can i use rail travel voucher online

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How do I book with Rail Travel Vouchers?

To use your Rail Travel Vouchers you’ll need to give us a call on +44 333 202 2222* any day between 08:00 and 20:00.

*Calls cost 2p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge. Call from outside the UK may cost more.

You’ll need to post us your vouchers and then we’ll post back your tickets, so please ring us at least 14 days before you plan to travel.

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Over 20 million people in Great Britain can save with one of our Railcards. Which one will you get?

16-25 Railcard

For those aged 16-25, save a 1/3 off rail fares for days out, seeing family and friends and even festivals!

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For those aged 60 and over, save 1/3 off rail fares for days out, holidays, seeing family and friends, and theatre trips!

Two Together Railcard

For two named people travelling together, get an average annual saving of £129 plus special partner discounts!

Disabled Persons Railcard

If you have a disability that makes travelling by train difficult, you may qualify for a Disabled Persons Railcard

26-30 Railcard

Valid for those aged 26-30. For just £30, save 1/3 on most rail fares to travel across Britain for a year!

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Children aged 5-15 get 60% discount on kids fares! Up to four adults and four children can travel on one card.

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For those travelling in the South East, aged 16 or over. Get an average annual saving of £191 plus partner discounts.

For those aged 16 or 17. Enjoy 50% off standard Anytime, Off-Peak, Advance and Season tickets, for just £30 a year.

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If you are a veteran of the UK Armed Forces, you may qualify for a Veterans Railcard. Save a 1/3 on most rail fares.

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If you bought your Railcard online, you will be able to renew it when it is within 30 days of the expiry date.

Railcards bought at a train station cannot be renewed online.

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If you bought a digital Railcard, you will need a download code to add your Railcard to your Railcard app.

Your digital Railcard download code will be sent to your registered email address after purchase. You can also generate a new download code by logging into your account.

How do I get cheap train tickets?

With a Railcard you can get 1/3 off the price of most train fares.

This guide contains ways to get cheap train tickets, including getting the most out of your Railcard, finding promotions and booking in advance.

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Can I get a refund due to COVID?

We understand the restrictions due to COVID mean some Railcard customers haven’t made all of the journeys they had planned. After careful consideration the government has confirmed to us that Railcards will remain non-refundable and will not be extended. 

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• Rail ticketing and fares

Rail travel vouchers extended for passengers

Six-month extension to rail travel vouchers due to COVID-19.

• passengers given additional 6 months from the original expiry date to redeem rail travel vouchers
• expiry date extended as COVID-19 restrictions in England eased in recent days
• ensures thousands of rail passengers are not left out of pocket for following the government’s recent stay at home advice

Rail passengers with unused travel vouchers have been given extra time to redeem them to ensure they are not left out of pocket from COVID-19 related restrictions.

Thousands of passengers with rail travel vouchers, which have expired or are due to expire between 20 October 2020 and 30 June 2021 will get an additional 6 months after their original expiry date to redeem them to recognise the fact that most passengers had been unable to use them during the second and third national lockdowns.

The government’s roadmap out of lockdown has ensured significant parts of the indoor economy and further outdoor settings have reopened including non-essential retail, personal care and hospitality businesses in England and overnight stays permitted.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

This extension ensures that passengers with travel vouchers are not penalised for following government advice. By offering people more time to redeem their vouchers, we are ensuring that passengers will not be left out of pocket as they come back to the railways.

Jacqueline Starr, Chief Executive Officer of the Rail Delivery Group said:

This welcome extension means more people will be able to get out and about by train as restrictions ease. With rail companies boosting cleaning, adding services to support social distancing and the vast majority of people wearing face coverings, returning passengers can travel with confidence.

The government is still advising people to minimise their travel and work from home where they can. However, for those who are travelling, people are advised to walk and cycle where possible, and if travelling on public transport to plan their journeys in advance and travel at quiet times and on quieter routes.

When travelling, people should regularly sanitise their hands, wear a face covering unless exempt and keep their distance where possible.

To ensure people can travel with confidence on the railway, more than 1,000 weekday services have been added since mid-February 2021 from around 16,900 per day to almost 18,000 from today. An even more significant service uplift is planned for May.

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Yes, you can still redeem your travel vouchers. Here's how to do it.

