Two together on Heathrow Express

Andrew*Debbie · 4 Dec 2019

Last month I bought two £4.95 advance single tickets on HX using our two-together rail card. We need to be at LHR stupid early, departing Paddington well before 09:30.

The HX website doesn't ask about time of departure, just date. The booking says no time restrictions on travel. At the time I didn't think much about it.

Now I'm a little worried that we are going to get stuck at the barrier with tickets that aren't valid.

Anyone know if they enforce the 09:30 rule for two-together?

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Bletchleyite · 4 Dec 2019

Railcard restrictions sit on top of ticket restrictions, so unless there's some sort of special arrangement, no they are not valid.

Andrew*Debbie · 4 Dec 2019

You are probably correct.

I've gotten used to websites that only show the lower price on trains where the two-together card is valid. My mistake but there is no warning or anything on their website. The don't make it easy either. I input a return trip and then picked the cheapest singles.

I would have had to buy two singles with no rail card and then gone back and bought two more with the rail card.

At least we can still use the LHR --> PAD tickets.

gordonthemoron · 4 Dec 2019

I was concerned about that for travelling back from Heathrow to Paddington on 2nd January so bought without the Two Together discount

Bensonby · 4 Dec 2019

Surely if you selected a specific time and selected the railcard and it gave you a discounted ticket then that forms a contract? I appreciate the tickets don’t come printed with a time, but if it allowed you to select a time at booking then the contract is formed? Not sure if you can prove that though.

Wallsendmag · 4 Dec 2019

Bensonby said:
Surely if you selected a specific time and selected the railcard and it gave you a discounted ticket then that forms a contract? I appreciate the tickets don’t come printed with a time, but if it allowed you to select a time at booking then the contract is formed? Not sure if you can prove that though.

I don't think you select a time , just a date.

Andrew*Debbie · 4 Dec 2019

Bensonby said:
Surely if you selected a specific time and selected the railcard and it gave you a discounted ticket then that forms a contract?

HX doesn't allow for times, just dates. If you add a railcard when booking a return journey it shows the least expensive fair at the top but both tickets then have the rail card applied.

cjohnson · 4 Dec 2019

The HEx conditions of carriage states that "advance tickets cannot be used in conjunction with Railcards" (section 3.3).

Yet their own site sells "fixed day" tickets that allows railcard discounts to be applied. "Fixed day" tickets do not seem to be defined or mentioned in their CoC.

Andrew*Debbie · 5 Dec 2019

That might leave me room for a valid complaint if my tickets are refused.

I'm still waiting to hear back from HX. I doubt they will reply before the 19th. My previous experience with their customer service was not great. I eventually got a refund I was entitled to (no trains running on the day) but it took months.

TFN · 6 Dec 2019

cjohnson said:
The HEx conditions of carriage states that "advance tickets cannot be used in conjunction with Railcards" (section 3.3).

Yet their own site sells "fixed day" tickets that allows railcard discounts to be applied. "Fixed day" tickets do not seem to be defined or mentioned in their CoC.

I just bought a single ticket for mid-January for £4.95 with a Railcard for my dad. Maybe it needs updating?

Andrew*Debbie · 19 Dec 2019

FWIW HX accepted our two together tickets on the 06:40 this morning, no questions asked.

They didn't ask to see our Railcard at any time.

I wouldn't recommend using the card before 09:30 but it worked for us.

island · 20 Dec 2019

Technically this is not allowed, but HEX doesn’t tend to care.

Two together on Heathrow Express

Andrew*Debbie

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RailUK Forums

Bletchleyite

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Andrew*Debbie

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gordonthemoron

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Bensonby

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Wallsendmag

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Andrew*Debbie

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cjohnson

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Andrew*Debbie

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TFN

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Andrew*Debbie

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island

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