Current cheapest way south london to gatwick?

[rbannocks]

I will be traveling mid-day from East Duwlich to Gatwick. What is the cheepest way to do this. I will have a oyster card which may or may not depending on circs that are not yet settled have a weekly zone 1-2 travel card on it. Looking on the https://www.brfares.com/ site seem to indicate that the boundary zone 2-gatwick is more expensive than the oyser off peak 9.50?

Assistance appreciated

 

[Fenchurch SP]

Oyster Fares Central has the off peak fare as 8.20. Interestingly ltfares.com doesn't include Gatwick Airport.
I don't think the zone 1-2 travel card will make any difference to the fare. You can travel via London Bridge without it as long as you don't touch out there.

 

[zero]

The *cheapest* way, if you have a Z1-2 pass, is to take as many TfL buses as you need from your origin, with the final bus being the 405 from Croydon to Redhill, as this will not cost you anything extra.

Then the Oyster/contactless fare from Redhill to Gatwick is £4.60 peak and £2.60 off peak.

There is also Metrobus route 100 from Redhill to Gatwick for £2 (no Oyster, pay cash, contactless touch-in/-out, or possibly app).

If you want to do it all by train, then it's cheaper to split at East Croydon, which you need to do by exiting the station and re-entering, you can use the same card/device and don't need to wait before turning around.

However this involves a long-ish walk along the ramps at the southern entrance, or up and down stairs/lift to the footbridge at the northern entrance, to get from the platforms to the barriers.

(Edited to remove incorrect info about tram validity)

 

[Doppelganger]

The *cheapest* way, if you have a Z1-2 pass, is to take as many TfL buses (which also includes trams if necessary) as you need from your origin, with the final bus being the 405 from Croydon to Redhill, as this will not cost you anything extra.

The tram isn't covered with a zone 1-2 travelcard, only the buses

 

[MikeWh]

Without getting too convoluted because of multiple changes, the cheapest route will be splitting at East Croydon, as described above. Off-peak fares are:

East Dulwich to East Croydon: £3.30 (£3.00 with zone 1-2 travelcard)
East Croydon to Gatwick Airport: £3.70

Total £7.00 (£6.70 with travelcard)

As long as you don't touch out you can travel via London Bridge. My recollection is that the steps up to the north entrance at East Croydon are slightly quicker than the ramps at the south entrance. It's unlikely that you'll manage to cathch the same train either way, but if travelling direct from East Dulwich you'd need to change platforms anyway so it won't add much time.

 

[rbannocks]

Good point about the bus, but I will not be trying that! Though I will keep it in mind if I ever fly into Gatwick on a short trip.

A Zone 1-2 travel card will include all busses london wide and beyond and is also valid on the trams as they are "bus ticketed" and a bus pass is valid on them. Trains however are way too complex, which brings me to my next question.

How can I split at East Oroydon on an Oyster or contactless card?

rgds

 

[MikeWh]

A Zone 1-2 travel card will include all busses london wide and beyond and is also valid on the trams as they are "bus ticketed"

Not quite. Because the trams are only in zones 3-6 you need to pay for them if your travelcard is only zones 1-2.

How can I split at East Oroydon on an Oyster or contactless card?

Get off the train, touch out at a barrier, immediately touch in again, board the next train.

 

[rbannocks]

I stand corrected. That is bizare that a 1-2 Zone travel card includes all busses, but not the trams, whilst a weekly bus pass (now conveniently re-titled bus and tram pass) does include the trams with no right to travel on the trains at all.

How can I find out these fares myself with boundry zone fares? I am now thinging that a zone 2/3 pass will be better value as I do not really need to travel into Zone 1 at all other than an odd journey? So i will need to re-run the above East Duwich to Gatwick again and again see the best route?

Regds

 

[MikeWh]

How can I find out these fares myself with boundry zone fares? I am now thinging that a zone 2/3 pass will be better value as I do not really need to travel into Zone 1 at all other than an odd journey? So i will need to re-run the above East Duwich to Gatwick again and again see the best route?

Extension fares on Oyster are largely* the normal fare for the zones covered by the extension. So in your case use the fare from North Dulwich (z2/3) rather than East Dulwich (z2). If you had a zone 2-3 travelcard then you'd want the fare from a zone 4 station (eg Norwood Junction). For any journey to Gatwick from north of East Croydon you will be better splitting at East Croydon. This is because of the historically bonkers cheap fare from East Croydon to Gatwick.

*Sometimes the extension fare might vary by 5-10p when it is set by National Rail. The exact fares aren't published but using the normal single fares for the same zone combination is usually close enough.

 

[Surreytraveller]

Good point about the bus, but I will not be trying that! Though I will keep it in mind if I ever fly into Gatwick on a short trip.

A Zone 1-2 travel card will include all busses london wide and beyond and is also valid on the trams as they are "bus ticketed" and a bus pass is valid on them. Trains however are way too complex, which brings me to my next question.

How can I split at East Oroydon on an Oyster or contactless card?

rgds

The trams are almost bus ticketed. A Travelcard is only valid on them if it is valid for zone 3, 4 and/or 5.
Plus old people's passes from outside London aren't valid on them like they are on buses either.
Confusing, I know, especially as the trams replaced certain bus services when it was introduced, and it effectively charges bus fares