Gatwick airport and oyster cards

[hi2u_uk]

i have just realised that i can use an oyster card to get to gatwick airport
will this always work out cheaper than buying a paper national rail ticket to a london travel card station from gatwick . The next trip i will make will be from surrey quays to gatwick airport but im just wondering if in general it will always be cheaper so i dont have to go online to check

 

[Hadders]

It's not necessarily cheaper, in many cases it's considerably more expensive!

If you let us know the details of your journey and ultimate destination then we can advise an appropriate solution.

 

[hi2u_uk]

Gatwick airport to Lewisham probably leaving gatwick airport at 9pm at the earliest

 

[telstarbox]

Do you have a season ticket as well?

 

[Joe Paxton]

Assuming no Travelcard on your Oyster...

Gatwick-Lewisham is £8.10 off-peak.

If you can be bothered to get off a train at East Croydon, exit the barriers then re-enter (i.e. touch-out then touch back in) and catch another train then you can bring this down to £6.30 (£3 for Gatwick to East Croydon, £3.30 for East Croydon to Lewisham). However this works best for journeys where you have to change at East Croydon.

 

[hi2u_uk]

There is no travel card just pay as you go . interestingly i may load a zone 1-3 travel card the next day

Are you sure that getting off at east croydon will reduce the fare ?? i thought that tfl oyster card would just charge this as being one continuous fare even though i touch in and out
i can probably do that depending on what time i arrive at gatwick but l've noticed that even if there is a gap of about 15 mins between touching out at a station and touching in again , the oyster card combines the two journeys and wont charge two separate fares

 

[Joe Paxton]

There is no travel card just pay as you go . interestingly i may load a zone 1-3 travel card the next day

Are you sure that getting off at east croydon will reduce the fare ?? i thought that tfl oyster card would just charge this as being one continuous fare even though i touch in and out.
i can probably do that depending on what time i arrive at gatwick but l've noticed that even if there is a gap of about 15 mins between touching out at a station and touching in again , the oyster card combines the two journeys and wont charge two separate fares

It definitely works at East Croydon, yes.

Journeys are only combined by Oyster/contactless where there is an 'Out-of-station interchange' (OSI)- more info here (website by MikeWh, a member of this forum), and a list of OSIs here.

Otherwise, journeys are not combined - for example, exit a station to buy a coffee or newspaper and then re-enter and you will be charged for two journeys.

In your case it'd work well if you were to catch a Victoria-bound train from Gatwick and then change at East Croydon (i.e. if the first London-bound train from Gatwick was to Victoria), but I'd suggest only committed bargain hunters would get off a London Bridge-bound Thameslink train from Gatwick at East Croydon to do this in order to save less than two quid having arrived on a late evening flight!

 

[hi2u_uk]

hmm this is interesting. Didnt realise there were specific stations where you could combine two journeys into one.
will bear this in mind

 

[Joe Paxton]

hmm this is interesting. Didnt realise there were specific stations where you could combine two journeys into one.
will bear this in mind

Look at the list - it's really for interchanging between nearby stations, or between say National Rail and the Tube at stations served by both but which have separate gatelines.

 

[radamfi]

I didn't know you could split the journey at East Croydon using the same card. I have in the past touched out with one card and touched in with another to avoid having to pay a higher through fare.

If money is more important than time, you can get the bus to Croydon (£1.50) and then get the train to Gatwick for £3. That's particularly worth it if you would have to pay a peak train fare.

 

[Joe Paxton]

I didn't know you could split the journey at East Croydon using the same card. I have in the past touched out with one card and touched in with another to avoid having to pay a higher through fare.

If money is more important than time, you can get the bus to Croydon (£1.50) and then get the train to Gatwick for £3. That's particularly worth it if you would have to pay a peak train fare.

Same card is fine for doing this. As far as the system is concerned, one journey ends and then another journey begins.

Re the peak/off-peak issue - worth bearing in mind that East Croydon (ECR) to Gatwick is £5.20 peak (which for a Oyster/contactless journey means touch-in between 0630-0930 and 1600-1900 weekdays except public holidays).

The latter is also worth bearing in mind for anyone thinking of 'splitting' at East Croydon to/from Gatwick - i.e. if you were to start your journey during the Off-peak period but the split at East Croydon occurs during the Peak charging period, then I think it would nullify any potential saving for most if not all journeys.

 

[MikeWh]

Assuming no Travelcard on your Oyster...

Gatwick-Lewisham is £8.10 off-peak.

If you can be bothered to get off a train at East Croydon, exit the barriers then re-enter (i.e. touch-out then touch back in) and catch another train then you can bring this down to £6.30 (£3 for Gatwick to East Croydon, £3.30 for East Croydon to Lewisham). However this works best for journeys where you have to change at East Croydon.

You can reduce the £3.30 to £2.60 (so a total of £5.60) if you're prepared to walk between New Cross Gate and New Cross. You can also take the Overground via Surrey Quays and touch the pink reader, but that will take a while.

 

[Joe Paxton]

You can reduce the £3.30 to £2.60 (so a total of £5.60) if you're prepared to walk between New Cross Gate and New Cross. You can also take the Overground via Surrey Quays and touch the pink reader, but that will take a while.

Or if a passenger was getting the bus to Lewisham station, depending on where they're starting from they might find it just as easy to get the bus to New Cross Gate station instead (bearing in mind the Bus Hopper fare allows two bus journeys for the price of one). Of course it's wouldn't be any cheaper - it's still the same zone 2 to zone 5 NR fare (£2.60 off-peak) from New Cross Gate to East Croydon.