Cheapest way to get a Gold Card

[THC]

I have an annual season from Chelmsford to London that expires next month. I won't be renewing it as I no longer work in the City but, as I use the railways for a lot of leisure journeys, would like to obtain a Gold Card. I'd be grateful for any advice you can offer about the cheapest way to do this or the way that offers the best benefits - is the Ryde PH to Esplanade annual season still an option, for example?

Many thanks in advance

THC

 

[swt_passenger]

There was a thread about this a couple of weeks back, seems it’s Hatton to Lapworth, although I didn’t read every post...
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...e-cheapest-annual-season.157834/#post-4356530

 

[THC]

There was a thread about this a couple of weeks back, seems it’s Hatton to Lapworth, although I didn’t read every post...
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...e-cheapest-annual-season.157834/#post-4356530

That's great, thank you. Mods, feel free to close the thread!

THC

 

[infobleep]

I thought it might help someone or some others, if I reported that I purchased an Exeter St David's to Exeter Central annual part time season ticket for £152.00 and it was issued on gold card stock.

I know there was some debate as to whether a gold card would be issued with such a ticket. Well my ticket was.

kristiang85, in the Season Ticket refund thread, reported they were able to retain a Gold Card when switching to the part time

I changed to Exeter and have the Gold card.

Season ticket refund

The notional number of days for calculating the base rate drops from 365 to 82 (2 months at 30 days, plus 22 'odd' days), giving revised base rates of £21.40 (up from £18.31) and 55p (up from 47p). How do you calculate the revised base rates? I can't work out the relationship of how £18.31...

www.railforums.co.uk

It's only anicdotal but it might help someone.

 

[Hadders]

The cheapest 'full fat' season that qualifies for Gold Card status is Hatton to Lapworth (I possess one myself). Current cost is £172.00

There are part time seasons from Exeter Central to Exeter St Davids costing £152 per annum. It is not clear if these officially qualify for Gold Card status although evidence posted in this, and on other threads in the past, suggests that they do get issued on Gold Card stock.

 

[MotCO]

Is there any 'competition' between TOCs to have the cheapest Gold Card season ticket? If so, I would imagine it could help their 'bottom line' to a small extent.

 

[adamskiodp]

Is there any 'competition' between TOCs to have the cheapest Gold Card season ticket? If so, I would imagine it could help their 'bottom line' to a small extent.

I suspect it would only increase revenue if the income from the season tickets is more that the discounts given away.

 

[MotCO]

I suspect it would only increase revenue if the income from the season tickets is more that the discounts given away.

But as I understand it, the discounts would hit all TOCs in the scheme, but the TOC with the cheapest Gold Card qualifying season ticket will gain all the season ticket income.

 

[adamskiodp]

Out of interest, do TOC’s get any income from the receipts of railcard purchases to make up the losses from discounted travel?

 

[CrispyUK]

Out of interest, do TOC’s get any income from the receipts of railcard purchases to make up the losses from discounted travel?

I’m not sure on the answer to this, but wanted to chip in that they are only losses if the railcard-holding passenger would have made the same journeys at full fare if they didn’t hold their railcard. If the railcard discount entices them to make a rail journey every weekend that they wouldn’t otherwise have made, or might have travelled by other means, then it’s additional revenue for the TOC.

 

[Hadders]

Historically when the Gold Card area and Network Railcard area were the same the cheapest Gold Card was Ryde Esplanade to Ryde St Johns Road (there were a couple of others at the same price iirc, Pevensey and Westham to Pevensey Bay and Newhaven Town and Newhaven Harbour).

In 2015 the Gold Card area was extended and Lichfield City to Lichfield Trent Valley became the cheapest Gold Card. I paid £108 for one at the end of 2015, just before the price increase, according to my records. London Midland (as was) then realised this was the cheapest way to acquire a Gold Card and increased the price significantly over the next couple of years.

