Railcards and cheaper fares
Season ticket refund: handing a season back
Enter the season price, its start date, the day you hand it back and the prices on your route: the tool estimates the refund.
Refund value of a season you stop using
Refund, at least about
£0
| Days used | 239 |
| Deducted for travel used | £4,792 |
| Administration fee, up to | £10 |
Condition 40.2: a return journey is deducted for each day since the start, priced as in its example (7-day seasons, then day returns). Annual seasons: no refund after 10 months and 12 days.
A season ticket refund is governed by Part G of the National Rail Conditions of Travel, version 8. You hand the season back to the train company or retailer that sold it, and the refund is calculated from that day: condition 40.2 takes off the price of a return trip for every day between the first day of the season and to the day you return it, plus an administration charge of up to £10. Its own example shows the logic: a monthly season returned after nine days loses the price of a 7-day season and two day returns. To get money back at all, a weekly season must have at least 3 days of validity left and a season of one to ten months at least 7 days; an annual season gives no refund after 10 months and 12 days. If illness stopped you asking in time, the refund runs from the day the illness started, with a medical certificate. Because longer seasons carry a bigger discount, a refund is usually smaller than the unused share of the price suggests.
Delay Repay on a season ticket
Total for these journeys
£19.04
| Per delayed journey | £2.38 |
| Season price ÷ 40 | £9.50 |
| Share for this delay | 25% |
Schemes and rules read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
The conditions, in a table
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Where | the train company or retailer that sold the season (condition 40.1) |
| Calculated from | the day you return the season (condition 40.2) |
| Deducted | a return journey for each day since the start, priced as in the example of condition 40.2 |
| Fee | up to £10 (condition 40.2) |
| Weekly seasons | at least 3 days left (condition 40.3.1) |
| Seasons of 1 to 10 months | at least 7 days left (condition 40.3.2) |
| Annual seasons | no refund after 10 months and 12 days (condition 40.4) |
| Illness | refund from the start of the illness, with evidence (condition 40.5) |
An estimate, step by step
Take a monthly season of £380 returned after nine days on a route where a 7-day season costs £105 and a day return £24. The deduction is £105 plus two day returns, £48, so £153. With the maximum fee of £10, the refund is about £217. For an annual season the retailer works on the same principle over many weeks; the tool above gives an estimate, and the retailer's figure is the one that counts.
Refund value of a season you stop using
Refund, at least about
£0
| Days used | 239 |
| Deducted for travel used | £4,792 |
| Administration fee, up to | £10 |
Condition 40.2: a return journey is deducted for each day since the start, priced as in its example (7-day seasons, then day returns). Annual seasons: no refund after 10 months and 12 days.
Delay Repay before you hand it back
Claims for delays during the season remain open for 28 days after each journey, even if you return the season. Send them before or just after the refund, so nothing is lost. The tool under the citable block adds up identical delays on a season, using the divisor of the operator.
Seasons and disruption
A season is not refunded under condition 30 when trains are cancelled: the Conditions send season holders to each operator's own process. Days lost to disruption are handled through Delay Repay, sometimes as a delay of 120 minutes or more, as the strikes page describes for some operators. A long period of disruption that makes the season useless is a case for a complaint and, if needed, the Rail Ombudsman.
Changing instead of refunding
If you move or change job, condition 41 lets you exchange a season valid for a month or more, with at least seven days left, for one covering another journey or class. You pay only the price difference for the days remaining, or get a refund of it if the new journey is cheaper, and no administration charge is taken. The new season starts the day after the old one is handed in and ends on the same date. This often loses less than a refund followed by a new purchase.
Before handing it back
Count the days remaining: a weekly season needs 3 and a monthly at least 7 for any money to come back. Check the price of a 7-day season and a day return on your route, so you can follow the retailer's arithmetic. And file every pending Delay Repay claim first.
Then hand the season back as early as you can: each extra day costs another return journey in the deduction.