Joe Paxton
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- 12 Jan 2017
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(In this thread when referring of "inboundary Travelcards" I mean those that cover the 'traditional' zones of 1-6 - and am leaving the 'nouveau' zones of 7-9 aside, because in NR ticketing terms they're a slightly different beast.)
Just doing some planning and I've only just really appreciated that nowadays the Network Railcard actually provides a useful discount for 'inboundary' Off-peak Day Travelcards for zones 1-6 on a weekday - and in fact this is the third year it has done so!
Because of the Network Railcard's £13 weekday minimum fare, by definition in the past it couldn't offer a discount on an inboundary Day Travelcard during the week - it was only useful at the weekend, or on a bank holiday.
(For 'inboundary' Travelcards, the Network Railcard like all railcards has only ever offered a discount on zones 1-6 Off-peak Day Travelcards, even when other, 'lesser' zonal varieties used to exist - e.g. zones 1-4, zones 1&2 etc Off-peak Day Travelcards.)
However because the zones 1-6 Off-peak Day Travelcard has gradually increased in price over the years, it has busted through this £13 minimum fare level - it now (2021) costs £13.90, whilst last year (2020) it cost £13.50, and in 2019 it cost £13.10. Meanwhile in 2018 it cost £12.70 (price hyperlinks are all to pages on @MikeWh's Oyster Fares Central website).
Of course because of that £13 weekday minimum fare, on a weekday one can only save 90p (6.4%), whilst last year the saving was 50p (3.7%), and in 2019 it was just 10p (0.7%), rather than the full saving of a third.
Neverthetheless, all savings are useful! And yes, in many cases using contactless or Oyster is likely to be cheaper - however the Oyster/contactless daily cap for zones 1-6 is now £13.50, so any Network Railcard holders travelling after 10am (when the railcard kicks in) who are sure they'd otherwise hit this zones 1-6 Oyster/contactless daily cap can save themselves half a pound sterling by buying the discounted Day Travelcard instead. Next year the potential savings, and possible scenarios where savings might be made, could be greater.
Just doing some planning and I've only just really appreciated that nowadays the Network Railcard actually provides a useful discount for 'inboundary' Off-peak Day Travelcards for zones 1-6 on a weekday - and in fact this is the third year it has done so!
Because of the Network Railcard's £13 weekday minimum fare, by definition in the past it couldn't offer a discount on an inboundary Day Travelcard during the week - it was only useful at the weekend, or on a bank holiday.
(For 'inboundary' Travelcards, the Network Railcard like all railcards has only ever offered a discount on zones 1-6 Off-peak Day Travelcards, even when other, 'lesser' zonal varieties used to exist - e.g. zones 1-4, zones 1&2 etc Off-peak Day Travelcards.)
However because the zones 1-6 Off-peak Day Travelcard has gradually increased in price over the years, it has busted through this £13 minimum fare level - it now (2021) costs £13.90, whilst last year (2020) it cost £13.50, and in 2019 it cost £13.10. Meanwhile in 2018 it cost £12.70 (price hyperlinks are all to pages on @MikeWh's Oyster Fares Central website).
Of course because of that £13 weekday minimum fare, on a weekday one can only save 90p (6.4%), whilst last year the saving was 50p (3.7%), and in 2019 it was just 10p (0.7%), rather than the full saving of a third.
Neverthetheless, all savings are useful! And yes, in many cases using contactless or Oyster is likely to be cheaper - however the Oyster/contactless daily cap for zones 1-6 is now £13.50, so any Network Railcard holders travelling after 10am (when the railcard kicks in) who are sure they'd otherwise hit this zones 1-6 Oyster/contactless daily cap can save themselves half a pound sterling by buying the discounted Day Travelcard instead. Next year the potential savings, and possible scenarios where savings might be made, could be greater.
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Well indeed...£12 in May 2009 would be £17 today.