Other concessionary travel and discounts

In addition to our concessionary travel schemes, you may be entitled to other concessions and discounted travel in Scotland, such as local concessionary travel schemes offered by your local council.

The Young Scot National Entitlement Card (Young Scot card) is free of charge to 11-26 year olds living in Scotland. You can use it for money off the things you love, including some travel discounts.

Find out how you can get cheaper transport on buses, trains and ferries with your Young Scot card below, or visit the Young Scot website to find out more about other local benefits, using your card for school lunches and libraries, and more.

Rail discounts

If you have a Young Scot card and are aged 16-18 (or 19-25 and a full time volunteer), you can get 1/3 off rail travel (some restrictions apply). You can also buy a season ticket at a 50% discount.

Please note:

• If you are travelling before 10am on a weekday, a minimum-spend limit of £12 applies in order to get a 1/3 discount. These restrictions do not apply in July and August, or if you are purchasing a season ticket.
• Tickets should be bought in person from the ticket office or on the train (when a ticket cannot be bought at the station due to no ticket office or ticket machine) to claim your rail discount. Simply ask for the Young Scot discount and show your card to get the reduced fare.
• You might be able to book online on the ScotRail website or by calling 0330 303 0111 but please check this before you buy as the discount is not always provided by online ticket providers.
• The cardholder must be the purchaser and user of the discounted ticket. You are unable to buy tickets for anyone else using your Young Scot card.
• Young Scot cards with the volunteer discount are valid for a maximum of one year. An established process must be followed prior to volunteer discounts being available which is currently under review, with a revised position shortly due to be published by Transport Scotland. 

Find out more on the ScotRail website or visit National Rail Enquiries for full terms and conditions.

Bus discounts

Everyone under 22 can travel for free by bus through the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme. Find out more at freebus.scot.

If you are aged 19 to 25, live in Scotland, and volunteer for more than 30 hours a week, you can access discounted bus travel with your Young Scot card.

Your Young Scot card gives you a 1/3 discount off the adult single fare on almost all local and long-distance buses in Scotland. It also works on services to and from Carlisle and Berwick-Upon-Tweed from anywhere in Scotland.

Young Scot cards with the volunteer discount are valid for a maximum of one year.

To access the discount:

• You’ll need to apply for a new Young Scot card when you turn 22 which has the one third bus fares discount.
• You'll need to submit an up to date letter from a senior official in a recognised volunteering organisation which confirms your name, full postal address, and that you volunteer with that organisation for 30+ hours per week.
• Once you have your card, book in advance or just place your card on the electronic ticketing machine when you’re on the bus, state your destination to the driver and your discount will automatically be calculated.

Ferry vouchers

If you are aged 16-18, or aged 19-25 and a full time volunteer, have a Young Scot card and live in the Western Isles, Orkney, Shetland, plus islands in North Ayrshire, Argyll and Bute and Highland Council areas, you will receive four ferry vouchers which entitle you to two free return ferry journeys to the mainland each year.

To find out more please visit our page on ferry concessionary travel.

Terms and conditions

Your photo

• If you are aged 11-21 years old and hold a Young Scot card you must have your photograph on it.
• Your photograph must not be out of date and must look like you. If your photograph no longer looks like you, you (or your parent, carer, or guardian) should apply for a new card online from scot or by contacting your local council.
• If your photograph doesn’t look like you (or has been obviously defaced) a transport operator may refuse to accept your card as valid for travel. You will have to pay the appropriate fare in this case.

Your card

• Your card is unique to you and must remember to bring it with you when you are travelling.
• Your card must be kept in a good condition and presented to the bus ticket machine or other transport ticketing equipment in good working order (not damaged in any way).
• If your card is damaged and cannot be scanned, you will be required to pay the full fare for your journey. You need to make sure that the fare can be paid in full by cash or other alternative payment methods.
• If your card is damaged you (or your parent, carer, or guardian) must apply for a new card online from scot or by contacting your local council to access free bus travel or any other discounts.
• Cards should only be used by the named cardholder and must not be used by or given to anyone else for their use. Transport operators may refuse discounted or free travel to anyone where the image on the card doesn’t match the person presenting it.
• Transport Scotland has a fraud policy and any person(s) found to be misusing any aspect of the scheme (including allowing a card to be used by someone else) may have their entitlement to free bus travel suspended. Incidents of misuse may also be reported to the Procurator Fiscal.
• Cardholders (and parents, carers or guardians of those aged 5-15 years old) have a duty to report any changes of circumstances which may affect entitlement, including changes of address, to their local council.

General

• Travel using a Young Scot card is subject to the normal regulations and conditions of carriage of each transport operator.
• Your card gives you the same rights as a full-fare paying passenger.
• The Young Scot card is part of the accredited proof of age card scheme PASS. This means that your card can be used for proof of age. The photo on your card needs to be kept up to date to use it to prove your age for age-restricted products or services.
• Please be aware that some transport operators may offer their own commercial discounts which may be better suited to your individual travel requirements. Please check this with the transport operator before you travel and explore various travel options and ticket choices.

Advance bookings

• While booking in advance for long distance journeys may guarantee your seat, you may need to pay an additional fee and it may not always offer the best fare.
• Booking in advance may not always be practical – please check with the individual operator as there may be various ways of booking a journey (in person, telephone, website etc.) and check whether there is a requirement to book in advance or if you can just turn up on the day and travel.

Exclusions

• You cannot use Young Scot card to purchase a SPT ZoneCard or for a discount on the Glasgow subway.
• You cannot use your Young Scot card on premium fare buses (services not on a standard timetable or charged at a higher than normal rate). Your Young Scot card isn’t valid on City Sightseeing buses and doesn’t allow you free or discounted travel out with Scotland (apart from on bus services to Carlisle and Berwick upon Tweed).
• If you are travelling out with Scotland check with the operator if any commercial discounts are available to you. These won’t be part of the Scottish Government’s scheme so this would be at the discretion of that particular transport operator.

If you have a National Entitlement Card (NEC) and live in the Strathclyde region you can receive discounts when travelling by rail or subway in the Strathclyde area.

If you have an NEC and live in the city of Edinburgh Council you can travel for free on Edinburgh Trams. If your card has a ‘+1’ entitlement, a companion can travel with you on the same journey for no charge.

If you are blind or visually impaired and your NEC was issued by another local authority in Scotland, you can also travel free on Edinburgh Trams

Find out more about discounted and concessionary rail travel with your National Entitlement Card, or about discounted rail travel with your Young Scot National Entitlement Card on the ScotRail website. You can also find out more about railcards and other discounts.

The Scottish National Blind Persons’ Scheme is also delivered on the National Entitlement Card (NEC). This is a voluntary arrangement between local councils, COSLA and participating transport operators and provides free rail and ferry travel throughout Scotland for cardholders who have the eye symbol on their NEC indicating they have a card due to a visual impairment. You can find more information on the rail element of the scheme on the ScotRail website.

For all other concessionary travel schemes, please contact your local council to see if you are eligible, and for more information about the areas and modes of transport that are included.

If you are unsure if anything exists in your area please phone the number on the back of your National Entitlement Card (NEC), which will take you to your local council team who deal with the NEC. Alternatively, you can find contact details for your local council on our website.