Life after a Railcard ?

[Butts]

My Railcard has just expired and I am not eligible for a replacement.

For the last few years I have enjoyed many trips on East Coast Advanced First Tickets and those of other operators, which has enabled me to visit many parts of the UK in some style.

How have other members coped with the loss of discounted travel ? If I bought a ticket at the normal price without R/C reduction I would be thinking all the time this used to be a third cheaper.

Is this problem easy to overcome from a psychological point of view ?

 

[LexyBoy]

There's always the RUK Railcard

It does make you realise how expensive rail travel is - when I had a YP I considered most journeys pretty good value - without they seemed pricey. Oh, and you don't think "that used to cost a third less", you think "that's half again on what I used to pay!".

Fortunately I didn't have long without a Railcard...

 

[Muzer]

There's always the RUK Railcard

It does make you realise how expensive rail travel is - when I had a YP I considered most journeys pretty good value - without they seemed pricey. Oh, and you don't think "that used to cost a third less", you think "that's half again on what I used to pay!".

Fortunately I didn't have long without a Railcard...

Did you become disabled or join the armed forces, or do you make all your journeys in the NSE area, or do you consider 35 years not long?

(Or do you make all your journeys with children?)

 

[Bonemaster]

Is this problem easy to overcome from a psychological point of view ?

No, thinking back to the number of journeys I would make with a Y-P railcard, I do around 10% of the leisure rail travel I did then, and it really tipped the economics in many cases to using a car over rail travel. It really made me consider all other modes of transport and actually justify in my head every rail journey I made.

 

[sprinterguy]

How have other members coped with the loss of discounted travel ?

I got a job on the railway. The staff pass helps soften the blow of losing Railcard discounts somewhat.

 

[50043]

Its hard to get your head round, ticket prices increase 50% when your railcard runs out.
Mind you some of the cheapest East Coast Advance tickets are still good value if you get them quick enough

 

[anthony263]

Well my railcard runs out at ethe beginning of November so I will have to see if I can renew it as I turn 26 next June

 

[DarloRich]

Welcome to the real world - another person who will soon discover, what many of us know, just how expensive it really is for an adult to travel by train.

That seems to be something many on this forum fail to understand. BTW second class isnt that bad on EC

 

[MK Tom]

Well my railcard runs out at ethe beginning of November so I will have to see if I can renew it as I turn 26 next June

As I understand it you can renew it when you're 25 and it'll run out while you're 26.

I will stop being eligible in 2015/16. After that it's my intention to get a Network Railcard so I can still get half decent fares south of that mystical line that passes through Northampton and Bedford. But it will certainly make me more interested in using coaches and buses to go north.

BTW, I know if you're a full-time student you can still get one; does that extend to PhD students? As I may well be one at that point.

I've always found it odd that they don't just have a general national railcard. The whole point is to attract people to travel more. I reckon they're economically losing more as anyone who wouldn't travel more won't want to pay the fee to buy one in the first place.

 

[edwin_m]

Is this problem easy to overcome from a psychological point of view ?

How about giving up smoking and setting aside what you spend on it to increase your travel budget? That ought to get you quite a long way and also increase your chances of being able to enjoy a Senior Railcard in several decades time!

 

[Muzer]

Damn, now I wish I smoked just so I could give it up age 26 and save the money I would have saved on railcard fares

 

[ex-railwayman]

How have other members coped with the loss of discounted travel ? If I bought a ticket at the normal price without R/C reduction I would be thinking all the time this used to be a third cheaper.
Is this problem easy to overcome from a psychological point of view ?

I wouldn't necessarily call it a problem, when we had cheaper travel it was always considered a privilege, now that we have to fork out full whack for our tickets we tend to forget what we had before.
Best thing is to research discounted tickets on when and where you want to travel when the time comes, this forum is full of knowledgeable people who can offer opinions and answers to travel tips, queries and questions, it can only be a psychological problem if you allow it to be. Don't ring up the Samaritans just yet........
I've always encouraged folks to take advantage of their staff travel and see the world, well, as much of Britain/Europe as possible, because, you won't be able to see it after you've left the railway brotherhood owing to the huge financial burden, unless you're a millionaire of course. Regrettably, I often go by bus these days on a long haul trip as it's cheaper, but, will always look to see if any rail travel can be made at less than full price whereever applicable.

