Groupsave, railcard and Plusbus query

[Be3G]

Hi all,

Tomorrow evening two family members and I need to make a short (return) trip by train from Gordon Hill to Cuffley followed by a bus that's covered by a Cuffley PlusBus ticket. I have a Network Railcard and my natural inclination would be to use that but, of course, there's the Mon–Fri minimum fare. So my next choice is Groupsave, which works.

However, I'd like to get a discount on the PlusBus tickets too, and Groupsave doesn't work for that. A Network Railcard does work (no minimum fare for PlusBus), but would I be allowed NEW-discounted PlusBus tickets without NEW-discounted rail tickets? And if the answer is yes, am I correct in thinking that the only way to buy them in this case would be from a station, hoping that the clerk doesn't raise an eyebrow?

 

[yorkie]

I don't see any reason why it can't (or shouldn't) be done, but the booking clerk may not agree.

 

[reb0118]

An analogy could be found with a person holding a Y-P railcard travelling before 10:00 (M-F) where the full adult fare is less than the Y-P minimum fare. AFAIAA he would be entitled to the railcard discount on any plusbus ticket even though the discount was not applied to the rail ticket.

 

[Bletchleyite]

An analogy could be found with a person holding a Y-P railcard travelling before 10:00 (M-F) where the full adult fare is less than the Y-P minimum fare. AFAIAA he would be entitled to the railcard discount on any plusbus ticket even though the discount was not applied to the rail ticket.

Is a PlusBus ticket considered a separate ticket that can only be sold when a regular rail ticket is held (can one be purchased later if the rail ticket is shown?), or is it considered an add-on or excess that happens to be on a separate coupon?

I'm suspecting the former, if so I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be discounted differently to the main ticket.

 

[yorkie]

Is a PlusBus ticket considered a separate ticket that can only be sold when a regular rail ticket is held (can one be purchased later if the rail ticket is shown?),

Yes (and yes)

or is it considered an add-on or excess that happens to be on a separate coupon?

No

I'm suspecting the former, if so I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be discounted differently to the main ticket.

Agreed

 

[Be3G]

Thank you for the replies. Hopefully the unanimity of opinion here means I won't have too much of a problem getting the tickets I need.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I'm happy to say I got the tickets I wanted without too much of a fuss. The clerk was initially reluctant to sell me NEW-discounted PlusBus tickets because she wasn't aware that the minimum fare didn't apply, though she found a Network Railcard leaflet which seemed to satisfy her and then issued the tickets.

As an aside, this is the first time I've set eyes on tickets printed with the new design. They take a bit of getting used to!

 

[benk1342]

A bit late to the party but I can confirm as well that I have had success in the past buying NSE-discounted PlusBus tickets in conjunction with non-discounted rail tickets on the same operator (though in FCC days).

 

[MKD]

I've had no problem buying PlusBus tickets with Network Card discount - ie "NSE" discount - when buying a PlusBus to supplement a ticket I already held.

That's at various stations across the country (eg Crewe, Birmingham International, Montrose) though in each case the ticket clerk remarked it was the first time they had ever sold one - so I'm assuming the online system presented the Network Card discount very obviously.

(It's well worthwhile in Milton Keynes as the NSE discounted PlusBus fare is less than a single bus ticket, let alone for a day's area usage.)