Can I get a Two Together paper railcard once I already have one on the app?

[jamboree7123]

If I download the "National Rail Railcard app" and then buy the digital version of the Two Together railcard to display on my mobile phone, would it subsequently on some future day be possible to then go to a ticket office at any rail station, show them the digital version that I already purchased, and have them (at no additional cost) issue me the paper-ticket version of the Two Together railcard? That way I'd have proof that I have the railcard with me at all times in my wallet, for those days when I forget to bring my phone with me. Or -- are passengers only ever allowed to possess ONE of the two formats -- either digital OR physical -- but not both at the same time?

 

[jfollows]

You can have as many as you want, but you have to pay for each railcard.
There is a plastic credit-card sized version which is what I use which you can buy online and have posted to you.
I would not personally consider using a digital version, it’s a rancid product which is badly implemented.
The plastic one fits nicely in my wallet and never fails to work properly.
EDIT Some people don’t like to carry a wallet so the digital version is a better option for them. I’d no more leave home without my wallet than without my trousers.

 

[jamboree7123]

There is a plastic credit-card sized version which is what I use which you can buy online and have posted to you.

The problem for me with that strategy is that I don't live in the UK, and when you buy the plastic version online, National Rail will only mail it to UK addresses, not international addresses. If I want a physical card, I'd have to buy it directly at a ticket window.

You can have as many as you want, but you have to pay for each railcard.

I only want to pay once, not have to shell out £30 twice! Since a person's name is printed on the railcard, it's not as if two different people coould use the two different formats of the same railcard.

 

[LowLevel]

The short answer to your question is no, for each railcard you can only use one type of fulfillment - paper, plastic card or app.

 

[jamboree7123]

The short answer to your question is no, for each railcard you can only use one type of fulfillment - paper, plastic card or app.

Drat! I assumed that might be the case, but I wanted to make sure. Thanks for replying, even if the answer is not what I hoped for!

The reason I'm in this dilemma is this: I'll be arriving in the UK (with my traveling partner) at Heathrow. We already have Oystercards from previous visits, which we'll use to get to Hayes & Harlington on the Elizabeth Line. Once at H&H, we're going to turn westward and head off toward Somerset and Cornwall, and take multiple rail journeys over the upcoming weeks, the tickets for which I'd like to purchase with a Two Together card to save money. So -- what's the problem? Well, based on the arrival time of our plane, and the time I estimate it will take us to get through border control etc. and make it to Hayes & Harlington, there is a chance that we'll arrive at H&H with only a very short time to spare to buy a ticket and hop on the train we'd like to catch heading out to the west country -- enough time to buy a ticket quickly, but not enough time to buy a Two Together card (which sometimes can be a time-consuming process, depending on the station agent) -- which would mean that this first ticket would have to be purchased at full price, since I would not have the spare time to be able to get the Two Together card until after we arrive at our first destination station.

I hoped I might be able to avoid this possible dilemma by buying the digital Two Together card ahead of time and already have it on my phone, so that I could buy that first ticket at the discounted price, and not miss our train while waiting for an agent to laboriously complete a TT card purchase. But I much prefer the paper ticket version to the digital version, so I hoped that once I had it on my phone, I could later "convert" the card to the physical version, or simply be issued a paper version in addition to the digital version. I guess not. Oh well!

 

[swt_passenger]

If I download the "National Rail Railcard app" and then buy the digital version of the Two Together railcard to display on my mobile phone, would it subsequently on some future day be possible to then go to a ticket office at any rail station, show them the digital version that I already purchased, and have them (at no additional cost) issue me the paper-ticket version of the Two Together railcard? That way I'd have proof that I have the railcard with me at all times in my wallet, for those days when I forget to bring my phone with me. Or -- are passengers only ever allowed to possess ONE of the two formats -- either digital OR physical -- but not both at the same time?

I think your thread title includes a mistake, in it you ask about a paper ‘travelcard’ but the detailed question is asking about a paper version of the two together ‘railcard’. However there is no paper version of this one, it is either digital or plastic card only, you cannot get a paper version at a station at all. But as others have said you cannot have two versions of the same railcard.

 

[jamboree7123]

I think your thread title includes a mistake, in it you ask about a paper ‘travelcard’ but the detailed question is asking about a paper version of the two together ‘railcard’.

Ah yes, sorry, I meant "railcard" not "travelcard." It can be hard to remember the precise lingo of the UK rail system if you use the trains only occasionally (as I do, not living in the UK)!

However there is no paper version of this one, it is either digital or plastic card only, you cannot get a paper version at a station at all. But as others have said you cannot have two versions of the same railcard.

The last time I got a Two Together railcard (a few years ago), if I remember correctly it was a paper card sort of laminated with a plastic-y covering. Have they switched over to fully plastic cards now?


