Season Ticket Benefit Query

[K9ine]

I am considering buying a South West Trains Annual Season Ticket.
However I am possibly going to move house after 6 months and may have to get a refund for part of the ticket. I understand that it is not pro-rata etc. I know that I will lose the benefit of Gold Card status. I am wondering about the other benefits if I were to need a refund.

1) Free travel at weekends – ... 6 one-day tickets
Are these physical tickets? Can I only use these whilst I have the season ticket (ie. would they become invalid once I had a season ticket refund)

2) Network Railcard for £1.
Does this come with the same dates as the annual rail card? or would it last a year from when requested. I'm assuming this would continue to be valid even if I get my season ticket refunded.

Any information is greatly appreciated.

 

[Urban Gateline]

I am considering buying a South West Trains Annual Season Ticket.
However I am possibly going to move house after 6 months and may have to get a refund for part of the ticket. I understand that it is not pro-rata etc. I know that I will lose the benefit of Gold Card status. I am wondering about the other benefits if I were to need a refund.

1) Free travel at weekends – ... 6 one-day tickets
Are these physical tickets? Can I only use these whilst I have the season ticket (ie. would they become invalid once I had a season ticket refund)

2) Network Railcard for £1.
Does this come with the same dates as the annual rail card? or would it last a year from when requested. I'm assuming this would continue to be valid even if I get my season ticket refunded.

Any information is greatly appreciated.

1) The Free tickets can only be used when in posession of a valid, in date season ticket, therefore they become useless when you refund your annual ticket.

2) Correct, a year from when purchased and would continue to be valid. You'd need to purchase it before refunding your season ticket though to be elligible for the £1 price.

 

[QJ]

1) Free travel at weekends – ... 6 one-day tickets
Are these physical tickets? Can I only use these whilst I have the season ticket (ie. would they become invalid once I had a season ticket refund)

Yes - they are physical tickets. You have to date them and write the unique season ticket number on the front as well. For this reason they will no longer be of use to you if you don't have a season ticket - unless you give them to someone else who has an annual season ticket for which the scheme applies and travel with them.

2) Network Railcard for £1.
Does this come with the same dates as the annual rail card? or would it last a year from when requested. I'm assuming this would continue to be valid even if I get my season ticket refunded.

Not sure of the rules for this one. However, I got one issued for my mother in law as is allowed by the rules. I cannot remember what date was printed on the network railcard though I suspect it would be logical to assume the expiry date was that of the season ticket against which it was issued.(Urban Gateline has updated my knowledge on this so I won't have to get my in law a new one just yet)

I guess it would be difficult to check whether the season ticket was still valid though not impossible. I suspect some RPIs might be desperate enough to check with the issuing station (or office) if the rules precluded the use of the network card if the season ticket against which it was issued was no longer valid.

I got caught out using the gold card in thinking that weekend upgrades to 1st class were allowed. I was convinced they were (perhaps they were originally but subsequently withdrawn). Thankfully, the guard was understanding and my wife and I were not penalised for our inadvertent ticketing error.

 

[K9ine]

Thanks for the quick responses
I only work term time only so it costs £150 more for the annual season ticket rather than 6 separate half term season tickets, which is just worthwhile if I use the benefits.

Now I will have to decide for myself whether to buy my season ticket the weekend before so that I can go for a day trip or two before heading back to work. Hopefully my new credit card with 15 months at 0% arrives in time.

Thanks again for your quick and helpful responses

 

[lj9090]

The 6 free SWT day tickets can take a couple of months to get posted out - when I phoned up chasing them up I was told they're done in batches. I received mine in December after an October purchase.

They also have a photocard number printed on them, so I'd assume you can't give them to someone else with a valid season to use.

 

[island]

I got caught out using the gold card in thinking that weekend upgrades to 1st class were allowed. I was convinced they were (perhaps they were originally but subsequently withdrawn). Thankfully, the guard was understanding and my wife and I were not penalised for our inadvertent ticketing error.

Weekend (or general) upgrades to 1st class are allowed with a Gold Card, but only when you are travelling on a Gold card discounted ticket, i.e. travelling outside the area covered by your annual ticket. Cost is £5 single or day return, and must be purchased before boarding as they cannot be issued from a guard's machine.

 

[DLA365]

Hi,

Does anyone know whether the 6 free weekend tickets are available when purchasing an annual season travelcard on Oyster at a South West Trains ticket office?

Thanks

 

[island]

I think so, assuming you find one of the very few SWT offices that does Oyster. Certainly Chiltern offers its free weekend travel offer for annual tickets on Oyster meeting the criteria.

 

[DLA365]

I think so, assuming you find one of the very few SWT offices that does Oyster. Certainly Chiltern offers its free weekend travel offer for annual tickets on Oyster meeting the criteria.

Thanks for that - do you by any chance know if Chiltern are able to sell zones 2-4 annual travelcards? The reason I ask is because Chiltern don't have any zone 2 stations in London, but have an excellent deal where you can get free weekend travel on their entire network with any annual season ticket to London.

Thanks in advance

 

[island]

Doesn't it have to be a minimum £1,500 spend on the ticket to qualify?

 

[milferrail]

Hi,

Does anyone know whether the 6 free weekend tickets are available when purchasing an annual season travelcard on Oyster at a South West Trains ticket office?

Thanks

Hi, I can confirm they are available, having bought my annual season travelcard at Wimbledon station and received the free tickets for the past 2 years - I believe Richmond station also issue season travelcards on Oyster. Remember to check whether the Gold Card discount has been applied to your profile to receive a third off when using Oyster Pay As You Go, as I'm not sure that this is always done automatically when the travelcard is issued.

On a related subject, does anyone know whether it's possible to buy a Gold Card First Supplement for £5 when using one of your free weekend tickets? Thanks.