Question reguarding railcard

[effectiveimme]

Hello all,

If I bought a ticket for a journey in August but didn’t have a valid rail card at time of booking would that be against the rules?

My rail card has now been and would be for the travel date, but at time of booking it was expired

Tried to find an answer online but wasn’t clear to me. Service provider is GWR and TfW

Thank you

 

[Wallsendmag]

That's fine.

 

[jfollows]

I do this frequently (well, more than once!), that’s to say I buy an advance ticket and only buy a railcard nearer the time of travel.

 

[Haywain]

If I bought a ticket for a journey in August but didn’t have a valid rail card at time of booking would that be against the rules?

No it would not be "against the rules". You are required to have a valid railcard at the time of travel, which is what appears to be your case.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hello all,

If I bought a ticket for a journey in August but didn’t have a valid rail card at time of booking would that be against the rules?

My rail card has now been and would be for the travel date, but at time of booking it was expired

Tried to find an answer online but wasn’t clear to me. Service provider is GWR and TfW

Thank you

If your local station has a ticket office you can buy the railcard on the day of travel (make sure you leave enough time to catch the train and be sure the ticket office is actually open) before you board the train - that way your Railcard is valid for the longest period after you travel to use again for 12 months.

I do this but my local station is a large station with ticket office always staffed when it should be.

But you may not want to leave it too late or you may wan ta digital railcard not a physical one that a ticket office will issue.

 

[Tetchytyke]

It's at the time of travel, not the time of purchase. I'm about to buy mine for travel next week, even though I booked weeks ago.

For others looking at the thread, I'd always *strongly* recommend setting yourself multiple reminders in your phone/email if you buy a railcard-discounted ticket in advance of buying a railcard. Buying/renewing a railcard is something that is easily forgotten but the consequences are expensive.