PlusBus with PRIV pass

[HSTEd]

Does anyone know what the actual policy is regards to attempting to purchase a PRIV-discounted PlusBus ticket?

I have searched online but there seems to be some confusion.

 

[yorkie]

PRIV discount not allowed

Some ticket issuing systems (TIS) will apply it erroneously; staff are supposed to be trained to know not to issue them (in theory).

If any staff say the discount is allowable, they are mistaken.

 

[HSTEd]

So does that mean one cannot even purchase a PRIV-priced rail ticket with a full priced PlusBus add on?

 

[MichaelAMW]

Does anyone know what the actual policy is regards to attempting to purchase a PRIV-discounted PlusBus ticket?

I have searched online but there seems to be some confusion.

If you try BRFares.com - I did a search for LEEDS to LEEDS + BUS - it says "No fares available", which I suspect is your answer.

 

[yorkie]

So does that mean one cannot even purchase a PRIV-priced rail ticket with a full priced PlusBus add on?

I see no reason why that would not be permitted.

The rule is that the PRIV discount cannot be applied.

I see nothing to stop the holder of both a PRIV & other railcard obtaining the relevant railcard discount on their PlusBus either.

That said, good luck getting PRIV on XC as some of their train managers are very confused about the rules on PlusBus and think no discount is allowed at all, one particularly troublesome lady even claimed PlusBus is not permitted at all due to fraud. I wasn't the passenger asking for a PlusBus - it was for a friend who is a member here who never posts - but I ended up having an 'interesting' conversation with her (in which she claimed I knew nothing about railway ticketing); the next Guard had a misunderstanding about PlusBus but was happy to look it up and issued the ticket without quibble and thanked us for showing him the relevant information on the PlusBus website.

Yes there is a lot of confusion and you could be told all sorts of things which aren't true. But then that's not unusual for railway ticketing matters.

 

[185143]

I see no reason why that would not be permitted.

The rule is that the PRIV discount cannot be applied.

I see nothing to stop the holder of both a PRIV & other railcard obtaining the relevant railcard discount on their PlusBus either.

That said, good luck getting PRIV on XC as some of their train managers are very confused about the rules on PlusBus and think no discount is allowed at all, one particularly troublesome lady even claimed PlusBus is not permitted at all due to fraud. I wasn't the passenger asking for a PlusBus - it was for a friend who is a member here who never posts - but I ended up having an 'interesting' conversation with her (in which she claimed I knew nothing about railway ticketing); the next Guard had a misunderstanding about PlusBus but was happy to look it up and issued the ticket without quibble and thanked us for showing him the relevant information on the PlusBus website.

Yes there is a lot of confusion and you could be told all sorts of things which aren't true. But then that's not unusual for railway ticketing matters.

I know you are talking about PRIV plusbuses, but it isn't just XC who are clueless about them trust me!

 

[davetheguard]

I'm sure this has been covered before here, and it might have been me asking the question!

I came away with the idea that you could buy a public rate (i.e. not priv) plusbus add on to go with your priv ticket. I have on several occassions bought such an add on from several different ticket offices.

I assume that the same applies if you're travelling on a box or some other form of free pass, but I haven't tried that; perhaps someone else can advise?

 

[pinza]

I have never had a problem buying a PlusBus (at booking offices) as an add-on to a staff travel free "box", or to a variety of rover tickets. BUT (as has been confirmed by previous posters), there is no PRIV discount and the public rate applies.

 

[d1672]

Hi,

AS far as I am aware, if you hold a priv ticket or free boxes or a rover ticket, it is perfectly acceptable to purchase a full public rate plusbus add on.

For example, If I go to Carlisle for the day I buy a priv day return from CUB to CAR costing £6.15 and a Carlisle Plus bus at £2.80.

I have never had any problems. Some of the Plusbus tickets cover huge areas as well and are exceptional value.

Thomas

 

[CyrusWuff]

To be honest, I've found most issues with PlusBus are down to Drivers claiming they're not valid, with bonus points if their bus had a PlusBus ad/flash on it, rather than a lack of willingness to sell them in the first place.

Though to counter that, the first time I used one was in Southampton and I was going a few stops beyond the boundary but the Driver didn't charge the extra fare that I should rightfully have paid.

Mind you, I've also had a bus driver in Manchester claim that an All Modes Daysaver bought from a Metrolink TVM isn't valid on the bus...

 

[Haywain]

PlusBus is explicitly available to holders of staff travel facilities using free passes as well as those using Priv rate tickets. I have used it many times with free travel without difficulty.

 

[matt_world2004]

PlusBus is explicitly available to holders of staff travel facilities using free passes as well as those using Priv rate tickets. I have used it many times with free travel without difficulty.

Does that mean I can use a tfl staff pass to get plusbus at watford junction?

 

[pdeaves]

The last time I used PlusBus was... 'interesting'. The area for this particular PlusBus was clearly shown on the map, including the town that had the railway station, the town I wanted to go to, everything between and more besides. However, the ONLY bus operator that ran between the towns (the majority operator in the area) was not part of PlusBus. Oh well.

The real point of this story that is relevant to this thread is that I bought PlusBus tickets from a station at a separate time to the main rail travel tickets. The railway booking office clerk was happy to sell PlusBus to anyone provided that a valid, relevant rail ticket was held. That my rail tickets were PRIV was of no importance to the clerk; I had a ticket so they could issue a PlusBus.

 

[Solent&Wessex]

Does that mean I can use a tfl staff pass to get plusbus at watford junction?

You could purchase a full price plusbus for Watford Junction yes, but you would receive no discount.

I have never had a problem buying a PlusBus (at booking offices) as an add-on to a staff travel free "box", or to a variety of rover tickets. BUT (as has been confirmed by previous posters), there is no PRIV discount and the public rate applies.

Correct. Staff Travel Holders can use discounted priv rate tickets or free boxes or their own employers free travel card for the rail element of the journey, and purchase a normal public rate full priced plusbus ticket.

However I seem to recall that the rail element of the journey must not be wholly within the plusbus area and must start or end outside the plusbus area concerned.

 

[Haywain]

However I seem to recall that the rail element of the journey must not be wholly within the plusbus area and must start or end outside the plusbus area concerned.

The qualification rules for PlusBus remain unchanged regardless of the travel documents used for the rail journey. The journey must start/finish outside of the PlusBus zone. Rail journeys wholly within the PlusBus zone do not qualify for PlusBus tickets.