Family and Friends Railcard - time restriction

[blakey1152]

I took the family out with a couple of friends round London on Thursday and as stated in a previous thread I was after One Day Travelcards for zones 1-9.

No problem booking these online and we went to the station and got there about 9.45am and as usual my fat fingers didn't like the touch screen so I had a nightmare trying to enter the TOD code.

This was a Southeastern Station and by some chance there was actually a member of staff on hand to help. He managed to jab the screen in the correct way and printed out the tickets, He looks at the one day Travelcards and says to me..."You are aware that you can't use these until 1000 aren't you?"

In the end this didn't make any difference as the 0955 didn't arrive til 1001 anyway but I was under the impression that it was only Network Railcards that had a 1000 restriction on them, F&F Railcards could be used from 0930.

Can't find anything definate on the F&F Railcard site so can anyone confirm whether its 0930 or 1000 availablilty time for Off Peak One Day Travelcards with a F&F Railcard.

Blakey

 

[island]

You are correct. 0930 is the relevant time; there is no relevant Railcard for 1000 restriction on inboundary Travelcards.

 

[infobleep]

If a 9.55 turned up late after 10 and your rail card started at 10, are you allowed to board it?

 

[MikeWh]

You are correct. 0930 is the relevant time; there is no relevant Railcard for 1000 restriction on inboundary Travelcards.

Are you sure? What about the £12 minimum fare on a 16-25 Railcard between 0430-1000 Mondays to Fridays excluding bank holidays and July/August? Obviously doesn't affect the F&F for this thread.

Not sure about getting a late running train. If the restriction is timed to depart then it shouldn't be valid, but often discretion will be shown, especially if services are generally delayed/disrupted.

 

[455driver]

If a 9.55 turned up late after 10 and your rail card started at 10, are you allowed to board it?

No, it goes on the scheduled departure time although most staff wouldn't bother!

Example-
If you had an off peak ticket valid up to 15:00 and intended to catch the 14:55 would you be happy if the train was 7 minutes late meaning your off peak ticket wasn't valid?

The point is moot as the OP travelcard is valid from 09:30 anyway.

 

[island]

Are you sure? What about the £12 minimum fare on a 16-25 Railcard between 0430-1000 Mondays to Fridays excluding bank holidays and July/August? Obviously doesn't affect the F&F for this thread.

I suppose you won't believe me if I interpret "relevant" to exclude that case because the 16-25 Railcard holder, being price sensitive, is using an Oyster card with discount loaded?

 

[infobleep]

No, it goes on the scheduled departure time although most staff wouldn't bother!

Example-
If you had an off peak ticket valid up to 15:00 and intended to catch the 14:55 would you be happy if the train was 7 minutes late meaning your off peak ticket wasn't valid?

The point is moot as the OP travelcard is valid from 09:30 anyway.

That's precisely what I thought was the case. Thanks for confirming it. Your quite right people wouldn't be happy if they were refused travel after 15.00.

 

[TEW]

No, it goes on the scheduled departure time although most staff wouldn't bother!

Example-
If you had an off peak ticket valid up to 15:00 and intended to catch the 14:55 would you be happy if the train was 7 minutes late meaning your off peak ticket wasn't valid?

The point is moot as the OP travelcard is valid from 09:30 anyway.

With a Family & Friends railcard it would normally be the scheduled departure time that is relevant. Within the Network Area you may only use the railcard once Off Peak fares become valid, and they generally restrict on scheduled departure time. With a Network Railcard or Annual Gold Card it is the actual departure time which is relevant. As far as my reading of the restrictions goes they bar any travel prior to 1000 and 0930 respectively, rather than any travel on services timed to depart prior to those times.

 

[yorkie]

If a 9.55 turned up late after 10 and your rail card started at 10, are you allowed to board it?

What do you mean by "your rail card started at 10"?

You need to look at the exact wording.

The Network Railcard is "not available on tickets for travel before 10.00hrs" - see http://www.network-railcard.co.uk/time-restrictions/

If a 0955 train turns up at 1001, you are not travelling before 1000 so it's valid.

The wording in other cases may well be very different!

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

No, it goes on the scheduled departure time although most staff wouldn't bother!

Example-
If you had an off peak ticket ...

I agree that the wording of many restriction codes for off peak tickets is set by the scheduled departure time.

The point is moot as the OP travelcard is valid from 09:30 anyway.

Agreed.