28-02-2015, 01:05 PM
11
Re: I'm halfway to being a fully fledged OAP!
In Scotland we are not time limited and we can go as far south as Carlisle using out passes. I think it depends on the council, how much they are prepared to subsidise them. I hadn't given thought that not everywhere would be the same. Last I heard it was 10% off rail here but that might have changed by now.
28-02-2015, 02:35 PM
15
Re: I'm halfway to being a fully fledged OAP!
Jazzi it's life on the buses now. When we go down to London for a few days once a year we travel around on the bus all the time saves ££££££s. Free prescriptions too. You are now a twirly as we are known because if you are at the bus stop before 9.30am the driver says your twirly.
28-02-2015, 03:04 PM
16
Re: I'm halfway to being a fully fledged OAP!
I was born in 1950, so I was among the last to qualify for a free bus pass at 60A friend who is just a few months younger was most annoyed as he did not, and every time he got near to the new qualifying age they moved the goalposts. However, he has now caught up and has one.
I worked out that if I gave up my car and used my bus pass I could afford to retire early, which I did at 61. Obviously it's not as convenient, but if you do your homework on the timetables it's surprising what routes you can find.
I follow the advice of a friend who did something similar, and goes all over the place. He says the trick when using a bus pass is not to get fed up and grumble about being stuck on a bus. You know that it will take time, but you're retired, you've got all day, so what's the problem?
He takes a magazine, and a notebook & pencil so he can draft out articles & ideas for his parish magazine, idly observes things going on around him, and generally adopts a bit of laid back ancient hippy zen.
He also uses a Smartphone with an App to check timetables
A bus pass is proof of age. I have used mine to get concessionary admission to museums & concerts. I have also used it on the combined /reduced price ticket for travel around Greater Manchester
There are similar schemes & offers around, but you have to search to find them
28-02-2015, 06:55 PM
17
Re: I'm halfway to being a fully fledged OAP!
Originally Posted by realspeed
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I thought Oysters lived in the sea. I must be well out of touch with modern slang. London 60+ what is that when it is at home. Freedom pass? Hearing allowance? does that mean one of those trumpet things? I just give upI can't or don't even know if I am allowed a bus pass being 70 yrs old next month or even how one goes about getting one
As I live in London I was entitled to free travel courtesy of Boris Johnson, who offered it to those people who had reached 60 but were not yet eligible for the full Freedom Pass. As London travel-cards are called Oysters, this one was called the London 60+ Oyster. It was valid from age 60 to the age eligible for the FP, with a few weeks tacked on at the end. I should have been eligible from 6 March, my Oyster expires 20 March, but I received the FP this morning and the website said I could use it on receipt.
Living in London gives me travel at any time on buses, the Underground, the DLR and the London Overground. Restrictions for other trains are from 9.30, as it is for the buses outside of London.
I can now look forward to being able to jump on any bus when off on my jaunts, like to Bournemouth (the bus going over the chain ferry to Swanage via Sandbanks is popular), or if I take a coach elsewhere I can use it in any town.
It is utterly exciting. Well, for me it is.
Does your Council offer the free pass? It is advertised on buses, especially if due for renewal.
I just took mine into a post office, was given a ref and was able to track its progress. I knew it was on its way as it got sent out on the 25th.
And annoyingly for my younger sister, who is now 61...she lives just a mile or so from me in Essex, on the fringe of London, but says her council tax is paid to the LB of Waltham Forest! But not being a Londoner she can't apply for the 60+ card. How unfair is that?
28-02-2015, 06:58 PM
18
Re: I'm halfway to being a fully fledged OAP!
Originally Posted by maursey
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My biggest excitement when I reached 60 a long time ago was free medication. The price of each item is horrendous and it would cost me a mint for the amount of medication that the Doctor has prescribed for me.
28-02-2015, 08:44 PM
19
Re: I'm halfway to being a fully fledged OAP!
I wish you the best of luck Jazzi and I hope you have great fun with it.
The pass we get here covers the whole Island of Ireland, bus, train, and (I think I heard someone say) ferry to any of the larger Arran Islands. The wife and me use it mostly on the train, it's great to be able to take off where you like on a good day. There are no time restrictions, only snag is you don't get it until you reach 65.
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