Save at Hotel du Vin when you stay and dine on a Sunday

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• James says:

  21 Aug21 August 05:48

  Hotel du Vin have a flash sale on which unbelievably includes Christmas…..Book before Thursday 7th September for stays from 1st October until 22nd December 2023 and enjoy a one-night escape from £149 or indulge in a two-night getaway from £258 and with each booking we will enhance your stay with a £50 dining credit.

  • Chris says:

    21 Aug21 August 09:33

    Did they move the date of Christmas this year?

• paul says:

  21 Aug21 August 07:02

  Pre COVID return rail fare to Southampton was £30 each using RailCard.

  Now it’s £100+ and a gamble due to Strike action

  No thanks.

  I’d rather go by bus if I had to – but we now drive and pay just £5/day parking.

  Our train days are over.

  • Dubious says:

    21 Aug21 August 08:43

    “return rail fare to Southampton”
    From where?

    • paul says:

      21 Aug21 August 13:40

      It doesn’t matter. My statement was simply how much rail fares have shot up and are no longer “affordable” even with 1/3rd off

  • John says:

    21 Aug21 August 09:15

    Learn the difference between Advance and walk-up fares

    • paul says:

      21 Aug21 August 13:42

      I’ve never bought a walk up ticket.

      Always kept an eye on fares. Sometimes booked on day of release but usually 12 weeks out.

      So my statement was based on like for like.

  • ChrisBCN says:

    21 Aug21 August 09:26

    You are either making this up or comparing different things!

    • paul says:

      21 Aug21 August 13:45

      I think I know what I’m comparing FFS

      • ChrisBCN says:

        21 Aug21 August 18:11

        You are clearly making things up, and not wanting to say where your ticket to Southampton was from (so we can prove you are making it up) just backs it up.

  • Dave says:

    21 Aug21 August 10:16

    £100? What a bargain. I paid over £300 (using railcard) for my return ticket to Southampton last summer. That was 1st class from Glasgow so I assume you are a little nearer!

    The trick/luck is to get trains that are delayed by over 1hr. I ended up getting all my money back!

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    21 Aug21 August 10:23

    Where do you get your free petrol from.?

    You have to include the cost of that when making comparisons.

    And legally 14 days notice is (and the unions often give much more) given of strikes so not so much of a gamble and the train operators are pretty quick in taking trains off sale on strike days until they know a week before what they can operate.

    • Londonsteve says:

      21 Aug21 August 11:53

      Not only that but the real running costs of the car. A new car depreciates like a lead balloon for each mile it’s driven, leasing contracts are 8000 miles p.a. as a default, older cars meanwhile require careful maintenance and my specialist garage is now £95 an hour + VAT. The older car is still cheaper to keep and more interesting than the new(er) one but doing a couple of 100 miles has a tangible cost beyond just the fuel in the tank.

      • paul says:

        21 Aug21 August 13:49

        My car will depreciate just sitting on the drive, so the extra driving is marginal.

        It costs me £60 in fuel to Southampton and back home.

        For those wanting to be pedantic, I didn’t include the £10 taxi fare to get to the station and at the destination and then return – so that’s a further £40 to add to the train fare 😏

• Louie says:

  21 Aug21 August 07:25

  Coincidentally I got an email from HduV on Saturday pushing this offer:

  “Book before Thursday 7th September for stays from 1st October until 22nd December 2023 and enjoy a one-night escape from £149 or indulge in a two-night getaway from £258 and with each booking we will enhance your stay with a £50 dining credit.”

  Had a quick look and doesn’t seem to be valid on a Saturday night but obviously otherwise much more widely available than the Sunday offer.

  • Louie says:

    21 Aug21 August 08:07

    NB: James’ above comment must have been under moderation when I posted the above as it definitely wasn’t there then!

    • tony says:

      21 Aug21 August 08:54

      Don’t worry it wasn’t – as my post was showing as being the first comment when I made it. Mind, I can quite understand why discussion of Christmas in August would be sufficient to set off an anti-profanity filter….

• TimM says:

  21 Aug21 August 08:04

  I will make my usual point that if you don’t live in London and the South East, are aged over 30 but under 60, are single and not disabled, you are one of a small minority of UK residents who cannot obtain a railcard, regardless of any other criteria, .e.g. poverty. Once upon a time railcards were only for students going home to see their friends and family for the occasional weekend to get them weened on to train travel. The railcard system needs a serious overhaul, or better, abolish it and reduce fares for all instead?

  • Jon Martin says:

    21 Aug21 August 08:27

    Well you can obtain one, as there’s no requirement to be related for the family and friends one or two together, for example, it’s just less likely to be relevant to most of your journeys.

  • blenz101 says:

    21 Aug21 August 08:57

    I’ve always assumed it was purposely designed this way. If you are of prime working age and don’t live in London and the SE and are required to travel by train for work that is likely to be intercity to London where non-advance fares can be extremely high.

