Scotrail smartcard

[Deafdoggie]

We will be taking a grand tour of Scotland in the summer, using trains, boats and buses. Whilst I know of the various rovers, none quite fits our travel plans, so we will be buying individual tickets for each journey.

As Scotrail don't do e-tickets, I'm looking at loading the required tickets to a smartcard. This is a new experience for me! So, my questions are:-
1.How many different tickets can be held on a smartcard? And how do I know which one is "active" at any one time?
2.Can we both store our tickets on one Smartcard? Or do we need a Smartcard each?

Any other tips or advice?

 

[trei2k]

This doesn't answer your questions, but I would not recommend going down this route.

Smartcards are fine for season tickets and the odd travel here and there, but I witness very few people using them. It is just an extra hurdle where there is scope for things to go wrong. I personally wouldn't want to spend my trip calling a phone line to fix issues.

If you are touring, I'd stick with paper tickets. Ideally ScotRail would roll out eTickets, but they seem to be sticking to mTickets for now (and these have their own risks, which is why I wouldn't recommend them either).

 

[Haywain]

1.How many different tickets can be held on a smartcard?

A maximum of five.

2.Can we both store our tickets on one Smartcard? Or do we need a Smartcard each?

One smartcard per person, and it would have to be a Scotrail smartcard. You would also be restricted to buying the tickets from Scotrail.

 

[Deafdoggie]

A maximum of five.

One smartcard per person, and it would have to be a Scotrail smartcard. You would also be restricted to buying the tickets from Scotrail.

It is hard to know what is worse, smartcards or m-tickets!

This doesn't answer your questions, but I would not recommend going down this route.

Smartcards are fine for season tickets and the odd travel here and there, but I witness very few people using them. It is just an extra hurdle where there is scope for things to go wrong. I personally wouldn't want to spend my trip calling a phone line to fix issues.

If you are touring, I'd stick with paper tickets. Ideally ScotRail would roll out eTickets, but they seem to be sticking to mTickets for now (and these have their own risks, which is why I wouldn't recommend them either).

All good points, thank you. It's such a shame Scotrail are stuck with M-Tickets instead of e-tickets. They are the last bastion of m-tickets I think.

 

[kkong]

And how do I know which one is "active" at any one time?

The Ecebs Smart Ticket Checker app will show a "transient ticket" once you have tapped in at the start of a journey (at a platform validator or ticket barrier).

What I have never been able to understand is how the system decides which ticket to use when there are multiple tickets loaded on the card which are valid from the origin station.

I have seen this go wrong in the past, with the system deciding to use the "wrong" (long distance) ticket instead of the intended (local) ticket.

Smartcards are fine for season tickets and the odd travel here and there, but I witness very few people using them. It is just an extra hurdle where there is scope for things to go wrong.

I typically load my Club 50 discounted tickets onto my Club 50 smartcard.

It makes sense, because I have to carry the Club 50 smartcard anyway to validate my entitlement to the discount.

The ticket examiner can scan the card to check both ticket and entitlement at the same time.

 

[Deafdoggie]

The Ecebs Smart Ticket Checker app will show a "transient ticket" once you have tapped in at the start of a journey (at a platform validator or ticket barrier).

What I have never been able to understand is how the system decides which ticket to use when there are multiple tickets loaded on the card which are valid from the origin station.

I have seen this go wrong in the past, with the system deciding to use the "wrong" (long distance) ticket instead of the intended (local) ticket.

This is my worry. If I have, say, a Wick to Edinburgh return portion ticket to use on, say Friday. But I have a Wick to Thurso return portion I want to use on Wednesday, how does the Smarcard know to use the Wick one, as technically either could be valid on boarding.

I typically load my Club 50 discounted tickets onto my Club 50 smartcard.

It makes sense, because I have to carry the Club 50 smartcard anyway to validate my entitlement to the discount.

The ticket examiner can scan the card to check both ticket and entitlement at the same time

That is the attraction to me.