The travel credit you got after the pandemic is probably about to expire. Actually, it may have already run out. 

A recent American Express survey says one in three travelers plan to burn their travel credits or points to pay for all or part of a trip. Why? They have a lot of travel credits to use. After the pandemic started, airlines, cruise lines and hotels doled out points and vouchers in such generous quantities that it put the CARES Act to shame.

"The airlines are sitting on more than $10 billion in unused travel credits, most of which expire in two years or less," says Lauren LaBar, a manager at Upaway , a travel concierge app.

But you don't have to lose your travel credit. Here are a few expert tips that will help you keep your credits and travel in the future. And there are ways of ensuring this never becomes a problem again.

Read your voucher now

If you've received a voucher, flight credit or travel certificate, find it and read it now. Cruise lines are particularly strict about their vouchers, called future cruise credits.

Learn more: Best travel insurance

“You have to know the value of your credit," says Annie Scrivanich , senior vice president at Cruise Specialists . "Also, know the terms and conditions like the expiration date and book-by date."

She warns that cruise lines aren't flexible in changing the terms, so she recommends rebooking sooner rather than later.

Track your credit

Many travel companies won't tell you if your credit is about to expire. Of course not. They want to keep your money. Don't let that happen to you, says Jeremy Ellis, head of customer care operations at Priceline .

"Keep track of your credit – and its expiration date – by flagging it in your email as soon as it hits your inbox and setting a reminder on your calendar to rebook before the deadline," he advises. 

The date by which you must use your ticket should be on the cancellation confirmation of the original ticket. Also, note that there's sometimes a difference between when you have to book by and when you have to travel by.

Go back to the place you booked

If you bought your tickets or hotel room through a third party, like an online travel agency, you'll want to check with them. An agency can help, but they also add a layer of complexity – and sometimes, more restrictions. You'll want to check with the place you booked to see about your options for redeeming the voucher or credit. 

If you're lucky, you bought your trip through a reputable travel advisor who can help you make the most of your credit (and possibly even extend it). If not, then you might have to deal with an automated system that is programmed to tell you "no" at every turn. 

Either way, you have to start here, say experts.

How to make sense of credits

It can be confusing. Consider what happened to Tom Harriman, an attorney based in Clarksville, Maryland. He had $750 in American Airlines flight credits that were about to expire. But he couldn't redeem the scrip online because of a technical glitch.

Harriman phoned American and asked for help. A representative came up with a creative solution: She used part of his flight credits to book two new tickets, and she modified the remaining balance into travel credits, which he could use for a future trip up to a year after the date of the re-issue. It turns out American has travel credits and flight credits, each with its own rules.

"This is all crazy," he added.

It is. Airline credits are particularly confusing. For example, Delta Air Lines offered eCredits, which operate a lot like American's vouchers. United has electronic travel certificates. Each one comes with a set of restrictions that you'll need to review.

Don't assume your airline will warn you before they expire. I've received lots of complaints on my nonprofit consumer advocacy site where passengers discovered only too late that time had run out on their vouchers. 

Call to redeem your credits

If you want to redeem your travel vouchers, get a real person on the phone. That's the advice of veteran financial advisor Michael Foguth .

"The best thing to do is call and communicate with a live person in the company’s customer service department," he says. "A live representative can typically give you tips and ideas on how to utilize all of your available credits. If your rewards are expired or close to it, the representative can often extend the expiration dates."

Note that some companies may charge you to talk to a human, so ask before you do anything.

With dangerous COVID variants still out there, and travel plans still in flux, it's more important than ever to track your travel vouchers. The ones you have could expire soon. And if you don't act now, they probably will.

Don't let vouchers become a problem again

Travel companies love to hand out expiring vouchers. They know only a small percentage of customers will redeem them, meaning that they get to keep your hard-earned money. Here's how to ensure that doesn't become a problem for you.

If they cancel, you deserve a full refund. In virtually every sector of the travel industry that's the rule. For airlines, it's a federal rule . In other cases, state law protects you from purchases made but not delivered.

You get what you negotiate. Experts say there's still lots of room for negotiation if you have to cancel or postpone your next trip. So if a company offers you a credit, be sure to request a refund. Phone reps often have some flexibility in granting a refund as a one-time exception. Always ask for your money back first.