I also worked for British Midland for 5 years, cheap flights around the world were made whenever possible, a week in Rio, a week in Mauritius, a week in Hong Kong, yes, of course I now miss them, but, I don't let it worry me not having them any more, that's life, you just have to get on with it.

Cheerz. ex-railwayman.

 

[rmt4ever]

How about giving up smoking and setting aside what you spend on it to increase your travel budget? That ought to get you quite a long way and also increase your chances of being able to enjoy a Senior Railcard in several decades time!

LOL I've heard it all. Keep smoking, and drinking, even more than you do now when you stop travelling by train. Haha

 

[JamesRowden]

BTW, I know if you're a full-time student you can still get one; does that extend to PhD students? As I may well be one at that point.

Yes (if you are doing it full time)

 

[Polarbear]

It's been a while since I've had a rail card, (other than a Network Card), but I recall that I had to whittle down the number of times I used the railway once I was paying full fare.

For me, I've adjusted by making more use of advance fares & looking out for offers & other (legal) ways to circumvent the sometimes eye watering fares that exist on some flows.

I'm getting nearer to qualifying for a Senior Railcard, (as are we all) but am still some years away from that

 

[Be3G]

I'm on my final 16–25 Railcard now, and am not particularly looking forward to when it expires next March. I live in London and most of my trips are within the Network area so the eponymous railcard will largely suffice for me, but the effect it'll have on my travel is that I'll have to do most of it at weekends when I won't be stung by the £13 minimum fare. I'll also miss having the discounted cap on my Oyster – cue a return to the old days of trudging up to the train station in the rain to buy a discounted travelcard…

 

[Butts]

How about giving up smoking and setting aside what you spend on it to increase your travel budget? That ought to get you quite a long way and also increase your chances of being able to enjoy a Senior Railcard in several decades time!

I was wondering if someone would bring that up - my daughter said exactly the same. I was a mature student and I think that's why I appreciated the card so much

Is it still 60 for an "OAP Special" ?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Welcome to the real world - another person who will soon discover, what many of us know, just how expensive it really is for an adult to travel by train.

That seems to be something many on this forum fail to understand. BTW second class isnt that bad on EC

It is when you've been swanning about the UK in relative peace and luxury :cry:

 

[anthony263]

Sure hope someday ATOC wakes up and realises that there is certainly demand for a national railcard. You only have to look at National express coach cards scheme to see.

Certainly once my railcard runs out I will be using National Express and Megabus if I am doing any long distance trips

 

[crispy1978]

A lot of my friends have YPRC, and me being 35 I do often look at the tickets and think "Geez, look at how much more I'm paying!".

My softening blow however is that when my wife and I travel together, she has a disabled railcard, so I get the discount then anyway - so in essence, I probably have 1/2 a railcard!!

 

[trentside]

As I understand it you can renew it when you're 25 and it'll run out while you're 26.

You can re-new it up to the day before your 26th birthday. Even if your old card has a few months left on it at this time, it's worth the cost of a new one to get a full years discount for the final time.

 

[Welshman]

Is it still 60 for an "OAP Special" ?

It is.
Unless you happen to live in Scotland, TPE or ATW-land, when hopefully you can buy a Club 55 ticket for out of season travel.

Personally, I lived through an age when there was neither student nor family railcard, and not having worked in the industry either, have been paying full whack for my travelling since the age of 16, including my three years as a student going to and from university.

So for me, the Senior Railcard is about the only thing I can find that sugars the pill of growing old.

