TPExpress 50% student ticket with 26-30 railcard

[E100]

Hi, I was just looking for thoughts on this. Currently, on the TPE website it is possible to get 50% off advance tickets with a 'student' discount. https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/special-offers/advance-bookings It states that this is for people holding the 16-25 railcard.

I am one of those fortunate so and so's that have been able to get a 26-30 Railcard. Currently, on the railcard it clears states on the app the railcard is valid with both 16-25 and 26-30 tickets.

Is anyone aware of anything especially on the printed ticket that specifically marks this as a 16-25 only ticket and not to be used with 26-30?

Obviously, notwithstanding the minor variations in timing validity is there any reason I shouldn't go down this route?

 

[_toommm_]

Hi, I was just looking for thoughts on this. Currently, on the TPE website it is possible to get 50% off advance tickets with a 'student' discount. https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/special-offers/advance-bookings It states that this is for people holding the 16-25 railcard.

I am one of those fortunate so and so's that have been able to get a 26-30 Railcard. Currently, on the railcard it clears states on the app the railcard is valid with both 16-25 and 26-30 tickets.

Is anyone aware of anything especially on the printed ticket that specifically marks this as a 16-25 only ticket and not to be used with 26-30?

Obviously, notwithstanding the minor variations in timing validity is there any reason I shouldn't go down this route?

As someone who uses this offer often, the ticket appears as does any other ticket with a 16-25 railcard, marking it out as being a 16-25 ticket. If you collect it from a station where the reservation and ticket are printed on one coupon, it makes no mention of the extra discount, but if you collect it from somewhere where it prints out a ticket and a reservation coupon seperately e.g. Manchester Picc, the ticket makes reference to a 25% discount, although it isn't made clear what the discount is for:



I'm sure someone will be along soon with the legalities of using a 26-30 with a 16-25 discount, but I personally wouldn't try it, unless it's one of the older websites which doesn't as of yet offer the 26-30 discount. Especially as the offer states you must present a 16-25 railcard when presenting the ticket...

 

[Merseysider]

From the T&C:

Customers must select a 16-25 Railcard in order to obtain discount, and must present this when you travel

So no, not valid.

 

[woody505]

Deffinatley a grey area

 

[E100]

Exactly my point really. It's obviously not in the spirit of the offer, particularly as I could select 26-30, but not really sure the combination is actually not valid.

 

[323235]

As 26-30 railcard are valid with both tickets sporting a 16-25 or 26-30 discount regardless of any technicalities, it is definitely a grey area.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

definitely a grey area.

This is rather reminiscent of the philosophers' union demanding clearly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

And if @Merseysider has quoted the T&C's correctly, it's also wrong. The terms clearly state that a 16-25 Railcard must be presented when using the ticket, so it follows that presenting a 25-30 card will not meet the terms. What is not clear is how the railway will detect that someone is breaking the rules.

TLDR: you're not allowed to do it, but there's no way that you can be caught.

 

[CyrusWuff]

26-30 Railcards being valid with 16-25 Railcard discounted tickets is a fudge by the industry due to some Ticket Issuing Systems not having been updated with the new Railcard.

I would have hoped that this would have been rectified by now, so it would no longer be an issue.

I certainly wouldn't recommend selecting 16-25 instead of 26-30 to work around a restriction put in place by a TOC (e.g. the minimum fare in July and August, no discount on Caledonian Sleepers, etc) as it MAY end badly.