There ought to be a law. Ideally, travel credit – like the money used to purchase it – should never expire. Consumer advocates such as Travelers United are pushing to ensure future airline vouchers don't expire. There's talk that the airlines might be on board with the idea.

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Tickets FAQs

How and where can i use national rail travel vouchers.

Your rail travel vouchers are valid for a year and can be used to purchase tickets for travel with any UK train operating company, excluding London Underground and Heathrow Express.

We’re sorry to say, however, that we can’t accept rail travel vouchers as payment for tickets booked on this website. That said, you can use them at any staffed station; also on some services that operate with conductors (or those which do not operate penalty fares).

Please note: We cannot give change for the remainder of the voucher, if you do not spend up to the full value. We are also unable to renew vouchers once they are out of date.

Note that there can be multiple Railcards selected, and a number value (Number of Passengers with Selected Railcard) must be sent for each one selected. The way it works is all selected "Railcards" are sent as a comma-delimited list in the rc field, and all the "Number of Passengers with Selected Railcard" are sent as a comma-delimited list in the rcc field which matches the order of the Railcards in the rc field. So if there are two "16-25 Railcards" and one "HM Forces Railcard" it will be sent as:

Also note that WebTIS doesn't handle Railcards very well, so this might not work well anyway. :(

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Frequently asked questions

Need some help, tickets and fares, stations and travel, refunds and compensation, disability and assisted travel.

Children aged 5 to 15 pay half fare. Under 5s travel free. Adult fares apply from the age of 16.

If your child is travelling within the London fare zones and has a Zip Oyster photocard , they may be eligible for free or discounted travel.

This depends on what kind of ticket you have. If it’s an Advance ticket , you must travel on the train you’ve booked, but you can change your booking at any time before your first booked train’s departure time – you’ll have to pay the difference between what you paid and the price of the new ticket, plus a re-booking fee, currently £10. If you have an Off-Peak ticket , you can travel on any Off-peak train – if you want to travel at peak times, you’ll have to pay the difference before you travel. If you have an  Anytime ticket , you can travel on any train on the date the ticket is valid for. Check when your ticket is valid before you travel.

When buying tickets online you can pay using debit cards, credit cards and PayPal. 

For now, you’ll need to visit one of our ticket offices – they can accept your vouchers in full or part payment for your ticket. At present it’s not possible to use Travel Vouchers online.

No. There is no VAT on train tickets. A receipt is printed along with your tickets when you collect them from a ticket machine, or on request from the ticket office. If you need proof of purchase for accounting purposes, you can use this or your confirmation email, which contains all the relevant payment information.

No. If you buy an Advance ticket , you must travel on the train you’ve booked but you are free to choose any seat – this must be in Standard Class if you have a Standard Class ticket.

As a rule, you must buy a ticket before boarding the train. If the station has a ticket office or ticket machines, you’ll only be able to buy a full-price single ticket once you have boarded the train – you won’t be able to benefit from any Railcard discount and you may be liable for a Penalty Fare  if you travel without a ticket. Onboard staff will only sell you an Off-Peak ticket  or give you a Railcard  discount on the train if there is no ticket office at the station, or it is not open, or the ticket machines are out of order.

Unfortunately no, the group must travel together at all times. With GroupSave you must all travel together on the same train – otherwise you may be asked to pay the full fare for the journey or be liable for a Penalty Fare . If your group needs to split up at any time then you should buy separate GroupSave tickets for each smaller group (3-9 people).

When travelling with a GroupSave ticket, make sure you're all close together throughout your journey so that our staff can check your ticket as a group.

You can collect your tickets at any of our stations with a ticket machine – it doesn’t have to be the one you’re travelling from, or the one you selected when booking. We recommend leaving at least 2 hours between buying your tickets and collecting – your tickets might be ready earlier, but at busy times it can take time for your booking to be processed and transmitted to the station ticket machines. You’ll need to bring the debit or credit card you paid with – this is for ID purposes only, it won’t be charged again. You’ll also need your Collection Reference Number – it’s 8 characters long, with a mixture of letters and numbers, for example AB12345C. Take care to note the correct number, not the booking reference or transaction number. Make sure you leave enough time to collect your tickets before your train is due to leave – you must not get on the train without them. Find out more about buying and collecting train tickets.

