Railcards rarely checked on Avanti

strawb_shortcake

I bought 2 railcards last year, a friends and family and two together for two separate trips to London. Neither card was asked for or checked on either journey.

I think if I chanced booking with a railcard discount and travelling without one my anxiety about being caught would give me away

katejo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82059682#Comment_82059682

I travelled again with my Railcard on the High speed to St Pancras on Sunday and once again wasn't asked for the Railcard. I have another Avanti trip on Monday so wonder what will happen then.

Update 29.7.26. Now back from Chester and, once again, I was not asked to show the railcard at all.

strawb_shortcake

We had to travel unexpectedly by train this week due to a poorly car. I had to buy another two railcards to cover all of us so another £70 spent.

Travelled on cross country trains, our tickets were only scanned once and that was on the return journey, and not asked to show railcards again.

The trains were so busy that the conductor (I guess) wasn't walking through the carriages ton check tickets and all stations gates were open for us to just walk through.

Train was delayed by 62 minutes so we should get a refund of £115, but fully expect them to say it was 59 minutes to halve the compensation.

upton_o_good

In my experience senior railcards are rarely checked when tickets are - except on GWR where they are almost always asked for.

I was quite relieved they weren't checked on an avanti train where I had found my digital card was playing up - claiming I hadn't supplied a photo.

flaneurs_lobster

I'm assuming that the OP's point in starting this thread, and from the contributions to it since, was to point out that Revenue Protection (aka Ticket Inspectors) are lax in their regime (if conducted at all) in that Railcards are rarely checked while travelling.

Since all members here are honest, law abiding citizens who would never seek to defraud a train company, I can only assume we would welcome more rigorous enforcement, since such would deter miscreants and lead to greater fare revenue and thus more investment in the railways.

I can only assume that the railway operators have done their sums too, and have concluded that the expense of increased checks would not give a significant cost benefit.

I wonder if ticket inspectors are incentivised to find dodgy travellers or is it like Parking Enforcement where such payments/schemes are not allowed/used.

redux

I watched a TV programme the other day about rail staff countering fare dodging. Two strong themes were people buying Railcard fares but without having a Railcard, or people from further out claiming to have got on at Clapham Junction. Some were being collared for multiple offences and settling up for as much as £1500

I don't have a railcard, but I'd assume that if I did I'd just present it anyway alongside the ticket

flaneurs_lobster

I don't have a railcard, but I'd assume that if I did I'd just present it anyway alongside the ticket

Paper ticket and plastic Railcard - absolutely.

But I know from experience that having the ticket in an app on your phone together with having the Railcard in another app on your phone plus general fluster plus iffy mobile signal can give significant delay in satisfying a diligent inspector.

If this is repeated across significant punters, the inspector wouldn't get out of Coach A before Crewe.

prowla

In my case when I used to commute by train I would keep my ticket and railcard in a small fold-out two-window wallet, so they'd both be visible.

At one point I switched to a monthly smart card, so the ticket and railcard were one and the same.

katejo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82118673#Comment_82118673

Yes that was my point. There is a contrast between railcards not being checked on longer journeys while, on Southern or South East journeys, I have often got trapped at ticket barriers because I bought the ticket with a railcard. I then have to wait in a queue to show it. I do object to this practice because the honest passenger gets delayed in their journey. On 1 occasion at Gatwick airport, no staff member was on duty at the gates to let me through.

katejo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82118706#Comment_82118706

I have watched that fare dodging programme several times. It is quite entertaining. I'd be pretty annoyed if someone 'borrowed' my Oyster 60 + card and it then got confiscated.