PlusBus Tickets

[sheff'd victoria]

Has anyone ever used the PlusBus on top of their rail tickets ?

http://www.plusbus.info/sheffield-meadowhall-plusbus-south-yorkshire

Their seems to be little infomation given out by T.O.C's about what this ticket is about and where you can use it.

 

[Deerfold]

Has anyone ever used the PlusBus on top of their rail tickets ?

http://www.plusbus.info/sheffield-meadowhall-plusbus-south-yorkshire

Their seems to be little infomation given out by T.O.C's about what this ticket is about and where you can use it.

Yes, I used to have a plusbus season to my local station.

Publicity about plusbus does vary a lot from TOC to TOC - and seems to be generally low in PTE areas.

 

[martinsh]

Yes, I've used Plusbus several itmes in a number of places (not in Sheffield though). Never had any problems with it being accepted.

Please note that you cannot get a Plusbus ticket, if your rail journey is wholly within the area of your Plusbus validity (i.e. South Yorkshire in this case)

 

[WestRiding]

I didnt realise that it gave Unlimited bus travel.......

 

[Deerfold]

I didnt realise that it gave Unlimited bus travel.......

What did you think it gave?

They're rarely worth getting if you're only getting one bus at one end of your rail journey (but often are if you're doing one each way as part of a day return).

 

[FenMan]

Yes, I've used Plusbus several itmes in a number of places (not in Sheffield though). Never had any problems with it being accepted.

I use PlusBus several times a year and have only ever had a problem at Sawbridgeworth, where the Arriva driver had never heard of it applying locally - "It's just Bishop's Stortford" he said, but he let us board after we insisted that Sawbridgeworth was included in the mapped area.

 

[trainophile]

I get one if I'm booked on a late train, as I can use it around the town all day, pop back to the flat to collect my travelling stuff, then get a bus to the station instead of walking. With a senior railcard it's the same price as a one-way trip into town, so well worthwhile if I'm making more than one bus trip that day.

At the other end it's cheaper to buy a walk-up bus fare from the station than to pay for a PlusBus so obviously I don't bother.

 

[WestRiding]

What did you think it gave?

They're rarely worth getting if you're only getting one bus at one end of your rail journey (but often are if you're doing one each way as part of a day return).

I thought it was just one journey. Its a pity they cannot be bought from the bus before getting on a train too, as i sometimes need to get the bus to the station before getting the train.

 

[Lrd]

With my railcard it costs me £1.55 for a Plusbus which is 40p cheaper than a single on the bus!

 

[Deerfold]

With my railcard it costs me £1.55 for a Plusbus which is 40p cheaper than a single on the bus!

Yes, the railcard discount makes it a lot more likely to be worth it for just one bus ride.

 

[trainophile]

I thought it was just one journey. Its a pity they cannot be bought from the bus before getting on a train too, as i sometimes need to get the bus to the station before getting the train.

If you buy your rail ticket in advance you can get a PlusBus ticket at the same time.

 

[WestRiding]

If you buy your rail ticket in advance you can get a PlusBus ticket at the same time.

that is good but not if i suddenly decide i fancy a day out in Hull when i wake up, for example

 

[SS4]

I've used it before but only in the West Midlands. Timings are what threw me and whether they're valid all day or just off peak (read after half 9). I've managed to use it at about 7:45am once but the bus was deserted.

I've never been asked for my railcard or my train tickets though.

 

[DeeGee]

Can they be bought with walk-up tickets? Gives me a bit more flexibility, if so. Station. Bus to hotel. Bus out. Bus back to hotel...

 

[Lrd]

Can they be bought with walk-up tickets? Gives me a bit more flexibility, if so. Station. Bus to hotel. Bus out. Bus back to hotel...

Fairly sure they can, just go to a ticket office, your rail ticket has to have the name of the Town/City on it though.

 

[SS4]

Can they be bought with walk-up tickets? Gives me a bit more flexibility, if so. Station. Bus to hotel. Bus out. Bus back to hotel...

Yes they can - at either your origin or destination although in theory any ticket office can issue them - with the usual PTE proviso

 

[Deerfold]

I've used it before but only in the West Midlands. Timings are what threw me and whether they're valid all day or just off peak (read after half 9). I've managed to use it at about 7:45am once but the bus was deserted.

I've never been asked for my railcard or my train tickets though.

Plusbus is valid all day every day (so long as a service doesn't change to an operator that doesn't take the ticket at certain times - levels of acceptance vary by area).

