Railcard discounts

TheKiltedWonder

Following last night's Martin Lewis programme, I tried to secure a discounted railcard through a Lidl, this failed and said that all vouchers may have been issued.

I went back to the MSE website and successfully followed the information below:-

Note: It's valid on a digital railcard (one that's stored on your phone) and it can only be accessed via the Trip.com app which you'll need to download. You can't transfer it to the official Railcard app after purchasing, nor can you add to your digital wallet (Apple or Android).

How the 25% off code works

• Sign up for a free account at Trip.com*. If you're given the option to enter the code while signing up, you can – enter MSETRIPRC25 in the 'Promo code (optional)' box.
• Once signed in, select the Account/Member icon and then 'Promo Codes'. Or in the app, go to the 'Account' tab and tap 'Vouchers & Promo Code'.
• If you entered the code while signing up, your 25% off voucher will appear there. If you didn't, enter it in the 'Enter promo code' box ('Enter code' in the app) to add it to this section.
• Go to the Trip.com digital railcards page* and choose the railcard you want. The discount should be automatically applied.
• As mentioned above, you'll need to buy any ticket to activate the railcard. There's no minimum spend for this, and Trip.com doesn't charge a booking fee, so you could just buy the cheapest possible fare. If you don't activate your railcard, you'll be issued an automatic refund.

What I did not do was check whether Trip.com were competitive in their ticket prices.

I already had prices from the Trainline for a particular return journey both with a railcard - £51.80 and without - £77.90.

The Trip.com price including a railcard is £79.30 and without it is £123.00 so it's clear to see where they make their money!

I hope to get my money back sooner rather than later but apparently it will be refunded after a particular date if it is not activated - which it most certainly will not be.

Just for information, I checked the price comparison for a couple of other train journeys and dates with the same result.

I'd like MSE to remove this particular piece of advice from their website and shame these money grabbers. Unfortunately I can'

t find a link to contact MSE myself, can anyone help?

flaneurs_lobster

So you have bought a Railcard at a 25% discount, you need to buy 1 rail ticket on the trip.com to activate it.

Doesn't need to be your particular comparator journey, any journey will do. You don't even have to make the journey. How about Baglan to Port Talbot Parkway? Think that's about 60p (with the railcard).

After that purchase you need never buy another ticket on trip.com again (but you need the app to show the Railcard when asked).

daveyjp

If MSE are promoting the trip.com railcard discount it should have a health warning about the risks of buying a railcard outside of the official outlet.

Neil49

Just be aware that the Trip.Com railcard app needs a mobile phone connection to work as it's not stored on your phone (unlike the official railcard app). So if you are in an area with a poor mobile signal (or stuck in a tunnel) it won't work.

Otherwise, as mentioned above, buy your tickets elsewhere. I tend to use TrainSplit.

MemoryStickFool

On 04/03/26 The MSE "Railcard Deals" webpage said:

"What about three-year railcards?

Use a different code – MSE23 – when following the steps above to get 23% off a three-year railcard, making it £61.60 instead of £80. You'll need to add the code to your account by 11.59pm on Friday 31 July."

However, if you try this with TrainPal they have capped the discount at £7, so the three year railcard is offered at £73 not at £61.60.

MSE Please update your webpage ASAP as it is misleading, TrainPal are only offering an 8.8% discount on a three year railcard not 23%!

I wanted to highlight this directly to the editors but can see no way to do this, hence have posted on this recent Forum post.

flaneurs_lobster

I wanted to highlight this directly to the editors but can see no way to do this, hence have posted on this recent Forum post.

I've "reported" this post and asked that it be brought to the attention of the MSE site editors.

Of the MSE contacts, this one might be the most relevant to address your point

Spotted wrong information, a broken link or a technical problem in an article or guide?

Tell us about the problem at brokenlink@moneysavingexpert.com

MSE_JC

Hi @MemoryStickFool ,

Thanks for flagging. We've passed this along to the MSE Deals Team.