Boundary zone tickets and Gold Cards

[fleet85]

Hello all. Have stumbled across this forum on many an occasion and I think the posters here are more likely to be able to answer my question than anyone in a booking office. So I hope you can forgive my first post being to ask for help.

My family will be visiting me in London next week, for 7 days. After much thought about how much they're likely to travel during the week, I've decided they will be best off with a 7 day zones 1&2 Travelcard.

We will be travelling outside London by train twice. I have an annual zones 1&2 Travelcard, and hence a Gold Card. My questions are as follows:

• Are there any issues buying boundary zone tickets with a Gold Card discount for accompanying passengers (including one £2 child fare)? I see no reason why there would be, but I can't find mention of this combination in the ticketing guide or in this forum. Admittedly my search has not been hugely thorough.
• As indicated above, one of our group is a child. As it is too late to get a TfL child photocard, she will be travelling in London on an Adult Travelcard. But I hope to be able to get £2 Boundary Zone 2 child fares for her when leaving London. This will effectively mean she is travelling as an adult for part of the journey and as a child for the rest. Is this a problem?

Thanks in advance.

 

[34D]

How old are the children

Will they only travel with you, or will they do some travel without you?

 

[yorkie]

Hello all. Have stumbled across this forum on many an occasion and I think the posters here are more likely to be able to answer my question than anyone in a booking office.

....apart from the members who work in (or manage) booking offices

So I hope you can forgive my first post being to ask for help.

That's what we're here for!

My family will be visiting me in London next week, for 7 days. After much thought about how much they're likely to travel during the week, I've decided they will be best off with a 7 day zones 1&2 Travelcard.

We will be travelling outside London by train twice. I have an annual zones 1&2 Travelcard, and hence a Gold Card. My questions are as follows:

• Are there any issues buying boundary zone tickets with a Gold Card discount for accompanying passengers (including one £2 child fare)? I see no reason why there would be, but I can't find mention of this combination in the ticketing guide or in this forum. Admittedly my search has not been hugely thorough.

There shouldn't be any issues.



Depending on the journeys, a ticket from a named station may (or may not) be appropriate as you don't have to buy a ticket from 'Boundary Zone' to be able to use a non-stop train, when combining one Season with one or more non-Seasons.

• As indicated above, one of our group is a child. As it is too late to get a TfL child photocard...

... it might be possible to obtain a paper Travelcard and photocard from a National Rail ticket office, I can't think of any reason why you can't obtain one for immediate travel, but someone who is more familiar with this can advise. You will need proof of age and a passport-sized photo.

...she will be travelling in London on an Adult Travelcard. But I hope to be able to get £2 Boundary Zone 2 child fares for her when leaving London. This will effectively mean she is travelling as an adult for part of the journey and as a child for the rest. Is this a problem?

I don't think it would be a problem using it. But it's possible a clerk might not issue it on the basis that a Boundary Zone ticket is an add-on to a Travelcard and they may argue that the discount (if any) should match, however I do not know if such an argument would be made, nor if it would hold water.

I'm sure someone who is more certain can answer this. I'll alert some people who will know for sure to this thread...

 

[PermitToTravel]

It won't be a problem contractually but will cause confusion

 

[MikeWh]

You can definitely get a child 7-day travelcard season from NR stations with a photocard. I also see no reason why you shouldn't purchase BZ2 tickets with your Gold Card to accompany those holding weekly seasons. As long as they travel with you (the gold card holder) and have valid tickets for the whole journey (which they would) then there's no problem. You can certainly buy different tickets for others if your gold card covers some of the journey, so buying the same tickets really must be ok.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Possibly too late now, but it would have been possible for the OP to order paper "Visitor" Travelcards from either Transport for London or VisitBritain. Delivery to the UK is available, they come in both Adult and Child varieties, and no Photocard is required.

Child rate photocards should be available from any National Rail ticket office upon presentation of a passport size photograph and proof of age. They're valid for two years from the date of issue, or until the day before the Child's 16th birthday, whichever is the sooner. It's possible that some stations may decline to issue one unless purchasing a weekly or longer ticket at the same time, however.

Also note that any adults purchasing weeklies will also need a photocard unless these are bought on Oyster, though having a paper ticket issued by an NR station is a requirement for making use of the various London 2 for 1 offers.

As for the issue of combining a Child flat fare extension with an Adult Travelcard, I'd be inclined to err on the side of caution and just get the kids a ticket from London, lest an RPI takes objection, as the fare is the same either way.

Should you wish to get the tickets on Oyster for convenience purposes, it's worth noting that TfL have recently introduced a "Young Visitor" discount which can be set on standard retail Oyster cards with an expiry date two weeks later. These entitle the holder to purchase Child rate PAYG and 7 Day Travelcards valid up to the expiry date. The discount is renewable (e.g. to cover delays in obtaining a "permanent" 11-15 card), though if it's set "too many" times on an individual card it would be flagged for investigation.

 

[Haywain]

There really shouldn't be any problem in getting a child rate photocard and 7-day Travelcard from a major London station, and this would not have to be obtained in advance. In this case there should be no issue with the discounts on tickets for longer trips. Whilst there perhaps shouldn't be a problem if an adult Travelcard was being used for the child, it is easy to see why some staff would be reluctant to issue such tickets.

 

[fleet85]

Thank you all for the very comprehensive answers. To be honest, I hadn't considered buying a child photocard at a National Rail station. I had only looked at the TfL website, where the stated requirement is an 11-15 Zip Oyster photocard, which is a little more complicated to obtain. I didn't even know 7-day Travelcards were still available at National Rail ticket offices.

In any case, it is not too late for me to order Visitor Travelcards, as CyrusWuff has suggested, so I'll go with that option. Incidentally, if these don't require a photocard and can be delivered to UK addresses, what's to stop non-visitors from using them?

As for the issue of combining a Child flat fare extension with an Adult Travelcard, I'd be inclined to err on the side of caution and just get the kids a ticket from London, lest an RPI takes objection, as the fare is the same either way.

This is irrelevant now as you've solved the child Travelcard issue, but would this be possible? Wouldn't the origin of all the tickets bought using the Gold Card have to be identical?

 

[Haywain]

This is irrelevant now as you've solved the child Travelcard issue, but would this be possible? Wouldn't the origin of all the tickets bought using the Gold Card have to be identical?

Tickets bought with a Gold Card discount should all have the same origin and destination, so buying a child ticket from London (Terminals) would mean the adult tickets should be from London as well. The Gold Card holder is not required to buy a ticket where the journey to be undertaken is covered by the season ticket.

 

[CyrusWuff]

In any case, it is not too late for me to order Visitor Travelcards, as CyrusWuff has suggested, so I'll go with that option. Incidentally, if these don't require a photocard and can be delivered to UK addresses, what's to stop non-visitors from using them?

Absolutely nothing. TfL suffered an outbreak of common sense a few years ago and started allowing them (and Visitor Oysters) to be sold to domestic tourists. Wrexham and Shropshire (RIP) sold Visitor Oysters at the buffet counter, for example. The only drawback is that you have to pay for delivery.