Railcards and Oyster

[VT 390]

Does anyone know how I can get my Railcard linked to my new Oyster card?
Thanks

 

[higthomas]

Go to a tube station and speak to a member of staff. Make sure you've registered it on their website beforehand.

 

[gray1404]

Why does an oyster card have to be registered on the website before I railcard discount can be added?

 

[Joe Paxton]

Why does an oyster card have to be registered on the website before a railcard discount can be added?

Presumably to emphasise the notion that an Oyster card with a Railcard discount set on it is not transferable (i.e. can only be used by the named holder of the linked Railcard).

For what it's worth, it is possible to register an Oyster card via means other than the website (e.g. paper registration form).

Originally there was no such rule, and unregistered cards could have the Railcard discount applied to them.

 

[Mojo]

Originally there was no such rule, and unregistered cards could have the Railcard discount applied to them.

I thought it was the opposite. I remember adding my Railcard to Oyster when it was first launched, before it was even widely accepted on National Rail it was only for daily capping, not even for single LU journeys, and you had to register with the form at a ticket office. Nowadays LU staff seem to just set the registration flag for you there and then on the ticket machines.

 

[Mike395]

Yes, when I had my 26-30 discount added a few days ago to an unregistered card they just registered it there and then at the machines.

 

[Hadders]

I think originally you could set up an online account for your Oyster so it was protected but you could only register it at a ticket office.

I remember having to print out a form and taking it to a ticket office to get my Oyster card registered as I think Railcard discounts could only be added to registered cards.

Obviously with ticket offices gone this has had to change.

 

[causton]

The ticket machines at LU stations are much more advanced these days and I am sure the staff can register the card for you on the machine if it is not already.

 

[VT 390]

I have looked it up and I can add the railcard at certain ticket offices. Does anyone know which National Rail ticket offices can do this, also would it be possible to add my railcard to oyster card at a Travel Centre such as the one at Paddington station?

 

[Fiyero]

I have looked it up and I can add the railcard at certain ticket offices. Does anyone know which National Rail ticket offices can do this, also would it be possible to add my railcard to oyster card at a Travel Centre such as the one at Paddington station?

When I went to Waterloo to add my most recent Gold Card entitlement onto my Oyster card they said only Travel Centres could do it, but after checking did it for me anyway. Not sure if they are cracking down but it does seem a little too easy to abuse
EDIT: This was Waterloo underground station rather than mainline

 

[MikeWh]

I have looked it up and I can add the railcard at certain ticket offices. Does anyone know which National Rail ticket offices can do this, also would it be possible to add my railcard to oyster card at a Travel Centre such as the one at Paddington station?

This page should give you a reasonable idea where to try: https://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/nr-stations-issuing-oyster-cards/.

 

[freddie1729]

I once asked to link my 16-25 railcard to my brand new Oyster card and I was told that I needed it registered. In order to register, you need to use it once (to prove it's yours), which would mean that I wouldn't get the discount for that journey. Seems silly to me.

 

[MikeWh]

I once asked to link my 16-25 railcard to my brand new Oyster card and I was told that I needed it registered. In order to register, you need to use it once (to prove it's yours), which would mean that I wouldn't get the discount for that journey. Seems silly to me.

If you order the Oyster card online then it arrives pre-registered.

 

[route101]

Forgot to do this last weekend , i didnt see any ticket offices just staff at gateline though.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

also would it be possible to add my railcard to oyster card at a Travel Centre such as the one at Paddington station?

There should be a member of staff near the ticket machines at the entrance to the Underground. I used the Circle Line entrance under the Lawn and didn't have any problems getting the discount added.

 

[extendedpaul]

I linked mine in 2017 but noticed recently that I am no longer getting the discount. Same railcard, same Oyster.

It's a three year railcard. Could it be that the discount is only added for a maximum of 12 months ? Anyone know ?

 

[MikeWh]

The discount can be added for up to 3 years. If you take the railcard to be added on the day you receive it then the expiry will be a few days more than 3 years. This will cause a problem. In your case the operator might just have keyed the next year's date in error. Take them back to an Underground station and ask them to reapply the discount, noting the extended expiry.

 

[paddington]

Yes, when I had my 26-30 discount added a few days ago to an unregistered card they just registered it there and then at the machines.

