Not exactly.

Mature students can get a 16-25 railcard regardless of their age. The new name (previously Young Persons) is confusing as:
a) Mature students qualify
b) The age limit is based on the date of purchase, it doesn't expire on your 26th birthday it continues to be valid until the expiry date.

ANY adult travelling with children is eligible for a Friends & Family railcard, hence the 'Friends' bit in the name which is perhaps also confusing as it's not suitable for a group of adult friends who regularly travel together but is valid for a single person travelling with a friend and their children.

Two Together doesn't have to mean a couple, two friends who regularly travel together qualify.

Ok then, so the only people who don't automatically benefit are single adults without children. 

The two together isn't officially just for couples, but realistically how many single people have another person in their life that they take a lot of train journeys with?  Maybe a housemate with the same commute, but that's pretty rare.  We both know they are for couples really.

Railcards have minimum fares of £12 in the morning peak e.g. if the normal ticket price is £8 you don't get a railcard discount and if the normal ticket price is £12.50 then it's only reduced by 50p by having the railcard, so railcards aren't appropriate for most people at peak times.

If you live say 20-30 miles from a big city like Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool etc. under normal circumstances you might go for a night out in to the city once or twice a month and go with the same people each time, so if you pay £15 for 2 tickets instead of £20 you'd save the cost of the Two Together railcard after a few months so even if one of your mates stops going out as often you're unlikely to lose out.

Adult friends don't generally live right by the same station though!  And in Northern cities like Liverpool and Manchester the trains don't go to every suburb and stop early. 

Just admit, single child free adults aged 30-60 don't have a railcard aimed at them, unlike any other group. 

epm-84

Aranyani said:

epm-84 said:

Aranyani said:

epm-84 said:

Aranyani said:

calcotti said:

Jeremy535897 said:

calcotti said:

TheShape said:

calcotti said:

epm-84 said: Not sure bus passes and eye tests have a legitimate reason, as they don't necessarily correspond with the age you can claim a state pension from. 

In England bus passes are not available until pension age. Rules in other parts of UK differ.

You can get a 60+ Oyster card in London from age 60 which allows: 

• Free travel on bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, TfL Rail (excluding between West Drayton and Reading) and most National Rail services in London

.  https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/60-plus-oyster-photocard

I forgot that London too is different (not being a Londoner).

Senior railcards offering a discount are offered nationally at age 60.

Railcards are rather different - after all there are also 2for1 cards, young person and family and friend cards.

Yes the only people who don’t benefit from a railcard are single adults aged 30-60 I believe. 

Not exactly.

Mature students can get a 16-25 railcard regardless of their age. The new name (previously Young Persons) is confusing as:
a) Mature students qualify
b) The age limit is based on the date of purchase, it doesn't expire on your 26th birthday it continues to be valid until the expiry date.

ANY adult travelling with children is eligible for a Friends & Family railcard, hence the 'Friends' bit in the name which is perhaps also confusing as it's not suitable for a group of adult friends who regularly travel together but is valid for a single person travelling with a friend and their children.

Two Together doesn't have to mean a couple, two friends who regularly travel together qualify.

Ok then, so the only people who don't automatically benefit are single adults without children. 

The two together isn't officially just for couples, but realistically how many single people have another person in their life that they take a lot of train journeys with?  Maybe a housemate with the same commute, but that's pretty rare.  We both know they are for couples really.

Railcards have minimum fares of £12 in the morning peak e.g. if the normal ticket price is £8 you don't get a railcard discount and if the normal ticket price is £12.50 then it's only reduced by 50p by having the railcard, so railcards aren't appropriate for most people at peak times.

If you live say 20-30 miles from a big city like Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool etc. under normal circumstances you might go for a night out in to the city once or twice a month and go with the same people each time, so if you pay £15 for 2 tickets instead of £20 you'd save the cost of the Two Together railcard after a few months so even if one of your mates stops going out as often you're unlikely to lose out.

Adult friends don't generally live right by the same station though!  And in Northern cities like Liverpool and Manchester the trains don't go to every suburb and stop early. 

Just admit, single child free adults aged 30-60 don't have a railcard aimed at them, unlike any other group. 

So even if you're in a house/flat share and go out with the people you live with you think they'll board at different stations - OK then!  

I'm not sure what you're trying to get at by trains stopping early.  A single is often 80 or 90% of the cost of an off-peak return meaning a railcard discount can still be beneficial.  Also I was talking about people who live further out from the city where stations can be a few miles apart, opposed to closer to the city where there's a station every half mile, so the chance of none of your friends boarding at the same station as yourself is reduced.  Obviously if you think about people closer to the city then the saving is reduced and the benefit of a railcard is reduced unless you travel more frequently.  OK I agree about not every area being served by a station but if you live in a village 3 miles from the station it'll be much cheaper to get a taxi for those 3 miles than to get a taxi for 30 miles to a city centre.

There's lot of groups which will find there's no railcard suitable for them, what I don't agree with and I'm not going to agree with however much you argue is that the only people who don't have a railcard aimed at them are single adults 30-60.  For instance, what about a household with one child where the mum takes the child on the train while the dad is using the only car the household has for work purposes?  Or what about a family who travel together but one of the children is 16 meaning for rail ticket purposes they have 3 adults and 1 child?

It's also possible some people are eligible for a few different railcards.  For instance, a 25 year old disabled person who is married with 2 children might be able to make use of a disabled railcard, a 16-25 railcard, a Friends & Family railcard or a Two Together.  Although, whether they would all be suitable would depend on their circumstances.