Oyster vs railcard question

[whole diary]

[Mark A]

Hi - is there a way for the user to check if their oyster card is linked to a railcard?  Also, once a card is linked, does it expire after a certain time & is that link on an account level or an individual card level?

Mark

[JayMac]

I have a Disabled Railcard loaded onto my Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services). There's nothing in the TfL^» (Transport for London - about) Oyster app that confirms that though.

I think the only way to find out is to ask a member of TfL staff to see if a railcard has been added. I'm not sure if the ticket machines show railcard details when the customer taps their Oyster to top up, check balance or read journey history.

When staff add a railcard they enter the railcard's expiry date into the system.

[Ralph Ayres]

The discount is shown (albeit somewhat inconspicuously in a corner as I recall) when you present the card to a ticket machine.  It might also confirm the expiry date so you can see that it was entered correctly to match the Railcard but I'm not sure about that.

[Mark A]

Thanks for this, I'll have a look for that next time I'm near one.

*Blow by blow account of having an Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) and railcard paired up follows* tl:dr - go to a member of staff near a TfL^» (Transport for London - about) ticket machine but not an Elizabeth line ticket machine and they're happy to sort it.

Anyway, a short notice trip to Paddington on Thursday allowed me to sort out the Oyster/railcard link albeit with a series of speedbumps. Down the escalator to to the Elizabeth line ticket machines and staff there pointed me back to the information desk on the main concourse - where there happened to be a sizeable Salvation Army band raising poppy day funds and the volume levels were impressive but had the benefit of drowning any 'See it, say it' public announcements that may have been in progress.

Communication by gestures sent me to the underground entrance, where the down escalator was out of use and in any case the gates were partly closed as entrance was operating in 'Exit only' mode owing to flooding. Staff at the gates let me in and the gateline staff dug out someone to sort it. I suspect that this works on a 'per card' level rather than at an account level, so if someone has two oyster cards they might need to register both.

On TFL^▸ (Transport for London)'s site, they have the following, but it's a looong way down one particular page, which also lists the various discounts for the different railcards:

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/national-railcard-discount

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Add your discount to your Oyster card

A member of staff can add your Railcard discount at:

    Tube, London Overground and Elizabeth line stations
    Oyster Ticket Stops

You'll need to show your National Railcard.

When you renew your National Railcard, you'll need to add the discount on your Oyster card again.

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After sorting the Oyster card, onward to Woolwich, so, Elizabeth line. Cost? £2:10.

Mark

[paul7575]

I don’t think you can legitimately apply a national railcard discount to more than one Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) Card. Any of the railcards that normally cover more than one person, eg Friends and Family, or Network, are not eligible. 

Although they are shown on the linked TFL^▸ (Transport for London) page, it explains in the description for certain of the cards that they cannot be loaded on Oyster.

Paul

[Ralph Ayres]

Nothing would stop someone adding the discount to more than one card, but as only the Railcard holder should use it then what would be the point?  It may also get flagged by TfL^» (Transport for London - about)'s fraud monitoring process, particularly if both were in use on the same day.

As an aside, I'd recommend putting a sticker on any Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) card with a discount and noting the details on it to avoid any misunderstanding or inadvertent misuse such as not having the Railcard with you or lending it to someone else.

[Mark A]

Ah, that hadn't crossed my mind. I've an 'Ordinary' 2nd gen one that's tied to the railcard and another with the Elizabeth line branding that was a gift - that I've registered to my account for topping up purposes. Yes, TfL^» (Transport for London - about) would be creating a bit of an opportunity for miscreants s if the system permitted them both to be tied to a railcard.

Mark