I wonder if anybody could help me. I have been trying to renew a Senior railcard for my wife...a three year one...online. She doesn't want a virtual one but the card version. I have been on the National Rail site and filled in all the details until the sign in /register page. Then I encounter a 500 error notification and a 'something went wrong' statement . I don't think it is me as the page says that they are 'working on it'. Thing is, I keep getting this page and if you go on Facebook there are similar experiences posted going back to 1st of June. Please could anybody out there explain what I have done wrongly....or could any kind soul send me a link that works. I am no conspiracy theorist but i am beginning to sense they don't want me to have one. Thanks for reading this.

 

Have you tried contacting National Rail and making them aware/asking for assistance?

 
Railcards so have their own help on Twitter, if you are also a twitter user. They may have their own email help too?

It wouldn’t surprise me to find the 3 year version is only via the Railcard app…so virtual only

 
Try using a different Browser - it's surprising how often that does the trick.

 

How did you/your wife purchase her current railcard? If you purchased it online through www.railcard.co.uk, you should already have an account, so all you need to do is log in and the renewal is already prepared for you. I had no problem renewing both my own and my wife's earlier this year.

 
Thank you for all your kind and helpful responses. In the end I managed via phone and was helped by an amazingly patient salesperson who was EXCELLENT! But how I wish that I had known that I could have phoned in the first place; the web page I found said that this was not possible!! Thank you everybody.

 
What's the number? I need to renew a card.

 
When discussing Senior Railcards with several friends who have recently achieved the certain age, none of them knew of the 20% discount off the price of a one year Senior railcard available to Devon residents. You simply have to ask the Concessionary Travel Team at Devon County Council to supply you with a code to enter on the Railcard website. The discount is not available at station ticket offices.

 
And using Tesco Clubcard points, many railcards - including my Senior Railcard - can be purchased for £10: a considerable saving on the cover price.

 

Indeed, and I think you can use them for other people to buy theirs too. Only one-year railcards can be bought, which is an annoyance if you want to link the railcard to an Oyster (until the rather vaguely promised upgrade to allow that to be done on-line).

 
Would anyone know if there any other current discount(or free) ways to obtain a senior railcard?

 
It would appear that National Rail has still not bothered to fix their website/or App over the last few weeks.  I cannot renew my (virtual) Railcard - my idea (above) doesn't work for me either ! I keep getting an "unexpected issue" - except it isn't unexpected after first dozen attempts !

According to the FAQs you don't have to verify yourself if you are renewing - no one seems to have told the website - it asks me for everything, name, rank, official number, 30 digit passport number, the middle name of my Uncle Fred's pet frog ...............and it still doesn't work. No bother - I'll send an email to the helpline, that'll sort it...............if I wait 10 days    

Do they actually want anyone to use the trains nowadays  ?  except at full fare of course....................

 
I’ve heard that Trsinline sre offering a discount on some rsilcards via their app, where your railcard will reside. Yet to check it out, but includes Senior Railcards I think. Offer until end of this month

 

While you were typing that I was trawling through the web. Found the Trainline offer and bought a 1 year card for £20 - first time I have ever bought anything from Trainline ! Unlike National Rail the Trainline App worked faultlessly.  Not sure if the £10 discount paid for all the cursing at National Rail though......

 
My 3 year version expires early next month so I’m likely to throw away a few days & renew through Trainline at the snd if this month. The £10 discount is enough to persuade me not to renew for abother 3year version saving a further £10 over the term

 
Trainline is a comercial company, offer looks good, but be arware.

 

So it is - just like Waitrose and Lidl.............. and it is my choice where I buy my baked beans. National Rail have seemingly made it impossible for me to buy their (more expensive too !) product so I shall buy that product elsewhere. 

 

I've just renewed my Good Lady Wife's card with a 3-year plastic version through my account at www.railcard.co.uk. Logged into the account at 9:15pm on Thurs 11/08 to renew and had email at 3:45pm on Friday 12/08 to inform me that the new card has been despatched. No problems whatsoever unless the Royal Mail loses the card.

 
I have been informed by National Rail that you can only renew a card online if it expired less than 30 days ago. I am afraid to say that I have to take that with a hefty pinch of salt. I tried buying a new card several times, I tried buying a new card after uninstalling and re-installing the App, both on my mobile and PC - it still didn't work !

