Frequently Asked Questions?

Most frequently asked questions

• Can I buy a 16-17 Saver in advance of my 16th birthday?
  A:

  Yes, if you order online you can order your Railcard up to 14 days in advance of your 16th birthday. Please note that you cannot buy Railcards in advance of your 16th birthday from rail stations.

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• How long do I have to wait for my 16-17 Saver to arrive?
  A:

  Please note that before your 16-17 Saver can be issued, our team need to approve the age evidence provided (please allow up to 24 hours Monday to Friday and up to 48 hours at weekends for this to be done).

  If you have purchased a plastic 16-17 Saver, please allow up to 10 days for delivery. If you paid for ‘Special Delivery’ and placed your order before 17:00pm, your 16-17 Saver is guaranteed to be delivered before 13:00pm the next working day (Monday to Thursday). If your 16-17 Saver was order on Friday or Saturday before 11:00am, it will be delivered the following Monday.

  If you have purchase a digital 16-17 Saver, once your application and age evidence have been approved, it will be available to download on your device, using a download code which will be sent to your registered email address. Once downloaded you can use your digital Railcard straight away. 

  Please note that If you have bought the 16-17 Saver on behalf of someone, the download code email will be sent to the person you have bought the Railcard for (cardholder email address).

  You will not be able to travel on discounted tickets until you have your 16-17 Saver.

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• How do I make a complaint?
  A:

  In the first instance please contact Railcard Customer Services who will endeavour to resolve any issues that you have. 

  We're open from 07:00am to 22:00pm everyday of the year except for Christmas day.  You can:

  Email us:         16-17saver@nationalrail.co.uk

  Call us on:       0345 301 1656

  Write to:           

  National Railcards

  PO box 8626

  SWADLINCOTE

  DE11 1JA

   

  If you are not satisfied with the resolution we give, you are entitled to contact:

  www.transportfocus.org.uk/help/rail-complaints

  http://ec.europa.eu/odr/

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• Can I buy the 16-17 Saver for another person?
  A:

  Yes, you can buy a 16-17 Saver (digital or plastic) for another person online as long as they are 16 or 17 years old.

  Simply click ‘Buy Now’ on the website homepage and follow the instructions on the screen. When you get to the statement, "This 16-17 Saver is for", please select " Someone else" and continue with your purchase. You will need to provide their valid passport, UK driving licence, EEA national identity card number or upload a copy of their brith certificate or a Government-approved PASS card in order to verify their age and a passport-style photo.You will also be asked to register if you do not already have an account or log in using your registered email address and password.

  Please note that if you have chosen to buy a digital 16-17 Saver on behalf of someone, the download code email will be sent to the person you have bought the Railcard for (cardholder email address). 

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• How do I buy my 16-17 Saver?
  A:

  You can buy your 16-17 Saver online or by phone.

  To buy online, simply click 'Buy Now' on the website homepage and follow the instructions on the screen. You will need to provide a valid passport, UK driving licence, EEA national identity Card number or upload a birth certificate or a Government-approved PASS card to verify your age and a passport-style photo to continue with your purchase. Please note that before your 16-17 Saver can be issued, our team need to approve the age evidence provided (please allow up to 24 hours Monday to Friday and up to 48 hours at weekends for this to be done).

  Once you have completed your purchase and your age evidence has been approved, a download code will be sent to your registered email address, along with instructions on how to download your 16-17 Saver.  If you have bought the 16-17 Saver on behalf of someone, the download code email will be sent to the person you have bought the Railcard for (cardholder email address). 

  To buy by phone, please call our telesales service on 0345 301 1656  (7:00am to 10:00pm every day except Christmas Day). You will need to provide a valid passport or UK driving licence or National Identity Card number to verify your age and a passport-style photo.

   

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• Can I use a provisional driving licence to prove my age online?
  A:

  Yes. Provisional driving licences can be used to validate your age online and over the phone.

  Other forms of identity that you can use include a valid passport or EEA national identity card. You can also provide scan of your birth certificate or Government-approved PASS card.

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• I have a promotion code to use towards the cost of my 16-17 Saver – it is not working. What can I do?
  A:

  Please check that you have read each character of the code correctly. We do try to use codes that are easy to read, but it's easy to confuse:

  1. the letter “I” with the number “1”
  2. the letter “O” with the number “0”(zero)
  3. the letter “S” with the number “5”.

  If any of these characters appear in your code please try their alternatives. If this does not work please call the 16-17 Saver helpline on us on 0345 301 1656 (7:00am to 10:00pm every day except Christmas Day) and we will be able to check the status of the code you have.

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• How much does the 16-17 Saver cost?
  A:

  The 16-17 Saver costs £30.

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• The system won't accept my driving licence - can you help?
  A:

  If you are using a driving licence to apply, please make sure that the name you use to apply for your 16-17 Saver is typed into your application in exactly the same format in which it is shown on your driving licence.
  
  This means that if an apostrophe or hyphen in your name has been left out of your name on your driving licence you need to leave it out of the name you use for your 16-17 Saver.
  
