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Horsham to London money saving

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SummerBerries

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Hi, I will soon be commuting from Horsham to London Victoria every day. I currently have a 16-25 rail card. It seems to me that using my rail card every day would be cheaper then getting a season ticket?? Can someone with a bit more knowledge confirm this? As a student I really need to save money on my travel. Thank you.
 
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SussexMan

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Hi, I will soon be commuting from Horsham to London Victoria every day.

I presume not 7 days a week. Number of days per week would be helpful information. Term time only? Approximate travel times? That sort of information might be helpful in giving you some answers...
 

Hadders

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This is often the case. Also it allows you to 'pay as you go' rather than having to pay a large sum of money up front. I'm assuming travel is at 'peak' times.

Horsham to London Terminals weekly season is £127 so this is the fare to beat (you can't use a railcard on a season ticket) - monthly and annual variants would be cheaper.

Horsham to London Terminals Anytime Day Return with 16-25 Railcard is £33.85 so is you are travelling five times a week the season is better value (note this ticket is routed 'not Gatwick Express meaning that Gatwick Express branded trains should not be used (although legally this isn't enforceable I wouldn't recommend, using GX trains if you want a hassle free journey)

In July and August a saving can be made by splitting at Gatwick Airport and East Croydon. It doesn't work at other times of the year because a £12 minimum railcard discounted fare applies to 16-25 Railcard discounted ticket before 10:00, except in July and August.
 

Haywain

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If you do not get a season ticket, the simplest way of paying will be by using KeyGo, which will mean that you don't have to buy tickets every day but just touch in and out and have the fare applied and taken from your bank overnight. You can have the railcard discount applied to your card and the best fares are calculated for you.
 

Hadders

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If you do not get a season ticket, the simplest way of paying will be by using KeyGo, which will mean that you don't have to buy tickets every day but just touch in and out and have the fare applied and taken from your bank overnight. You can have the railcard discount applied to your card and the best fares are calculated for you.
Good shout. And there's weekly capping on KeyGo so the weekly price paid should never exceed the weekly season ticket price.
 
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Haywain

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And there's no weekly capping on KeyGo so the weekly price paid should never exceed the weekly season ticket price.
I'm not sure that you are saying what you intended there. The lack of weekly capping means that the season price could be exceeded.
 

Hadders

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I'm not sure that you are saying what you intended there. The lack of weekly capping means that the season price could be exceeded.
I'm not sure where the 'no' slipped in there :oops: I've amended my post.
 

SummerBerries

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I presume not 7 days a week. Number of days per week would be helpful information. Term time only? Approximate travel times? That sort of information might be helpful in giving you some answers...
5 days a week term time only. Would probably have to get the train 7am in order to make it up there for 9am starts

If you do not get a season ticket, the simplest way of paying will be by using KeyGo, which will mean that you don't have to buy tickets every day but just touch in and out and have the fare applied and taken from your bank overnight. You can have the railcard discount applied to your card and the best fares are calculated for you.
Thank you! Never heard of KeyGo before so I'll look into it

This is often the case. Also it allows you to 'pay as you go' rather than having to pay a large sum of money up front. I'm assuming travel is at 'peak' times.

Horsham to London Terminals weekly season is £127 so this is the fare to beat (you can't use a railcard on a season ticket) - monthly and annual variants would be cheaper.

Horsham to London Terminals Anytime Day Return with 16-25 Railcard is £33.85 so is you are travelling five times a week the season is better value (note this ticket is routed 'not Gatwick Express meaning that Gatwick Express branded trains should not be used (although legally this isn't enforceable I wouldn't recommend, using GX trains if you want a hassle free journey)

In July and August a saving can be made by splitting at Gatwick Airport and East Croydon. It doesn't work at other times of the year because a £12 minimum railcard discounted fare applies to 16-25 Railcard discounted ticket before 10:00, except in July and August.
Thank you. Unfortunately won't start travel until September but all this information is very useful
 

kieron

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If I wanted to save money on Horsham-London journeys, I would not buy weekly season tickets and would not use KeyGo.

With season tickets, ones which last a month or longer cost less per week than weekly ones (annual ones cost less again, but the holidays probably mean they're not worth having). For instance, a season which lasted from 2nd September to 4th October would cost £537.30, or £107.46 per week. They're available on the Southern web site (amongst other places) if you want to look at prices for other dates.

With day tickets, the tricky thing is that there are plenty of tickets which cost less than a Horsham-London Terminals anytime day return, but are equally valid for a return journey between Horsham and London Victoria at peak times.

I won't mention any examples now as you never know who's reading, but my point is that you could choose to use a cheaper ticket, but KeyGo can't, and so you could save money by avoiding it.

Whether or not a season ticket is cheaper than day tickets depends on how often you travel into London, and how often you arrive before 9:45 on a weekday. Courses vary a lot, so I wouldn't like to guess.
 

bubieyehyeh

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If you put railcard discount on a oystercard, split at gatwick and tap-in before 630am at gatwick you can get the 2nd leg at a 1/3rd off the off-peak oyster fare.

I've not done the maths but it worked out far cheaper when I did similar to a different london station a few years ago, 3 days a week, off-peak oyster both ways.
 

paul1609

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This is often the case. Also it allows you to 'pay as you go' rather than having to pay a large sum of money up front. I'm assuming travel is at 'peak' times.

Horsham to London Terminals weekly season is £127 so this is the fare to beat (you can't use a railcard on a season ticket) - monthly and annual variants would be cheaper.

Horsham to London Terminals Anytime Day Return with 16-25 Railcard is £33.85 so is you are travelling five times a week the season is better value (note this ticket is routed 'not Gatwick Express meaning that Gatwick Express branded trains should not be used (although legally this isn't enforceable I wouldn't recommend, using GX trains if you want a hassle free journey)

In July and August a saving can be made by splitting at Gatwick Airport and East Croydon. It doesn't work at other times of the year because a £12 minimum railcard discounted fare applies to 16-25 Railcard discounted ticket before 10:00, except in July and August.
A Horsham to St Albans City Anytime Day Return 16-25 railcard route + any permitted is £29.95. This is a well known anomly that gives access to much of U zone 1 if thats important.
 

miklcct

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A Horsham to St Albans City Anytime Day Return 16-25 railcard route + any permitted is £29.95. This is a well known anomly that gives access to much of U zone 1 if thats important.
A ticket to West Hampstead Thameslink (route Any Permitted) has the same effect as well unless you specifically need to travel north of it.

Also, Advance tickets are available between Horsham and Victoria. Have you checked the availability as well if your time of commute is fixed?
 
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