How many Bus Pass users use it to have an outing for a day

We've just been to the pub for our dinner and used the bus both ways. No drinking and driving for us!

We are lucky and can use our travel pass on trains between Southport, Liverpool and Chester.

We are very lucky with buses. It's not entirely luck because we bought a house on a bus route deliberately.
Now we have our free passes it's wonderful.
I use my pass most days. I love that I don't have to hunt for change, can jump on and off buses whatever the bus company, we can have a drink and not worry, we don't have to drive when the weather is bad, don't have to find a parking space or pay for parking, we're not spewing out fumes - it's a no brainer.
Our bus runs throughout the night but I've only once made use of that though our DC did when growing up. I've been on several long trips too and am in very great danger of being a bus bore.
We still drive a car which is useful for transporting family and friends and taking elderly parents to hospital etc.or going to places without buses.

I'd have to get a taxi to the nearest bus stop, three miles away, so our bus passes don't get much of an airing. We have occasionally parked the car near the bus stop and got the bus from there but then the parking has to be paid for so we've ended up spending money to save money.

There are only two buses an hour, on just one route, so it's not a very exciting prospect for me. The buses are uncomfortable, too, and I'm only now recovering from a back injury acquired on a pot-holed bus trip a couple of months ago. I like the thought but the deed doesn't measure up to expectations.

On the other hand, one of my siblings lives in the SE of England and has made it his retirement mission to visit as many Wetherspoon's pubs as possible for lunch, using his bus pass. Now that sounds like fun!

when down in Paignton at a Turkey & Tinsel weekend at a hotel there
Mick: What sort of week-end is that? I take it that "Turkey" is a man and "Tinsel"?, so is it the modern version of "Mr. &Mrs Smith"? So much has changed in the 50 years since we left the Old Dart; for better or for worse.

A bus pass is very necessary if you don’t drive and live in a rural area. I use mine often but buses are slow, uncomfortable and inconvenient. A shopping trip to a big town takes all day as the buses are so infrequent and travel such a long way round. Every change of bus means a long wait.
Recent cut backs have decimated our services and you never know when another change or cut has happened.
People with a car outside their door don’t realise that some of us can’t get to many places without a lift. Please don’t resent being asked for a lift when you are going somewhere anyway.

Rufus I think the “Turkey and Tinsel” weekend was a pre-Christmas break, hence the turkey (Christmas dinner) and Tinsel (decorations)
Whatever did you think it was about?

Hello watermeadow I totally get that not everyone has a choice of car or bus but for those of us who have, and if we’re retired, then time is the one thing we do have to sit and noseyparker when we’re on the bus!

Having passed my test at 17 and loved the independence that brought, now that I’m retired I’m seeing so many things I missed while concentrating on the road, plus I get to drink wine with lunch instead of fizzy water!

Whatever did you think it was about?
Hi Tuppnce; Don't think we've been introduced yet! No matter; The tone of your question suggests you are not a Grandad so whatever you think I'm thinking I think could be right! After my first thought it dawned on me that Mick stayed at a look-alike Fawlty Towers in Paignton, not Torquay run by Basil (Turkey) and Sybil Tinsel, with equally funny goings-on! I didn't think religion came into it, but there you go; it was pre-Christmas after all! Nice "talking" to you! Cheers

My OH uses his a lot when we are away from home. I don't have a pass yet, and with the prices that some bus services charge, I sometimes wonder if I am being charged for him and everyone else on the bus! ?

Sadly one of the reasons our local bus services are decimated is because of holidaymakers using our local buses for free while they are on holiday.
The council can't afford this.
It gets scary because without a car some of us are stuck. In a rural are there are only expensive taxis.
We should go back to the Free Bus Pass only serving the local area to each person.

Rufus2
Whoever mentioned religion?
Not sure what your point is, but never mind.

Not sure how it works in England pink quartz but here in Wales the fare is refunded by Welsh assembly albeit at a saver rate so in effect helps to keep the service going. That can only be a good thing for non drivers surely?

I use my bus pass in London. Buses are so frequent there and the informative displays at bus stops and on the buses make travel easy and you get a free sightseeing tour thrown in. However in my own home town the service is not as good and I use my car to get around.

I have a friend, mid 70s, who thoroughly disapproves of free bus passes and says no one should have them as they cost the council money and are used for days out instead of more serious things. She won’t be persuaded otherwise.
Sadly we don’t have buses nearby and don’t get train travel, so generally use the car.

Silver lining I agree with your freind to a degree pensioners in Yorkshire used to pay 20/30pence which I think to be able to travel on buses is good value I feel for the full paying passengers who are on minimum wage I would happily pay a small amount if it kept fares down for them . Unfortunatly our bus service is now really poor and for most journeys you need to get link up buses so we are using ours less .

I don't blame anyone who uses their bus pass to the full. It's a marvellous way to get around the country with no cost involved.
I remember going 3 stops once when realising my pass was in another jacket and it cost me £3 ! I walked back.

There is Chester to visit where I am, about an hour and a half on the bus and I've been a few times as you can pick your weather and just get the bus at the stop not far away.

I usually buy sandwiches and eat them sitting by the river Dee. It's a lovely day out.

I have just got a Freedom Pass which entitles me to free travel in and around London on trains and buses, before that I had an Oyster card, just expired, which cost £10, lasted 5 years and offered the same benefits. Both cards are much appreciated, I used my Oyster on trains quite a bit, only a couple of times on buses. If we were to move outside a London zone, which we do contemplate, I would have to surrender the Freedom Pass, presumably I would then get a bus pass instead. I would definitely use it, for longer journeys rather than drive, I quite enjoy staring out the window on bus journeys.

pinkquarz when you swipe your buss pass the computer reads which area you come from and the charge is passed to that area so the tourists are not costing your LA money.

Ooooh. I have a bad feeling about this thread.

If I had a bus pass, I'd use mine too, but I am another who has to wait, denied my pension - that I'd contributed to all my working life, so it's not a benefit. (What a bone of contention that is!)

The bad feeling I have is because you can bet your bottom dollar someone will pick it up and accuse pensioners of having free jollies on public transport and going on jaunts all over the place. (I know that is not the case and many , many depend on their bus passes to get anywhere. They'd be stuck without them - but you wait and see...)

I sincerely hope I get a bus pass when I get my state pension. I have been working out the costs associated with running a car and they seem to get dearer every year. As for finding parking spaces - often very hard to do - and paying extortionate parking fees - well, don't get me started. I have a friend who can only afford so much petrol every month, so she is an example of an old person limiting her time out because of transport costs.

I think the bus pass is one of the very few benefits left to those who grow old.

I hope the free bus pass doesn’t ‘go’ as it really helps a lot of people.
I have enjoyed having mine for years now, and the fact that you can use it anywhere is brilliant.
I know what you mean Day6 because I remember a thread about a year ago did descend into virtue signalling from a few posters who were sniffy about it.

Not sure how it works in England pink quartz but here in Wales the fare is refunded by Welsh assembly albeit at a saver rate so in effect helps to keep the service going.
Carolina - Welsh bus passes can't be used in England and vice versa, which is very annoying if you live on the borders.

I think the bus pass is one of the very few benefits left to those who grow old.
Some friends use the bus when going for hospital appointments as it is so difficult to park there and find that very useful.

Yes it must be Callistemon - I wonder what would happen if I tried to use mine (Welsh) in say, Chester? Perhaps the card reader would make a horrible beeping sound!

I think you are allowed to go over the border and back again, but can't use it in Wales if it's English or England, if Welsh, to make onward journeys iyswim.

So if you can get to Chester without changing buses you should be OK and the same to get home again.