You can collect tickets from any self service ticket machine at any of our stations. At some stations we also have dedicated ticket collection machines. If there are no machines or you have a problem with collecting your ticket please go to the ticket office and our staff will be able to process your ticket – you’ll need your Collection Reference Number and the payment card you used to buy the tickets.

If there is no ticket office and the ticket machines are not working, please see the guard as soon as possible when you board the train, and collect your ticket from the machines at a station where you change trains or when you arrive at your destination.

If you have an Oyster PAYG card  you can top it up at our ticket machines at South Western Railway stations within the London Zones. We also accept other forms of contactless payment for journeys within the London Travelcard  area, including CPAY contactless bank cards, Apple Pay and Android Pay.

If your journey involves travelling through London, this will be included in the ticket price. If you’re heading to London and want to travel around when you get there, you’ll need to add a Travelcard when you buy your ticket.

If your ticket is to “London Terminals” it is usually only valid to the main London station to which your train is heading, which will be one of the following. Tickets from London Terminals are usually only valid at the main London station on this list from which your train starts.

City Thameslink

Kings Cross Thameslink

London Blackfriars

London Bridge

London Cannon Street

London Charing Cross

London Euston

London Fenchurch Street

London Kings Cross

London Liverpool Street

London Marylebone

London Paddington

London St Pancras

London Victoria

London Waterloo

London Waterloo East

Moorgate Underground

Old Street Underground

Tickets to or from London Terminals will NOT include travel between these stations on London Underground, Docklands Light Railway or London buses. They are also NOT valid  beyond King’s Cross Thameslink when travelling from the north or beyond City Thameslink when travelling from the south.

If a ticket has been damaged or altered in any way, it is not valid for travel. However, if you return it we’ll issue a replacement ticket, unless we have reason to suspect that the ticket has been, or will be, used for fraudulent or improper purposes. You may have to pay a reasonable administration charge (no more than £10) for the replacement.

If a season ticket  (or a smartcard  containing a season ticket) is damaged, or can no longer be read easily, or no longer works in automatic ticket gates, you can return it to where you bought it and we’ll replace it, provided that we can confirm the ticket is still valid. You won’t have to pay any administration charge.

If your season ticket stops working in the ticket gates, the most likely reason is that the magnetic strip on the back has been damaged or affected by magnetic fields. To avoid this:

• Store your season ticket separately in the wallet provided
• Try to keep it away from mobile phones and other devices, and anything magnetic – handbag clasps, name badges and the like
• Do not laminate your season ticket

We will be continuing to accept the free weekend travel tickets you were offered by the previous franchisee, and these will be valid for use as long as you maintain a Gold Card season ticket for a SWR route and the original terms and conditions of issue will apply. We will not be offering these to customers that buy or renew their ticket after the 19 August 2017. You will continue to receive the many other Gold Card benefits with an annual season ticket .

This depends on what kind of ticket you have. In general, yes, you can get on or off your train at any station in-between your journey’s start and end stations, unless there’s a restriction on your ticket that does not allow this – you can view your ticket’s Terms and Conditions when you book. If you have an Advance ticket you may not get on or off at intermediate stations except to change trains as specified on your ticket, reservation coupon or travel itinerary.

We’ll be running more trains, more frequently, with more carriages. This will mean 52,000 more seats a day across peak times at London Waterloo by December 2020 – 30% more than today. At stations, we’ll also be giving you live information on seating availability, letting you know where best to stand to board emptier carriages.

Find out more about our plans.

No, the use of e-cigarettes or vaping is against the law anywhere on trains or stations.

Contact us by phone or online. Find out more about Lost Property .

In general, we love to welcome cyclists and their bicycles, but safety is important to us, so we do have some restrictions on where and when you can take your bike on our trains. Even when there isn’t a restriction, spaces for bikes can become limited at busier times and our staff have the right to refuse a bicycle if there is no space for it to be transported safely. Please be considerate of other passengers at all times, and ensure that you place your bike in the appropriate areas on the train.

Find out more about our cycle policy and schemes .

We will work with Network Rail to improve punctuality and we’re partnering with MTR, who have significant experience in running commuter services including the Hong Kong Metro, and we look forward to working with them in this area.

