Gold Card First Class Supplement

[sushiuk]

First time poster, long time reader on the forum.

After learning of the Gold Card First Class Supplement through this forum, I purchased an off peak return Weybridge - Worcester and said supplement.

It was a bit of a faff getting the supplement issued at the ticket office - ticket office needing to 'phone a friend'.

My question is this:

The supplement was on one ticket which had printed on it 'For use on direction OUT'.
Is this correct?

I was a bit concerned what would happen on my return journey.

The ticket was only checked once for the whole trip - by FGW on the way back. Train conductor had no problem with the supplement but when I queried the direction printed on the ticket she said that these were usually issued for each part of the journey and if I wanted to travel first class on my return leg I would probably need to buy another supplement. As this WAS my return trip I decided not to debate the matter further - as I had paid the correct amount but may not have been issued the correct supplement tickets!

 

[greatkingrat]

The Gold Card supplement is only valid for one day. If you are making a day return, it is valid both ways, but if you are returning on a different day you need to buy a second supplement for the return.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/46557.aspx#Gold_Card_First_Supplement

 

[postye]

Congratulations on getting one in the first place, the lack of knowledge to sell them here in SE land is ridiculous.

The supplement is valid on the date shown on the supplement, so is valid in both directions. I have had this confirmed by Waterloo ticket office and 2 different SWT Guards have reminded me on my travels that it is not like weekend first and is valid both ways.

 

[sushiuk]

Sorry ... I forgot to say ... I did buy a DAY RETURN so why did I only get one supplement for 'OUT'

 

[Paul Kelly]

It seems that you only need one supplement, and it is valid all day. The ticket issuing system needs to tie the supplement to a ticket, so it is tied to the outward portion. But it is also valid on the return journey and on any other journeys you might make with Gold Card-discounted tickets the same day, as far as I can see.

Incidentally, when purchasing Gold Card-discounted tickets at Reading ticket office last week, I was asked did I also want to upgrade to first class. I was quite impressed with the good service.

 

[lightbulb]

Sorry ... I forgot to say ... I did buy a DAY RETURN so why did I only get one supplement for 'OUT'

I've had this problem too. It seems only to apply to supplements issued by FGW. It seems that each TOC has differences in the way these supplements are issued; e.g. FCC-issued supplements always show the class as STD.

 

[Be3G]

My experience matches lightbulb's above – there seem to many ways of issuing the gold card first supplements depending on TIS/TOC. Guards are generally fine with accepting them though; the ‘worst’ trouble I've had is an SWT guard took a second look at a supplement and asked where I'd bought it from when I presented one purchased from Liverpool Street once, as it appeared differently to the way SWT did it.

 

[sushiuk]

Mine was from SWT. I was sold the ticket & supplement as two separate transactions.

Printing 'OUT' will only cause confusion so it would be much better if this was blank surely.

 

[CyrusWuff]

It's been a while since I used it, but ISTR Tribute used to print either "OUT&RTN" on such supplements or leave it blank.

Not an issue on the TIS I currently use, as that doesn't show Gold Card First supplements at all, so you have to fudge them through as an Excess.

 

[jon0844]

Incidentally, when purchasing Gold Card-discounted tickets at Reading ticket office last week, I was asked did I also want to upgrade to first class. I was quite impressed with the good service.

It's a good revenue opportunity for a TOC so more staff should offer it (and therefore know how to do it). TVMs could also do it very easily top, perhaps even easier.

As it stands, it's a total gamble as to whether you'll get one or not and the odds aren't in your favour.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

 

[lj9090]

I've bought two so far, both from SWT. First time round I bought it with the discounted ticket and it was printed with OUT, second time round from another station I picked up the discounted tickets from the TVM and bought the supplement seperately, can't remember what was written or not but there wasn't an OUT.

With the OUT ticket the guard on the return service did say it's not valid for the return but he'll let me sit there anyway. At 1am, wanting to get back to sleep, and being "allowed" to stay I didn't see the point in mentioning anything.

 

[lightbulb]

I bought a supplement for the return portion of a Luton - Shanklin journey from SWT at Ryde Esplanade last week. It states "For use on direction RETURN".

 

[BillyBoy]

I buy two supplements at Waterloo, so from South West Trains, to accompany a Gold Card Off-Peak Return i.e. returning on a different day.
The one for outbound would say "From LONDON TERMINALS To PORTSMOUTH HBR For use on direction OUT" and the one for the return would say "From PORTSMOUTH HBR To LONDON TERMINALS For use on direction OUT".
This has been discussed before. However, in April this changed to omit the "For use on direction OUT". Fair enough, as it was confusing, but!
The outbound supplement now says "From PORTSMOUTH HBR To LONDON WATERLOO" and the return "From LONDON WATERLOO To PORTSMOUTH HBR".
I wrote to SWT to ask why this was the wrong way round and, coincidentally, just today received the reply:

"Dear BillyBoy
Thank you for your Email of 07 April 2014. Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in responding to you.
I am sorry to learn it would appear that you were sold the wrong ticket and I apologise for the inconvenience this has caused you. When purchasing a Gold card 1st supplement, if the ticket office clerk does not select the direction of travel, our systems print the ticket in reverse journey by default. This has been highlighted with our provider and a fix is being worked on.
We do train all our ticket clerks to ask questions to help determine the correct ticket for each customer’s individual needs and I am very sorry if this did not happen on this occasion. It is important that if you have any queries you discuss them with the ticket clerk at the time of purchase. We would also recommend that you always check your ticket before leaving the counter at the station so that any issues can be corrected before travel.
Thank you for your contact.
Kind Regards"

Note, the section I have italicised is, in the email, in a different font to the rest. So a bit of useful information inserted into irrelevant cut and paste waffle.