    Similar to plane fares, when someone else is paying the price isn’t an issue. Full fare is therefore collected with no railcard discounts offered to this group of people at any time of the day.

    The general railcards that is available to all groups are purposefully targeted towards leisure travel e.g. family and two together.

    • TimM says:

      21 Aug21 August 09:07

      The logical extension of this argument is to make all train travel free at the point of use and pay for the rail network through income tax. Then those earning the most, pay the most for the railways. As things are, an unpaid, full-time carer, of which there are millions due to the lack of social care, has to pay full price to visit those being cared for while the wealthiest earners get reduced-priced tickets if they are young, old, disabled, travels in twos etc..

      • John says:

        21 Aug21 August 09:17

        Tax pays for most of the rail network already.

        Railcards were created to incentivise discretionary leisure travel in order to create extra revenue for the railways, not to “help” commuters on low incomes.

      • njb says:

        21 Aug21 August 09:55

        Most, if not all, caring responsibilities are covered by the equality act, thus they should have access to the railcard. The disability railcard applies to both the person with it and one person who travels with them, also allowing carers access.

        • TimM says:

          21 Aug21 August 15:57

          njb, only if travelling together. It does not cover the carer travelling to visit the cared-for.

      • paul says:

        21 Aug21 August 13:52

        And as usual, everyone outside London pays for those living and commuting into London.

        As I have a train 5 miles from me which runs hourly during the day and has limited destinations Id rather not subsidise you.

        • jek says:

          21 Aug21 August 16:16

          Paul, it is actually the opposite. If you check the reports from the Office of Rail and Road, you will see that the less dense populated areas receive more subsidies per passengers. It is straightforward to explain: the ratio of infrastructure costs to operation costs gets smaller the more people use the rail infrastructure.

          So everyone in London pays for those living outside of London. However, I am happy to subsidise you.

    • Rob says:

      21 Aug21 August 09:28

      I was in Germany last year when the ‘€9 for a month of rail travel’ promo was running. It was horrendous. Virtually impossible to get seats, and in many cases even to get on to stand. Severe overcrowding on platforms, to the extent that even I (a 6’2′ male in good shape) felt concerned for my safety. Be careful what you wish for. It was fundamentally London underground rush hour conditions.

      • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

        21 Aug21 August 11:03

        I used the €9 tickets last year in Berlin. Though because they were strictly for the month I needed 2 as my trip crossed over.

        The S/U Bahns and buses seemed no busier than normal but the regional trains – according to my Berlin friends – were indeed packed at some times of the day.

        It was a good offer and surprised me the number of people who didn’t know about it (or didn’t want to use it) despite the publicity and still bought single tickets.

    • Londonsteve says:

      21 Aug21 August 11:58

      What I don’t understand is why residents of London and SE England require a railcard to incentivise travel? Statistically speaking they are the wealthiest people in the UK and indeed, since it only covers the region, the potential full price off peak rail fare will never be outrageous or unaffordable to most. So what’s the point beyond reducing revenue from regular travellers with such a railcard, e.g. those that don’t drive?

      • Nick says:

        21 Aug21 August 12:44

        Undiscounted fares in London &SE are significantly higher than those elsewhere in the country, and there’s a huge amount of spare train capacity to fill at off-peak times on what are essentially commuter routes. This is why the Network card exists, to stimulate discretionary travel. It brings in far more revenue to the industry than it loses.

        There are localised railcards in other parts of the country as well, e.g. Devon & Cornwall. These are exclusionary though, in that you usually have to live in the area to qualify – at least the Network card is available to everyone in the country regardless of address.

        • TimM says:

          21 Aug21 August 16:04

          My nearest station, Slaithwaite, is on the line with the highest price per km of anywhere in Europe and the worst punctuality in the UK (comparative European figures are not available). We too, only have one train per hour, half of them are cancelled and half of the remainder are officially late. We pay the most and get the least.

          It is most amusing to read these completely uninformed, London-centric views.

      • blenz101 says:

        21 Aug21 August 12:53

        The railcard is to incentivise off peak leisure travel. I believe that gold cards are also still given out with annual season tickets which also cover the network SE area and offer the same 1/3 discount on off-peak travel.

      • Roy says:

        21 Aug21 August 21:13

        You could look at it another way:

        The discounted fare with a Network Railcard is effectively the standard fare – since pretty much every rail user in the South East should have one. The undiscounted fare is effectively just a surcharge on visitors who are unaware or only make one journey.

        And this set up effectively means that in most cases young/old/disabled people get little or no discount over the standard fare that locals pay.

        • Londonsteve says:

          21 Aug21 August 22:52

          Well, I was born in London, have lived there for 36 of my 41 years and until recently I’d never heard of a Network Railcard. My impression is they’re not terribly well advertised, perhaps so that only the well-informed use them and all the other suckers like me pay full price.

