gold card benefits

[ess]

What are the extra benefits of having a gold card with different TOCs? Also, any good extras that are no longer available from old TOCs?

For example, the only info I can find on first great western's website says...

Annual Gold Card Season Ticket
Most Annual Season Tickets can be issued as an Annual Gold Card Season Ticket if you buy your ticket from stations within the London and South East area. This gives you additional travel benefits. For more details and conditions call 08457 48 49 50.

(Something tells me national rail enquiries won't be too helpful with that question)

 

[First class]

Quite a lot of information can be found here:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/season_tickets/goldcard.html

Full Terms and Conditions can be found in this PDF document.

 

[yorkie]

First class, did you read ess' question? It is not answered on the National Rail site, nor would I expect it to be.

ess, the only one I am aware of is 6 free travel vouchers for use on weekendswith South West Trains (details available from SWT and previously posted here) but the Season must include validity on SWT, of course.

 

[Mojo]

ess, the only one I am aware of is 6 free travel vouchers for use on weekendswith South West Trains (details available from SWT and previously posted here) but the Season must include validity on SWT, of course.

If you buy a monthly or longer (so not just Gold cards, but also including Gold cards) season with Chiltern Railways from any Chiltern Railways station you get free weekend travel across their network.

http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/tickets-and-fares/season-tickets/new-customers/#special benefits

I saw a leaflet which says you also get the same benefit if you buy your London in-boundary Travelcard on Oyster from them at Marylebone.

 

[91101]

Wasnt there some werid Ranger ticket that you could buy if you were a Gold Card holder on any of the former LondonLines TOCs which gave you unlimited travel on ALL LondonLines routes at the weekend?

(LondonLines at its height being C2C, WAGN, Silverlink and GEX)

 

[yorkie]

Wasnt there some werid Ranger ticket that you could buy if you were a Gold Card holder on any of the former LondonLines TOCs which gave you unlimited travel on ALL LondonLines routes at the weekend?

(LondonLines at its height being C2C, WAGN, Silverlink and GEX)

Ah yes, the Weekend Ranger. I believe it was used for unlimited travel, yes.

 

[Oracle]

May I ask here then if the 'Ticket to Ryde' gives you the SWT free tickets or is that scotched now as Islandline is not part of SWT per se?

 

[MikeWh]

May I ask here then if the 'Ticket to Ryde' gives you the SWT free tickets or is that scotched now as Islandline is not part of SWT per se?

I'll try again. The Island Line and SWT websites are very closely linked. On the Island Line season ticket page it gives you a link for details of gold card benefits. Unfortunately the link is broken, as is another on the same page. I think that you may well get the same benefits, but it can't be confirmed from the website at the moment.

 

[barrykas]

I saw a leaflet which says you also get the same benefit if you buy your London in-boundary Travelcard on Oyster from them at Marylebone.

Only applies to Travelcards and Seasons costing more than £150 a month, or £1500 a year. So for the Western, that means a point-to-point from Denham and stations beyond, and for Travelcard purposes, Zones 1-5 or more.

In the case of Oyster issues for periods less than a year, the Clerk needs to print off a receipt and staple it to one of the Chiltern season ticket "pocket" guides, as you don't get a record card.

Cheers,

Barry

 

[iphone76]

FGE used to issue a weekend +1 ticket with an annual season ticket which gave unlimited weekend travel on their network for the season ticket holder and a friend.

It lasted for a while after NX took over, but was then withdrawn.

 

[bb21]

FGE used to issue a weekend +1 ticket with an annual season ticket which gave unlimited weekend travel on their network for the season ticket holder and a friend.

It lasted for a while after NX took over, but was then withdrawn.

Seems like a NX thing. Midland Mainline had the same offer at weekends too. Pretty handy when I had a Loughborough - Leicester season for going Scarborough or London on Saturdays.

 

[Oracle]

Right, I contacted Barry Doe and he asked of the Boss at SWT about the Ryde Gold Card. This is the response:

Confirmed. These days Island Line is simply a brand name for services operated on the Island by South West Trains. Therefore, what's good for SWT is good for Island Line.

Of Note. It is still a popular Annual Season with over a 100 issued last year, but not one seen by our staff on the Island! I therefore assume it remains the cheapest Annual in the old LSE area?

Well it shares the price with the 'Newhavens' annual. Also, I know from talking to the ticket office at Ryde Esplanade that they have issued tickets to mainlanders. They may just have never seen the tickets again!

So you get the six tickets! I still have no idea if a First Class Gold Card gives you six FC tickets. The Twickenham-St Margarets was the cheapest FC Gold Card but that is history. Correction! I thought it was but SWT's calculator shows it still available at £420 and £280 for the Standard Class.

 

[MikeWh]

... with over a 100 issued last year, but not one seen by our staff on the Island!

Classic! They must love Barry Doe for suggesting that option as an alternative Network Card a few years ago.

 

[Oracle]

I understand from Barry that most people buy from their local station.

