Bus passes

[jagmanx]

Herr Wehn is very funny and very talented to make jokes in a non native language !
All the better as we know Germans do not have a sense of humour !??

 

[Winks]

Anyhoo, back to bus passes.

We use our ENCTS issued by Cumbria County Council whenever the opportunity arises and have never had them refused. The Ts&Cs area bit fragmentary though and have all sorts of conditions attached depending on where the pass is issued and some other things. A friend of mine lives in the Greater Manchester local government area and gets 'free' rail travel for,I think, an annual payment of £10. He puts it to good use doing extending walks and pub crawls.

Someone I know well got on a shuttle bus in Seattle and asked the driver, jokingly, if his UK bus pass was valid. To which the driver replied,"You're still a senior regardless of geography. Hop aboard and welcome to Seattle".

Cheers

H

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Anyhoo, back to bus passes.

We use our ENCTS issued by Cumbria County Council whenever the opportunity arises and have never had them refused. The Ts&Cs area bit fragmentary though and have all sorts of conditions attached depending on where the pass is issued and some other things. A friend of mine lives in the Greater Manchester local government area and gets 'free' rail travel for,I think, an annual payment of £10. He puts it to good use doing extending walks and pub crawls.

Someone I know well got on a shuttle bus in Seattle and asked the driver, jokingly, if his UK bus pass was valid. To which the driver replied,"You're still a senior regardless of geography. Hop aboard and welcome to Seattle".

Cheers

H

Yeah, good on the driver, he still gets paid, less jobsworths in the US I bet.

 

[Undertaker]

Someone mentioned earlier that their buss pass is also a library and concession card. Mine is too (Derbyshire) don't know if that is universal. I haven't to date been refused use of mine on any buses in England within the prescribed times. Regarding discounts there are quite a few businesses locally offering discounted rates I was pleased to see the dog boarding kennels we use give a 10% discount for card holders. So in short definitely worth getting IMO.

 

[Trigger]

Last trip we got talking about bus passes and as Liz is now old enough to get one we wondered if it was worth it and where we could use it, there was a thread somewhere that said you could only use it in the town it was issued as there was no reciprocal agreement to use it anywhere so doesn't anyone have and use theirs when away in the van?

We both have bus passes and use them ALL over England best thing ever, the passes are NOT FREE however as they are paid for by your council from Community tax you pay and also by any TAXES you pay, so use them as much as you can really, we used ours last week at Canterbury and Folkstone love your bus pass, why would anyone entitled not have one? We cannot use ours before 9 am but why would you be out of bed that early any way hee hee?

 

[Pudsey Bear]

So do they scan them on the bus?

 

[Trigger]

So do they scan them on the bus?

No you do that just hold the pass over a scanner at the driver position and it will register you do not even have to state a destination no ticket is issued either or rarely you can stay on the bus all day if you want to, we often do a round Robin on a bus if we feel like a tour, if we stay on a CL or club rally we always look on Google for bus stops and have several bus apps on our phones.

 

[Scotia]

Scotland is pretty much countrywide usage, Kev. I think the English system is valid throughout England, but I stand to be corrected. As far as 'worth it?' is concerned, we use the Bus Service regularly for local trips [saves giving up our on street parking space, and the bus gets us about 400m closer to the Town Centre.

We can also get reduced rate train fares for longer trips

Steve

I think the train is an over 50's thing but a small fee to get your yearly entitlement.

 

[Trigger]

I think the train is an over 50's thing but a small fee to get your yearly entitlement.

Yes English bus passes are good all over England and also Isle of Wight but some areas only allow there use after 9,30 Am after the rush hour, what ever that is, once you have the pasi t renews automatically after a few years at no cost to you or our does from HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL IF you lose or damage the pass, it is plastic and has your photo on it it costs you £12,for a replacement ouch, happened to me as I keep mine in my wallet which is in my back pocket and once the pass cracked and would not ding, most us drivers would look at the pass and say OK that's OK but some got snotty and so I got a replacement.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

That was the thing for us, getting a bus and doing a city tour, maybe go down to that London and park up outside the M25 or wherever with the blue badge, get the bus in and just wander around.

