UK National Trains Senior Card Question?

[GeezLouise1]

HI,  can you purchase train tickets in advance online and use the Senior Card pricing before you actually have a card?  We don't have a UK address and can't get a  Senior Card pass digitally without it.  Our option is to buy one when we get to a train station in the UK,  but we'd like to have our train tickets ready. Anybody know?  Many thanks,

[Heidi13]

Affirmative, when purchasing the advance train ticket order and pay the seniors price (>60). When you get to UK purchase the Seniors discount card before boarding the train. When the conductor checks tickets present both ticket and discount card. Did this back in 2017 and will do it again next year.

 

It is a great deal and the price of the card is usually made back with 1 long haul journey.

[John Bull]

I have a feeling this has been discussed before, with a negative result.

And browsing the website seems to confirm it - you need a UK address 

If you have friends or family with a UK address that might be useful - I'd offer my own but that would create too many complications.

 

BTW, a few words about railcards......

 

If there are two of you (any age) and you'll always be using the trains together, it's cheaper to buy a "Two Together" railcard rather than Seniors railcards. The benefit (1/3rd off ticket prices) is exactly the same, but you only need the one railcard (£30) rather than two seniors' cards (2 x £30).

 

Railcards aren't worthwhile unless you use the trains a fair bit. So check the ticket prices for the journeys that you anticipate. 

If the total fares per person are under £90, a Senior's Railcard isn't worthwhile. If the total fares are under £45 per person, a Two Together Railcard isn't worthwhile. And a little over those totals wouldn't be worth the grief.

 

Not having a Railcard in advance isn't just a matter of convenience at the station.

Many journeys are significantly cheaper if you buy in advance - usually half-price, sometimes as little as 1/5th of the price. It's difficult to be precise because advance ticket prices are fluid (cheapest about 6 to 8 weeks out), and don't apply to all routes. Those advance tickets are only valid for the train journey and train time that you book, but if you're confident about your plans you'd do better to buy tickets in advance (UK address not required) rather than wait until you're in the UK to get 1/3rd off the walk-up fare.

If your trip is more than 6 to 8 weeks out,  check the advance ticket prices for your journeys at different dates from 24hrs to 6 weeks from now. Use random sunday dates only for any journey you plan to take on sundays.

 

The rail operators don't like to make life easy 

If you can post a vague idea of your train travel plans we can mebbe be a bit more precise.

 

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/

 

JB 

Edited July 19, 2019 by John Bull

[Heidi13]

JB - last time in UK (2017) we purchased the rail cards at Leuchars Station (St Andrews), which is a manned station. My understanding is you can purchase at any manned station, as we are planning to purchase them at King's X next year. Hopefully it hasn't changed since 2017.

 

Thanks for pointing out the Two Together option.

[John Bull]

1 minute ago, Heidi13 said:

JB - last time in UK (2017) we purchased the rail cards at Leuchars Station (St Andrews), which is a manned station. My understanding is you can purchase at any manned station, as we are planning to purchase them at King's X next year. Hopefully it hasn't changed since 2017.

 

Thanks for pointing out the Two Together option.

 

Yep, available at manned stations & can be used with first ticket purchase.

 

I wish you better luck at St Andrew's than Tiger Woods is having in Portrush 

 

JB 

[Heidi13]

2 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

Yep, available at manned stations & can be used with first ticket purchase.

 

I wish you better luck at St Andrew's than Tiger Woods is having in Portrush 

 

JB 

Haven't played the Old Course since I was a teenager, way too many years ago. Mind you have played it a few times, no desire to play it again, happy to walk it on Sundays.

 

Enjoyed watching the great game Rory played today, pity he just came up short. Not sorry to see TW head home early😀

[GeezLouise1]

Thanks both so much!  Hadn't even considered the Two Together Card.  Will investigate that option.  We're spending a few weeks in the UK, up to Scotland from London,  as far north as Inverness, south to the Borders, then across to the West Coast and over to N. Ireland. We'll stop in Portrush too!  Have already booked that segment via Stena and LHR to Southampton with Nat. Coach.  Just filling in the blanks 😉

[GeezLouise1]

51 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

 

Not having a Railcard in advance isn't just a matter of convenience at the station.

Many journeys are significantly cheaper if you buy in advance - usually half-price, sometimes as little as 1/5th of the price. It's difficult to be precise because advance ticket prices are fluid (cheapest about 6 to 8 weeks out), and don't apply to all routes. Those advance tickets are only valid for the train journey and train time that you book, but if you're confident about your plans you'd do better to buy tickets in advance (UK address not required) rather than wait until you're in the UK to get 1/3rd off the walk-up fare.

