Family and Friends Railcard

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Family and Friends Railcard offers great savings if you're travelling by rail; you can save at least 1/3 off train fares. Find all most important information about Family and Friends Railcards like: benefits, discounts, prices, eligibility, how to buy …

Family and Friends Railcard discount

The Family and Friends Railcard allows you to save 1/3 off on adults' fares and 60% off on children's fare on most of train tickets throughout Great Britain for £30 for 1 year. If you want, you can save more money and buy a 3 year Railcard for £70 (instead of £90).

You can travel on short and long journeys by train throughout the United Kingdom and use the Friends and Family Railcard to save money on Standard Class fares and on children's fares. Four adults and four children can travel on one card, and they don't even need to be related.

Moreover you can get offers on days out, hotels and restaurants with a Family & Friends Railcard thanks to family railcard promotional code. You can access to a lot of railcard offers and discount if you subscribe to this card.

Are you eligible to have a Family and Friends Railcard? To be eligible for a Family and Friends Railcard you must travel with at least 1 child who must be between 5-15 years old (children under 5 years old travels free). And on the Railcard you can have two adults' names, allowing either adult to carry the card and get a discount.

How to buy a Family and Friends Railcard ?

To buy a Family and Friends Railcard you have three different options:

  • Online on the Railcard website you can buy the Family Railcard: you will need three things to apply before receiving you Railcard by post within 5 working days delivery:
    • Your address and email address
    • The name of second adult who will be on the Railcard
    • A debit or credit card
  • You can also buy a Family and Friends Railcard at a staffed station ticket office. You have to complete an application form that you can get online or at the station. To save time, it's a good idea to fill in the application form before you get to the station.
  • To get you Railcard, you can also call the Railcards service by phone on 0345 3000 250 (open from 07:00 to 22:00, except on Christmas Day).

If you bought your Railcard at a station, you can register it online to make the renewing easier.

Family and Friends railcard renewal

To renew your Family and Friends Railcard you will need to :

  • Fill in an application form
  • Take your existing Family Railcard
  • Two passport-size photo of each other
  • A debit or credit card

Family Railcard savings

How much will you save with a Family and Friends Railcard? This railcard costs just £30 a year and you can save 1/3 on adult' fares and 60% on kids' fares, but how many trips you have to make to save money with your railcard? We wanted to know how many return trips you have to make to save money with your Family and Friends Railcard. We took several example journeys and compared the price with Railcard and without Railcard. In conclusion, with a Family and Friends Railcard you will save a lot of money and get cheap train tickets. After around 0.38 return trips the cost of your Railcard is covered.

Top journeys Family & Friends railcard savings
Price of a single journey(1) for 2 adults and 2 child Savings(2) Number of return trips needed to cover the cost of the Railcard
Without Family & Friends Railcard With Family & Friends Railcard
London - Brighton £114.95 £60.92 £54.03 0.56
London - Edinburgh £396.47 £210.13 £186.34 0.16
London - Manchester £261.94 £138.83 £123.11 0.24
Birmingham - London £111.80 £59.25 £52.55 0.57
Glasgow - London - - - -

(1)Average price observed over the last 6 months for one way, for two adults and two children.

(2)Price calculated with an average reduction 1/3 off on adult train ticket fares, and 60% off on child train ticket fares.

Other Railcards available in the United Kingdom

There are 5 other railcards available in United Kingdom, each offering great savings:

For your information railcards are only applicable for internal routes in United-Kingdom, that is to say you cannot use a Family railcard to buy an Eurostar ticket to visit Europe.