 

My Good Lady Wife's card expired back in May and I renewed her's last week, so NR is plainly telling porkies! If you have an account at www.railcard.co.uk, the website stores all previously purchased cards and the 'renew' button is active for all - even those cards that expired years previously.

 

I don't think I would argue too strongly against that statement ..................

 
Had an email from National Rail this morning saying that I hadn't finished applying for my card renewal..................

 
I got a postcard from Railcards to say that my Two-together railcard was expiring next week & need to renew it.

Only problem - I've NEVER had one of those railcards, nor have I ever lived at the (very) local address it was addressed to. But correct name & there isn't another Chris B in our village! We have a friendly local postie who knows me...so brought it round.

 
I've recently had the misfortune to become old enough to qualify for one of these, and have been making use of it. I had been looking forward to being challenged at the ticket barriers and on board, supporting my belief that I don't look anything like old enough to have one But so far that hasn't happened.

I've heard guards ask for young persons to show their 16-25 card; is it assumed that seniors are honest? And in fact do ticket barriers give any indication that a ticket has been purchased using a senior railcard? I haven't heard anything out of the ordinary when I pass through.

 
Last year, I registered for my first Senior Railcard - despite having actually qualified for one, several years before. 

I have used it on my recent train tickets, without any challenge: there is no photo ID on the Railcard, but I suspect that my increasingly greying hair leads railway staff to think, 'yes, he's an old git'. 

Nevertheless, I keep my Senior Railcard in my wallet, next to my Driving Licence - which does have photo ID - just in case I am ever challenged. 

 
Using Tesco Clubcard points, a railcard can be purchased for £15 rather than the usual £30  . Two years ago it was only £10 

 

Ah, the driving licence. It could be said that it way too much personal info on it - some people do not like carrying it on them for that reason. Paired with house keys, a photocard driving licence drives a coach and horses through two-factor authentication.

Mark

 

I can't recall having been asked for a railcard at a barrier, ever. Train managers especially more recently will usually check for one and the thing they like to be able to see is the expiry date. Without a photo id, mind, a railcard is a bit loose, nevertheless, some train managers have a number of warm expressions up their sleeves ready for deployment. I wish I could recall the best I've heard but my memory's not what it was. :-)

"...supporting my belief that I don't look anything like old enough to have one "

From your writing style I was holding a belief that you were about 24. (Not holding that belief in a derogatory way I hasten to add...)

Mark

 

That's an interesting point, Mark.

In my previous employment - driving grocery delivery vans for Waitrose - it was a contractual requirement that I carried my photo ID driving licence with me at all times. 

 
I've on occasion not been asked for my railcard when having my ticket checked on the train although I mostly present the ticket and card together.
A few times, for reasons unknown, my ticket hasn't opened the barrier at stations, causing the staff, after a quick check, to let me through but never asking for me to produce my railcard.

Incidentally, on a number of on-train ticket checks, the revenue protection/train managers have smilingly referred to it as my "young persons railcard"!

 
Some of them do have a sense of humour. 

 
I find myself only asked for my senior card infrequently - most often when purchasing a ticket at a manned ticket office and just occasionally at a ticket inspection on a train. Only once, ever, at a ticket gate - and that was a really odd case where my FOSS had failed to work the gate, I was the only passenger around, and the bloke on the gate insisted on taking a careful look at my ticket  and punching a hole in it having got his punch out from the cupboard.

I would suspect it relates often to the time taken - whether the staff have the time to check railcards, etc, - so they'll prioritise checking everyone has a ticket rather than going into individual backing documents.

Now ...

* Seniors, I suggest, might be less likely to "try it on".  For sure their cards expire, but that's like to be forgetfulness rather than intent to defraud.

* A senior card may expire but once you have one, you can always get another - unlike the younger age tickets where you hit a wall where you can no longer get the discount and may be tempted to try

* Train staff probably feel more comfortable challenging people young enough to be their children rather than old enough to be their parents.

 

Blimey!  There are specific reasons why it is relevant for me to ensure that my own Senior Railcard is renewed before it expires on 2 June 2025.

Thank you, grahame. 

 

I too renewed my previous Senior Railcard before it expired, and this was fine - on trains.  But on my Oyster card there was a problem.