  For example, if your name is “O’brian” and it is shown as “Obrian” (without the apostrophe) on your driving licence, then you should type it as “Obrian” in your 16-17 Saver application.

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• The system says my passport is “invalid”. What can I do?
  A:

  We accept machine readable passport codes from ALL countries except for those issued in the Philippines and Bangladesh prior to 2010. So if you have a valid passport your passport code should work.

  When inputting your passport details into the system please ensure you are entering all characters including each chevron “<” where it appears on your passport. You will need to input:

  • 10 digits or characters into the first box
  • three letters in the second box identifying your nationality
  • seven digits in the third box
  • an F or M identifying your gender in the fourth box
  • seven digits in the fifth box
  • the last two digits of your passport code in the sixth box

  If all of the above information is correct and the system says that your number is still invalid, please check that the information you have supplied on the Cardholder Details page is correct. You must:

  • use your full name as it is shown on your passport. Do not use any shortened version of your name (for example, “Bob” when you are “Robert” on your passport)
  • put your personal name in the “Your First Name” field and your family name in the “Your Surname” field
  • make sure that your gender is as it is shown on your passport

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• What is an acceptable image to use for my 16-17 Saver photograph?
  A:

  The image should be a good recognisable likeness of you.
  
  We prefer colour pictures but black and white images are acceptable. Your head and shoulders should be in close-up, with your face clearly visible and filling approximately 70% of the frame (in the same way it would for a passport or driving licence). The image must be in sharp focus.
  
  Please make sure that your face is not obscured by hats or hair.
  
  The file of your photo must be either a .jpg, .bmp, or a .gif and must not exceed 5Mb. with a resolution of at least 300dpi. We will reject photos if they are not appropriate and ask you for a more suitable image.

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• I am having trouble uploading my photo for my 16-17 Saver – what can I do?
  A:

  Sorry that you're having trouble uploading your photo. There can be a number of reasons and some can be difficult to diagnose, so we’ve compiled a list of trouble-shooting tips that you can try:

  • Close your web browser before restarting it and logging in again, then try uploading the photo again

  • Enable Javascript on your web browser. Your web browser may be configured in a way that it makes uploading the photo more difficult (such as having the Javascript disabled). Please check your settings and ensure that Javascript is enabled.

  • Make sure you have up-to-date web browser software. Although our website supports the top browsers (such as Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Opera), some older versions of these browsers are more likely to cause problems uploading image files to our website. Try updating your web browser to the latest version, or try a different web browser/computer.

  • Make sure your image is 5MB in size or less. We accept images up to 5MB in size but the smaller the file the better - it will take less time to upload. Crop your photograph before uploading and/or reduce the quality but be careful - the picture still needs to be clear enough to print on the 16-17 Saver

  • Check that your internet service provider (ISP) is not experiencing problems. These are often difficult to detect but if other websites are unusually slow (especially noticeable when downloading images), then your ISP may be having network issues or might be congested. You may want to check with your ISP by visiting their 'service status' webpage

  If you have done all of the above and are still experiencing problems, then please call us on 0345 301 1656 (7am to 10pm every day except Christmas Day).

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• Where can I buy the 16-17 Saver?
  A:

  The 16-17 Saver is available to buy online from this website or by phone on 0345 301 1656 (7:00am to 10:00pm every day except Christmas Day). You won't be able to buy the 16-17 Saver at a National Rail Station.

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• Why is the title "Mx" not available when I come to make payment?
  A:

  If you have given your title as "Mx" during the application process, this will be shown on your 16-17 Saver and in all correspondence that we have with you. However, the secure payment process is delivered by our payment provider and we are only able to offer the range of titles that it provides.

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• I am getting the message "Internal Server Error" during the application process. What can I do?
  A:

  The “Internal Server Error” message is a generic error message which relates to issues to do with the way your browser is interfacing with the 16-17 Saver website. Sometimes this problem can occur if you are using compatibility mode in Internet Explorer (versions IE10 and lower).

  In Internet Explorer 10 you can click the compatibility mode button to switch it on or off.

  In Internet Explorer 11 there is no compatibility mode button so to access the Compatibility settings you will need to click on the Settings icon. In the menu that is subsequently displayed you will find “Compatibility View Settings” – click this. In the Settings panel that displays, make sure that railcard.co.uk is not the box entitled, “Websites you’ve added to compatibility view”. If it is please click on the entry and click the remove button, then click to close it.

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• Can I buy tickets at a discounted rate before my 16-17 Saver arrives?
  A:

  No. You must always carry your 16-17 Saver with you on any journey where you have bought discounted tickets with it.

  Therefore, if you buy discounted 16-17 Saver tickets before you receive your 16-17 Saver, you do this at your own risk.

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• What methods of payment are accepted?
  A:

  We accept online payment via credit and debit cards. The cards accepted are: Visa, Visa Debit, Visa Electron, MasterCard, MasterCard Debit, Maestro and Solo.
  
  We cannot accept American Express or Diner's Club.

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