Railcard discount not available on Anytime ticket

[Benjwri]

I was wondering if any forum members could give insight on why I cannot buy an Anytime Single from Oldfield Park to Severn Beach at the railcard discounted rate of £6? Every booking engine will only offer the standard £9.10 rate.
I assume it’s something to do with the £12 minimum, but I’ve never actually seen that applied before, and it’s only being applied on the anytime ticket, not the off peak. Is there a reason that specific ticket was chosen?

 

[skyhigh]

Which railcard, and when are you looking to travel?

 

[Benjwri]

Which railcard, and when are you looking to travel?

16-25 Railcard, wanting to get the 9:15 service this morning, but have decided to wait for the following one which is off peak. More a question for future reference now. Just doesn’t seem to make sense that peak vs off peak without a railcard is a 30p difference, but with one is £3.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It is the minimum fare before 10am, yes.

 

[pelli]

I assume it’s something to do with the £12 minimum, but I’ve never actually seen that applied before, and it’s only being applied on the anytime ticket, not the off peak.

To be clear, what determines whether the weekday pre-10am £12 minimum is applied is which itinerary you select in the journey planner, not what type (anytime vs off-peak) the ticket itself is. If you select a pre-10am departure on an anytime ticket or an off-peak ticket (in cases where it is valid) then the minimum is applied, and if you select a post-10am departure on an off-peak ticket or an anytime ticket (for example if no off-peak ticket exists, or for use where there are evening peak restrictions) then the minimum is not applied.

Note that if you select a post-10am departure and buy a fully discounted anytime ticket (costing less than £12) then despite its "anytime" name it is not valid for use before 10am - this has caught people out in the past, such as in this thread and this thread in the prosecutions section.

(For completeness, if the undiscounted ticket costs less than £12 then the minimum fare should be implemented by offering you the undiscounted ticket instead, but it's certainly happened in the past that badly implemented systems offer you a needlessly expensive "discounted" ticket for £12.)

 

[Bletchleyite]

(For completeness, if the undiscounted ticket costs less than £12 then the minimum fare should be implemented by offering you the undiscounted ticket instead, but it's certainly happened in the past that badly implemented systems offer you a needlessly expensive "discounted" ticket for £12.)

This has come up because there are cases where you might want a "discounted" ticket in order to use other aspects of the Railcard such as the very cheap child tickets on a Family or Network Railcard which are not themselves subject to the minimum. Logic would be that they would just issue a full priced ticket with the Railcard flag on it, but unfortunately the customer-unfriendly railway has found yet another way to pointlessly annoy people to save it 50p, by issuing a ticket *for* £12.

 

[Benjwri]

Note that if you select a post-10am departure and buy a fully discounted anytime ticket (costing less than £12) then despite its "anytime" name it is not valid for use before 10am - this has caught people out in the past, such as in this thread and this thread in the prosecutions section.

Does the same apply for Off Peak tickets? Most off peak journeys around me carry a W1 restriction, so if I were to travel between 9:30 and 10 on a discounted off peak fare, would that be invalid too?

 

[Haywain]

Does the same apply for Off Peak tickets? Most off peak journeys around me carry a W1 restriction, so if I were to travel between 9:30 and 10 on a discounted off peak fare, would that be invalid too?

Yes, the restriction is on the use of the railcard and fare paid regardless of ticket type.

 

[30907]

For completeness, the £12 minimum on the 16-25 doesn't apply in July-August.
(Edit in light of following posts about other railcards).

 

[Haywain]

This has come up because there are cases where you might want a "discounted" ticket in order to use other aspects of the Railcard such as the very cheap child tickets on a Family or Network Railcard which are not themselves subject to the minimum. Logic would be that they would just issue a full priced ticket with the Railcard flag on it, but unfortunately the customer-unfriendly railway has found yet another way to pointlessly annoy people to save it 50p, by issuing a ticket *for* £12.

These are a little different - the Family Railcard does not have a minimum fare but does have a time restriction in the Network Railcard area, while the Network Railcard has an absolute time restriction as well as a minimum fare. Unfortunately, each railcard has its own individual set of restrictions and there may always be niche cases that are not catered for.

 

[fandroid]

To avoid confusion here, can we clarify the application across Railcards of this minimum fare? As far as I can tell from the Railcard website the only time restriction on Senior Railcards is the one preventing use in the Network SE area during morning weekday peaks.

 

[Haywain]

To avoid confusion here, can we clarify the application across Railcards of this minimum fare? As far as I can tell from the Railcard website the only time restriction on Senior Railcards is the one preventing use in the Network SE area during morning weekday peaks.

For the Senior Railcard, that is correct. Minimum fares do not apply to all railcards and time restrictions do not apply to all railcards.