PlusBus railcard validity

[Leisurefirst]

Hi there,
If two people travel from A to B, one with a Senior Railcard and one with no Railcard discount (before 09:30) can they use a Two Together to buy two discounted PlusBus tickets at the destination (reached after 09:30) - or only the one with a Senior Railcard?
Thanks

 

[AlbertBeale]

Hi there,
If two people travel from A to B, one with a Senior Railcard and one with no Railcard discount (before 09:30) can they use a Two Together to buy two discounted PlusBus tickets at the destination (reached after 09:30) - or only the one with a Senior Railcard?
Thanks

On occasions where I haven't been able to get a Plusbus add-on before starting a journey (not for reasons like the one mentioned here, but because of using a machine which doesn't seem to offer the option), hence wanting to add on the Plusbus at the destination, it's always been possible to do that (using a Two Together card) without question when vaguely flashing our train tickets to show we'd just arrived by train. There was never anything more than a glance at the train tickets, so what railcard was or wasn't used for the original purchase wasn't an issue. So I can't see a problem is likely.

And what if your arrival tickets were swallowed by ticket gates in the first place? In fact, a more general point, what proof that the Plusbus is linked to a train journey is technically required? Since you're allowed to buy them in a separate transaction from the main ticket, what constraints can there be?

Going back to the question - maybe the Plusbus could anyway be bought before departure, using the Two Together card, since there's no rule that says you can't buy a railcard discounted ticket ahead of the time when you can use it.

 

[redreni]

The issue has never arisen for me because, even if I want to buy a PlusBus ticket on arrival (and I usually like to get it at an earlier stage to avoid the risk of the ticket office at the destination station not being open), I would usually be in possession of at least the return portion of my ticket at that stage.

If I had arrived on a single ticket and had to pass through a ticket barrier, I would be inclined to go to the side gate and say I wanted to retain my ticket in order to buy a PlusBus ticket. There is definitely supposed to be a requirement to hold a train ticket to or from the/an interchange station in the relevant PlusBus zone in order to buy a PlusBus ticket.

I can't see anything in the rules to say railcard discounts on PlusBus tickets are dependant on the qualifying ticket also being discounted (although I bet that's the de facto rule if buying online).

I have a friend who travelled from Birmingham to Oxford for a recent football match and then bought a Network Railcard-discounted PlusBus ticket at Oxford, even though the train ticket obviously wasn't eligible for that discount. Presumably the same would apply if the train journey started before 10am on a weekday but the PlusBus ticket was purchased at the destination station after 10am?

Conversely I bought a day return to Oxford with PlusBus from the ticket office at Slade Green (for the same football match) and had to persuade the ticket office clerk that PlusBus tickets are eligible for Railcard discounts.