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Hatton to Lapworth - still the cheapest Annual Season?

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Skimpot flyer

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Just wondering if this Railcard (sorry, Annual Season) will still be the shortest route to Goldcard after the fares increase, or will there be an alternate route in 2018, provided perhaps by a different TOC ?
 
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MikeWh

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It doesn't look like Hatton to Lapworth is being increased, so I expect that will still be the cheapest option.
 

Skimpot flyer

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Anyone know if this Season’s cheapest unofficial railcard will be the Hatton to Lapworth Annual Season when the 2020 fare increase takes effect?
 

Kite159

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A quick play on the NRE season ticket calculator with a date of 2nd Jan gives:

Lapworth - Hatton, £172
Lichfield Trent - Lichfield City, £180
Pevensey & Westham - Pevensey Bay, £176
Exeter Central - Exeter St Davids, "5 out of 7" £152
 

Skimpot flyer

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A quick play on the NRE season ticket calculator with a date of 2nd Jan gives:

Lapworth - Hatton, £172
Lichfield Trent - Lichfield City, £180
Pevensey & Westham - Pevensey Bay, £176
Exeter Central - Exeter St Davids, "5 out of 7" £152
Thanks for the info... although I don’t get the ‘5 out of 7’ bit...
As well as being cheaper, the Exeter option presumably won’t have the problem I’ve had when purchasing the Hatton/Lapworth ticket, whereby it gets issued on orange ticket stock, despite these stations being inside the Gold Card Area for several years!!
One has to be assertive and politely inform the station staff that, although said stations are not in the Network Railcard Area, they ARE in the Gold Card one...!
 
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Kite159

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Thanks for the info... although I don’t get the ‘5 out of 7’ bit...
As well as being cheaper, the Exeter option presumably won’t have the problem I’ve had when purchasing the Hatton/Lapworth ticket, whereby it gets issued on orange ticket stock, despite these stations being inside the Gold Card Area for several years!!
One has to be assertive and politely inform the station staff that, although said stations are not in the Network Railcard Area, they ARE in the Gold Card one...!

In Devon they have "part time" season tickets which are valid for 3 days out of the 5 weekdays plus weekends, so you can buy a season valid for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday.
 

bubieyehyeh

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So do you get a gold record card with these part time Exeter season tickets, and if so can you use that discount after 9.30 on all 5 weekdays?
I not had any trouble buying lapworth-hatton seasons from marlyebone station.
 

Skimpot flyer

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I not had any trouble buying lapworth-hatton seasons from marlyebone station.
In that case, two questions if I may...
can one renew a Lapworth/Hatton season at Marylebone even if - as in my case - my current one was purchased at a completely different station ?
Also, is there somewhere to add the Gold Card to my Oyster within the station (at Marylebone) ?
 

bubieyehyeh

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1) Not sure, I've only bought and renewed the lapworth/hatton season at Marylebone. You might need to give them some more details, if you bought elsewhere.
2) Yes there is a underground barrier line about 10metres from ticket office, just ask one of the gate staff and they can do it for you at the nearby underground machine.
 

Paul Kelly

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Generally each TOC has its own season ticket database. So if you've previously bought a season ticket at a ticket office operated by Chiltern Railways, it should be totally straightforward at Marylebone. Otherwise you'll need to provide name and address details etc., which isn't really a problem either.

You can add the Gold Card to your Oyster at Marylebone ticket office directly after buying it - they have Oyster equipment there.
 

Skimpot flyer

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Thanks for the advice. I can break one of my work journeys, on the Bakerloo line, to renew my season at Marylebone. I assume one can renew up to 2 weeks before the current season expires?
 

Haywain

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Thanks for the advice. I can break one of my work journeys, on the Bakerloo line, to renew my season at Marylebone. I assume one can renew up to 2 weeks before the current season expires?
7 days, although some retailers may ease this restriction around Christmas and New Year.
 

Skimpot flyer

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Just renewed my Hatton-Lapworth season at Marylebone this evening, and the staff member was efficient and well aware of what the ticket would be used for. An amiable conversation and a polite enquiry as to whether the HTN-LPW season was the cheapest one available was an amusing surprise.
At a guess, I reckon I probably saved over 4x the face value of the season in 2019; and that doesn’t include the savings on Oyster fares, which in total add another significant sum :)
 

Kite159

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Just renewed my Hatton-Lapworth season at Marylebone this evening, and the staff member was efficient and well aware of what the ticket would be used for. An amiable conversation and a polite enquiry as to whether the HTN-LPW season was the cheapest one available was an amusing surprise.
At a guess, I reckon I probably saved over 4x the face value of the season in 2019; and that doesn’t include the savings on Oyster fares, which in total add another significant sum :)

Having the ability to load the Railcard discount onto oyster is one of the main reasons why I have a gold card over a network card. All those little savings soon add up.
 

bubieyehyeh

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The three times I've bought Hatton-Lapworth season at Marylebone, the staff never seem to be aware, and seemed genuinely surprized when the cost appeared on their screen.

