Renewing a railcard that isn’t expired

[Denzo]

I am a 26-30 railcard holder who renewed my railcard for another year in early June. I am turning 29 in January.

My understanding is that you remain eligible to purchase a 1 year 26-30 railcard right up until the day before your 31st birthday, meaning you can use it right through being 31 with the last day of use being the day before you turn 32.

It is important to me to completely maximise my eligibility because I commute into central London three times a week with the railcard saving me £15 per day. The railcard effectively pays for itself about 70 times over in commuting alone and I also regularly use it for leisure travel at the weekend including several long distance journeys per year.

Here lies the issue. I can’t find the option in the app to renew a railcard that isn’t expired, therefore the renewal dates will continue to not tie up with my birthdays and therefore I won’t be able to use it right up to the end of being 31.

Is there a way around this? I’d be happy to just bite the bullet and renew my current railcard early in January so that the renewal date becomes tied up to my birthday.

 

[Mike395]

Railcards are only issued in 12 month increments - so yes with one of the next three you’re best off purchasing a new one right before your birthday (the latest you can get one is the day before your 31st birthday)

With railcards the process for new purchases vs renewals is nearly identical so it’s not a huge amount of extra admin to do this.

 

[Snow1964]

Strictly can't renew it months early, but there is no rule against buying two, so would need to buy new one.

However I do not know if you would need to have them in separate digital apps, as might not be able to put overlapping cards in

 

[fandroid]

With the Railcard saving you £15 a day, it's well worth owning two overlapping ones for a while. The best trick is probably to buy the new one from a different ticket seller (and app) and when you are sure that's working, uninstall the app that the older one is in, or perhaps more safely, relegate the old app to a part of your phone you rarely look at.

 

[LYuen]

Strictly can't renew it months early, but there is no rule against buying two, so would need to buy new one.

However I do not know if you would need to have them in separate digital apps, as might not be able to put overlapping cards in

As a person only needs one railcard at a time, they can simple log out or reinstall the app, create a new account and use it to buy the railcard.

 

[AlbertBeale]

As a person only needs one railcard at a time, they can simple log out or reinstall the app, create a new account and use it to buy the railcard.

Or just buy a separate new railcard at a ticket office??

 

[crablab]

Or just buy a separate new railcard at a ticket office??

26-30 is digital only. You cannot buy it in a physical format.

 

[tspaul26]

Strictly can't renew it months early, but there is no rule against buying two, so would need to buy new one.

However I do not know if you would need to have them in separate digital apps, as might not be able to put overlapping cards in

I bought a second 26-30 railcard ‘early’ for the same reasons you are contemplating.

The Railcard app was happy to show both simultaneously during the overlapping period of validity.