Update: I have now fixed the thread's title to say the correct "plastic railcard" instead of "paper travelcard" as it originally said.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The last time I got a Two Together railcard (a few years ago), if I remember correctly it was a paper card sort of laminated with a plastic-y covering. Have they switched over to fully plastic cards now?

From stations they're on dedicated ticket stock. Ordered online they're plastic cards like a credit card. Always been so.

 

[Haywain]

However there is no paper version of this one, it is either digital or plastic card only, you cannot get a paper version at a station at all.

That will come as a surprise to all the station ticket offices that have been selling these since they were introduced, and still do.

 

[jamboree7123]

From stations they're on dedicated ticket stock. Ordered online they're plastic cards like a credit card. Always been so.

Interesting! So there are actually THREE different railcard formats: digital, paper, and plastic. Never knew that. I'll have to re-re-edit the question back to saying "paper" again!

 

[swt_passenger]

That will come as a surprise to all the station ticket offices that have been selling these since they were introduced, and still do.

Yeah, I’m thinking of the 25-30…

 

[Haywain]

Yeah, I’m thinking of the 25-30…

Or possibly the 26-30?

 

[jamboree7123]

My explanation of why I'm ssking this question has now appeared up-thread (after having been held in moderation), in case anyone missed it...

 

[30907]

There is nothing to stop you buying tickets online using the railcard discount - provided of course you get the railcard before you start using the tickets! - so that might save you time at Hayes.

If need be you could use contactless as far as Reading and use the interchange time there to get your railcards?

 

[rmt4ever]

The problem for me with that strategy is that I don't live in the UK, and when you buy the plastic version online, National Rail will only mail it to UK addresses, not international addresses. If I want a physical card, I'd have to buy it directly at a ticket window.


I only want to pay once, not have to shell out £30 twice! Since a person's name is printed on the railcard, it's not as if two different people coould use the two different formats of the same railcard.

I would be more than happy if you wanted to have the physical card sent to me, to give you my address, and then post it to you via airmail to wherever you live.

I would send you the proof of the posting from the Post Office here in England, and in return just request that you make a donation for a similar amount of the postage to a charity of your choice in your country.

please PM me if you would like me to do this.

 

[jamboree7123]

There is nothing to stop you buying tickets online using the railcard discount - provided of course you get the railcard before you start using the tickets! - so that might save you time at Hayes.

If need be you could use contactless as far as Reading and use the interchange time there to get your railcards?

Pausing at Reading to buy the railcard there is exactly what I plan to do as a back-up plan if it turns out I don't have time to buy it at Hayes & Harlington! Great minds think alike.

I would be more than happy if you wanted to have the physical card sent to me, to give you my address, and then post it to you via airmail to wherever you live.

I would send you the proof of the posting from the Post Office here in England, and in return just request that you make a donation for a similar amount of the postage to a charity of your choice in your country.

please PM me if you would like me to do this.

Thanks for the offer, but I don't think I'd have time to do this, as I'll be traveling fairly soon -- and international post takes too long.

My contingency back-up plans are these:

-- Use Oyster to go from Heathrow 2&3 to Hayes & Harlington

-- If I have plenty of time until my next train at H&H, then buy the Two Together card there, and use it to buy my now-discounted ticket out to the west country

-- If I only have a few minutes until the next train westward from H&H, then I'll just use Oyster to ride the Elizabeth Line to Reading, and debark there.

-- If I then have plenty of time until my next train departing from Reading, then buy the Two Together card there, and use it to buy my now-discounted ticket out to the west country.

-- If I again only have a few minutes until the next train westward from Reading, then I'll just pay full price for my first ticket, and buy the Two Together card once I've arrived at my destination station.

Paying the discounted fare is nice, but getting to our destination as promptly as possible is the highest priority, even if it might cost a bit more!

 

[Haywain]

If I only have a few minutes until the next train westward from H&H, then I'll just use Oyster to ride the Elizabeth Line to Reading, and debark there.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Oyster is not valid to use to Reading. You would need to use contactless.

 

[jamboree7123]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Oyster is not valid to use to Reading. You would need to use contactless.

Ah then, I will either use contactless or quickly buy a ticket at the ticket machine, instead of using Oyster. Thanks for the tip!

 

[AlterEgo]

If you are planning on being on a specific train after landing at Heathrow, doing passports, bags, customs and making a connection, you should leave a LOT of time for this, especially if you are collecting bags. I'm struggling to understand how "allow five minutes to buy a Two Together railcard" is somehow crucial here.

