They say a problem shared is a problem solved! If this is the wrong place to post apologies!

Before COVID I went to London essentially every working day. At the beginning of the crisis in March I did a changeover of my season ticket to the ?Isle of Wight? special (Ryde St. John?s to Ryde Esplanade) until it?s existing expiry of 20th Dec. This was rational as it maximised my refund (essentially unlocking a c ?10.50 daily refund.) also, because at that stage no one knew how long this would go on for, it had the added benefit of ensuring the 2019 price Id locked in could be ?retrieved? at the point I did a possible changeover back to the ?proper? season ticket.

The dilemma is do I renew that Isle of Wight season ticket. I know I won?t be going back until March at the earliest. IF rail fares were going up on Jan 1st it felt prudent to purchase the Isle of Wight ticket again because the 2020 season ticket renewal is maintained. I doubt very highly I will ever go back anything like as frequently as I once did. But the curious loophole here is that (despite being desperately unpopular at a ticket office!) were changeovers to be unlimited - I think they are - I could legitimately toggle back and forth between London season ticket and Isle of Wight and thereby unlock rail travel at the marginal daily difference of c. ?11 per day, on the days I wanted to go to the office. Given the full rail fare is ?35-40 I?d only have to go to London c. 15 days before I made back the initial outlay of c. ?180. Plus any travel (ega lesiure trip to London off peak) benefits from the gold card discount.

The spanner in the works now is I don?t think I?m under the pressure I thought I was to purchase my ticket to Ryde again. However, because of the engineering works in Q1 2021 on the island, is it possible unless I renew now I will not be able to obtain the ticket I desire?!

I was in Birdie100's exact position in when I changed my rather expensive, and only 2 month+ old, London season for a one station standard season from my local station to unlock the maximum value. The local was more expensive that the classic Isle of White one (The cheapest Gold Card available), but I wanted to maintain a season on my potential route to maintain split ticketing rights and - once during the hardest lockdown with compulsory reservations and specific trains - the right, as a season holder travelling to work on one particular occasion, to travel on any train as my return travel times are never certain. My last use for this Gold Card, which expires shortly, will be to buy my first Senior Railcard for ?10 - one of the last benefits left on the product. I used to buy my kid's 16-25 railcards under the same scheme. In general, the Gold Card benefits have eroded in recent times particularly the first class upgrades, and kids for a quid, that I used to use a lot.

As to renewal, I don't think I see the benefit in my case, with a late restart of normal commuting - if at all - I will let mine lapse. Future travel will be with my Senior Railcard on a much reduced basis. Looking back to 2010 when I started commuting, it was a much better journey experience then than recently I am afraid.