They are good trains that we will make use of. However, an important part of delivering the improved efficiency and smooth running of the network relies on having a homogenous fleet so when we have brought in our new trains we expect to cascade the Class 707s out to other parts of the national network, and we are confident there is demand for them elsewhere.

The franchise is subject to the Government’s fares regulation policy. During the current Parliament that policy means no increase in regulated fares above the Retail Price Index.

For more information on refunds visit our dedicated train ticket refunds page .

You could be entitled to compensation if your journey is delayed by 15 minutes or more.

Find out more about Delay Repay .

Some scooters are too bulky and heavy to fit on our trains, so we’ll need to check your make and model and issue you a Scooter Card first – please allow 7 to 10 working days for this. Contact our Customer Service Centre .

We have a dedicated Assisted Travel service to help – call 0800 52 82 100 or book online . They can arrange a ramp, assistance navigating the station, or other help. We recommend you let us know 24 hours before you travel, as our trains and staff can get very busy. More about Assisted Travel . 

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Pensioner Travel Vouchers

A Pensioner Travel Voucher provides free and discounted travel on NSW TrainLink Regional services to eligible pensioners and seniors within NSW.

Eligibility

If you hold a NSW or ACT Pensioner Concession Card or a  NSW Veteran Gold Card marked ‘war widow’ you are entitled to four Pensioner Travel Vouchers each calendar year for travel within regional NSW.

How to use the Pensioner Travel Voucher

You can use Pensioner Travel Vouchers for free travel on NSW TrainLink Regional services in Economy Class within regional NSW. You can use them for four one-way trips annually or two return trips annually.

To upgrade to First Class, you will only need to pay 15% of the full adult peak season fare (a minimum $10 trip fee applies).

If you require a sleeping berth, there will be an additional charge.

If your trip takes you over the NSW border, you pay 50% of the relevant Economy or First Class fare for the interstate portion of your trip.

You can catch a Sydney Trains or NSW TrainLink Intercity service to get to or from your NSW TrainLink Regional service at no extra charge as long as you book it with your NSW TrainLink Regional service.

How to book with Pensioner Travel Vouchers

If it is your first booking, you will need to register your concession card with NSW TrainLink. You only need to register your concession card once, and you can do this by calling 13 22 32 .

Once you've registered your card, you can book online anytime.

Booking online is quick, easy and secure:

• Choose a one way or return trip.
• Search for your origin, destination and choose your travel dates.
• Select your concession type eg NSW / ACT Pensioner with Travel Voucher and enter your Concession ID and Family name.
• Click ‘search’
• Select a trip that suits you, enter your details and pay with a credit or debit card.

You will receive your ticket via email. When it’s time to travel, simply present your ticket on your mobile.

You can also book over the phone by calling 13 22 32 .

Please remember to carry your concession card when you travel as the onboard crew will need to check it.

What happens when you have used all your vouchers?

NSW TrainLink keeps track of your Pensioner Travel Vouchers. You can call 13 22 32 whenever you want to check how many Pensioner Travel Vouchers you have left.

When all four have been used, you can still take advantage of other travel concessions, such as:

• $2.50 all day travel with the Country Pensioner Excursion ticket for booked NSW TrainLink Regional services
• $2.50 all day travel with the Regional Excursion Daily ticket on local buses
• Half price fares on NSW TrainLink Regional services.

Check NSW TrainLink fare rules for pensioners .

Find out more about ticket eligibility and travel concessions for holders of:

• Pensioner Concession Cards
• NSW War Widow/er Transport Concession
• Seniors Card

Victorian Pensioner Concession Card holders

Victorian Pensioner Concession Card holders are not entitled to apply for NSW Pensioner Travel Vouchers.

Under Public Transport Victoria’s new opt-in voucher program, vouchers issued from 2020 onwards are only available for off-peak journeys wholly within Victoria and not as part of an interstate journey (except for travel to Albury, Mount Gambier and Deniliquin). These off-peak travel vouchers are therefore not valid when travelling interstate on NSW TrainLink services.

Until the end of 2022, NSW TrainLink sales agents are able to accept the previous Victorian Pensioner Travel Vouchers as payment for the Victorian portion of a fare when travelling interstate on NSW TrainLink services. Please note that you will still need to pay for the NSW portion of the fare when using a Victorian Pensioner Travel Voucher.

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