Applying Disabled Persons Railcard to both passengers' tickets

[TUC]

The Off-Peak Return fare from Huddersfield to Manchester Airport with a Disabled Persons Railcard is £19.10 (£38.20 for two passengers). On using the TPE app to buy tickets for my wife and I, I noticed it was giving a total fare of £48.10, which appears to be because it had only applied the discounted fare to my wife as the railcard holder and the full fare to myself. This looks to be because, when one is asked if you have a railcard, it asks for the number of passengers with one. i had puzzled over this, given that only one passenger has a railcard, even though it is valid for two people, and in the end entered 'one'. (I later went back and selected 'two' passengers and the correct discount was applied.)

Conversely, the LNER app simply asks which railcard needs to be added and, on selecting a Disabled Persons Railcard, immediately applies the discount to both passengers.

This does leave me wondering whether other passengers are unknowingly hitting the same issue and being overcharged by TPE? It is hard to see why someone with a Disabled Persons Railcard travelling with another person would not be seeking the discount to apply to both of them. Certainly surely that should be the defsult assumption built into the app?

 

[Adam Williams]

It is hard to see why someone with a Disabled Persons Railcard travelling with another person

I guess the assumption here that's being made is that the two passengers will always be travelling together throughout on both the outward and the return.

I don't think it's an unreasonable assumption if you communicate this properly (and it's one that TrainSplit currently makes) but I can see why the ability to only apply it to one passenger exists with some booking engines. It's definitely a user experience problem if folks are accidentally missing out on getting both tickets discounted when that's definitely what they want, though.

 

[Deafdoggie]

Some retailers ask how many railcards you have and they must apply to everyone.
Others ask how many people are travelling on each railcard.
There are pros & cons with each system.
Find a retailer that uses the system you like.

 

[TUC]

Some retailers ask how many railcards you have and they must apply to everyone.
Others ask how many people are travelling on each railcard.
There are pros & cons with each system.
Find a retailer that uses the system you like.

The issue is that most people will just use whichever app they happen to use and not be aware to look for the issue.

A solution would be for when a Disabled Persons Railcard is selected on a booking for two passengers, for it to trigger a 2nd question asking if you want the railcard to apply to both passengers.

 

[Deafdoggie]

The issue is that most people will just use whichever app they happen to use and not be aware to look for the issue.

A solution would be for when a Disabled Persons Railcard is selected on a booking for two passengers, for it to trigger a 2nd question asking if you want the railcard to apply to both passengers.

Most people want simplicity, not further questions. That's why some sites simply apply the railcard to all passengers. That, of course, can cause different issues. But if it's just two of you using one railcard it's ideal.
But if I'm booking a Disabled Railcard and a Family Railcard it's useless and I need a system that let's me book the right people on each railcard.

 

[Somewhere]

Most people want simplicity, not further questions. That's why some sites simply apply the railcard to all passengers. That, of course, can cause different issues. But if it's just two of you using one railcard it's ideal.
But if I'm booking a Disabled Railcard and a Family Railcard it's useless and I need a system that let's me book the right people on each railcard.

But the trouble with simplicity, is people will end up travelling on incorrect tickets, being taken to court by train companies.
Ticket office staff would always ask further questions to sell the correct tickets before apps existed, so the apps should do the same.
Or simplify the fares structure.

 

[TUC]

Part of the problem is that, as far as I can see, the TPE app does not give a breakdown of the prices of the individual tickets selected prior to purchase. I had to deduce that one of the tickets did not have a railcard applied by looking up and calculating the costs of a discounted and non-discounted fare added together.

 

[Adam Williams]

But the trouble with simplicity, is people will end up travelling on incorrect tickets, being taken to court by train companies.

Why does everyone always highlight this as the potential risk, and then decide that the real solution is to ask the customer 20 questions at the point of purchase .. instead of reforming the current proliferation of strict liability offences, private prosecutions and culture of securing expensive out-of-court settlements with the underlying threat of a criminal prosecution?

 

[Watershed]

Why does everyone always highlight this as the potential risk, and then decide that the real solution is to ask the customer 20 questions at the point of purchase .. instead of reforming the current proliferation of strict liability offences, private prosecutions and culture of securing expensive out-of-court settlements with the underlying threat of a criminal prosecution?

Whilst that would certainly be the most customer-focussed solution, if we are being realistic, there is little to no prospect of the cottage industry of private prosecutions disappearing anytime soon. So one has to deal with the situation as one finds it, not as one might wish it to be.

 

[Deafdoggie]

Why does everyone always highlight this as the potential risk, and then decide that the real solution is to ask the customer 20 questions at the point of purchase .. instead of reforming the current proliferation of strict liability offences, private prosecutions and culture of securing expensive out-of-court settlements with the underlying threat of a criminal prosecution?

Trainsplit says, quite clearly, railcard must cover all passengers. I think that's fine-and if your railcard doesn't cover all passengers then you make two bookings! Surely everyone can cope with that? If not, book on a site that let's you use two railcards.
But I guess not everyone uses trainsplit!