I have queried with Barry in the past about the FC Gold Card, citing the Twickenham example. When it was first put to him he did not know whether free FC tickets were issued. I now believe that it is Standard Class only for the free tickets no matter what the Gold Card. That under correction of course!

 

[wibble]

I understand from Barry that most people buy from their local station.

I have queried with Barry in the past about the FC Gold Card, citing the Twickenham example. When it was first put to him he did not know whether free FC tickets were issued. I now believe that it is Standard Class only for the free tickets no matter what the Gold Card. That under correction of course!

If you have a First Class season ticket, your Free Weekend Tickets are valid for First Class travel.

 

[Oracle]

Correction noted, thanks. So what is the cheapest FC Gold Card on SWT now? Academic I know but I suppose it could be worth it for six FC Waterloo-Exeter Central tickets.

 

[trevmonk]

Just renewed my Ryde Esplanade season ticket to get the Gold Card again. I renewed at a First Capital Connect Station and the previous two times I have beeen able to apply online to get two free day passes that could be used anywhere on the FCC network during off peak times.

However they have changed their website now and instead of manually entering the stations the season runs between they have a pull down menu which only includes FCC stations. No mention of Ryde Esplanade! So it looks like the two free tickets aren't on offer any more.

I did hear that someone who ordered the Ryde season online via the SWT website was refused the six free tickets on the basis they didn't live anywhere near the Isle Of Wight and were therefore unlikely to be using the season.

The only Gold Card bonus this year is that I can now get a third discount on off peak tube fares with Oyster. I went along to Oxford Circus tube yesterday and was initially told I couldn't have it but then the supervisor pulled out a list of changes that had come in and they added it to my Oyster in 30 seconds. I have yet to test it.

 

[barrykas]

The only Gold Card bonus this year is that I can now get a third discount on off peak tube fares with Oyster. I went along to Oxford Circus tube yesterday and was initially told I couldn't have it but then the supervisor pulled out a list of changes that had come in and they added it to my Oyster in 30 seconds. I have yet to test it.

Can confirm that the discount is being applied. Did Edgware to Burnt Oak on my Annual 1-4 earlier and was only charged 85p for the extension, instead of £1.30.

Cheers,

Barry

 

[Lee_Again]

If you buy a First Class season from Stevenage, and points north, in addition to the usual gold card benefits, you are able to join the East Coast 'club'. Previously called 'Time' with GNER. It gives various free first class vouchers valid all the way to Inverness.

The number of free tickets has gone down over the years but still a handy bonus if you're buying the ticket anyway.

I have had more free trips to Edinburgh and Inverness than I care to remember. In the old days, i.e. GNER, you'd get free breakfast and dinner vouchers too.

I also seem to recall the FCC (maybe WAGN) offered free 1st class tickets for weekend use. Double bonus.

 

[stut]

All I used to get from FCC was two free anywhere-on-the-network standard class tickets. Except for one year, where they sent me them 4 times, by mistake.

(Am no longer a season ticket holder now, as much more of my work is from home...)

What are gold card holders' success rates with the Gold Card Upgrades? I only once managed to use it successfully - up to Evesham with FGW. All the other times (when I just felt like using it on noticing that a station was far too busy), the ticket offices denied all knowledge, claiming it no longer existed...

 

[SPS]

The c2c website still mentions the "London Lines" rover type ticket mentioned earlier in this thread.

 

[RJ]

What are gold card holders' success rates with the Gold Card Upgrades? I only once managed to use it successfully - up to Evesham with FGW. All the other times (when I just felt like using it on noticing that a station was far too busy), the ticket offices denied all knowledge, claiming it no longer existed...

There is a 100% success rate for customers who come to my window. It costs £5 if you're buying a NGC discounted ticket i.e not using your season ticket for that journey. In general, the excess between the single held and the appropriate First Class fare should be charged. For season tickets the default is normally the Anytime (Day) single. As with any excess, the routes should match if TOC specific. For example for a holder of an Southern Only Gatwick Travelcard, it's not appropriate to issue the excess based upon the FCC Only SDS/FDS fares. It's less straightforward to calculate the upgrade for holders of return and Advance tickets as multiple tiered excesses and sometimes additional supplements are required.

 

[trevmonk]

The c2c website still mentions the "London Lines" rover type ticket mentioned earlier in this thread.

The only trace of it I could find on their site was on a press release from 2006 which mentioned it's validity on Silverlink and WAGN. Given their demise I wonder if the Weekend Ranger died with them. Looking at the present C2C Gold Card benefits at https://www.c2c.trainsfares.co.uk/season/info/st_gold_card_benefits.asp I can't see any mention of it there.

 

[Barn]

What are gold card holders' success rates with the Gold Card Upgrades? I only once managed to use it successfully - up to Evesham with FGW. All the other times (when I just felt like using it on noticing that a station was far too busy), the ticket offices denied all knowledge, claiming it no longer existed...

I've had several problems with SWT staff denying all knowledge too.