These travel vouchers are a bit of a RIP OFF aren't they ?

[clippedgull]

The bloke in the shop told me that you don't hand anything over to the driver, just show the voucher and on you get. As long as your final destination is falmer it is fine to use, so for instance you cant stop off in churchill square, do a spot of shopping then carry the journey on

That will be good if the ticket office are correct. But, the bus company are saying you need to hand it over! One per bus!

In your scenario regarding Churchill Sq, you could jump off the bus and do shopping, for example you may change buses there, off the number 2 from Shoreham, change to 25 for falmer. If you retained your voucher as the ticket office have suggested then the driver on the 25 wouldn't know this was the second bus you have been on!

I'm sure this will become clearer the nearer we move to the Spurs game!

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I'd imagine the bus co have not updated their info page and the club should be trusted.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I'd imagine the bus co have not updated their info page and the club should be trusted.

The bus company page was updated this week.

 

[trueblue]

Brighton Hove Bus and Coach Company



There are also three new routes linking most parts of the city with the Amex. SAVER tickets and national concessionary passes will NOT be valid on these three services; only the travel vouchers issued by Brighton & Hove Albion will be valid for travel. No pre-booking is required and space is available on these services on a first come, first served basis. We will be closely reviewing these services to see how they work. Please note that some journeys on these special services may be operated by Compass Travel vehicles, so please watch carefully for your bus.





http://www.compass-travel.co.uk/fleet.html

Well that's crap. So there's a bus that runs right past my door but unless I spend £60 on 2 books of travel vouchers me & my partner can't use it. Not worth it as i wont be able to get to many games. There's no way I'm trogging all over town on a bus that takes hours to get there so that's 2 more people for the overcrowded trains.

Why can't we just pay on the bus... Would that be so difficult?

 

[Barrel of Fun]

The bus company page was updated this week.

Unusual. Or not. Is it French out or Perry out? I've lost touch.

 

[Jimbo.GRFC]

The main trouble is the uncertainty. I really have no idea at this stage what my usual travel arrangements are going to be, so committing £60 for a couple of books of travel vouchers that I don't really know yet how much I'll use seems pretty steep.

But I WILL have to buy them, because at some point (evenings particularly), I'll be looking to use the P&R, something I cannot do unless I've spent out on a book of vouchers.

If you cant work it out, ring the club and ask for an estimate, just say I might attend 8 games, maybe 10...oh hold on it could be 15 games etc etc....£30 for travel for the season is fantastic value and as someone said earlier, if you don't like it, don't buy them !

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Why can't we just pay on the bus... Would that be so difficult?

Boring answer alert ...

Because it's not a "local service" registered with the Traffic Commissioner. It can run without being registered, because all the passengers are going to the same destination and are paying the same fare (One Travel Voucher), or are getting on at the same location (post-match). If the bus WAS available to the "general public", the bus company would have to offer a range of different fares, in accordance with their general fares conditions and the service would have to be registered with the Traffic Commissioner.

An unregistered service can, at least, have its timetable tweaked and extra buses added in (or the route varied) without the formality of having to give 56 days notice to the Commissioner. So it's probably best that it is as it is.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

If you cant work it out, ring the club and ask for an estimate, just say I might attend 8 games, maybe 10...oh hold on it could be 15 games etc etc....£30 for travel for the season is fantastic value and as someone said earlier, if you don't like it, don't buy them !

The danger, though, is that the need for some people to buy two books of vouchers might put those people off using the buses. This will add to pressure on the already over-subscribed train service or park & ride sites, meaning that everyone is a loser.

 

[trueblue]

The danger, though, is that the need for some people to buy two books of vouchers might put those people off using the buses. This will add to pressure on the already over-subscribed train service or park & ride sites, meaning that everyone is a loser.

Precisely. If it's that difficult for the football specials to take paying passengers - subsidised fares or not, I don't mind paying more on the bus - then the club need to drop the stupid match-specific element of the travel vouchers to make them worthwhile for fans who can't go to many games.

My partner for instance will probably come to 3 games all season but to travel with me she'll need 30 vouchers. It's not a good system.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Precisely. If it's that difficult for the football specials to take paying passengers - subsidised fares or not, I don't mind paying more on the bus - then the club need to drop the stupid match-specific element of the travel vouchers to make them worthwhile for fans who can't go to many games.