If your trip is more than 6 to 8 weeks out,  check the advance ticket prices for your journeys at different dates from 24hrs to 6 weeks from now. Use random sunday dates only for any journey you plan to take on sundays.

 

The rail operators don't like to make life easy 

If you can post a vague idea of your train travel plans we can mebbe be a bit more precise.

 

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/

 

JB 

You're brilliant!  Thanks for the Twofer suggestion!  Am I correct in assuming that we'll get that card from a manned station prior to boarding a train as well?  And as long as we have the card in hand,  they will honour train tickets purchased on line in advance?  We won't need to quote a card number online to purchase the train tickets?  Hope that is the case.  JB, you've been very helpful,  thank you!

[John Bull]

19 minutes ago, GeezLouise1 said:

 And as long as we have the card in hand,  they will honour train tickets purchased on line in advance?  We won't need to quote a card number online to purchase the train tickets?

 

Ahhh, now that's something I don't know.

Any idea, Heidi?

Or I can see if I can get an answer from the operators tomorrow.

 

JB  

[GeezLouise1]

6 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

Ahhh, now that's something I don't know.

Any idea, Heidi?

Or I can see if I can get an answer from the operators tomorrow.

 

JB  

Thanks for your help,  much appreciated!  I have posed a few questions to the Rail Service and they informed me by computer generated response that it will take up to 3 days for an answer.  You are so much more efficient!

[GeezLouise1]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

JB - last time in UK (2017) we purchased the rail cards at Leuchars Station (St Andrews), which is a manned station. My understanding is you can purchase at any manned station, as we are planning to purchase them at King's X next year. Hopefully it hasn't changed since 2017.

 

Thanks for pointing out the Two Together option.

In 2017 did you wait until you had the rail cards before you purchased your train tickets? Or  did you have your tickets already, as online purchases prior to arriving in the UK? Thanks for any help, 

[John Bull]

Spoke to a rep by phone today.

Hard work - English wasn't the guy's first language & strong Asian accent (a frequent problem when talking to call centres) and technology's not my thing, but here goes.........

 

He said you can buy a digital Railcard of any flavour (eg Senior's, Two Together, etc) on-line  - no physical address needed -  and download the Railcard App.

You will get your Railcard code, which you enter when buying tickets in advance through the website to get the discounted price. At the station you show your Railcard  on your phone, you don't need a physical card.

I can't do a dummy booking on the website to the point where a code is requested without entering my e-mail address, so this technophobe stopped short - not keen to buy a ticket just to see how it works 

 

He also mentioned downloading passport-size photos, but by this time my eyes had glazed-over. 

 

So I suggest you take it from there and play with the website.

Or wait for a reply to your e-mail.

Or is there anyone else out there who knows a lot more technology than this dinosaur?

 

JB 

[GeezLouise1]

2 hours ago, John Bull said:

Spoke to a rep by phone today.

Hard work - English wasn't the guy's first language & strong Asian accent (a frequent problem when talking to call centres) and technology's not my thing, but here goes.........

 

He said you can buy a digital Railcard of any flavour (eg Senior's, Two Together, etc) on-line  - no physical address needed -  and download the Railcard App.

You will get your Railcard code, which you enter when buying tickets in advance through the website to get the discounted price. At the station you show your Railcard  on your phone, you don't need a physical card.

I can't do a dummy booking on the website to the point where a code is requested without entering my e-mail address, so this technophobe stopped short - not keen to buy a ticket just to see how it works 

 

He also mentioned downloading passport-size photos, but by this time my eyes had glazed-over. 

 

So I suggest you take it from there and play with the website.

Or wait for a reply to your e-mail.

Or is there anyone else out there who knows a lot more technology than this dinosaur?

 

JB 

Thanks so much for going to the trouble of investigating.  I just received a response ( two days early 🙂 ) from Nat.Rail and they explain it differently unfortunately.  I will have to do it in person at a manned station ( with photos and application form in hand).  The digital glitch happens when a cc from outside the country is entered,  they said the digital purchase must be with a credit card registered to a UK address.  So despite what they say,  looks like these perques are to be enjoyed by UK residents only.  Which is lovely,  but they don't say that clearly.  I'm very grateful for your attempts to help me muddle through!

[John Bull]

24 minutes ago, GeezLouise1 said:

Thanks so much for going to the trouble of investigating.  I just received a response ( two days early 🙂 ) from Nat.Rail and they explain it differently unfortunately.  I will have to do it in person at a manned station ( with photos and application form in hand).  The digital glitch happens when a cc from outside the country is entered,  they said the digital purchase must be with a credit card registered to a UK address.  So despite what they say,  looks like these perques are to be enjoyed by UK residents only.  Which is lovely,  but they don't say that clearly.  I'm very grateful for your attempts to help me muddle through!

