Rail passenger discounts 1983 and 1989 for groups, frequent travellers and more

Super Group discounts pg1

Super Group discounts pg2

Super6 discounts pg1

Super6 discounts pg2

Intercity Saver Fares Pg1

Intercity Saver Fares Pg2

This post depicts three sets of NZR discount fare leaflets. The first are group travel discounts from 1983 designed for sports or other groups, but also any group for 6 or more adults. Curiously it is NOT available on the Silverfern railcar (the Wellington-Auckland daylight service) presumably because that is sufficiently well patronised with well paying tourists!  Also not available for December, January and around Easter.

The second leaflet depicts effectively a loyalty programme for long-distance passenger rail and rail ferry travel, although arguably high value but a high bar to cross to get value. A three-month period counts for frequent travel requiring five trips to be taken in that time, and for the blue receipts of those tickets to be posted into NZR to obtain a voucher worth 20% of the five trips.  The value is excellent, as loyalty programmes today tend to generate only a few percentage points of credit for the currency generated, but to do that many trips in three months is likely to be difficult for most (whereas most loyalty schemes for travel today give people a year to obtain and then use points as a minimum).  The scheme started in 1981, so back in the NZR Department days, but this leaflet dates from 1983 under NZ Railways Corporation. It's unknown how long this loyalty scheme lasted, but it seems unlikely to have seen use by many passengers!

The third one dates from a clearly different era, with the InterCity branding adopted in 1988 and applies to both trains and coaches.  The off-peak saver of 25% off had been around for some time, whereas other discounts for families, day excursions and over 60s were newer. Note the group discounts remain, and the loyalty programme one is extended to six-months, but for ten trips.  This seems more likely to be useful for those travelling regularly. Note the effort to portray services as comfortable, noting not only the coaches being comfortable (albeit without toilets), but the Silverfern serving meals at seats, and the Tranz Alpine buffet service (as the beginning of the revival of long distance passenger trains). This was the age when the Railways Corporation had had operating subsidies for long distance passenger trains removed and was told to make it pay as a business, so it is much clearer that it was trying at the time.