Thought I'd take this to Twitter to get a response from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) - well at least it was instantaneous!

@FGW - @crosscountryuk now offer 10% @nusextra discount on train fares - bit.ly/1pHUrEK - when are you going to follow suit? - 12 Aug
   
@mowerbyte Hi John, sorry we don't have any plans to introduce this in the near future. Jess @FGW

Just one to note for interest

http://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/special-offers/treats-and-discounts/nus

This appears to be fairly new, so wondering whether FGW^▸ (First Great Western) will be likely to add this as a discount...

Just in case anyone is searching this forum, the even simpler code for this Rover ticket is "WR7"

I've saved ^ since hearing about it on this forum - still encounter FGW^▸ (First Great Western) ticket sellers who haven't heard of it!

Drinks all round! National Rail also confirmed the correct price in a prompt answer to my email.

Can I offer everyone a virtual drink for all the kind advice?

Cheers! 

I think I need to keep my elation under control for the time being!   

I've emailed natrionarail.co.uk to ask about the prices listed and will report back when I get a clear answer... 

Uh-oh - maybe I was too hasty 

On the  National Rail page for the 8 to 15 day Rover it lists the Adult fare as ^63.50

This might be misleading, however - according to the Rail Rover site the full adult fare is ^100.50!!

http://www.railrover.org/pages/freedom-of-the-south-west-rover.html

It seems that the National Rail page just lists the concessionary fare, but not the full fare (which I would have to pay, not having a Railcard) 

Hoping that this is a mistake...but sensing that my elation will be short-lived

Thanks for the warm welcome - my first post (in the Fare's Fair topic) looks like it might end up netting me over ^10 a week savings on my fare - which is, as my Dad would say, better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick!

Cheers all round 

Thanks for the replies. The carnet sounds as unlikely as ever, but the longer Rover ticket (which I didn't know of) sounds much more promising. Based on my calculations, at ^63.50 the 8 in 15 day version could bring me a decent saving of between ^15 and ^22 over a two week period, depending on where I travel from - fantastic! What's more, it's actually valid from 9.00am, 30 minutes earlier than off-peak, which could also come in useful.

I'm going to try it out. Many thanks for the heads up!

New poster here, so apologies for repetition of familiar issues.

Here's the lowdown

I make a return journey from Montpelier to Newport (Gwent) three or four times a week, mostly off-peak (late morning), returning early evening.

My work is seasonal so a season ticket would rarely if ever work for me, whereas a carnet would be much more useful.

The only reference I can find to a carnet on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website is in the section entitled "Business Travel" and as far as I can understand this is only available to businesses rather than individuals if you open a "business account". None of it very clear, and after some googling around it seems that I'm not the only one to be confused by this. I'm aware that there are some carnets available for other routes, but my interest is in journeys from Bristol to South Wales.

Can anyone advise on this? Any talk of making carnets more available?

Glad to have discovered this forum. I returned to the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) in 2008 after 16 years living in Europe and it's taken me quite a while to adjust to the way public transport works here, not least in the area of tickets and pricing! Way too old for a Young Person's Railcard and not yet eligible for a Senior Citizen's pass, I miss something like the Deutsche Bahn railcard which enabled some serious discounts if you planned ahead; the main difference to the UK being that the system was transparent, very easy to use and understand...

Anyway, I've not come here to be nostalgic  but simply to find the best way to make my journey to work run as smoothly and cheaply as possible. 

Typical rail journeys:
Three or four days a week, return journey:
Montpelier - Newport (Gwent)

My travel is also seasonal, meaning that a season ticket would never work for me. A carnet on the other hand would, so I'm going to post on that subject in another thread.

Less frequent journeys:
Bristol - London
Bristol - London Airports (Heathrow, Gatwick)

All the best

John (mowerbyte)