ScotRail "Tattie Holiday" Pass - "Non Transferable"

[BlueLeanie]

The T&Cs say this is "Non-transferable", now that the holidays are in full swing, can anyone clarify how many adults are listed on the ticket.

Eg are both parents one & two listed on the ticket?

Many families split the fortnight holiday required for childcare between them so aren't both off on the same day.

 

[Magdalia]

I'm an allotment gardener and I grow potatoes.

For a long while I've been interested in the Scottish "Tattie Holiday", but I hadn't heard of a Scotrail Tattie Holiday Pass. What is it? Is it something that Scotrail have only introduced this year or does it have history?

 

[Haywain]

I'm guessing it's a reference to the Scotrail Family Pass that is mentioned in the Special Offers thread. See post #5,945, down the page from the linked post.

Special Offers Discussion

I've recently noticed on PayPal you can select one category per month to get 3% cashback on purchases, one of which is ground transport. This works for Uber and is in addition to their own cashback for ticket purchases (10% for Uber One or 5% otherwise). They offer up to £15 cashback per month.

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[BlueLeanie]

I'm an allotment gardener and I grow potatoes.

For a long while I've been interested in the Scottish "Tattie Holiday", but I hadn't heard of a Scotrail Tattie Holiday Pass. What is it? Is it something that Scotrail have only introduced this year or does it have history?

Traditionally, in Scotland, the October "half term" is referred to as the "Tattie Howkin" (hawking, howking) holiday.

Children would head to the farms and be paid to dig potatoes or collect potatoes that were missed by the automated processes. It was muddy hard graft and happened right into the 1980s.

Scotrail are running a promotional family ticket for a period in October that coincides with the traditional Tattie Holiday for £50 for a week allowing unlimited off-peak travel on ScotRail services for 1-2 adults plus 1-4 children.

Most Scottish school areas have shortened the summer holiday by a week and extended the October break to a fortnight as long summer holidays are linked to malnutrition and deprivation. (Although some might wonder if kids are losing weight because they are outdoors and active).

 

[Magdalia]

Traditionally, in Scotland, the October "half term" is referred to as the "Tattie Howkin" (hawking, howking) holiday.

Children would head to the farms and be paid to dig potatoes or collect potatoes that were missed by the automated processes. It was muddy hard graft and happened right into the 1980s

I already knew about this bit. What is particularly important about the potato harvest in Scotland is that the commercial crop is mainly for seed not consumption. Up to the 1960s there was a lot of seasonal rail traffic bringing seed potatoes south from Scotland. The seed potatoes that I will buy in the garden centre next spring are probably being harvested in Scotland about now.

Most Scottish school areas have shortened the summer holiday by a week and extended the October break to a fortnight as long summer holidays are linked to malnutrition and deprivation. (Although some might wonder if kids are losing weight because they are outdoors and active).

Maybe they need to eat more potatoes!

 

[Red Onion]

Can this be used by a solo traveller? The t&c don’t seem to say no.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Can this be used by a solo traveller? The t&c don’t seem to say no.

There's a minimum group size of one Adult and one Child.

 

[Wallsendmag]

There's a minimum group size of one Adult and one Child.

Check it out on MTIS

 

[smsm1]

The T&Cs say this is "Non-transferable", now that the holidays are in full swing, can anyone clarify how many adults are listed on the ticket.

Eg are both parents one & two listed on the ticket?

Many families split the fortnight holiday required for childcare between them so aren't both off on the same day.

My reading of the terms and conditions is that you could name both parents and then only one of the adults needs to travel with at least one kid. Seems a great deal, a bargain if doing a longer journey even with one adult from the central belt to Aberdeen or Inverness, or even just 3 journeys across the central belt from Falkirk.

 

[CyrusWuff]

In practice, most staff don't bother completing the "Passenger Name" field when selling Rover tickets, so sharing it between two (or more) different Adults during the period of validity is likely to go undetected.

 

[smsm1]

I've bought two of these tickets now. One at a station and the other on board a train. Both times the title, first initial, and surname were added. Never had the name checked though. And can't see any staff complain if a partner uses it.

I hope ScotRail run this offer again in future school holidays, were doing two trips up north that we wouldn't have had this ticket not existed. Aberdeen staff said they've seen loads of them. Not so common in the central belt from what I've heard. Though suspect that may be linked to the higher cost up north, this one single trip can pay for it whilst in the central belt or takes multiple trips to make a saving.

 

[ScotTrains]

Children would head to the farms and be paid to dig potatoes or collect potatoes that were missed by the automated processes. It was muddy hard graft and happened right into the 1980s.

Kids were still doing them in the late 90s/ early 00s. I know, as I did them with my school friends! It was good money for a kid. In the summer months we'd do the berry picking too. Interestingly, it appears most people in big cities of Glasgow/Edinburgh only get 1 week off and don't call them the tattie hols.

Up to the 1960s there was a lot of seasonal rail traffic bringing seed potatoes south from Scotland. The seed potatoes that I will buy in the garden centre next spring are probably being harvested in Scotland about now.

In the late 2000s, 2008 I think, EWS ran a regular seed potato train from Elgin down to Ely. It consisted of a number of cargowaggons. 37422 was a regular on the flow.