What personal information was required to register it at the machines, and how did they input it?

I once asked to link my 16-25 railcard to my brand new Oyster card and I was told that I needed it registered. In order to register, you need to use it once (to prove it's yours), which would mean that I wouldn't get the discount for that journey. Seems silly to me.

You can use it on a bus or tram (on a day that you aren't going to reach a cap).

 

[Mike395]

What personal information was required to register it at the machines, and how did they input it?

Just needed my name and to make up a PIN, which I subsequently used to register the card with Oyster Online.

 

[freddie1729]

What personal information was required to register it at the machines, and how did they input it?

I had registered first and they still asked me to set a password, which I thought was odd. Does anyone know what this is for?

 

[ChrisC]

Just as a matter of interest.
Has anyone ever actually been asked to show their railcard when travelling on the tube or bus with one registered on an Oyster Card?
I can’t really imagine this happening very often especially on late night buses and tubes.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Just as a matter of interest.
Has anyone ever actually been asked to show their railcard when travelling on the tube or bus with one registered on an Oyster Card?
I can’t really imagine this happening very often especially on late night buses and tubes.

I'm sure it does happen from time to time, but I've never had any kind of revenue inspection when on a bus or tube before, and I've used both quite a lot... Obviously anecdotes are never going to prove a point one way or another, but I would suspect that fraud of this kind is mainly prevented because of the likely consequences that people realise they will face if they use a Railcard discounted Oyster they are not entitled to.

 

[Mike395]

LU's revenue protection team have ticket inspectors (most times I've seen them in action they've been plain-clothes) who can set railcard discounted Oyster cards to trigger a light on the gate when you tap in or out and then ask for a railcard. If caught by one of these random stings they do come down quite harshly, which I think acts as the main deterrent.

 

[Hadders]

Just as a matter of interest.
Has anyone ever actually been asked to show their railcard when travelling on the tube or bus with one registered on an Oyster Card?
I can’t really imagine this happening very often especially on late night buses and tubes.

Yes, and on more than one occasion.

The two most recent incidents were on the Piccadilly Line between Holborn and Leicester Square and at Kings Cross St Pancras in the interchange passage between the tube ticket hall and the sub surface lines.

 

[ChrisC]

Yes, and on more than one occasion.

The two most recent incidents were on the Piccadilly Line between Holborn and Leicester Square and at Kings Cross St Pancras in the interchange passage between the tube ticket hall and the sub surface lines.

Ok. Thanks.
I would always carry my Senior Railcard with me but I did wonder. I was in London for a whole week last year, and travelled widely every day, and was never once asked to show my railcard.

 

[Hadders]

Ok. Thanks.
I would always carry my Senior Railcard with me but I did wonder. I was in London for a whole week last year, and travelled widely every day, and was never once asked to show my railcard.

It rarely happens but it can and does happen. I travel quite a lot on the Underground but both of the above incidents were in the last year. The Piccadilly Line was a weekday mid morning, the Kings Cross one was in the evening peak.

On both times they scanned my Oyster card and asked to see my Gold Card.

 

[VT 390]

I got my railcard linked to my oyster card at a ticket machine at Paddington but is there a reason why a member of staff has to do it for you, I do not see why the machines could not be set up so that people could just do it themselves as it could be set so that a railcard can only be linked to one oyster card at any one time.

 

[Haywain]

I got my railcard linked to my oyster card at a ticket machine at Paddington but is there a reason why a member of staff has to do it for you, I do not see why the machines could not be set up so that people could just do it themselves as it could be set so that a railcard can only be linked to one oyster card at any one time.

Perhaps because people might then add railcards that they do not actually possess or are not entitled to?

 

[VT 390]

Perhaps because people might then add railcards that they do not actually possess or are not entitled to?

But the staff member still had to enter the railcard number and you would have to have a railcard to have this number.

 

[Hadders]

Anyone could just make up a number. Underground ticket machines don’t have access to the Railcard database (or season ticket holder database in the event of a Gold Card being held).

It’s not exactly a hardship to get a member of staff to load the discount. I’ve got to say that in my experience (and despite fears to the contrary) it’s got far easier than in the days when you hadn’t to go to an Underground ticket office.