Are any of the bus apps better than others?

 

[Trigger]

That was the thing for us, getting a bus and doing a city tour, maybe go down to that London and park up outside the M25 or wherever with the blue badge, get the bus in and just wander around.

Are any of the bus apps better than others?

No I think they are all good, we just down load their apps when in their area so we know the times of the busses we want and you can track the bus you want as it gets closer to where you are waiting. Without bus pass users. most bus services would die as often it is only us wrinkles using the busses, don't know what bus companies get paid for our use but it does keep the busses running.

 

[wildebus]

That was the thing for us, getting a bus and doing a city tour, maybe go down to that London and park up outside the M25 or wherever with the blue badge, get the bus in and just wander around.

Are any of the bus apps better than others?

depends on the App
In the County I live in (which is not equal to the Council Region I live in) I can use a App to request a bus to pick me up and to take me anywhere in the county.

Pingo is an on-demand bus service brought to you by Borders Buses. Pingo allows customers to book a shared journey not served by bus at that particular time. It operates within the Berwickshire area and is perfect for joining up journeys, integrating with the existing transport network, and providing bus travel where a service doesn’t exist.
By simply downloading the "Ride Pingo” app you can book your journey quickly and easily, pay for your journey online and even track the progress of your bus as it makes its way to your selected pick-up point. It's as easy as - push a button, get a bus!

And when it says "pay for your journey online", if you have a pass it is free.

The best deal by far in the UK I reckon is for Londoners. When they hit 60, they get free travel on Buses AND Underground.

 

[trevskoda]

When they hit 60, they get free travel on Buses AND Underground.

Thats fantastic, so when you die and go down you can travel free anywhere, never mentioned that in the Bible.

 

[wilfyboy@hotmail.com]

Bus passes good for use in England, no good in Scotland, Wales think you pay 25%. As for times of use check each area some 0930 others 0830 and may be different at weekends.

 

[marchie]

Bus passes good for use in England, no good in Scotland, Wales think you pay 25%. As for times of use check each area some 0930 others 0830 and may be different at weekends.

Bus passes are brilliant in Scotland

Steve

 

[Lefty]

Last trip we got talking about bus passes and as Liz is now old enough to get one we wondered if it was worth it and where we could use it, there was a thread somewhere that said you could only use it in the town it was issued as there was no reciprocal agreement to use it anywhere so doesn't anyone have and use theirs when away in the van?

We have one in Cornwal. Seems you can ride anywhere except park and ride and London.

 

[Campervanannie]

I think I might get one of these after reading this thread never bothered before, now where did Pudsey put that link

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Here ya go

Apply for an older person's bus pass

Some older people can get free travel on local buses - contact your council to check your eligibility and apply for a bus pass

www.gov.uk

mine takes me to YMetro to fill it in.

 

[Devadave]

Wr both have a disabled bus pass, i have used it for free bus rides in England. Locally its great to get to Chester or Liverpool (we live in between both)
We've used them into york while staying on out of town campsite.
Looe in Cornwall done few times
Most importantly recently to travel around London, Epsom for six nations rugby at Twickenham.
It cost £10 to replace if you loose it, I've lost it twice and promised won't loose it again
We are informed that we can travel into Wales but return journey is chargeable.
So when using sites in Wales we select more carefully or accept the cost consequences
Its free and saves using car or motorhome...

 

[Trigger]

No I think they are all good, we just down load their apps when in their area so we know the times of the busses we want and you can track the bus you want as it gets closer to where you are waiting. Without bus pass users. most bus services would die as often it is only us wrinkles using the busses, don't know what bus companies get paid for our use but it does keep the busses running.

Bus passes good for use in England, no good in Scotland, Wales think you pay 25%. As for times of use check each area some 0930 others 0830 and may be different at weekends.

Might change now the Poison Dwarf has resigned?