Help no railcard

[hst2cornwall]

Hi I'm going to try and make a long story short.
I bought some tickets for my daughter is 20 to travel from ledbury to visit us in cornwall and applied the discount from a 16/25 railcard when I purchased them online. I've sinse found out she doesn't actually have a railcard, or the necessary ID needed to purchase one.
As she was travelling this coming monday 20th June I called GWR to see what could be done. They insist that she either has to buy a railcard prior to travel, (understandable) or, buy a new ticket.
This would be £100 approx ontop of the £73 that I have already spent.
As its a long journey, and she will travelling on an unfamiliar root, plus there is engineering work in the area meaning a bus from ledbury to great malvern, and she will have our 2 year old granddaughter with her I wanted to make the journey as stress free as I could.
Does this sound right? Could she not just pay the extra on the day of travel?
I understand getting a railcard is the most straightforward option, but without the necessary ID that out of the question.
Cheers Guys

 

[Bletchleyite]

If she takes the ticket to a staffed ticket office they may allow payment of the difference. Some do, some don't. Strictly by the rules they should not, however there are posts on here that suggest that some will do it anyway.

Failing that a new ticket will be necessary - or find her birth certificate! It's a bad thing to lose.

 

[Haywain]

There are a number of forms of ID that are suitable for buying a railcard - these include birth certificate, driving licence and passport. Does she have none of these?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Depending on what ticket you have already purchased, you may apply for a refund on an unused ticket. A refund would have to go through the company you bought the ticket from and an admin fee may be payable.

 

[LexyBoy]

What type of tickets have you bought already - Advance or (Super) Off Peak?

If as I suspect the latter then the worst case scenario is buying new, undiscounted tickets and having the original tickets refunded (for which there is a £10 admin fee) - a cost of approx. £40.

It is quite likely though that a ticket office would excess the tickets to remove the railcard discount without the fee though, especially for flexible (non-Advance) tickets.

If at all possible though, purchasing a new Railcard would be preferable. If you have suitable ID for her it would still be worth posting it with next day delivery in order that she can buy a new Railcard at the station.

 

[hst2cornwall]

Hi thanks for all the great replies. I have found out she has a provisional driving license so that will ehlp. The tickets were bought online from GWR by myself, and I had them posted to her address in herefordshire, they are anytime returns I think. They were valid on the day of travel which is this coming monday, and for a further 4 days after that, and she can return anytime within 1 month.
So It might be worth her taking the tickets to her local ticket office and seeing if they will issue new tickets if she pays the difference?
I have also just had a look and if she travelled from hereford instead of Ledbury the journey via newport, bristol and then onto truro is much quicker. Would her tickets which are via Great Malvern, Cheltenham etc not be valid?
Sorry for all the questions, and thanks for the great advice as always.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If she has a provisional driving licence this is valid ID and she would be best to simply purchase a Railcard. Because it is so close to travel she would be best advised to do this at a station.

 

[bb21]

If she has a provisional licence then that is fine as proof of age for the Railcard. She can buy a Railcard with it. Just visit any staffed ticket office.

 

[Starmill]

Definitely better to buy the railcard than try to get the excess. I understand there is a ticket office at Ledbury that she could use to buy the railcard. Is the ticket you've bought a Ledbury to Truro return? If it is, did it cost £73.80? If so, this is an Anytime Return as you say, and it is routed 'Not Via Birmingham'. This would be permitted via Hereford, and Newport.

 

[hst2cornwall]

Hi thats it exactly, anytime return. Thats good news its valid via newport etc. I will tell her to get down to the station and sort the railcard using her provisional license then.
It looks like the route via south wales might be a better option in future for her rather than via worcester as I think she has friends in hereford she can stay with the night before travel.
Thanks again everyone for the input, I think we have it sorted now

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Don't forget that, for a 16-25 Railcard, she needs to take along a photo so that a Railcard Photocard can be made.

 

[fandroid]

Well done guys. It looks as if some great help has been provided.