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Veterans railcard where is the advantage

(10 Posts)
Dottynan Thu 23-Jan-20 12:37:19

Yesterday Grant Shapps Transport Minister announced a railcard for veterans. Apart from the cost of £21 for the first year and £30 for each following year does anyone know what the advantage for veterans is. The network railcard is £30 and available for anyone travelling of peak

DoraMarr Thu 23-Jan-20 12:46:32

www.gov.uk/government/news/government-fulfils-promise-to-veterans-with-new-railcard

MiniMoon Thu 23-Jan-20 13:02:24

When my daughter lived in Glasgow I used to buy a senior railcard. It was useful, but I had to travel several times a year to get my money's worth. I'm not sure a railcard for veterans will be all that helpful.

DoraMarr Thu 23-Jan-20 14:09:19

It will give veterans a 30% discount on rail fares to help in looking for jobs, according to the website. It’s for ex-service personnel, not senior citizens.

suziewoozie Thu 23-Jan-20 14:12:52

It’s a very cheap way to get votes - only £10m a year. The real issue is our expensive rail fares with an increasingly Byzantine system of different rail cards and fare structures.

V3ra Thu 23-Jan-20 14:18:45

The other various railcards (eg student, senior, friends and family) can be bought using Tesco Clubcard vouchers. Have a look at the Tesco website. It's a good exchange rate as £5 worth of Tesco vouchers gives you £15 towards the railcard. You just cash in as many vouchers as you need. The railcard then gives you a decent discount on the fare.
I also used the Tesco vouchers to pay for Dad's National Express coach ticket from Birmingham to Carlisle over Christmas.
Hopefully this new Veterans Railcard will be included!

12Michael Thu 23-Jan-20 16:37:15

I served in RAF in late 60`s to 77, but I like many have senior railcard , thing is I choose the online option with saving more money on the 3 year one.
Take it the Veterans one may not have that option included .
Mick

M0nica Thu 23-Jan-20 16:49:51

The word 'veteran is deceptive. It is used to describe anyone who has served in the forces, even if only a year or two. It does not just mean ex-service people over retirement age.

Many soldiers sign up for on short contracts. 5, 10, 15 years so there are many veterans of working age (25 - 60) who do not qualify for other raul cards. They are too young for Senior travel cards and may not necessarily be travelling with a family, assuming they have one, so cannot use a family card.

MawB Thu 23-Jan-20 17:14:52

My senior railcard had paid for itself many, many times over in the first six months alone.
Now onto the second year with regular trips to Birmingham and London plus a few to Manchester, I must have saved hundreds of ££££££

ExperiencedNotOld Thu 23-Jan-20 19:29:20

MOnica - all service personnel sign on for 22 years, but have exit points at various intervals. They can apply to go in between, usually on a year’s notice, although they will be let go sooner where possible, especially if going to another public service job. Reservists take contracts of a defined length.
The railcard is seen as a recognition of service. The ordinary person with no connection to those that have served on operations in, recently, the Balkans, Iraq or Afghanistan can really appreciate the sacrifice.