The network railcard is like a membership card and is good for a year. It gives you discounts on trains. I'm going to go get my first one in a couple of weeks. I don't think it gives you much else, some 2-4-1s at tourist attractions, too. In our case it will pay for itself with one train ride. Only one person in a group of up to 4 needs to have one to allow all 4 ppl to get the discount.