London Trip

J_B

Emmia said:

The railcards are £30 each for a year, but you may save more than that on the discount it will give you off the train fare, plus if you get senior railcards you can have the discount added to your oyster card.

The Super off peak return from Crewe to Euston (for example) currently comes up at £77.80

Railcard is £30 to get 30% off so not worth it ...

Or, am I misunderstanding it?

Last time we went from Stoke Fri-Sun.  The car parking was more than the train ticket!

Emmia

J_B said:

Emmia said:

The railcards are £30 each for a year, but you may save more than that on the discount it will give you off the train fare, plus if you get senior railcards you can have the discount added to your oyster card.

The Super off peak return from Crewe to Euston (for example) currently comes up at £77.80

Railcard is £30 to get 30% off so not worth it ...

Or, am I misunderstanding it?

Last time we went from Stoke Fri-Sun.  The car parking was more than the train ticket!

You won't save enough on that ticket alone to cover the railcard, but you would also be able to get discounted tube fares in London if you have the senior railcard added to the Oyster card.

The Railcard would also be valid if you made another trip by train to London or Manchester or... Somewhere else.

So if you plan to do another trip by train in the next year, then it becomes worth doing.

I use railcards all the time, and got a lot more than the £30 cost back on a trip (also in first class) from London to Edinburgh last year as an example.

martindow

How about a Two Together railcard?  You would only have one card to buy but get 30% off each fare which would pay for itself.  You wouldn't then be able to link it to an Oystercard and you will need to travel together of course!

Even if you don't have need for a bus pass to use locally you could still get them to use in London or elsewhere in England.  Travelling by bus in London is a good way to seeing the sights - routes 9, 11 and 24 travel through some interesting parts.

J_B

martindow said:

How about a Two Together railcard?  You would only have one card to buy but get 30% off each fare which would pay for itself. 

Hmm, but the fare for two is £77.80 ... -30% = 54.46 ... saves me £23.34 by spending £30

Is that right?

martindow said:

How about a Two Together railcard?  You would only have one card to buy but get 30% off each fare which would pay for itself.  You wouldn't then be able to link it to an Oystercard and you will need to travel together of course!

Do you mean would, not wouldn't?

SiliconChip

J_B said:

martindow said:

How about a Two Together railcard?  You would only have one card to buy but get 30% off each fare which would pay for itself. 

Hmm, but the fare for two is £77.80 ... -30% = 54.46 ... saves me £23.34 by spending £30

Is that right?

martindow said:

How about a Two Together railcard?  You would only have one card to buy but get 30% off each fare which would pay for itself.  You wouldn't then be able to link it to an Oystercard and you will need to travel together of course!

Do you mean would, not wouldn't?

Wouldn't is correct, it's not possible to use a Two Together railcard with Oyster (it's obvious when you think about it, as an Oyster card can only be used by one person for a specific journey).

You seem to be fixating on the discount available for this trip only, if you don't intend to travel anywhere else by train in the next year then the railcard is not worth buying, but you need to take into account future trips to establish if it will save you money overall.

silverfairy

If your main journey is Avanti trains then might be worth joining Club Avanti before you buy  the tickets as you will get 10% off that journey
https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/tickets-and-savings/club-avanti

bouicca21

If you shop at Tesco, you can use club card points to get a senior railcard cheaper.  

martindow

I was thinking that it was £77.80 per person rather than the total.  If that's the total, the discount as you say it would not cover the cost of a card for this trip.  Might you not be tempted to do a bit more rail travel in the coming year to make it worthwhile?

J_B

SiliconChip said:

You seem to be fixating on the discount available for this trip only, if you don't intend to travel anywhere else by train in the next year then the railcard is not worth buying, but you need to take into account future trips to establish if it will save you money overall.

Good observation.

The nearest (major) railway station to our house is at least a 40 minute drive, so, if we wish to travel anywhere, we usually use the car! The bus comes to the village (two miles away) every Wednesday!!!

We last went to London (on the train) about 5 years ago which seems sufficient for our needs!

strawb_shortcake

You can get dummy train prices with a rail card online to see what the savings are. I've just booked return tickets to London
Price without railcard £142
Price with railcard (2 together) £93.90
Railcard £30 
Total paid £123.30

This is a supersaver return.