Trip.com app issues with Railcards

[larrington]

Hi all,

Last year, I bought a 16-25 railcard on Trip.com, as they had a sale on. The app worked fine for me for about 4-5 months, but after this point, I needed to be connected to the internet to be able to see my railcard. Unfortunately, I often travel on the tube, and I was always a little concerned during that time that I wouldn't be able to present my railcard on demand to a ticket inspector. Whilst this never actually happened, I did have to wait for about 2 minutes with a very patient guard on SWR for my railcard to show up.

Thankfully it expired and I went onto the regular Railcard app which works just fine.

Has anyone else had this experience with Trip.com? Has anyone been issued a penalty fare because of an issue like this?

Just a point of general discussion really.

 

[Sleepy]

Trip.com appears to be a very slow clunky app in general.

 

[jupiter]

I have a note in my diary against one of my trip details which simply reads «do not use trip.com again».

 

[Krokodil]

A girl sat opposite me yesterday had issues because they won't display the railcard (and start the clock ticking on the expiry date) until you've actually bought a ticket from them. Presumably they discount the railcard as a loss leader and this is to make sure they've got your custom afterwards. I told her to buy a ticket from North Llanrwst to Llanrwst as that was the smallest fare I could think of (around 60p).

Even then, once the Avanti guard came back it was a faff to find the railcard again. Dreadful app.

 

[larrington]

A girl sat opposite me yesterday had issues because they won't display the railcard (and start the clock ticking on the expiry date) until you've actually bought a ticket from them. Presumably they discount the railcard as a loss leader and this is to make sure they've got your custom afterwards. I told her to buy a ticket from North Llanrwst to Llanrwst as that was the smallest fare I could think of (around 60p).

Even then, once the Avanti guard came back it was a faff to find the railcard again. Dreadful app.

When I bought mine last year it told me I needed to buy a ticket too. I think I bought a Bedford to Bletchley one?

 

[ianBR]

I thought the RDG mandated that railcard apps should display the railcard without requiring internet access.

It’s time they banned companies who don’t comply from selling railcards.

I’ve also experienced the trainline app forcing you to sign in again when it has updated meaning you can’t access your railcard without an internet connection.

 

[Hadders]

I thought the RDG mandated that railcard apps should display the railcard without requiring internet access.

It’s time they banned companies who don’t comply from selling railcards.

I’ve also experienced the trainline app forcing you to sign in again when it has updated meaning you can’t access your railcard without an internet connection.

My understanding is they don't need a 'live' internet connection but they need to have connected at some point during the recent past.

 

[OscarH]

It’s time they banned companies who don’t comply from selling railcards

I agree, but also their own app has had some pretty damming issues, so they should consider banning themselves too

 

[Bungle965]

I agree, but also their own app has had some pretty damming issues, so they should consider banning themselves too

My personal favourite recently was them creating support for Samsung Wallet, something no other retailer does, because it's not something that has been accredited by RDG! Not that it makes any difference to the likes of them!

 

[Joe Paxton]

The Trip.com app is pretty cr@p, ditto the Trainpal app... and I speak as someone who has their current Railcard on the Trip.com app (and has previously has it on the Trainpal app) - basically suckered in by their discounted prices for Railcards (I don't buy my travel tickets nor anything else through them). However I wouldn't recommend Trip.com/Trainpal to others - I've gone in with my eyes open to the pitfalls.

(It'd probably be better to go to a retailer that properly 'does' Digital Railcards and reward them with a purchase - all I can say is I assume Trip.com / Trainpal are offering the discounted Railcards as a loss leader, in the hope people will use them for other purchases, so I'd think they're not making money from me... though I guess the app is there residing on my mobile, with all the data slurping potential that might entail.)

For what it's worth, to get the Railcard 'activated' (a condition of their offer) I've bought a Sunday Single or an Evening Single from Ryde Esplanade to Ryde St Johns Rd - current price with a Railcard discount is 75p.