My father's old Freedom Pass has just been renewed/replaced by a new style
'smartcard'.

Its appears to be effectively a specially designed Oyster card but none of
the documentation/notes that come with it make any reference to "Oyster" at
all - only to the new "'smartcard' freedom pass"

As such, does anyone know if these new Freedom Passes can be loaded with Pre
Pay? ( I haven't been able to get my hands on it yet to try loading anything
myself!)

If it is possible to use Pre-Pay with a Freedom Pass card - it seems a
"slight" oversight not to mention it - not all journeys over 60's make is
after 9 AM.!

Also, I note that the Freedom Pass is now valid for two years (until 31st
March 2006) - am I correct in thinking that in the past they were only valid
for one year?

Regards
Sunil