        • Roy says:

          22 Aug22 August 02:39

          @Londonsteve BTW, it never used to be a railcard – it used to be called the Network Card, and was a distinct offering from Network Southeast that was completely separate from railcards. Like so many things in this country, it’s not what it used to be 🙂

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    21 Aug21 August 10:28

    Have you looked at the area covered by the Network Rail Card?

    It extends as far west Exeter so benefits a heck of a lot of people.

  • Kevin C says:

    21 Aug21 August 10:31

    Good to know though I’m not sure all of us in our fifties think of ourselves as elderly.

    • AJA says:

      21 Aug21 August 12:55

      We may not but we can’t control what others think….

      On the other hand on setting off the alarm at the self-scan checkout in Sainsburys because they need a real person to confirm I am over 18 in order to buy wine, to which I said I wish!, the Sainsbury’s lady rightly pointed out that she would rather be approaching 60 than be 18 today. As she said we are a lot closer to state pension age, even if it is 67, and likely to still get it. Today’s 18 yo is likely to be early 70s before getting theirs, if it still exists at the time. Life today isn’t necessarily better if you’re a youngster.

  • Roy says:

    21 Aug21 August 23:37

    @Londonsteve When I lived in Cambridge they were pretty well known. It was well known you pretty much only needed to visit London twice a year for it to be worthwhile.

    Perhaps more well known in the surrounding towns than in London, then? People in the surrounding area probably travel to London rather more than people in London do the reverse…

    • Londonsteve says:

      22 Aug22 August 12:51

      I think you’re absolutely right. Most of my public transport interaction is with TFL (and that’s probably the case for most Londoners), when I take a train it’s either to get to an airport or it’s to travel intercity.

• Gavin says:

  21 Aug21 August 08:27

  The UK railcard system is unnecessarily complicated. By comparison, the Swiss railcard system is pretty good. Anyone can get one, you simply buy a railcard which gives you a 50% discount on trains for 1 year (also includes bus, boats and some other discounts).

  • John says:

    21 Aug21 August 09:17

    Many systems in Switzerland are pretty good compared to any other country.

    • Roy says:

      21 Aug21 August 23:27

      The Bahncard (literally railcard) in Germany is similar, I think.

      When it comes to public transport, I’d say most systems in Western Europe are probably pretty good, certainly compared to the UK.

• Jonathan says:

  21 Aug21 August 08:59

  Your railcard for a year states that it is valid for 180 days. Maybe you could clarify what that means.

  • Rob says:

    21 Aug21 August 09:26

    From the day you buy the voucher on Trip.com you have 180 days to redeem it before it expires.

• SamG says:

  21 Aug21 August 09:24

  There are some reports that trip.com struggles to load railcards and etickets if you’ve got a poor data signal. Not sure it’s worth the hassle if it’s flaky, though in my part of the world a ticket inspection of an evening when I’d be using it is virtually unheard of !

  I’ve got mine in the trainline app which works perfectly (better than the official app that my OH has)

  • CarpalTravel says:

    21 Aug21 August 11:12

    Is it not possible to open the app with the railcards showing then take a screenshot? Add that image to an Album then it can be produced on demand, signal or not.

    • Anouj says:

      21 Aug21 August 14:02

      Yes it is but technically screenshots are not valid, yes they can still scan the barcode but many inspectors don’t have/use the little scanner thing so they may reject a screenshot if they can’t see the national rail logo animating.

      • CarpalTravel says:

        21 Aug21 August 15:58

        Hmm. I’d probably do a screen recording then and let it loop, hope they don’t notice the time on the clock. Not trying to be a smart ar*e, just trying to think of options. To date I have always used the railcard app which lets you add the card to your digital wallet, so have never had a problem.

      • Roy says:

        22 Aug22 August 00:04

        Even if they have a scanner, surely the animation is to prevent people sharing screenshots. I would assume it has to be animated to be valid.

        The only alternative would be to embed your name in the barcode (which could be displayed on the scanner) and require photo ID. Which would be too much faff IMO.

  • Danny says:

    22 Aug22 August 00:27

    The trip.com app simply doesnt display your railcard without a signal or wifi.

• AL says:

  21 Aug21 August 10:00

  When did Club Mal disappear? It was always the scheme I didn’t join, because whilst I stayed for well over two years in the same Mal week in, week out, the benefit to joining was essentially a discount – which only benefitted AL’s employer. I took the route that paying full whack was better.

  • blenz101 says:

    21 Aug21 August 12:54

    There was a time when you could earn Virgin Atlantic miles per stay, seem to recall it was about 500 per booking. I lived in the Mal Birmingham on and off for year.

    • AL says:

      21 Aug21 August 22:21

      I do wonder how long it’ll be before someone makes an offer for Mal/HdV. Some of them need some work, but they would align nicely in to Kimpton, for example (although that would pose a problem in, say, Glasgow, with two in spitting distance of each other).

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