 

Two different answers from two different people at National Rail?

Surely not 

 

OK, let's presume you can't buy a Railcard in advance.

I've checked only your most-expensive trip, London to Inverness.

Standard fare about £180, a two-together card brings that down to about £120.

Alternatively by buying at least four weeks out the cheapest advance fare is £103. But that's only for the noon train, which probably isn't ideal.

So unless you don't make full use of the Railcard (and it looks like you will), waiting til you arrive & buying a Two-Together Railcard with your first journey looks to be the easiest, most flexible, and probably most economic way of doing it.

Or rent a tandem bicycle  

 

BTW there's some great scenery on the railways out of Inverness, esp. to the Kyle of Lochalsh.

And the West Highand line between Glasgow and Fort William / Mallaig

 

JB 

[GeezLouise1]

4 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

Or rent a tandem bicycle  

 

BTW there's some great scenery on the railways out of Inverness, esp. to the Kyle of Lochalsh.

And the West Highand line between Glasgow and Fort William / Mallaig

 

JB 

 

Well,  we actually did try to rent bicycles for the bit of the tour in the Borders.  Got a prompt response from the local bike shop - no!🤣.  And he sounded like he meant it!   So likely that bit will be in a rental car!

 

We have arranged to see Skye, The Kyle of Lochalsh and even a little stop to see if we can spot Nessie.  I appreciate the travel tips.

 

We are now thinking that we'll just fly up to Edinburgh and save ourselves some aggravation.  We'll organize the train from there,  qualifying for "advance" prices and Nat. Rail cards as well.  Again,  thanks for all your help!

[Heidi13]

22 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

Ahhh, now that's something I don't know.

Any idea, Heidi?

Or I can see if I can get an answer from the operators tomorrow.

 

JB  

Sorry, can't help with that one, as I wasn't even aware of that card. We only checked into the requirements of the Seniors card. However, I will definitely be checking into your suggestion. 

[Heidi13]

22 hours ago, GeezLouise1 said:

In 2017 did you wait until you had the rail cards before you purchased your train tickets? Or  did you have your tickets already, as online purchases prior to arriving in the UK? Thanks for any help, 

We purchased the train tickets for Leuchars to Kings Cross as soon as they became available, selecting the Seniors option and paying the discounted fare. Couldn't purchase the Senior's card until day of travel, as I had just met the age requirement.

[Heidi13]

7 hours ago, GeezLouise1 said:

Thanks so much for going to the trouble of investigating.  I just received a response ( two days early 🙂 ) from Nat.Rail and they explain it differently unfortunately.  I will have to do it in person at a manned station ( with photos and application form in hand).  The digital glitch happens when a cc from outside the country is entered,  they said the digital purchase must be with a credit card registered to a UK address.  So despite what they say,  looks like these perques are to be enjoyed by UK residents only.  Which is lovely,  but they don't say that clearly.  I'm very grateful for your attempts to help me muddle through!

That wasn't my experience.

 

Although I have a UK passport and still have a UK address, I reside in Canada and our credit cards are Canadian. Didn't have any issue with purchasing at the station.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, GeezLouise1 said:

 

Well,  we actually did try to rent bicycles for the bit of the tour in the Borders.  Got a prompt response from the local bike shop - no!🤣.  And he sounded like he meant it!   So likely that bit will be in a rental car!

 

We have arranged to see Skye, The Kyle of Lochalsh and even a little stop to see if we can spot Nessie.  I appreciate the travel tips.

 

We are now thinking that we'll just fly up to Edinburgh and save ourselves some aggravation.  We'll organize the train from there,  qualifying for "advance" prices and Nat. Rail cards as well.  Again,  thanks for all your help!

Just a quick caution if considering flying up to Edinburgh. One of our trips a number of years ago, we had flights arranged between YVR & LHR, with travel up & down to Scotland by other means as we visited friends enroute. However, plans changed and we had to fly down to London to catch the Vancouver flight.

 

We were in UK for a month and had baggage in accordance with International allowances. At Edinburgh we were only permitted domestic baggage allowance, as we did not have a through ticket to Vancouver. Cost almost a couple hundred quid in excess baggage, so unless you are connecting on a through ticket, best to check the baggage limits.

[GeezLouise1]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

 

We were in UK for a month and had baggage in accordance with International allowances. At Edinburgh we were only permitted domestic baggage allowance, as we did not have a through ticket to Vancouver. Cost almost a couple hundred quid in excess baggage, so unless you are connecting on a through ticket, best to check the baggage limits.

Thanks for the head's up.  We will have carry on only,  we're checking the main luggage at LRH to be retrieved en route to Southampton.  The joys of travel! 😎 We're from BC too, alas no UK address or passport.