 

[jamboree7123]

Also, I know that if the timing is just right, under rare circumstances, it can on occasion be faster to ride from Heathrow all the way back to Paddington, then turn around and reverse directions and get on an express train (that skips H&H) that zooms out to the west country with few stops. However, even if that were the case, I'd still face the same dilemma at Paddington that I might face at H&H -- arriving just in time to hop on an outgoing train but without enough time to first buy a Two Together card. Plus, I balk at the notion of backtracking like that, even if it might save me a bit of time overall. So I'll just stick to my contingency plan as outlined. It might very well all be a moot point anyway, if I arrive at H&H in plenty of time to buy a TT card and still get the subsequent train.

If you are planning on being on a specific train after landing at Heathrow, doing passports, bags, customs and making a connection, you should leave a LOT of time for this, especially if you are collecting bags. I'm struggling to understand how "allow five minutes to buy a Two Together railcard" is somehow crucial here.

I'm not planning on being on a specific train, but I have gone through "passport control" at Heathrow enough times to have a good idea of how long it all takes on average, so I have a rough estimate of when I might arrive at H&H -- and that estimate gets me there in time to catch a train to Reading and arrive there about 10 minutes before a nice departing train heading westward, with a long gap until the next train.

I realize I'm splitting hairs and that very likely all of this will be irrelevant (my plane could be delayed, the passport line might be hours long, etc.) -- I was just trying to figure out if there was a way to easily get a TT card ahead of time so I would be able to skip that step in case I'll only have a few minutes to spare. Since I wouldn't want to be stuck with a "digital card" (which I don't like) all year, I then wondered if it was possible to "convert" a previously bought digital card to a physical card (apparently not).

Also, you say "allow five minutes to buy a Two Together railcard," and that too is optimistic -- in my experience, some ticket agents take quite a long time to process the card, depending on how experienced they are with them.

 

[Hadders]

The National Rail Railcard app seems to have lots of bugs and I don't recommend it. Railcards can also be purchased via Trainsplit's app, I bought one a few weeks ago in their Black Friday sale and it seems very stable and works well.

There's no compulsion to use Trainsplit to buy tickets to travel, although doing so will likely save you some money as well.

 

[jamboree7123]

The National Rail Railcard app seems to have lots of bugs and I don't recommend it. Railcards can also be purchased via Trainsplit's app, I bought one a few weeks ago in their Black Friday sale and it seems very stable and works well.

There's no compulsion to use Trainsplit to buy tickets to travel, although doing so will likely save you some money as well.

I've decided to just go with the regular paper railcard, purchased in a station, rather than trying to fiddle with a digital version in an app, mostly because I'm a bit of a Luddite and don't like non-physical tickets/railcards! The odds of me arriving at the station just in time to buy a ticket but with not enough time to buy a railcard are pretty slim, and I'll just have to take that chance.

 

[smsm1]

I've got both two together and family Railcards. It's handy having the digital version, especially for the family one as we can each have one on the phone (max 2 different devices) means we don't need to keep paying the Railcard back and forth depending on who is taking the kids out on the train.

 

[Joe Paxton]

I've decided to just go with the regular paper railcard, purchased in a station, rather than trying to fiddle with a digital version in an app, mostly because I'm a bit of a Luddite and don't like non-physical tickets/railcards! The odds of me arriving at the station just in time to buy a ticket but with not enough time to buy a railcard are pretty slim, and I'll just have to take that chance.

You can download a PDF of the Railcard application form from the Railcard website here (or otherwise go to this page and find the link to download the latest application form), print it and fill it in ready and waiting to present to the station ticket office. The PDF application form is the same as that found in the Railcard leaflet.

Quick further thought, I've no idea how good Hayes & Harlington ticket office is at maintaining it's publicised opening hours - which are Mon-Sat 06:10 - 19:10, Sunday: 06:30 - 21:30.
(Why the ticket office is open until significantly later on Sundays seems a bit of a mystery, to me at least... unless it's some archaic hangover from a time when many people might have gone to the station on a Sunday evening to buy their weekly season to start on Monday? That seems a bit far fetched though.)

 

[CyrusWuff]

Quick further thought, I've no idea how good Hayes & Harlington ticket office is at maintaining it's publicised opening hours - which are Mon-Sat 06:10 - 19:10, Sunday: 06:30 - 21:30.
(Why the ticket office is open until significantly later on Sundays seems a bit of a mystery, to me at least... unless it's some archaic hangover from a time when many people might have gone to the station on a Sunday evening to buy their weekly season to start on Monday? That seems a bit far fetched though.)

The most likely reason for the extended hours on a Sunday is due to the old British Rail 8 hour "guaranteed" Sundays, whereby as long as you worked at least 3 hours you were paid for 8.

In most cases this has ended as station staff have been moved onto new Terms & Conditions, so Sunday turns have been extended to 8 hours so there's no loss of pay.

In this particular example, I'd guess the Sunday shifts are 0620 - 1420 and 1350 - 2150, as Ticket Office staff are generally allowed 10 minutes booking on time and 20 minutes to book up.