 

[starrymarkb]

I've switched to the Coach for most journeys now £12 to London with NatEx vs £40 Advance on the train is a fair saving

 

[TheKnightWho]

You can re-new it up to the day before your 26th birthday. Even if your old card has a few months left on it at this time, it's worth the cost of a new one to get a full years discount for the final time.

A 3 year discount, more like!

 

[breadfan]

It seems like age discrimination not to offer a railcard to someone between the ages of 25 and 60 (yeah, I know there are some others but none that I qualify for).

Didn't it used to be the case that if you had a yearly season ticket then you would get railcard type discount on any other tickets you bought? I'm sure I remember, in the late 80s, someone buying a Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Oxford Road year ticket to exploit this.

 

[LexyBoy]

Did you become disabled or join the armed forces, or do you make all your journeys in the NSE area, or do you consider 35 years not long?

(Or do you make all your journeys with children?)

Very rarely travel outside the NSE area without the littl'un, and rarely travel before 10 within it (except to work).

 

[bicbasher]

I use advance singles, TOC specific CDR's for my trips to Brighton and although I haven't used it yet, Southern Daysave.

However, Oyster PAYG at the standard price is my main means of rail travel within London.

I miss using the Y-P and Network Railcard. The latter is no longer useful to me thanks to the £13 minimum fare on weekdays.

 

[Welshman]

It seems like age discrimination not to offer a railcard to someone between the ages of 25 and 60

And I suspect the necessary level of fare rises across the board to subsidise those buying a railcard to cover such a large period of their lives would negate the advantage of buying the card in the first place.

 

[JB1601]

I did mourn the loss of my 16-25 card (and yes, I managed to keep it going up until just before my 27th birthday as is perfectly legal!). Couple of things stopped it being worse though - my earnings had increased significantly since I first got mine when I went to uni (well, I had some earnings full stop to be honest) so it wasn't so much of a bind. Also I'd become pretty adept at catching the cheapest services on advance tickets - it's been a very long time since I've bought a full price return for a long-distance service now. The rise of advance tickets is a fairly recent innovation, there were barely any back when I started using my YP card (as was), so it's not as bad as it was.

I do echo the calls for some kind of national railcard. I was looking forward to the Two Together card being rolled out as most of my travel is with the wife to our respective parents up north, but that seemed to die a death. Guess we have to wait for the Family and Friends one now East Coast reward points are a decent way of building up some free tickets too, often quicker than you'd think.

 

[PermitToTravel]

Sure hope someday ATOC wakes up and realises that there is certainly demand for a national railcard. You only have to look at National express coach cards scheme to see.

Certainly once my railcard runs out I will be using National Express and Megabus if I am doing any long distance trips

Surely there is enough demand for this that offering it would only reduce revenue overall?

A 3 year discount, more like!

You can't apply for a 3-year railcard on or after your 24th birthday, so either way, without being a full time student, the last day on which it is possible to use a Y-P discount is the day prior to one's 27th birthday

It seems like age discrimination not to offer a railcard to someone between the ages of 25 and 60 (yeah, I know there are some others but none that I qualify for).

IANAL, but I sincerely hope not, as if this is an issue, I can only see fares being equalised one way: upwards.

Didn't it used to be the case that if you had a yearly season ticket then you would get railcard type discount on any other tickets you bought? I'm sure I remember, in the late 80s, someone buying a Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Oxford Road year ticket to exploit this.

I'm not sure about BR days, but this still applies within the Network area (an annual season from Ryde St John's Road to Ryde Esplanade costs £156, and acts like a Network Railcard without a minimum fare on weekdays, and that allows you to take people with you at the discounted rate)

 

[Zoe]

Sure hope someday ATOC wakes up and realises that there is certainly demand for a national railcard. You only have to look at National express coach cards scheme to see.

National Express coachcards are only available in the same categories as raicards (disabled, family, senior and young persons), there is no National Coachcard available for all. This would suggest that there either isn't demand for such a card or that it wouldn't be in the commercial interests of the company to offer one and the same may well be the case for the railways.