Lack of 26-30 railcard options

[Shadow Cat]

Purchased a 26-30 Explore Cardiff and Valley ticket from the office at Didcot Parkway without any issue

But buying the exact same ticket a day later from Cardiff Central office and it wasn't on their system, the best they could offer was a 16-25 ticket for the same price

After I was concerned about being questioned by ticket inspectors, they wrote "26-30", the staffs name and stamped it to say it was from Cardiff Central

Questions are.....

- How come some places can't offer 26-30 tickets (I'm guessing this is due to systems not being updated)

- What should I do if I can't buy a 26-30 ticket

- What happens if I get stopped by a ticket inspector with a 16-25 ticket and its signed by office staff

- What happens if I get stopped by a ticket inspector with a 16-25 ticket without any notes? Would it then be VOID as I'm using the wrong Railcard?

 

[Bletchleyite]

The 26-30 T&Cs say that if you can't buy a 26-30 ticket you should buy a 16-25 one, don't they?

 

[Ianno87]

The 26-30 T&Cs say that if you can't buy a 26-30 ticket you should buy a 16-25 one, don't they?

Yes, they do.

 

[Shadow Cat]

Yes, they do.

I thought I looked through the T&C and didn't see any mention of buying 16-25 tickets, even double checked the FAQ before making this thread just to make sure I didn't miss anything :/

Or, at least I checked:
https://www.26-30railcard.co.uk/help/railcard-terms-conditions/

I wasn't aware it was ok to use 16-25 tickets on a 26-30

 

[E100]

On the app for me it actually states valid with 26-30 and 16-25 tickets and frequently purchase these - sometimes if rushing will go for the 16-25 option if the 26-30 looks like it's buried in the system as the cost is identical so inspectors don't care as you're not cheating the TOC out of any money and it states they are valid on the app. The only expiclit exception I know of is with Caledonian Sleeper whereby the 16-25 tickets are not valid as far as I am aware and would expect their inspectors to be made aware of this (would love someone to find otherwise!)

 

[Ianno87]

I thought I looked through the T&C and didn't see any mention of buying 16-25 tickets, even double checked the FAQ before making this thread just to make sure I didn't miss anything :/

Or, at least I checked:
https://www.26-30railcard.co.uk/help/railcard-terms-conditions/

I wasn't aware it was ok to use 16-25 tickets on a 26-30

It was certainly the case when first introduced, as the introduction came about very quickly, and industry systems hadn't been updated.

You certainly (in my view) shouldn't be declined a discount simply through 26-30 not being listed as an option.

 

[Shadow Cat]

Only mentioning this as the validity between the two differ so it wouldn't be impossible to purchase the wrong ticket and an inspector might question why someones carrying a 16-25 ticket when they're clearly not that age

and it seems kinda odd that a TVM in Cardiff City can issue 26-30 tickets, while the ticket office can't, although maybe its just Rover tickets that aren't set up yet

 

[bussnapperwm]

Only mentioning this as the validity between the two differ so it wouldn't be impossible to purchase the wrong ticket and an inspector might question why someones carrying a 16-25 ticket when they're clearly not that age

and it seems kinda odd that a TVM in Cardiff City can issue 26-30 tickets, while the ticket office can't, although maybe its just Rover tickets that aren't set up yet

I had a WMR 350 conductor unable to issue me with a 26-30 discount a few weeks ago off his mobile device (just an additional ticket for later in the day) so he had to do it as a YP. Nobody batted a eyelid when I showed it them at the gate/on board) - it was a weekend so there was no time restrictions.

 

[JonathanH]

The 26-30 T&Cs say that if you can't buy a 26-30 ticket you should buy a 16-25 one, don't they?

Which gets abused during July and August to avoid the minimum fare.

 

[Ianno87]

Only mentioning this as the validity between the two differ so it wouldn't be impossible to purchase the wrong ticket and an inspector might question why someones carrying a 16-25 ticket when they're clearly not that age

You can get a 16-25 Railcard at any age if you're a Mature Student in education for at least 15 hours per week, 20 weeks per year.

 

[paddington]

On the app for me it actually states valid with 26-30 and 16-25 tickets and frequently purchase these - sometimes if rushing will go for the 16-25 option if the 26-30 looks like it's buried in the system as the cost is identical so inspectors don't care as you're not cheating the TOC out of any money and it states they are valid on the app. The only expiclit exception I know of is with Caledonian Sleeper whereby the 16-25 tickets are not valid as far as I am aware and would expect their inspectors to be made aware of this (would love someone to find otherwise!)

Is your app the latest version? Mine stopped saying valid with 16-25 after an update about a month ago.

Since it stopped saying this, I have bought tickets on board which were issued as 16-25, and no guards have said anything when showing 16-25 tickets, but at least one guard was not paying full attention as in August I accidentally used a ticket discounted below £12 before 1000 and it was not picked up.

I have bought about 10 rovers since March all over the north and midlands of England and no ticket office was unable to issue 26-30 discounts, but not been to Wales or Scotland during this time.

 

[setdown]

Yeah, the bit about valid with 16-25 tickets has been quietly removed from the terms and conditions and the app. Which is a bit odd has point 1.6 in the terms and conditions says they have to publish changes at stations three months before any changes!

Now that we’re out of July/August though, surely 16-25 tickets are still ok in common sense land, as you don’t gain anything by choosing that instead of 26-30?

 

[E100]

Is your app the latest version? Mine stopped saying valid with 16-25 after an update about a month ago.

Since it stopped saying this, I have bought tickets on board which were issued as 16-25, and no guards have said anything when showing 16-25 tickets, but at least one guard was not paying full attention as in August I accidentally used a ticket discounted below £12 before 1000 and it was not picked up.

I have bought about 10 rovers since March all over the north and midlands of England and no ticket office was unable to issue 26-30 discounts, but not been to Wales or Scotland during this time.

Good spot - you're right