In 2017 Chiltern Railways reduced the price of Hatton to Lapworth to undercut Lichfield City to Lichfield Trent Valley although they have increased this ticket way ahead of inflation and it's now £172. Still worth it for me but probably not for everyone.

 

[infobleep]

The cheapest 'full fat' season that qualifies for Gold Card status is Hatton to Lapworth (I possess one myself). Current cost is £172.00

There are part time seasons from Exeter Central to Exeter St Davids costing £152 per annum. It is not clear if these officially qualify for Gold Card status although evidence posted in this, and on other threads in the past, suggests that they do get issued on Gold Card stock.

I think it is worth people trying the part time one first and if it looks like it won't be issued on Gold Card stock then they can do the other one instead.

In my case I will be making additional journeys I wouldn't have made in some cases but in others that wouldn't be the case.

Without the Gold Card I'd have just got a Network Rail card.

 

[CyrusWuff]

The Annual Gold Card page on KnowledgeBase is unwilling to commit either way, other than to give a list of tickets that definitely don't qualify for a Gold Card.

The Devon & Cornwall Railcard page, on the other hand, says the following:

Annual Season Tickets (including Part-Time Seasons) for Adults aged 16 and over sold within and for journeys wholly within Devon and Cornwall are automatically issued on special stock (RSP 7599/305 - Ed) and offer the same benefits of the Devon and Cornwall Railcard.

That would seem to preclude such a ticket from being issued on "normal" Gold Card stock (RSP 7599/24) to me, but evidently people have successfully acquired such tickets on same, as demonstrated in this very thread.

 

[infobleep]

The Annual Gold Card page on KnowledgeBase is unwilling to commit either way, other than to give a list of tickets that definitely don't qualify for a Gold Card.

The Devon & Cornwall Railcard page, on the other hand, says the following:


That would seem to preclude such a ticket from being issued on "normal" Gold Card stock (RSP 7599/24) to me, but evidently people have successfully acquired such tickets on same, as demonstrated in this very thread.

I think you may be misunderstanding something here. Exeter St David's and Exeter Central are within the Gold Card area. They are at the end of the line via Axminster.

Therefore, given the Devon and Cornwall part time sesoan tickets are issued on special stock, that would suggest it would be the case here. However, I do appreciate that just because one is true doesn't always follow the other is

Of course you do have the issue of the areas overlapping. I guess which ever special stock is most benifical to you, is the one you might request to use.

 

[autotank]

I have held a part time Exeter St David - Central season ticket for the past couple of years for the sole purpose of getting a gold card. No problem getting it issued on gold card stock at Waterloo station, but last year I got taken aside and questioned by an undercover RPI who thought it was an odd ticket to be buying. Once I showed him my journey history on the Oyster app he had no problems - he was concerned I might have bought it just to get through the barriers at Exeter then travel to London essentially for free.

 

[infobleep]

I have held a part time Exeter St David - Central season ticket for the past couple of years for the sole purpose of getting a gold card. No problem getting it issued on gold card stock at Waterloo station, but last year I got taken aside and questioned by an undercover RPI who thought it was an odd ticket to be buying. Once I showed him my journey history on the Oyster app he had no problems - he was concerned I might have bought it just to get through the barriers at Exeter then travel to London essentially for free.

I hadn't considered that possibility. If one was doing that, it would make more sense to buy it in Exeter. You'd hope though there would be enough ticket checks from Exeter for it to not be worth while. It can't be too full up at the start. Not that I've travel from Exeter first thing in the morning.

 

[RJ]

I have held a part time Exeter St David - Central season ticket for the past couple of years for the sole purpose of getting a gold card. No problem getting it issued on gold card stock at Waterloo station, but last year I got taken aside and questioned by an undercover RPI who thought it was an odd ticket to be buying. Once I showed him my journey history on the Oyster app he had no problems - he was concerned I might have bought it just to get through the barriers at Exeter then travel to London essentially for free.

That's a reasonable question to ask given on board ticket checks aren't being carried out at the moment!