Travel Together? Consider Getting A Railcard…

If you don’t travel alone one way of saving money you may have overlooked is getting a railcard. In an age where we just tap our contactless or Oyster card in/out stations, I am certainly guilty of completely overlooking the fact that railcards still exist! Over the last 10 years or so many variations of Railcards have been added to the portfolio which means it is likely there is one to suit your needs. In this post, we are going to focus on three of them – 26 – 30 Railcard, Two Together Railcard & the Friends & Family Railcard but most of the benefits are very similar and you can apply the basic principle to them all…

Don’t forget railcards are now digital…

You can now get a Digital railcard rather than a plastic one through the post. This means you can benefit from the Railcard benefits immediately after purchase (just add it to the Railcard app) rather than waiting for it to arrive through the post.

26-30 Railcard

The 26-30 Railcard gives an adult aged 26-30 1/3 off rail fares. The railcard costs £30 a year (you can’t yet buy it with Clubcard vouchers)

Validity

The discount is valid Off-Peak Monday to Friday and anytime at weekends and bank holidays. You can use it during peak hours BUT a £12 minimum fare applies. It is valid on most ticket types including Advance tickets. You can also use the Railcard for 1st class tickets AND on Gatwick Express, Stansted Express, and Heathrow Express services.

You can also add this railcard to your Oyster card at a tube station to get 1/3 off off-peak travel on the TfL network.

Examples

All examples are based on a return ticket roughly 12 weeks in advance

London – Edinburgh – Return for 1 without railcard – £100.80 – With railcard – £66.60 – £34.20 saving
London – Heathrow Airport (Heathrow Express) – Return for 1 without railcard – £17.50 – With railcard – £11.55 – £5.95 saving
London (Zone 1) – Heathrow Airport (Tube) – Return for 1 without railcard – £5.50 – With railcard – £3.65 – £1.85 saving
London – Gatwick Airport (Gatwick Express – Return for 1 without railcard – £30.80 – With railcard – £20.30 – £10.50 saving
London – Stansted Airport (Stansted Express – Return for 1 without railcard – £32.70 – With railcard – £21.55- £11.15 saving

Two Together Railcard

The Two Together Railcard gives you and a named Adult 1/3 off rail fares when you travel together. The railcard costs £30 a year or just £10 worth of Clubcard vouchers.

Validity

The discount is valid Off-Peak Monday to Friday and anytime at weekends and bank holidays. It is valid on most ticket types including Advance tickets. You can also use the Railcard for 1st class tickets AND on Gatwick Express, Stansted Express, and Heathrow Express services.

Unfortunately, you can’t add this railcard to your Oyster card AND the named person must be travelling with you at all times to use the discount.

Examples

All examples are based on a return ticket roughly 12 weeks in advance

London – Edinburgh – Return for 2 without railcard – £201.60 – With railcard – £170.50 – £31.10 saving
London – Heathrow Airport (Heathrow Express) – Return for 2 without railcard – £30 – With railcard – £19.80 – £10.20 saving
London – Gatwick Airport (Gatwick Express – Return for 2 without railcard – £73.20 – With railcard – £48.20 – £25 saving
London – Stansted Airport (Stansted Express – Return for 2 without railcard – £65.40 – With railcard – £43.10 – £22.30 saving

Friends & Family Railcard

The Friends & Family Railcard gives up to 4 Adults 26-30 1/3 off rail fares & up to 4 Children 60% off rail fares (read the full eligibility here.) The railcard costs £30 a year or just £10 with Tesco Clubcard Vouchers.

Validity

The discount is valid Off-Peak Monday to Friday and anytime at weekends and bank holidays for journeys in London & the South East. You can also use the Railcard on the Gatwick Express, Stansted Express, and Heathrow Express services.

Unfortunately, you can’t add this railcard to your Oyster card AND at least one child must be with you at all times to use the discount.

Examples

All examples are based on a return ticket roughly 12 weeks in advance with 2 adults & 2 children travelling

London – Edinburgh – £213.70 – With railcard – £151.30- £62.40 saving
London – Heathrow Airport (Heathrow Express) – £53 – With railcard – £35 – £18 saving
London – Gatwick Airport (Gatwick Express – £69.60 – With railcard – £50.40 – £19.20 saving
London – Stansted Airport (Stansted Express – £98.10 – With railcard – £55.50 – £42.60 saving

Conclusion

As you can see it’s quite possible to get the cost of your railcard back in just one train journey, particularly if you are travelling as part of a couple or group! It’s always worth doing the sums and getting one if the maths make sense as you could quite easily save £100’s over the course of the year.