Cheapest Gold Card

Barry Doe highlighted the cheapest Gold Card on the rail network as Lichfield Trent Valley to Lichfield City - see http://stibasa.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/cheapest-gold-cards.html. Unfortunately, as he reports in Rail 765, London Midland Trains realised that this not often sold ticket had hardly risen in price for 19 years and they promptly put it up from £108 to £144! It is still the cheapest, but see the link for why you might consider the Isle of Wight (Ryde) card at £168 if you're likely to be using South West Trains.

Cheapest Gold Cards

According to fares supremo Barry Doe, in Rail Magazine issues 761 and 763, the cheapest Gold Card - £108 at current prices - will be Lichfield Trent Valley to/from City. The former cheapest Gold Card was Ryde St Johns Road to/from Ryde Esplanade on the Isle of Wight. This now costs £164, but, if bought at a South West Trains station, it (and I assume any South West Trains Gold Card) entitles the holder to 6 free South West trains tickets in the year. This may save you more than the £56 difference in price from the Lichfield one.

The discounts obtainable with a Gold Card, which change from 2015, are explained here:http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/46573.aspx

Get a loan to buy an annual travelcard on Oyster and save relative to monthy travelcards

https://www.commuterclub.co.uk/

This organisation is offering loans at 5.6% to enable people to buy an annual travelcard on Oyster, whilst paying out monthly. Not only are the monthly payments less than a monthly travelcard, but also you get a Gold Card with an annual travelcard and this gives substantial savings on off peak train fares for you and travelling companions. If your employer doesn't offer an interest free season ticket loan, this may be a good option for you.

(The cheapest annual season in the country used to be (and maybe still is) Ryde St Johns Road to Ryde Esplanade on the Isle of Wight, currently costing £164. Because Gold Card savings are more than with ordinary railcards, this could be cost effective for those who travel often enough.)

Gold Card Discount on Oyster PAYG

If you have an annual season ticket you will get a Gold Card that gives you a substantial discount on National Rail Fares. However, if you travel outside your season ticket's zones on Oyster PAYG, you won't get the Gold Card discount unless your Goldcard is linked to your Oyster Card. Apparently this is not automatically done when you buy the season ticket (at least at a station) and I have been told that some station staff have had to be pressed to do it - they don't always know about it and don't always check the written instructions

This situation arises where your employer is paying for your season ticket (perhaps a loan) by cheque. I imagine that if you buy on line the linking work is done in the back office.

The Gold Card Partner Card is essentially a Network Rail Card. http://www.railcard.co.uk/network is clear that the NRC does not give a discount on Oyster PAYG.

Gold card discounts now apply to Underground only Oyster PAYG, and Gold Cards go electronic

According to fares supremo Barry Doe (widely respected, but still a secondary source) annual season ticket holders whose ticket is valid for a station n the London and South East network area can have their Gold Card (which is included in the annual's price) coded onto their Oyster card, so avoiding the inconvenience of carrying round a piece of cardboard and remembering to claim the discount for the Gold Card.

Additionally, the discount of 34% is now extended to Underground only Oyster PAYG fares (similar ts and cs doubtlessly apply). The cheapest annual season ticket used to be Ryde St Johns Road to Ryde Esplanade on the Isle of Wight. It is currently £140 pa and might not take that long to pay for itself.

Raileasy

www.raileasy.co.uk/

Raileasy is a new train ticket website and rival to www.thetrainline.co.uk/ . It claims that it copes better with situation where two singles are cheaper than a return - sometimes the case in our potty ticketing regime - but disappointingly it makes no mention of Goldcards. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concessionary_fares_on_the_British_railway_network#Gold_Card_and_Gold_Card_Partner.27s_Card). I have pointed out this shortcoming to them, but in the meantime if you have a Goldcard double check the fares on The Trainline. There's a £2 booking fee on Raileasy.

Railcard Discount for one day travelcard

Buying a zone 1-4 day travelcard at a National Rail station ticket machine on a Sunday recently, I realised that I could get it for £4.80 with my railcard, rather than £5.70 full price. TfL's fares leaflet doesn't mention this, and Oyster PAYG caps at 50p below the travelcard price (ie £5.20).

The simple return fare on the "Oyster PAYG network" (see next entry) would be £4 off peak, for comparison.

My railcard is a Goldcard partner Network Railcard. If you know someone who has an annual Goldcard (ie has an annual travelcard - the Goldcard comes with it), get them to get you a Network railcard for £1 (yes really) and get a discount on loads of fares, particularly National Rail fares.

The rules for railcards / Goldcards are elaborate - but it's always worth asking the ticket seller / telling the ticket machine that you have card (assuming you have!).