Tough luck if you turn 31 on 2nd January.
There's always going to be a cut-off...
Tough luck if you turn 31 on 2nd January.
Yes, got the following on the day of the 2nd January announcement:
Am still awaiting the App to update though.
Funnily enough, someone has written in to Moneysavingexpert that the two day delay means he cannot buy it. It will supposedly affect 3,000 people. She has a point, it said "by the end of December".
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/n...delay-could-cost-me-p450--says-man-who-turns/
So, they've duly gone on sale at midday today, with an hour's wait in some queuing system before being able to even start filling out the form (which, uh, seems somewhat ridiculous nowadays—certainly most of my clients would laugh in my face if I suggested such a thing). Hopefully it doesn't take too long to issue the railcard, given I bought tickets for the 7th on the assumption I'd have it by then!
As a matter of interest, what was the queue time for you King J?
I could have walked to the booking office, filled out a form, gone to the post office and back for a photograph, had the railcard issued and had dinner by now.
As a matter of interest, what was the queue time for you King J?
I could have walked to the booking office, filled out a form, gone to the post office and back for a photograph, had the railcard issued and had dinner by now.
Is it available as a paper one? I thought it was online only.
No it's not. That was rather my point.Is it available as a paper one? I thought it was online only.
Ah, no human verification of the photo or anything, so it's instantly issued?Got through it in the end. "Less than a minute to go" was actually about 5 minutes! Even once I got through, it kicked me back in to the queue again for a few seconds before redirecting back.
After getting the download code, it was a rather quick and painless process to add it in to the app. Now to add it on a second backup phone!
Interestingly, it notes that the railcard is valid with 16-25 railcard tickets too as not all ticket machines have been updated.
Ah, no human verification of the photo or anything, so it's instantly issued?
The website states that the railcard is not valid with, Caledonian Sleeper tickets for travel in Sleeper or Seated accommodation with a route Caledonian Sleeper only.
What if one turns up with a 16-25 ticket and a 26-30 railcard with such a ticket?
My partner will grab one tonight so it'll be interesting to see what the queue times are like then...
If a member of rail staff is unable to validate that the person on your Railcard is you, the Train Companies reserve the right to charge you the full price Standard Single fare for your journey as if no ticket was purchased before starting the journey and in some cases a Penalty Fare.
Did better than me; 15:33 to 20:30!Entered the queue at 17:16, and reached the front of the line at 21:01. Like for me, the timing estimate was quite far out - and indeed at one point it was quickly decreasing down to 40 minutes, and then went up again steadily to "more than an hour"!
Did better than me; 15:33 to 20:30!
Also, why on earth is this an app? There's literally no reason for it to be an app, especially one that is bad enough to get really pretty poor ratings in all the app stores… AFAICT, it just shows a static rendering of the railcard; it could as well be a webpage with some minimal work done to make it work offline.
Now that the minimum fare is set, it will be very difficult politically to increase it massively, but may be possible over a large number of years.Perhaps they will study the use of the railcard an apply a higher minimum fare if they think it is leading to reduced revenue.
Now that the minimum fare is set, it will be very difficult politically to increase it massively, but may be possible over a large number of years.
One thing I don't quite understand with all the people reporting huge delays today, are you guys all desperately needing to get your hands on one today? Would it not be better to wait a couple of days and for things to quieten down a bit before buying one?
I was expecting there to be a delay in the issuing (photo verification or whatever—they do say they'll contact you within 24 hours if it's not appropriate!), and I have a ticket booked for Monday on the assumption I'll have a railcard.One thing I don't quite understand with all the people reporting huge delays today, are you guys all desperately needing to get your hands on one today? Would it not be better to wait a couple of days and for things to quieten down a bit before buying one?
The problem with this 26-30 railcard does appear to be that some people are going to use it to make their commuting cheaper which is almost certainly not what is intended.
a bit like the Network Railcard which is well overdue a minimum fare increase
I would suggest that widespread use of this to reduce commuting costs for 26-30 year olds would set back any thoughts of there one day being a National Railcard available to all.
Network Railcard is 1000 for a good reason too. It spreads demand from the first off-peak train (say, 0930) to later ones.
The Network Railcard minimum fare would be £17 by now if it had kept pace with inflation, let alone train fares.
Fair question. I have a need to use the railcard on Friday and was not sure what time I would finish work today, so thought it prudent to have a day in hand in case anything went wrong with the process.One thing I don't quite understand with all the people reporting huge delays today, are you guys all desperately needing to get your hands on one today? Would it not be better to wait a couple of days and for things to quieten down a bit before buying one?