My partner for instance will probably come to 3 games all season but to travel with me she'll need 30 vouchers. It's not a good system.

I agree.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

An idea of the bus times for evening games?

I've had an e-mail reply from the Bus Company about this:-

"Thank you for your email. At the moment, the timings for the evening games (the first of which I understand is on 9th August) are not yet confirmed; we need to ensure that the timings and routes for the P, R and S services work as we hope for afternoon games before we can commit to any timings for the evening games, as it is all still a great unknown until we're actually out there operating for the first match. However, once the timings for the evening games are sorted, we will be putting full details on our website in advance of the first evening game".

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Excellent value for money when you live up in London and only have to buy a ticket to Haywards Heath.

 

[Was not Was]

the club need to drop the stupid match-specific element of the travel vouchers to make them worthwhile for fans who can't go to many games.

My partner for instance will probably come to 3 games all season but to travel with me she'll need 30 vouchers. It's not a good system.

I agree - it would be much easier.

However, when there's a match my son and I can't attend, I guess I'll give our travel vouchers for that match to whichever friend/relative will be using the season ticket. Which, to be honest, is no more inconvenient than transferring the season ticket card.

 

[HH Brighton]

If I'm going to get the train from Haywards Heath to Falmer with my 6 and 9 year old do I need to get them travel vouchers as well as me? Normally they would travel with me for a pound anyway but can I get this deal with me using a travel voucher an dnot paying a full fare?

 

[Curious Orange]

The danger, though, is that the need for some people to buy two books of vouchers might put those people off using the buses. This will add to pressure on the already over-subscribed train service or park & ride sites, meaning that everyone is a loser.

How would that make a difference to the Park and Ride? My understanding that vouchers would be required on a per person basis there too, rather than per vehicle?

 

[The Oldman]

So let me see if I understand this. The club have taken £30 off us for travel vouchers to all games including SSCF tomorrow but Sussex FA say vouchers not needed for P & R. The club say one voucher per game, the bus company say 1 voucher per journey.
The Bus company cannot confirm whether the special services to Falmer are running tomorrow but in any case vouchers have not been received by many. The trains will be overcrowded . Tomorrow is really going to a good test run. Although I've paid for tomorrow I think I might give it a miss and see how things turn out.


Just seen on ATC that insider is saying that our smart cards act as travel vouchers yet on another post he says show your voucher to the driver but only hand it in on the last journey to Falmer. That is not what the bus company say.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

How would that make a difference to the Park and Ride? My understanding that vouchers would be required on a per person basis there too, rather than per vehicle?

The difference is simply that more people might want to use the park & ride, as a "cheaper" alternative, once they discover that their bus trip has doubled in price. [See post #107 in this thread, if you've missed that piece of news.]

For example ... four people travelling together from Mile Oak. Up until yesterday, they thought they would need 4 Travel Vouchers (at a total price of £4). The bus company are now saying that a change of buses in the city centre means that the price for four people has gone up to 8 Travel Vouchers (at a cost of £8). "Let's use the Mill Road P&R, at a cost of only 4 Vouchers" suddenly sounds like a better deal. One extra car at Mill Road means that there is another car that now can't park there. It's the people who can't now park who will feel the difference.

 

[tottenhamseagull]

Im so confused, just emailed the bus company to see how to get from Hangleton to the stadium on the bog standard 5B, this is their reply -
"Thank you for your email, the service 5B will not be operating through to the Universities at the week-end, it only operates that far on a week-day, The drivers will accept your match ticket but not a voucher , the vouchers are for the special buses in operation which you can seek further information on www.buses.co.uk"

 

[TonyTownersShorts]

Can you buy travel vouchers online or do you need to ring club shop?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Im so confused, just emailed the bus company to see how to get from Hangleton to the stadium on the bog standard 5B, this is their reply -
"Thank you for your email, the service 5B will not be operating through to the Universities at the week-end, it only operates that far on a week-day, The drivers will accept your match ticket but not a voucher , the vouchers are for the special buses in operation which you can seek further information on www.buses.co.uk"

Is that a message about tomorrow's buses, for the SSC Final? Or a message about matchday travel generally?

I can understand your confusion, since it seems to be the case that Vouchers won't be in use tomorrow. But, if it's a statement about matchday travel generally, it's quite different from what both the Club and the Bus Company have previously been saying.