Off peak and the Two Together railcard.

[infobleep]

I was doing some research for someone and looked up the Two Together railcard.

On the Web site home page it says:

Valid Off-Peak Monday to Friday and Anytime at weekends and bank holidays

Two Together Railcard | Railcards - Two Together Railcard

A Two Together Railcard costs just £35. It will save you 1/3 on rail fares for you and the person you travel with most throughout Great Britain.

www.twotogether-railcard.co.uk

When I click on the Full eligibility and terms button it takes me to the following web page

The Benefits - Two Together Railcard

www.twotogether-railcard.co.uk

The full terms are not shown on this page. However at the bttom of that page amongst various links, is a link to the full terms and conditions. That link is incidentally also at the bottom of the hpme page too.

On in the full terms and conditions is the following

4.5. Discounted tickets are not valid for travel between 04:30 – 09:29 hours, Monday to Friday, except on Public Holidays

Railcard Terms & Conditions - Two Together Railcard

www.twotogether-railcard.co.uk

Now off peak is based on your ticket and not a time period, so the home page is misleading. I know of train services before 9 am, where an off peak ticket is valid. So if you read your discount is valid off peak, you might think it's applicable to any off peak ticket you hold when it isn't, if you travel before 9:30 am.

 

[Haywain]

So if you read your discount is valid off peak, you might think it's applicable to any off peak ticket you hold when it isn't, if you travel before 9:30 am.

And if you read the terms and conditions of the railcard you will know that it isn't valid before 09:30, and I think it's made pretty clear.

 

[infobleep]

And if you read the terms and conditions of the railcard you will know that it isn't valid before 09:30, and I think it's made pretty clear.

If you read them. How hard would it be to put 9:30 on the home page as opposed to off-peak?

And actually link to the terms and conditions rather than having a link to the terms and conditions and then not providing them on the page you claim to be linking to?

 

[Adam Williams]

How hard would it be to put 9:30 on the home page as opposed to off-peak?

It's pretty easy, IMO.

 

[infobleep]

It's pretty easy, IMO.

Well there is the answer.

I was looking at the merits of a Two-Together Railcard vers Network Railcard but one of the two is 16-25 so Network Railcard and 16-25 might still be the best combination, even though there may be times when both need to travel before 10 am.

 

[talldave]

If you read them. How hard would it be to put 9:30 on the home page as opposed to off-peak?

And actually link to the terms and conditions rather than having a link to the terms and conditions and then not providing them on the page you claim to be linking to?

"But we've always done it that way" will be the stock response from an industry with its head in the sand.

 

[Tetchytyke]

And if you read the terms and conditions of the railcard you will know that it isn't valid before 09:30, and I think it's made pretty clear.

It’s clear to those of us who know.

I think the criticism of the industry’s messaging around railcards is fair though. It’s appalling. If you’re going to take criminal proceedings against people who get it wrong, the rules should be spelled out in words of one syllable.

Bear in mind, also, that somewhere between 15% and 25% of adults in the UK have “very poor” literacy skills, and this is defined as having the reading skills below that of a nine year old.

On this forum we are intelligent and literate people. A significant minority of people are not. “Read the T&Cs” only really works as an argument if the main T&Cs are communicated in a way that everyone can understand.

The Trainsplit table is a very good example of how it should be done. The only feedback I’d make to @Adam Williams is that “morning peak in the south east” could be defined with a time.

 

[Watershed]

The Trainsplit table is a very good example of how it should be done. The only feedback I’d make to @Adam Williams is that “morning peak in the south east” could be defined with a time.

The problem is that there isn't a defined time - it varies significantly since it's tied to when Off-Peak tickets become available for the journey you are making.

 

[yorkie]

"But we've always done it that way" will be the stock response from an industry with its head in the sand.

Absolutely; the wording may change, but this will be the prevailing attitude.

If you read them. How hard would it be to put 9:30 on the home page as opposed to off-peak?

Very easy, but RDG deliberately choose not to do that.

 

[Adam Williams]

The problem is that there isn't a defined time - it varies significantly since it's tied to when Off-Peak tickets become available for the journey you are making.

This.

I spent a while trying to come up with something short that also didn't oversimplify the situation, but it's such a mess it's really quite difficult. And that's without getting into how you determine what the relevant Off-Peak ticket is when evaluating if you can discount or not! You could probably write a short essay about that.

 

[Tetchytyke]

The problem is that there isn't a defined time - it varies significantly since it's tied to when Off-Peak tickets become available for the journey you are making.

I always thought it was the 10am network rule but as it isn’t (and I absolutely defer to yours and Adam’s knowledge on that) then, well, what a mess.

I spent a while trying to come up with something short that also didn't oversimplify the situation, but it's such a mess it's really quite difficult.

Oh definitely. I think the table is really good and sums it up very well.

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

Many areas dont even have "peak" so people may well assume that as all times are off peak , the two together card is valid based on that. It really isn't good enough.

 

[infobleep]

This.

I spent a while trying to come up with something short that also didn't oversimplify the situation, but it's such a mess it's really quite difficult. And that's without getting into how you determine what the relevant Off-Peak ticket is when evaluating if you can discount or not! You could probably write a short essay about that.

There are off-peak tickets where by if you start short, they are valid on X train but if you were to buy your ticket to actually start from the station where you started short, your ticket wouldn't be valid on X train.

I won't be giving examples for what I hope are obvious reasons.