Railcard discount in conjunction with other discounts

[Fermiboson]

The Railcard conditions of use state that Railcard discounts cannot be used in conjunction with any other discount (item 2.6 for the 16-25 railcard).

However, several train companies appear to offer other discounts to students as well. For example, Grand Central (https://www.grandcentralrail.com/student-discount) says Save 25% on Grand Central Advance fares just for students - and if you have a Railcard, you'll save up to 50%. Its FAQ further specifically states When you book Advance tickets with Grand Central, you can get your 25% student discount, plus further savings with your Railcard, too. Since the railcard saves 33%, and (1-0.33)(1-0.25) = 0.5, it appears that GC has decided to apply the Railcard discount in conjunction with the normal student discount.

Other companies also appear to offer special student discounts. LNER for example offer a 40% discount through Unidays, but is silent on whether it can be applied in conjunction with railcards. XC gives 10% off through TOTUM. They are equally silent on how this interacts with railcards.

So, how exactly does this work?

 

[Gaelan]

LNER for example offer a 40% discount through Unidays, but is silent on whether it can be applied in conjunction with railcards

No from LNER:

• This discount is not valid conjunction with any other offers, discounts or Railcards.

 

[30907]

The Railcard conditions of use state that Railcard discounts cannot be used in conjunction with any other discount (item 2.6 for the 16-25 railcard).

However, several train companies appear to offer other discounts to students as well. For example, Grand Central (https://www.grandcentralrail.com/student-discount) says Save 25% on Grand Central Advance fares just for students - and if you have a Railcard, you'll save up to 50%. Its FAQ further specifically states When you book Advance tickets with Grand Central, you can get your 25% student discount, plus further savings with your Railcard, too. Since the railcard saves 33%, and (1-0.33)(1-0.25) = 0.5, it appears that GC has decided to apply the Railcard discount in conjunction with the normal student discount.

Note that it says "up to 50%" - as I don't have an .ac.uk address I can't test the system, but I suspect you may have

 

[Adam Williams]

It's a bit of a misleading thing to put in the Ts and Cs, really. The Great British Rail Sale of last year allowed for the promotional fares to be discounted with railcards as well, so the examples cited in this thread are not the only examples where promotions have been stackable with Railcard discounts.

I guess it depends on what you interpret "discount" to mean. In the strictest sense it's not possibly to apply more than one status discount to a ticket, so perhaps that's where it comes from, but Ts and Cs should be written using plain English.