The new railcard had a validity that was a few days longer than three years.  In that short period after getting the new card I was visiting London with my brand new card and I asked a TfL person to add the new card to my Oyster card.  Alas they couldn't - machine said no.  They found an expert, who explained that the Oyster system only accepts a railcard expiry date no more than three years in the future.  Fortunately they also had a workaround: they entered the expiry date as two years in the future, and asked me to come back some time in the next two years to have the true expiry date added.

 
Short of asking staff to do so, there may be a way to check if an Oyster is linked to a railcard, but if there is it's well hidden. I've two Oystercards and the system presumably will not let me link the railcard to more than one Oyster (though I've not tried that).

Mark

 
I have had a Senior Railcard for several years now (I am 72 and got it on the first day I was able to and made use of it on that day). I have always had a card ticket rather than having it on my phone. Several train managers like to call it a Young Persons card, which is always pleasing to hear, though I did once get sold a ticket at a station by someone who assumed I had a Senior Railcard, several years before I was old enough to get one, presumably due to my prematurely grey hair, which by then was almost white. I did also once get sold a Young Person's ticket by a train manager on a train. He had made the joke about a Young Persons card when I asked to buy a ticket with my Senior Railcard, and then presumably forgot he was joking! I had to explain to other train managers on my route why I was travelling with this ticket - not sure if they actually believed me.

I'm pretty sure it makes no difference at the station barriers. Tickets often seem to be rejected, but I don't think the railcard is ever the issue, though obviously I can't be sure on that.

I usually show both my ticket and card at the same time, but if I forget (or can't get the card out in time), I find about half of the managers ask to see the card and half don't, though more do these days than not.

 

This happened to me once with my FOSS, at Southampton Central. Where was yours, as I wonder whether it was something specific to that station?

The woman at the barrier took a lot of time checking my ticket, asking where I was going and generally questioning it, and insisted on punching it too, and I only just made it onto the platform in time to catch my train.

 

Mine was Chippenham ... and I found myself wondering if punching a hole in a ticket these days is a way of signalling to other staff "awkward customer".  Staff are usually excellent, but this was the exception.   I do recall a more thorough check of my FOSS that usual at Southampton Central too - same person perhaps - but then utterly helpful there on other occasions.

The FOSS ticket is a bargain if you want to do what it allows, and I wonder if s minority of staff resent the really good price you've got your travel at.   I've found the same attitude on occasions with my Interrail pass.

 

My FOSS cards never worked Southampton during my multiple visits last Oct/Nov. Gave up trying....................

 
Don't know what happened there - tried to correct a typo and it posted the whole amended thing again as a quote 

 

I have tidied up - that's an easy thing to do if you're one button out!

 
Present the Oyster card to the yellow reader on an LU POM (possibly also other Oyster-enabled TVMs?) and somewhere inconspicuous on the screen - top left if I remember correctly - it will show that you have a Railcard discount set.  You can link one Railcard to multiple Oyster cards so long as you have the Railcard with you when using that card in case you are asked to show it; gates can be set by revenue staff to flag that a card with a discount has just been used.

Just noticed that the hover function doesn't work for:
LU - London Underground
POM - Passenger Operated Machine (equivalent to a TVM but sometimes handy to distinguish)
Can an admin add them please?

 

Thank you for your request, Ralph Ayres.

I am 'on the case' here, with guidance from grahame.  Please do bear with me, while I update my (somewhat basic) online technical skills. 

 

From my knowing grahame, over many years, I can confirm that his shirt front will probably be 'one button out'. 

 
Rite of passage yesterday - the first time (in nearly 5 years) I forgot to "press" the Senior Railcard "button" on the ticket machine screen.....must be getting old and forgetful

 

I do sympathize, eightonedee.  I am also getting ...

 

The FOSS ticket is certainly a bargain. At Southampton Central, platform 4, I had the impression that the woman at the barrier had never actually seen a FOSS ticket before, and didn't really believe I could have a ticket that allowed me to travel that far. She held onto it for some minutes asking me questions, and didn't seem any the wiser at the end of the time.

At most stations I found the FOSS ticket wouldn't open the barriers, which was very frustrating, as at a few stations it did (so presumably could do so anywhere).

 

Phew - it's ok, just been asked to show it (on the Paddington-Weston)