The age of the train railcard cards (Railcards in general)

Member Name: bucksfizz66

Product:	Railcards in general
Date:	28/07/09 (100 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Massive discounts to be had on train fares but other benefits / offers

Disadvantages: No railcard exists for adults in general

I bought my first ever railcard this year - I am a devoted driver and the cost of fuel versus the cost of going by train has never really compared whether there was one of you in the car or four. I personally never felt that I used the train enough to re-coup the cost of the railcard - how wrong!.

I bought my card via a link on money saving expert for £18 as opposed to £24, there have been promotions since giving you 3 months free and then buy for £12 for the year. Worth keeping a look out for. I also got a second card for free in my partners name.

The card enables up to 4 adults and 4 children to travel on one railcard, but to get the discounts you must have at least one child travelling with the party. The card then gives a third off all adult fares and 60% off all child fares even if you book in advance.

This year I booked with the maximum notice (3 months) for the 3 of us to go to London (2 adults and 1 child) and we went for £85 return (so this saved about £65). Based on the fact that congestion charge is £8 per day and the likely cost of parking each day in London even with the cost of the railcard this price takes alot of beating.

In addition to this there are additional discounts to be had such as discounts on staying at Ramada and Holiday Inn hotels, also 2 for 1 london outings including shows - so its alsways worth checking out the railcard offers on their website before you depart anywhere.

Using the card couldn't be easier too, as when you go to use the card on a rail internet booking site, just select the drop down box to select family railcard, and the discount is calculated.

Other railcards do exist for younger, older and disabled travellers however as I have no direct experience of these I cannot comment on how they operate.

This review is adpated from one previously submitted on ciao as dotjay19.

Summary: Used once and already made savings on buying this card.