 

[infobleep]

I wasn't aware of this. Interesting reading. Under the Gold Card section it says:

On Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays you may travel in First Accommodation by simply paying the supplement

How does that differ from Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays?

 

[jon0844]

On the weekend, you can buy a £5 supplement to use with your existing season ticket.

e.g. If you had a Cambridge to London Terminals season, £5 allows you to travel in first class with no further cost. And also anywhere else if you buy a Gold Card discounted ticket for anywhere outside your season ticket validity. £5 is for the whole day, not a particular journey or direction. It will apply to every trip you make, as long as it's in the Gold Card/NSE area.

In the week, even though you have a ticket from Cambridge to London, you can only buy a first class supplement if you buy a new ticket for the journey you're making. It can be Gold Card discounted, but it may well put you off as suddenly it's rather more expensive.

I think a lot of people get confused by this (and other rule explanations) though, especially staff. When I couldn't get my supplement at Stevenage, the guy kept going on about needing a new ticket. It didn't make sense as I was buying a new ticket as my season ticket is for the Isle of Wight! I think he eventually started to think I had to have a new season ticket for the route I was using, even though I was buying a single, one day, ticket for a one-off return journey. And my wife was travelling with me, without a season ticket at all.

Suffice to say, I don't get many supplements as they're so hard to get and you could either miss loads of trains (and others missing them too, as the queue goes out the door) and still not get one as the staff will insist they don't exist, can't be done, aren't valid, <insert random excuse here> etc.

 

[infobleep]

Thanks for that explanation. Perhaps NRE should provide a better explanation. It took several reads to understand your explanation and only then I understood their one.

However surely you need a ticket to travel any day of the week so I don't understand why they need to say one would need a new ticket. If I have a season from Tring to Euston and wish to travel from St Pancreas to Bedford, I'd need a ticket whenever I travelled, which would be new. After all discounts are not valid for journeys where your season ticket is valid.

 

[jon0844]

The reasoning must be to stop people who have a season for a very long route to get first class (after 10am) for just £5. There wouldn't be much incentive to buy a first class season.

When I had Hatfield to London, £5 would be more 'reasonable' but the flip side is that for a 25 minute journey, especially on trains where getting a seat in standard is always possible, it just wasn't worth it.

So that's obviously why they do it so that if you want to go first class in the week, you need to buy a new ticket. Of course, the new ticket only needs to be for where you're going, which might be less than what your season covers you for, or there might be an overlap where you'd need an extension anyway.

 

[Be3G]

infobleep (and anyone else who's interested): this document from the NRE site provides the clearest and most comprehensive explanation of the rules surrounding gold card benefits, including the 1st supplement. Shame not every ticket office has this stuck on its internal noticeboard.

 

[infobleep]

Thanks. That's a much better explanation.

 

[Flamingo]

I carry a copy of our last briefing about gold cards issued about five years ago. I have to look at it every time I'm asked to see how to issue them. I think I've used it three or four times in five years.

 

[VauxhallandI]

infobleep (and anyone else who's interested): this document from the NRE site provides the clearest and most comprehensive explanation of the rules surrounding gold card benefits, including the 1st supplement. Shame not every ticket office has this stuck on its internal noticeboard.

I see this document lists Gatwick Express as a TOC?

 

[Flamingo]

I see this document lists Gatwick Express as a TOC?

Don't open that can of worms again!

 

[jon0844]

WOW. Just registered on FGW's site to buy tickets (and continue getting Nectar points) and when buying a ticket for later today, I noticed a new option to add-on besides plusbus:

1ST SUPPLEMENT

Wow wow wow! Now you can buy the supplement online (and I tried it, and it works - adding £5 to the cost, which I then removed as I don't want it today!).

Finally! No more need to queue up and take a gamble with less chance of success than putting your life savings on 00.

Incidentally, First Group has sent letters to everyone (so me and my wife got one) registered with FCC to tell them to switch to FGW, but it doesn't make it perfectly clear that you can use the FGW site to buy tickets for the new Thameslink/Great Northern services.

Surely those that know would already use their chosen booking engine. Those that don't will bin the letter thinking it's stupid as they don't want to travel with FGW.

Hopefully this change will apply to other sites using the same engine?

 

[lj9090]

Doesn't seem to work on Southern, so might just be FGW only.

It also seems a bit hit and miss as to whether it's offered - from Brockenhurst to Waterloo it's offered on the Off Peak Return but not the Super Off Peak. And I'm a little curious why there's the option of buying one or two of them...

 

[Tibbs]

Almost a shame - I got 2 days' worth of 1st class travel for £5 the other weekend. I asked for Gold First, the guard said he'd figure out how to do it and didn't come back!

On the way back the chap did know how to do it.

I'm surprised you could queue up and buy them - the peeps at Waterloo always tell me I can only get them on the train.

 

[jon0844]

Some staff might confuse the supplement with Weekend First type schemes which are only on the train.

 

[horizonflame]

I've tried FGW Live Chat to ask about super off-peak tickets, however they do not know what the supplement is!

 

[adrianboult]

Just tried to book a single from Paddington to Worcester Foregate St and it didn't have an option for the goldcard upgrade - even though when booking one to Oxford it did. Bit confused as Foregate St is within the old Network Card area.

 

[SickyNicky]

Just tried to book a single from Paddington to Worcester Foregate St and it didn't have an option for the goldcard upgrade - even though when booking one to Oxford it did. Bit confused as Foregate St is within the old Network Card area.

Did the train go via Evesham or via Stroud? If the latter, it leaves the Network Area, so you can't use a Gold Card.