Plusbus with Gold Card in West Midlands

[EAD]

Hello all,

I know there has been some debate on this since the Gold Card zone expanded, but I wondered if anyone had a definitive answer.

I would like to book a MYB - SOL ticket with Plusbus add on. Gold Card discount (NGC) applies of course so return to be had from £19.60. When you go to add on the Plusbus it applies at the full rate of £3.40 vice discounted rate of £2.25.

So the question is in what cases do NGC holders not get a Plusbus discount for journeys in the Gold Card zone? Is this linked to the fact that Plusbus is actually tied to original Network Card area even when using a Gold Card? I have had the discount applied normally in the Network Railcard/original Gold Card area.

The Plusbus site itself does not spell this distinction out clearly if that is what is happening http://www.plusbus.info/sites/default/files/pdfs/Railcard restrictions for PLUSBUS.pdf Copied below for ease:

NETWORK Railcard (& Gold Card) holders get one-third off the adult price of PLUSBUS day tickets for towns and cities located within the South East of England, upon presentation of their valid Network Railcard (or Gold Card), as follows:- • Mondays to Fridays after 10:00hours; • Saturday, Sunday, Bank Holidays any time. The £13 minimum fare restriction does NOT apply to PLUSBUS day tickets.

Many thanks in advance - not going to die in a ditch over £1.15, but it would be good to get clarity as it is surely very confusing to the wider public with a Gold Card: yes discounted rail ticket, no bus full price if outside of Network Card area.

 

[Joe Paxton]

I think most of the online booking engines fail to properly apply a Network Railcard or Annual Gold Card discount to PlusBus tickets.

However the Govia TOCs sites (which run the On Track Retail engine) do apply the discount properly - that's London Midland, Southeastern and GTR (i.e. Southern & Thameslink).

I've just checked on the Southern site and it's offering a discounted PlusBus for Solihull for £2.25.

 

[EAD]

The plot thickens, thanks Joe Paxton I will have a look.

As someone who grew up near PRR but now resident in SW London, I tend to use the Chiltern site anyhow for may ticketing needs. Never had a problem in the original Gold Card/Network Card areas before but this is the first time I need a Plusbus in the extended area.

 

[SaveECRewards]

I think most of the online booking engines fail to properly apply a Network Railcard or Annual Gold Card discount to PlusBus tickets.

However the Govia TOCs sites (which run the On Track Retail engine) do apply the discount properly - that's London Midland, Southeastern and GTR (i.e. Southern & Thameslink).

I've just checked on the Southern site and it's offering a discounted PlusBus for Solihull for £2.25.

Surprisingly the VTEC website gets this right too!

 

[IanD]

I think most of the online booking engines fail to properly apply a Network Railcard or Annual Gold Card discount to PlusBus tickets.

However the Govia TOCs sites (which run the On Track Retail engine) do apply the discount properly - that's London Midland, Southeastern and GTR (i.e. Southern & Thameslink).

I've just checked on the Southern site and it's offering a discounted PlusBus for Solihull for £2.25.

I'm not sure they always apply a Network Railcard discount properly - if you buy a ticket that is below the minimum fare, they will charge the lower fare (ie without Network Railcard discount which is a reasonable thing to do) but do not apply the railcard discount to a plusbus ticket even though it is not subject to a minimum fare. The only place I've found where this combination is issued correctly is at a ticket office.

 

[Joe Paxton]

I'm not sure they always apply a Network Railcard discount properly - if you buy a ticket that is below the minimum fare, they will charge the lower fare (ie without Network Railcard discount which is a reasonable thing to do) but do not apply the railcard discount to a plusbus ticket even though it is not subject to a minimum fare. The only place I've found where this combination is issued correctly is at a ticket office.

Interesting, thanks. I'll play around with this at some point.

I know the Govia TOCs booking engine does one thing the others don't, and that's to correctly offer Network Railcard discounted PlusBus tickets (for locations within the Network Railcard area) when buying an Advance ticket. I haven't investigated how it works (or perhaps doesn't) within the wider Gold Card area.

 

[EAD]

Thanks for the all replies.

Does seem to be a bit of a mess given it is a discount that should be applied universally and correctly loaded as a ticket for sale. There still seems to be an open discrepancy about whether Gold Card discount means you get your discount on a PlusBus in the whole Gold Card area or only in the Network Card area - does anyone know the answer to this one as that was the debate in all other threads I saw on this from 2015 or 2016.