My family and I (initially me at 16 and my younger brother, as it worked out better than me having a Y-P until I went to uni) have been using one of these for the past 20-25 years or so, and have seen the benefits of one being gradually eroded - removal of 1st Class supplements, removal of £1 child fares, addition of a £13 minimum fare, etc etc... In addition the new extension of the Gold Card area does not include the network railcard.
I still use one as I still do a lot of train travel alone and the number of Reading travelcards I buy on it makes it worth it over the course of a year (and in fact, it helped me last night save £8-9 getting home from Selhurst). And for the occasions my partner travels with me it works for him as well.
I now notice that the railcard isn't actually linked to the promotional sites for the Two Together Railcard or the Senior Railcard or F&F Railcard. It does seem that both the NSE and the Gold Card are being actively "hidden" - you have to know about them beforehand. In addition, the site itself is clearly a very basic bootstrap template when the others have had some design time spent on them.
So my idle thoughts are:
- is this just a gradual thing where they are actively trying to phase out the NSE? If so, why did they extend the Gold Card area?
- Why has this gone when the Y-P and the other railcards got protected? I suspect something happened at privatisation to protect those when this one didn't. Does anyone have an insight into this?
- Should I instead get one of those sub-£200 Gold Cards instead to take advantage of the non-minimum fare issue? Is this also going to be restricted at some point?
I still use one as I still do a lot of train travel alone and the number of Reading travelcards I buy on it makes it worth it over the course of a year (and in fact, it helped me last night save £8-9 getting home from Selhurst). And for the occasions my partner travels with me it works for him as well.
I now notice that the railcard isn't actually linked to the promotional sites for the Two Together Railcard or the Senior Railcard or F&F Railcard. It does seem that both the NSE and the Gold Card are being actively "hidden" - you have to know about them beforehand. In addition, the site itself is clearly a very basic bootstrap template when the others have had some design time spent on them.
So my idle thoughts are:
- is this just a gradual thing where they are actively trying to phase out the NSE? If so, why did they extend the Gold Card area?
- Why has this gone when the Y-P and the other railcards got protected? I suspect something happened at privatisation to protect those when this one didn't. Does anyone have an insight into this?
- Should I instead get one of those sub-£200 Gold Cards instead to take advantage of the non-minimum fare issue? Is this also going to be restricted at some point?
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