I describe the season ticket as like a middle-aged person's railcard for people who ask why have a season ticket for nowhere near where I live or work.
 

CrispyUK

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Just happened upon this thread, interesting little trick and good to know about. A shame (but also probably why) Chiltern have a minimum season ticket value required to unlock free weekend travel on their network! :D
 

Skimpot flyer

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Just happened upon this thread, interesting little trick and good to know about. A shame (but also probably why) Chiltern have a minimum season ticket value required to unlock free weekend travel on their network! :D
Any idea what that minimum value is? If the difference between the HTN-LPW season and a qualifying season were not too large, I’d think people who use this ‘railcard’ might weigh the outlay vs free travel and buy a different one next year :)
 

CrispyUK

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Any idea what that minimum value is? If the difference between the HTN-LPW season and a qualifying season were not too large, I’d think people who use this ‘railcard’ might weigh the outlay vs free travel and buy a different one next year :)
Season ticket needs to be worth £150 or more a month (or £1500 or more a year) to qualify for the free weekend/bank holiday travel, so would be quite an extra outlay unfortunately!
 

Skimpot flyer

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Having the ability to load the Railcard discount onto oyster is one of the main reasons why I have a gold card over a network card. All those little savings soon add up.
They sure do. If you save £2.30 on the Zones 1-2 daily cap* each day, that alone would cover the cost of the season in just over 14 weeks (assuming a 5-days a week usage of Oyster)

*2019 prices
 

Hadders

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I renewed my Hatton - Lapworth Gold Card on Friday at Stevenage Travel Centre. When I told the clerk I wanted to renew my Gold Card I think she expected the transaction to cost several thousand pounds. She was a bit surprised when it came to £164! I explained and she soon got it, saying that I obviously know my rail fares :D
 

infobleep

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I renewed my Hatton - Lapworth Gold Card on Friday at Stevenage Travel Centre. When I told the clerk I wanted to renew my Gold Card I think she expected the transaction to cost several thousand pounds. She was a bit surprised when it came to £164! I explained and she soon got it, saying that I obviously know my rail fares :D
Has anyone of you here ever travelled from Hatton to Lapworth?

I use to have a season ticket for two stations on the Isle of Wight and I did think I must go and travel between them sometime.

However I never got round to it and eventually I needed an annual season ticket for elsewhere and that was the end of that.
 

CyrusWuff

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Season ticket needs to be worth £150 or more a month (or £1500 or more a year) to qualify for the free weekend/bank holiday travel, so would be quite an extra outlay unfortunately!
It also has to be valid for travel on Chiltern services, which excludes Zone 1 to 3 Travelcards even though they're £162.90 a month (£1696 for the Annual) from 2nd January, as they're not valid without an additional ticket (or PAYG credit).
 

Skimpot flyer

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Has anyone of you here ever travelled from Hatton to Lapworth?
No, but I do kind of feel obliged to do so :)
Maybe I’ll do a one-off return journey from Marylebone one Saturday... saving £11 on the London to Hatton part, using the Gold Card discount, of course :)
 

BlueHorizonUK

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Does anyone know if you can add this ticket to The Key (Thameslink/Great Northern) or is it better to load it onto a Chiltern smartcard.
 

Hadders

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Why do you need it on a smart card? Inless you’re going to use it to travel between Hatton and Lapworth then paper format is best.
 

AnkleBoots

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They sure do. If you save £2.30 on the Zones 1-2 daily cap* each day, that alone would cover the cost of the season in just over 14 weeks (assuming a 5-days a week usage of Oyster)

*2019 prices
A weekly 1-2 Travelcard is £35.10, does the Hatton Gold Card knock off a third?
 

Hadders

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You get 34% discount on Off Peak PAYG Fares and you benefit from 34% discount on the daily Off Peak PAYG caps.

There is no discount on Anytime fares.
 

mattdickinson

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It also has to be valid for travel on Chiltern services, which excludes Zone 1 to 3 Travelcards even though they're £162.90 a month (£1696 for the Annual) from 2nd January, as they're not valid without an additional ticket (or PAYG credit).

Zone 2 to 6 Travelcards at £173.20 per month are valid for the Chiltern offer (although not available on Oyster since last December)
 
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