I'm looking to getting the train down to Manchester at the end of the month with Mini Ledge and East Coast were doing the return from Edinburgh for a reasonable £69.00. I clicked on the Railcard option to see what difference it made and it brought the total down to £39.20! On checking what Railcards were available I saw that I could get a Friends & Family Railcard which allows four adults to travel with an under 15 for £28 a year - a no brainer surely?

I've never had a Railcard in my life so I'm not sure if there any catches but if this is correct then surely I should go for it. I feel it's too good to be true - can anyone advise?

I haven't checked but I presume you also need three other adults with you to be able to use the card?

Edit - have checked now - 'up to' 4 adults, so the answer is yes - a no-brainer, so long as you are going to use the card at least twice more. Looks like as you get a third off you can travel for £28 plus £26 for the tickets - -ie £54 this time, rather than £39. However, do it twicw more and you will be paying £28 plus £26x3 ie £106 for three trips, as opposed to £39x 3 ie £117 for the three trips.

Take that as read

I have checked the website although I wasn't 100% sure of what I had read and what it meant. You've confirmed what I had thought and the fact that I could buy the Railcard for £28.00 and pay for the trip at the end of the month for £39.20 would still be cheaper than the original fare.

Could be taking a few day trips to York and the like in the coming year

Normal price = 69

Railcard = 28
Reduced tickets = 39.20

Total cost = 67.20

Saving = £1.80

All that hassle to save £1.80. Great work at breaking down those Scottish stereotypes

No I think the reduced fare comes down by another third (does with student and senior railcards, anyway). See my edited post above.

Edit - no sorry, I'm talking rubbish. Will go back to the draawing board, bear with me....

OK, thinking about it more clearly, murf and I are both half right.

Trip 1. Full fare £69. Fare with railcard £28 plus £39 = £67. Saving £2 (as murf says) - (though I'm not sure why it's £39 - a third off would be £46, but that's by-the-by)

Trip 2 Full fare £69. Fare with railcard £39. Saving on the two trips together = £138 minus £106. That is a saving of £32 already.


(Last edit I promise! I now understand why it's £39 not £46 - 60% off the child's fare. Got there in the end )

...you cheeky swine murf

The point is that I can buy the Railcard which last a year. The saving I make on the trip I take at the end of the month will cover the cost of the Railcard. If I make the same trip 5 times in the year I'll have saved £150. If I make the trip 100 times I'll have saved £3,000... although that would just be silly.

Doogal, take a break from thinking - your head's about to explode!

To use the railcard you must have at least one child travelling with you. Yes it will cost you £28 which will pretty much equate to the price you would have paid but you will then have the railcard for the following 12 months and it will come in handy for any days out even short ones.

http://www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk/

You are lucky I deleted the end of my post before submitting. I was going to suggest using the £1.80 saving towards a deep fried mars bar or scrapping the trip entirely and using the money to treat Mini Ledge to his first wrap of heroin.

I nearly bought a deepfried mars bar from the fish and chip shop last night.
Anyone tried them?

@Dougal: The discount is 1/3 off adult prices and 60% off kids prices subject to a £1 minimum. As long as the minimum kids fare doesn't apply it is always cheaper to take a kid than travel alone.

@Ledge: When using East Coast services, always book through the East Coast website rather than at the station because they offer a 10% discount on their own fares when booked online.

Thanks for the advice folks. I'll buy my Railcard tomorrow