Network rail card

pernes

Hi I have found a Black Friday deal at Trainline, purchase rail card and then get £15 off journey booked before end of December.  Has anyone purchased via them  as I know they have a booking fee but if I was to take up the offer as I have a journey to book, it is still cheaper than Railcard. 

The digital card will be saved in the Trainline app, so can I use this to book online via southern rail or at the ticket office for as long as the railcard is valid by showing the Trainline app or does it have to be Railcard app?  Looked at Railcard site where they say card saved to online app, but it’s is theirs.  Thanks 

MSE_James

Yes a railcard bought via Trainline can be used to purchase discounted tickets from any retailer of National Rail tickets, including at ticket offices.

katejo

I got a Network Railcard in 2020 just after cancelling my Gold card because of working from home due to Covid lockdown.  but it was a rip off. It never paid its way. You don't get a discount on journeys unless the full fare is over £13. I went on 1 trip which was £26 so I expected a discount but didn't get one. I queried it at a ticket office and was told that it didn't qualify because, for my journey, I could only buy 2 single £13 tickets not a £26 return. I only ever got a discount on 1 trip in the end before it expired. 

p00hsticks

katejo said:

You don't get a discount on journeys unless the full fare is over £13.

That's Monday to Fridays. At weekends there is no minimum fare restriction.

yorkie2

Also it's worth noting that you can avoid fees on Trainline if all of the following apply:

- you book on the day of travel (literally from midnight onwards); and

- you book using the Trainline app

- you pay using a personal (not company) card

If you want to book online, but avoid those fees and also take advantage of cheaper fares when the journey can be "split" into multiple tickets, you may want to use a split ticketing website; if you use the site I use, you can also take advantage of a seat selector.

MilesT6060842

MSE_James said:

Yes a railcard bought via Trainline can be used to purchase discounted tickets from any retailer of National Rail tickets, including at ticket offices.

You have to be able to show the card (or evidence of it) at ticket offices if buying in person and on trains when ticket is checked.  You can buy the tickets anywhere and take advantage of any of the discount cards (Network Card, age based cards, two together, family etc. and also "operator specific" cards i.e. regional rail cards, Club 50, etc).

If you set up an account on railcard.co.uk, there is an option to "register" an existing railcard (bought elsewhere, including a paper one bought at at ticket office) into the website for management, quicker replacements, renewals etc.  I don't know if you can get a "digital" one reissued as a plastic one using this procedure (I have a digital one that I need to put through the procedure), may need to pay the £10 replacement fee to get a plastic one issued (and you can only replace once or twice).

MSE_James

I think Trainline-issued railcards can only be viewed in the Trainline app and are not accessible via Railcard.co.uk or the generic Railcard app.

There used to be (and may still be) a pitfall with the Family & Friends Railcard issued by Trainline, in that it can only be accessed via the purchaser's personal Trainline account, whereas a digital F&F railcard issued via the Railcard website can correctly be associated with two holders without any password sharing.