F&F Railcard, Child Aged 16, No Discount Appropriate

[IanD]

I have a F&F railcard and as my daughter turned 16 during its validity she is still entitled to the child's rate if we buy tickets using the railcard.

If I go to an online booking site and ask for the price of tickets for 3 adults and 1 child (the above mentioned daughter) and I am offered and purchase tickets which do not attract a railcard discount for some reason, eg a special offer ticket that is cheaper than the discounted price of the 'normal' tickets, where do I stand? Obviously, the adult tickets would still be valid but what about the child ticket?

The booking engine in question is only showing 'Std Class Advance Single' when I hover over the price. How am I supposed to know that it hasn't applied a railcard discount even though I asked for one?

 

[Oscar]

The child ticket would not be valid if not using the Railcard. You can ask here if the tickets you are hovering over use the Railcard if you specify the exact route, date, time and price.

 

[MarkyMarkD]

Because when you hover over the price, it says Railcard if a discount has been applied.

I can see what you mean, though - it is possible that the engine will encourage you to purchase a child ticket, when it isn't actually valid.

When entering the number of adults and children, they really need another category for children who are in the "twilight zone" you refer to, but it would confuse everyone even more!

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Your daughter is only a child when using the F&F Railcard, if the ticket is not discounted by the railcard, she has to travel as an adult.

I can't say for all websites, but National Rail Enquiries notes when a railcard is used, in the 'tickets' section of the page.

 

[IanD]

I figured the tickets would be invalid but not everyone would hover over the price. These are advance tickets so I would usually just select the services I wanted to book and hit Buy Now. It was only because I noticed the price of the 4 tickets was only half a ticket less than the price of an undiscounted adult ticket that I did the hovering bit. Otherwise I would now have 1 invalid ticket and then would have been stung for one expensive ticket once on the train Possibly £152 instead of £3.65 hock:

 

[Oscar]

Out of interest, have you ever been asked about your daughter's age and had to cite the rule about 16 year olds on Family Railcards? My parents and I were never asked when I used this for a whole year travelling quite regularly, which surprised me somewhat as I do think I did look a little old for what most guards would expect for a "child".

 

[IanD]

I've been using it for nearly two years with a 16 year old (oldest daughter is now 17) and have never been asked for proof of age for either daughter. The most I've had is a quick glance at the card.