Autofill of Railcard discounts

[fandroid]

There have been a number of passengers being caught out by Trainline, among others, following a previous purchase of a Railcard discounted ticket, by automatically applying the discount to all subsequent purchases.

GWR's app makes it really obvious that the discount is applied. It shows a highlighted "Railcard" beside every discounted fare that it displays on the journey planner output. See the screenshot below.

Then it warns the purchaser to carry the Railcard.

See below:

All fairly simple and only the really determined could actually avoid noticing the implications!

Why isn't this universal?

 

[John R]

It wouldn’t stop the “I didn’t know/check if it had expired” cases though.

 

[Tevion539]

It wouldn’t stop the “I didn’t know/check if it had expired” cases though.

It probably wouldn’t, no. But it could be updated to include a reminder to check railcard validity?

Even then that probably wouldn’t stop it, but it would make it harder for people to argue that they didn’t know…

 

[soccermad]

A good idea, but it does not excuse using an expired card to claim discounts you are not entitled to.

Very little sympathy from me, it seems a very common 'excuse' .

 

[AlterEgo]

A good idea, but it does not excuse using an expired card to claim discounts you are not entitled to.

Very little sympathy from me, it seems a very common 'excuse' .

You can always rely on the great British public to defend the state and big business' right to extortion and prosecution against young people who forgot to renew a bit of card for £35.

 

[saismee]

My problem is that it doesn't say exactly which railcard discount is applied. I almost bought a ticket with a Senior railcard after doing something for my mum. I'm about 40 years too young for that one!

It just needs to be made clearer overall, including displaying which railcard is applied. I agree that it's people's own faults for not checking the expiration, but there's no harm in helping protect people from their own stupidity when it's as simple as a little warning.

 

[Skymonster]

Apps such as National Rail and TrainSplit are a pain in the posterior (less easy to navigate) because they do NOT “remember” I have a railcard. I use my own PC, phone and tablet and no one else does. I know I have a railcard, I know when it’s valid until, I have reminders and alerts to renew it in two years time in my diary backed up to the cloud. The usability of various apps and websites would be improved if they retained the just my railcard selection, no need to bother with expiry dates.

 

[jfollows]

I have two railcards, a senior railcard and a two together railcard, and I’m very happy that neither of the sites I use - Avanti & this site - remember my railcard details.
However I have no real sympathy for people who use sites that do and get it wrong. It helps to have the warning above I guess. I certainly never use Trainline.

 

[talldave]

I only have one Railcard and would prefer the forum's ticket site to remember the Railcard (and perhaps its expiry date).

It's brain numbing having to re-enter the identical information every day. What's the point in having "an account" if it doesn't save your personal information?

I suspect the clever team who have created an excellent site just don't happen to use Railcards, so haven't experienced the frustration at re-entering the same information day after day.