Ticket Wallets

[py_megapixel]

You used to be able to get from stations small plastic wallets, usually with a National Rail or TOC logo on them, just the right size to hold credit card sized ticket (CCST) stock. I think the idea was that season ticket holders could keep their ticket and their photocard conveniently together.

Now that most TOCs now not selling many CCSTs, are the wallets still available? And will they give them out to anyone who asks or do they expect you to buy a season ticket? Alternatively, are they sold anywhere?

 

[sh24]

Have this year been offered a wallet when buying a rover ticket. If you asked nicely you might just be given one?

 

[dk1]

I picked up a dozen or so last year as have always preferred the triple wallet National Rail blue examples.

 

[londonbridge]

I used to get a similar one from a newsagent or other Oyster retailer but these days most places say TFL have stopped producing them. I currently have a triple wallet National Rail blue one as described above, I keep my debit card in it for contactless payments. It avoids any risk of card clash and I still have it if my main wallet with my other cards, nectar, club card etc, is lost or stolen.

 

[JamesT]

I didn’t get one when I bought a railcard, but popped into Paddington ticket office and asked for one which they were happy to do.

 

[mikeg]

Given how easily PRTs are damaged and the printing of rover tickets on such stock, I’d say the need for ticket wallets is as great as ever. They just need to adjust the size now to make PRTs fit.

 

[Sleepy]

They are still around at ticket offices - still good for railcards/ccst/smart cards

 

[mmh]

I get one of the blue 3 part ones every time I buy a railcard or season ticket, I must have quite a lot of them hoarded away.

 

[Belperpete]

Aren't they issued with Railcards, which are still CCST? You then use the three parts for your Railcard, photo ID card, and tickets.

 

[Edvid]

I currently have a triple wallet National Rail blue one as described above, I keep my debit card in it for contactless payments.

Likewise, though I generally use my phone more often.

I also use it for storing bus tickets, which is especially handy when said tickets have a QR code.

 

[LowLevel]

When paper annual season tickets were a more regular occurence I used to keep a stash in my work bag to give as replacements to passengers who were using one that was a little past it's best - that always went down well as many people said they were too shy to ask for one themselves at a ticket window between purchases

I still have a few kicking about but haven't given one out for years.

 

[pdeaves]

If you're prepared to pay, ticket wallets are available from other sources. Here's one official one: https://www.gwrsouvenirs.co.uk/GWR/p-GWR106

 

[WirralLine]

I got 2 National Rail ones for my staff travel cards, after a couple of years of abuse they started to fall apart so I asked at Liverpool Lime St for another and was given a Northern branded one no questions asked. Seem readily available at main stations at least. Not tried a smaller one.

 

[Purple Train]

I have three. I got one - the National Rail blue three-part sort - when I got my photocard for my first season ticket. I can't now remember how much for, if anything, but I got it from my local ticket office. I keep my non-season tickets in an old Oyster card wallet (black, of uncertain provenance). They have both served me extremely well and I find them very useful indeed. If you want one, TfL are probably a good bet given the use of both CCSTs and Oyster cards.

For completeness's sake, the third one, which I don't use, is a very fragile Central Trains one. I have no idea how it hasn't fallen apart yet! I've had a look at the tickets inside it and they're from 2008/09, so I wonder when they stopped selling Central-branded stuff?

 

[jamiearmley]

Given how easily PRTs are damaged and the printing of rover tickets on such stock, I’d say the need for ticket wallets is as great as ever. They just need to adjust the size now to make PRTs fit.

PRTs fit very well inside the standard wallet - the two facing pockets are used, one end of the PRT in each.

Works very well - I still issue a large number of PRT seasons to passengers on board and the 3 part wallet protects them well and allows easy scanning of the Aztec code.

 

[High Dyke]

As already mentioned, ask at a ticket office. The wife obtained one for me the other week. Having staff travel cards I need a triple holder. The National Rail wallets are ideal.

 

[Titfield]

Yes I do like National Rail Version. Simple but does the job.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Problem I find is that the ink on the Freedom pass prints through onto the transparent plastic, which means you end up with multiple images, and the pass itself gets fainter and fainter over time. Mine is already very faint and still has three quarters of its life to go before it's due for renewal.

 

[Alex365Dash]

Given how easily PRTs are damaged and the printing of rover tickets on such stock, I’d say the need for ticket wallets is as great as ever. They just need to adjust the size now to make PRTs fit.

LNER already have ticket wallets that are actually designed to fit either PRT or CCST - unfortunately I haven’t seen anyone else follow suit yet!

 

[800Travel]

LNER tend to give out paper/card wallets, which unfortunately are not very durable like the plastic blue national rail ones were.

 

[plugwash]

My experiance has been that the plastic ticket wallets fall apart at the folds (so they still protect the tickets, but you have to hold the ticket and photocard seperately) after a couple of years of use, and then I get given a new one next time I renew my annual county card.

I haven't encountered the cardboard ones that 800travel mentions yet (most tickets I buy being bought from either northern or avanti).

 

[mq90]

If you're prepared to pay, ticket wallets are available from other sources. Here's one official one: https://www.gwrsouvenirs.co.uk/GWR/p-GWR106

I was going to say that.

I got an swallow Intercity one about 5 years back and wanted to get a replacement as it's showing its age a little bit, but can't remember where I got it or if it's still available anywhere?

 

[ABB125]

I've got loads (probably around 20?) of the 3-section National Rail ones, and a dozen or so of other operator-branded ones (mixture of 2- and 3-segments). But I haven't used any of them for years, due to a combination of CCST tickets being quite difficult to obtain (the local ticket machines print the "twice the size of CCST thick white paper with Aztec code" variety of ticket), prevalence of e-tickets, and CCST tickets fitting nicely in a normal wallet

 

[bluegoblin7]

I have three. I got one - the National Rail blue three-part sort - when I got my photocard for my first season ticket. I can't now remember how much for, if anything, but I got it from my local ticket office. I keep my non-season tickets in an old Oyster card wallet (black, of uncertain provenance). They have both served me extremely well and I find them very useful indeed. If you want one, TfL are probably a good bet given the use of both CCSTs and Oyster cards.

London Underground/TfL no longer make wallets publicly available, although some locations (stations and ticket stops) are still winding down supplies. LO should have National Rail ones. EL is hit and miss.

I’ve never personally for a wallet from the station, I’m fairly certain they’ve been freely available for the best part of 15 years at least.

Your black Oyster wallet, assuming it’s branded, will likely have been LUL-issued in the mid 2010s, a stop-gap design after IKEA discontinued their sponsorship.

 

[Krokodil]

Yes I do like National Rail Version. Simple but does the job.

The only improvement I would suggest is a hole in the middle of the transparent plastic for marking/dating CCSTs without having to remove them.

 

[1D54]

Loads of them at Leicester and staff will gladly give one out if asked.