You don't need to show anything other than the Plusbus ticket though you will need other things to buy one.

 

[cuccir]

Are there any major operators anywhere which don't accept them? In my experience the main exceptions tend to be local authority-subisdised services.

 

[paulypaul]

I use Plusbus a lot, as I have a railcard and I find them very good value for money.

I generally buy both an orgininating and destination Plusbus ticket, when I buy my train tickets online. I then get them posted out, so that I can do bus-train-bus journey. If I have forgotten to buy one, then I just pop into the booking office with my rail ticket and buy one there. I've used them in Brighton & Hove and Leicester without problem.

My only problem with them was when I bought train and bus plus tickets online with Redspottedhanky and the TVM didn't print the Plusbus tickets. This was soon rectified at the booking office, when the clerk checked my booking reference and could see that the train tickets had been collected, but not the Plusbus tickets on the same reservation.

I'm a big fan of them. Lots of information on the Plusbus website http://www.plusbus.info

 

[Tomonthetrain]

Yeah they can be used all day in each town. I usually use them when my I'm heading to London when my nbus has expired. Quite useful because they are effectively a one day nbus in Stourbridge and cover all the way to coventry in the Stourbridge+wmbus mode

 

[CheekyBandit]

Are there any major operators anywhere which don't accept them? In my experience the main exceptions tend to be local authority-subisdised services.

The first time I tried to use one was in Leicester, the Arriva driver insisted it was a train ticket and not valid.

 

[snail]

The first time I tried to use one was in Leicester, the Arriva driver insisted it was a train ticket and not valid.

The larger operators often have PlusBus stickers on the bus windows. Always helpful if you get an awkward one!

 

[SETCommuter]

I have an annual ticket from my home town to Ashford Int'l and then on Monday mornings, I buy a PlusBus ticket for the week on the train.
The weekly ticket is £10. If I buy a weekly ticket on the bus it's £11 so a £1 saving. If I buy a dail ticket on the bus, it's £2.90 each day !!

 

[button_boxer]

I've bought Sheffield day plusbus tickets a few times when I was living in Derby and needed to use the tram as they're cheaper than the Stagecoach single-operator day ticket I would otherwise have had to buy. There was one occasion when a weekly plusbus would have been really really handy for me... but weekly plusbus tickets in Sheffield were only introduced the following week

 

[district]

I have an annual ticket from my home town to Ashford Int'l and then on Monday mornings, I buy a PlusBus ticket for the week on the train.
The weekly ticket is £10. If I buy a weekly ticket on the bus it's £11 so a £1 saving. If I buy a dail ticket on the bus, it's £2.90 each day !!

I'm also an Ashford International Plusbus season ticket holder, and can affirm it is much cheaper to buy plubuses instead of bus fares. It's also more convenient.

 

[lj9090]

Hmm. Can you add a daily plusbus to a season without having to buy another ticket? I see you can add a weekly, but does a daily ticket require purchasing a rail ticket from just outside the area to just inside or can I just buy one on it's own.

 

[district]

Hmm. Can you add a daily plusbus to a season without having to buy another ticket? I see you can add a weekly, but does a daily ticket require purchasing a rail ticket from just outside the area to just inside or can I just buy one on it's own.

Don't fully understand the question. Which ticket do you hold?

 

[lj9090]

Branksome to Brockenhurst gold card, and I'd be getting a Bournemouth&Poole plusbus.

When I last thought about this I just assumed I would have to get something like a single Hinton Admiral->Christchurch so I had a rail ticket to attach the plusbus to, and that comes to £4.05 with the gold card discount. If however I can just buy a daily plusbus to add to my season without having to buy the single, it'll be £2.30. So a decent saving, and less than most of the single bus fares round here!

 

[district]

Not sure of the geography in this area, but according to PB website if you have a ticket which starts or ends at either Bournemouth Interchange, Branksome, Christchurch or Poole then you are entitled to 'add-on' a Bournemouth & Poole plusbus.

So, with your Branksome to Brockenhurst annual season ticket, you could get as many daily, weekly, monthly, three monthly or annual plus-buses as you wanted, as long as they fit into your season ticket.

 

[34D]

Are there any major operators anywhere which don't accept them? In my experience the main exceptions tend to be local authority-subisdised services.

Are there _any_ bus operators anywhere that don't accept them?

Certainly round here, participation in plusbus is an essential requirement of council/PTE subsidised services. Which councils don't then?