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Older Persons Freedom Pass into London

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spoorweg

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Javing received incorrect information from GWR on Twitter, I bought a ticket from Reading to Cornwall and when at Paddington Station was told i needed to purchase an additional fare from West Drayton to Reading.

The ticket office sold me a single ticket, so I'm now trying to purchase the return from Reading to West Drayton but to travel to Paddington.

From what I've read, one needs a boundary or extension ticket. I cannot find any information covering travel from Boundary 6 to London stations.

Can someone please tell me if a Boundary ticket is the same as an extension ticket?

What must I request at the local station in Cornwall, which i hope is staffed?

Also why is there so much confusion regarding the Conditions of Travel for Freedom Pass holders and why can't the extension ticket be purchased online?

I know I can take the Elizabeth Line from Reading to Paddington for free, but it will get me into London over an hour later, so I would rather pay the additional fare to West Drayton.
 
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Hadders

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You need a ticket from Reading to West Drayton or Reading to Boundary Zone 6. You then use your Freedom Pass from West Drayton/Boundary Zone 6 to Paddington. The Boundary Zone ticket is an extension ticket and can only be sold if you also hold a ticket to the Boundary Zone which is why they cannot be purchased online.

Note there are two versions of the Boundary Zone fare from Reading - via Slough and via Ascot. You need the via Slough version.
 

spoorweg

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Thanks for the replies. It is just so frustrating that it is not clear. How are us oldies expected to know that we need a ticket via Slough and not Ascot. I have to confess I did not really follow the sentence explaining why they cannot be sold online. As I understand it: I need to request a ticket from Reading to Boundary Zone 6 via Slough and I can only get this from a manned ticket office. My concern is what to do if the ticket office is closed as so many are these days. Should I buy a ticket from Reading to Paddington which I can do online.
 

Hadders

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Thanks for the replies. It is just so frustrating that it is not clear. How are us oldies expected to know that we need a ticket via Slough and not Ascot. I have to confess I did not really follow the sentence explaining why they cannot be sold online. As I understand it: I need to request a ticket from Reading to Boundary Zone 6 via Slough and I can only get this from a manned ticket office. My concern is what to do if the ticket office is closed as so many are these days. Should I buy a ticket from Reading to Paddington which I can do online.
A ticket from Reading to West Drayton will suffice, which you can purchase online, in the event of being unable to get a Boundary Zone ticket.

There are two routes from Reading to London, via Slough which is faster but more expensive and via Ascot into Waterloo which is slower but cheaper. The fares could be simplified but this would almost certainly lead to the withdrawal of the cheaper via Ascot tickets, so be careful what you wish for!

Boundary Zone tickets are an extension ticket and can only be used if you have an appropriate travelcard or Freedom Pass. They cannot be used on their own which is one reason they cannot be purchased online (the person selling a Bounbdary Zone ticket is supposed to check that you have an appropriate travelcard or Freedom Pass).
 

matt_world2004

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You can use your freedom passing the Elizabeth line to reading and then a paper ticket on gwr from there
 

Hadders

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You can use your freedom passing the Elizabeth line to reading and then a paper ticket on gwr from there
The OP doesn't want to get off at Reading and use the Elizabeth Line, even though it wouldn't cost them anything, because it would lengthen their journey significantly.
 

fandroid

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If finding an open ticket office in Cornwall is tricky then order a Reading to West Drayton ticket online for collection at a ticket machine.

Having said that, it's possible (I haven't checked) that you can get an e-ticket for Reading to West Drayton. I often travel from Reading to Hayes and Harlington for Heathrow Airport and found I can get an e-ticket OK for that journey despite there being no barcode readers at the Hayes and Harlington TfL gateline! (I used to catch the bus from there onwards, to save a few pennies)

If you can get an e-ticket, then there'll be no worries about station barcode readers as you'll only need to show it at an onboard ticket check.
 
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spoorweg

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I think nuclear physics will be easier to grasp than this. As thought there is no ticket office at the local station. So next step will be to buy a fare from Reading to WD online but I have to input a departure time from Reading. I hope this is immaterial as the train I'm on is direct to Paddington.
 

Gaelan

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I think nuclear physics will be easier to grasp than this. As thought there is no ticket office at the local station. So next step will be to buy a fare from Reading to WD online but I have to input a departure time from Reading. I hope this is immaterial as the train I'm on is direct to Paddington.
There’s no train-specific tickets on that route, so the only thing that’ll make a difference is whether the time you put is before or after 9:30am - the former will get you a more expensive “Anytime” ticket, otherwise you’ll get an “Off-Peak”. The Anytime is good at any time, as you might expect, and the Off-Peak (on this route - it’s not consistent nationwide, because of course it’s not) is good after 9:30.
 

Hadders

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I think nuclear physics will be easier to grasp than this. As thought there is no ticket office at the local station. So next step will be to buy a fare from Reading to WD online but I have to input a departure time from Reading. I hope this is immaterial as the train I'm on is direct to Paddington.
Correct. It doesn't matter what departure time you choose. There are Anytime and Off Peak tickets. Assuming the train you're on departs Reading after 09:30 then an Off Peak ticket will suffice.
 

spoorweg

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I've just looked at GWR website. If I specify a time the ticket is £9.55 with the Senior Railcard. Otherwise the alternatives given are as follows but are baffling as why is an off peak day single more expensive than an anytime day single ?

Other single tickets​

Anytime Day Single​

Valid on all services by the route and Train Operator shown. Valid 1 day only.

£10.85
Select

Off-Peak Day Single​

Valid on off-peak services by the route shown. Valid for 1 day only.

