Young Person's Railcard (Young Persons Railcard)

Member Name: apele

Product:	Young Persons Railcard
Date:	30/05/09 (153 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great discounts, value for money

Disadvantages: Not useful for anyone regularly using the train before 10am

The Young Persons Railcard is for people aged between 16-25, or anyone aged 25+ who is in full time education. With it, you can get a 1/3 off discount on most train services, for £26 a year or £65 for three years. Recently the price has gone up (it was around £24 previously), but, since I first got mine around two years ago, I've noticed that at least once a year there'll be some discount on the card at some point - for last year's offer, the card was available with 50% off!

You can use this railcard with all train companies and on all journeys, but if you're using it before 10am a minimum fare applies. This makes it quite difficult to get your money back for anyone using this primarily for commuting to work. It's very easy to get your money's worth otherwise, though. I use my card when visiting my boyfriend and a return fare that would normally cost me £43 totals £29 with the added discount, so in little over two journeys, I've got my money back. I always appreciate this card when heading from my town into the city, costing me only £2.50 return and unfortunately whoever I'm with has to fork out over £4.

You can use this card to book online and at the ticket office - you'll be asked to present your ticket here, and when booking online it'll be checked on the train. You can only use the railcard when buying tickets on the train if the stop you got on at doesn't have a ticket office, or the ticket office was closed. I found this out the hard way!

I've had no trouble using my card. There've been no hidden rules that have meant I can't use it on certain journeys - you can even use this for travelling first class. It's well worth getting if you qualify and make regular train journeys after 10am, whether it be small, local journeys or longer journeys - you'll get your money back quite fast.

You can buy the Young Person's Railcard online via their website; www.16-25railcard.co.uk, or at the ticket office.

Summary: This card pays for itself