LNER - Missing railcard

[HelloAll]

Hi, need some perspectives. I’m currently on a LNER service in which I’ve been given a £56 excess fare as my ticket which I bought for just under £20 had a 16-25 railcard condition attached which I was unable to fulfil as I failed to renew it (which I mentioned to the ticket inspector). Now I’ve been charged £56 to make my journey “valid” however I have 2 issues. 1) seeing as tickets with railcards are discounted by 33/34% shouldn’t my excess fare be around £10 2) the receipt provided to me once the excess fare was paid displays ‘X/S Flexible (Single) VALID ONLY WITH TICKET mob’. The original ticket for my journey was an advance single so have I been charged an excess fee for a different train ticket type altogether? Again I hold my myself accountable for not having the railcard but I do believe I’ve been punished unfairly. Can anyone shed some light and possible retrospective action?

to add I’ve checked the LNER website and while it says by not having a valid railcard you are liable for a full fare it doesn’t stipulate if it’s at the rate at that exact moment of time on the train you’re travelling on or at the rate the ticket was at when originally purchased

 

[ainsworth74]

Hi, need some perspectives. I’m currently on a LNER service in which I’ve been given a £56 excess fare as my ticket which I bought for just under £20 had a 16-25 railcard condition attached which I was unable to fulfil as I failed to renew it (which I mentioned to the ticket inspector). Now I’ve been charged £56 to make my journey “valid” however I have 2 issues. 1) seeing as tickets with railcards are discounted by 33/34% shouldn’t my excess fare be around £10 2) the receipt provided to me once the excess fare was paid displays ‘X/S Flexible (Single) VALID ONLY WITH TICKET mob’. The original ticket for my journey was an advance single so have I been charged an excess fee for a different train ticket type altogether? Again I hold my myself accountable for not having the railcard but I do believe I’ve been punished unfairly. Can anyone shed some light and possible retrospective action?

to add I’ve checked the LNER website and while it says by not having a valid railcard you are liable for a full fare it doesn’t stipulate if it’s at the rate at that exact moment of time on the train you’re travelling on or at the rate the ticket was at when originally purchased

Without knowing more about the journey in question (which would allow us to workout what fares are relevant for comparisons sake) or the exact details of the ticket held (price, type, etc) it's hard to say for sure. I suspect that the person dealing with you has probably done you a favour overall though. Without a valid railcard your ticket was technically invalid and if you boarded at a station where there were working ticket issuing facilities (which with your location being London I'm assuming you joined at Kings Cross in which case there were) then they should have sold you an undiscounted Anytime Single for the journey being made (which can be eye-watering as you might imagine). Instead it sounds like they've probably sold you the difference between what you paid and possibly the flexible fare that would have been valid on your train. Which is likely to be cheaper than the Anytime Single.

But I think we need a bit more information about what the journey was and the tickets held.

 

[HelloAll]

Without knowing more about the journey in question (which would allow us to workout what fares are relevant for comparisons sake) or the exact details of the ticket held (price, type, etc) it's hard to say for sure. I suspect that the person dealing with you has probably done you a favour overall though. Without a valid railcard your ticket was technically invalid and if you boarded at a station where there were working ticket issuing facilities (which with your location being London I'm assuming you joined at Kings Cross in which case there were) then they should have sold you an undiscounted Anytime Single for the journey being made (which can be eye-watering as you might imagine). Instead it sounds like they've probably sold you the difference between what you paid and possibly the flexible fare that would have been valid on your train. Which is likely to be cheaper than the Anytime Single.

But I think we need a bit more information about what the journey was and the tickets held.

It was £19.50 for the original ticket and Advance Single for 14.25pm (Kings Cross to Newcastle) and £56.20 for the excess fare which as you’ve said seems to be a flexible anytime single fare which was £76.20 however as you’ve said I gather the inspector has subtracted my original fare from that. Don’t know where the 50p has gone though

 

[30907]

It was £19.50 for the original ticket and Advance Single for 14.25pm (Kings Cross to Newcastle) and £56.20 for the excess fare which as you’ve said seems to be a flexible anytime single fare which was £76.20 however as you’ve said I gather the inspector has subtracted my original fare from that. Don’t know where the 50p has gone though

Technically it's a Super Off-peak Single which is the correct flexible fare at that time of day, less £20.

For future reference : you might have been able to buy a new Advance ticket and submitted the old one for refund - but only before you boarded (and with a valid Railcard).
Or you could buy a new Railcard to use with the original ticket. I did this once when I had left my railcard 40miles away...

 

[HelloAll]

Technically it's a Super Off-peak Single which is the correct flexible fare at that time of day, less £20.

For future reference : you might have been able to buy a new Advance ticket and submitted the old one for refund - but only before you boarded (and with a valid Railcard).
Or you could buy a new Railcard to use with the original ticket. I did this once when I had left my railcard 40miles away...

Ahh so does that I’ve not been given an incorrect ticket then? I was under the impression that I’d be paying the difference for the applicable single advance fare while I was travelling rather than an anytime fare

Technically it's a Super Off-peak Single which is the correct flexible fare at that time of day, less £20.

For future reference : you might have been able to buy a new Advance ticket and submitted the old one for refund - but only before you boarded (and with a valid Railcard).
Or you could buy a new Railcard to use with the original ticket. I did this once when I had left my railcard 40miles away...

do you reckon I’ll have to stomach the £50 loss then or any way I can get this sum lessened. I was hoping to simply the non-discounted difference of my original ticket so around £10. Could it be done?

 

[mikeg]

You'll have to stomach the loss. Discretion has already been shown as normally you have to buy a brand new ticket.

 

[Wolfie]

Your choices to avoid ticketing issues were to renew your railcard or to buy a non-discounted ticket. You did neither. Your idea that you should be only penalised the difference in cost to the ticket that you should actually have bought is a non-starter. All that would do is encourage lots more people to try it on as it de facto means no penalty whatsoever if you get caught.

 

[HelloAll]

Your choices to avoid ticketing issues were to renew your railcard or to buy a non-discounted ticket. You did neither. Your idea that you should be only penalised the difference in cost to the ticket that you should actually have bought is a non-starter. All that would do is encourage lots more people to try it on as it de facto means no penalty whatsoever if you get caught.

I understand that

Cheers for all your responses everyone. Much appreciated

 

[WesternLancer]

I understand that

Cheers for all your responses everyone. Much appreciated

Yes, I think actually you have been on the "lucky side" of this (obv not how it seems when you have had to drop that sum...) - plenty of threads on here about people needing help with they have been threatened with court after traveling with a ticket without a valid Railcard when they have made this sort of mistake.

Not great, but things could have been a lot worse and a lot more hassle for you.

Obv, get a new railcard as soon as (maybe at ticket office when you get off the train...)

 

[RPI]

For an expired railcard you could have been interviewed under caution and reported for prosecution had it been a Revenue Protection Inspector who had been checking tickets, you've done quite well by the sounds of it

 

[island]

You were charged less than you should/could have been, so I would very much advise you let sleeping dogs lie.