£14.50
Select

Anytime Day Single​

Valid on all services by the route and Train Operator shown. Valid 1 day only.

£16.50
Select

Anytime Day Single​

Valid on all services by the route and Train Operator shown. Valid 1 day only.

£16.50
Select
Continue
 

Watershed

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I've just looked at GWR website. If I specify a time the ticket is £9.55 with the Senior Railcard. Otherwise the alternatives given are as follows but are baffling as why is an off peak day single more expensive than an anytime day single ?

Other single tickets​

Anytime Day Single​

Valid on all services by the route and Train Operator shown. Valid 1 day only.

£10.85
Select

Off-Peak Day Single​

Valid on off-peak services by the route shown. Valid for 1 day only.

£14.50
Select

Anytime Day Single​

Valid on all services by the route and Train Operator shown. Valid 1 day only.

£16.50
Select

Anytime Day Single​

Valid on all services by the route and Train Operator shown. Valid 1 day only.

£16.50
Select
Continue
I suspect there may be some confusion owing to the layout of the website. The £14.50 and £16.50 fares are without the Railcard discount - I've no idea why they show these when you've specified you have a Railcard.

The £10.85 fare is the Anytime Day Single with Railcard discount, although this is largely superfluous seeing as it can't be used before the Off-Peak Day Single becomes valid given the Senior Railcard discount (due to the morning peak restrictions in the southeast on that Railcard). It would only really make sense to buy if you were travelling from Paddington on one of the services to which the evening peak restrictions apply on the Off-Peak Day Single (most GWR departures from 16:02 until 19:04 - they're listed in the restriction code text).

The £9.55 fare is the Off-Peak Day Single with Railcard discount and as mentioned above, this is valid on any service from Reading towards Paddington from 09:31 onwards.
 
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Hadders

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Even though you've specified you've got a railcard GWR's website shows all fare options, railcard and non-railcard iirc.

The relevent fares with a Senior Railcard are £10.85 Anytime and £9.55 Off Peak.

You do not have to purchase this ticket on the day of travel, if buying at a station you could do it beforehand. If purchasing online it can be issued as an eticket which you can print out yourself or show on a phone which means you won't have to visit a ticket machine to print it.
 

gray1404

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It's a shame you were advised to get a single on your outward journey as period returns are available.
 

spoorweg

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I'm travelling tomorrow Sunday afternoon so it is off peak. I always input the Senior Railcard to obtain accurate prices. I know the ticket should be £9.55 but I cannot get it without specifying a time. So to make life easier I'll just purchase the £10.85 ticket and add it to my complaint to GWR as the original mistake was their fault for saying travel is free to Reading on a GWR train.
Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond. GWR should employ you.
 

Watershed

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I'm travelling tomorrow Sunday afternoon so it is off peak. I always input the Senior Railcard to obtain accurate prices. I know the ticket should be £9.55 but I cannot get it without specifying a time. So to make life easier I'll just purchase the £10.85 ticket and add it to my complaint to GWR as the original mistake was their fault for saying travel is free to Reading on a GWR train.
Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond. GWR should employ you.
It's fine to choose a train. It remains a flexible ticket, valid at any time given it's a Sunday.
 

fandroid

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Even though you've specified you've got a railcard GWR's website shows all fare options, railcard and non-railcard iirc.
You definitely remember correctly. I used to use GWR a lot for online purchases but have shifted to the forums site recently. That list of other tickets was handy as a way of getting at tickets that the journey planner setup would not obviously show first time. For me that was Any Permitted tickets and Day Travelcards. Sometimes I still find the GWR site useful to get "simple" tickets that somehow get lost on the Forums site.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

I'm travelling tomorrow Sunday afternoon so it is off peak. I always input the Senior Railcard to obtain accurate prices. I know the ticket should be £9.55 but I cannot get it without specifying a time. So to make life easier I'll just purchase the £10.85 ticket and add it to my complaint to GWR as the original mistake was their fault for saying travel is free to Reading on a GWR train.
Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond. GWR should employ you.
This might be a step too far for you- but I'll try to explain.

To get an e-ticket on your phone GWR say you must have their app. That's not true. As long as you can access emails on your phone you can get the pdf ticket that comes with the email. You can download this and then display it on the phone, or just get a screenshot of the barcode bit of the ticket. I'm displaying one I bought earlier using GWR for a journey on Thursday. Be assured I didn't travel at the time stated, and I didn't have any trouble with that!
 

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spoorweg

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I purchased our tickets @ £9.55 each. My next mission will be to achieve the conditions of fares for FP holders to be written so it is easy to understand. You guys can do it so it is possible.
 

fandroid

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I've just used the GWR app to buy some tickets with a Railcard. Nowhere on that list of possible tickets and fares does it say "with Railcard". To confuse things even further when you tap "Ticket details" it has the same info against each type with a lot of words about Railcards, even when the fare quoted is a non-discounted one. I'm going to complain to GWR.
 

AlterEgo

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Better advice on here than at the ticket office as per usual.
 

30907

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I've just used the GWR app to buy some tickets with a Railcard. Nowhere on that list of possible tickets and fares does it say "with Railcard". To confuse things even further when you tap "Ticket details" it has the same info against each type with a lot of words about Railcards, even when the fare quoted is a non-discounted one. I'm going to complain to GWR.
Not sure what the problem is (you don't say from where to where so I just chose a random example) - you have to specify a Railcard to get the Railcard-discounted fare to show. (OK this was on the mobile site not the app - but I'd be surprised if it was different).
 
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