London Euston to St Albans Abbey followed by St Albans City to London St Pancras

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What is the best fare combination for a round trip.
One way single adult.
Euston, Watford, St Albands, London Kings Cross it St Pancras

Have oyster pay n go if that helps

For today or tomorrow

 

[Romilly]

A London Terminals to St Albans City offpeak day return at £12.30 would seem to cover the trip.

 

[AM9]

A London Terminals to St Albans City offpeak day return at £12.30 would seem to cover the trip.

Surely that would only allow travel via West Hampstead Thameslink so Watford would not be passed.

 

[yorkie]

Are you making any journeys by rail or bus into Euston or from St Pancras?

If so, I would purchase a London Zones 1-6 Travelcard, and a Boundary Zone 6 to Park Street CDR; the latter is valid either way.

If not, you may want to do some research to see if you can find something cheaper.

 

[gazthomas]

I tried picking Harpenden as the destination but was only offered singles

 

[trevmonk]

Are you making any journeys by rail or bus into Euston or from St Pancras?

If so, I would purchase a London Zones 1-6 Travelcard, and a Boundary Zone 6 to Park Street CDR; the latter is valid either way.

Or if you are doing the Travelcard 1-6 + Boundary Zone extension method then you could get BZ6 off peak return to Watford North at £4.60 instead of £5.90 for the Park Street one. I reckon that would get you from Euston to Watford North using the Travelcard as far as Bushey then outward portion of the BZ6 ticket to Watford North where you immediately switch to the return portion of the BZ6 which would be valid via St Albans Abbey and St Albans City to Elstree where the Travelcard takes over again.

Break of journey is valid on the BZ6 ticket and is easy at St Albans as you have to walk (or take the new shuttle bus) from St Albans Abbey to St Albans City. The barriers won't operate with the Watford North - BZ6 ticket at St Albans City and you might have to explain the staff that you are on a valid route to Elstree. If you are planning to leave the station at Watford Junction you would also have to explain at the barrier.

 

[yorkie]

Or if you are doing the Travelcard 1-6 + Boundary Zone extension method then you could get BZ6 off peak return to Watford North at £4.60 instead of £5.90 for the Park Street one. I reckon that would get you from Euston to Watford North using the Travelcard as far as Bushey then outward portion of the BZ6 ticket to Watford North where you immediately switch to the return portion of the BZ6 which would be valid via St Albans Abbey and St Albans City to Elstree where the Travelcard takes over again.

That would be valid, but you would probably get into an argument at St Albans if the barriers are manned, and you may then enter into a dispute with GTR, which would cost you more in time than the £1.30 saving is worth

Hence if it was me, I'd get the Park Street ticket. This is an example of where I would pay more than the cheapest valid fare in order to reduce the possibility of a dispute.

 

[Romilly]

Surely that would only allow travel via West Hampstead Thameslink so Watford would not be passed.

National Rail Enquiries and the C2C journey planner both think that the London-St Albans City offpeak day return at £12.30 is valid for Euston-Watford Junction-St Albans Abbey-walk to St Albans City

 

[yorkie]

National Rail Enquiries and the C2C journey planner both think that the London-St Albans City offpeak day return at £12.30 is valid for Euston-Watford Junction-St Albans Abbey-walk to St Albans City

Yes, they do, because the company who provides their fares data has an incorrect implementation (it's possible someone may read this and get it fixed, and it will then no longer show as valid).

If anyone wants to book a ticket with an accompanying itinerary, this would be evidence of a contract, and the ticket would therefore be considered valid, however do not be surprised if it's not a stress-free journey.

The correct action of staff at St Albans City would be to either make notes of the error and report it, or to withdraw the ticket and issue a free of charge replacement ticket, and at all times to be respectful and helpful towards the customer.

However in practice the customer may (incorrectly) be sent back to St Albans Abbey and may be mistreated.

I've experienced some good staff, and some bad, at this location, so it is difficult to predict the outcome. It really depends on what staff are on duty and how they react.

 

[Starmill]

The correct action of staff at St Albans City would be to either make notes of the error and report it, or to withdraw the ticket and issue a free of charge replacement ticket, and at all times to be respectful and helpful towards the customer.

Why would they do that? If the customer tries to enter at St Albans City with the return portion, that says St Albans City to London Terminals on it, I would expect it to open the gates. If it doesn't, they will probably be let though without issues.

The problem may arise if the customer tries to break their journey at Watford Junction, I agree, but the OP hasn't expressed a desire to do that. A ticket check on the train to St Albans Abbey is possible but not likely.

 

[yorkie]

Sorry, yes, I was thinking of the other way round.

Yes if the ticket is issued to St Albans City, the only potential problem is with an LM Guard - if they actually do a ticket check, which in itself is highly unlikely - or an LM RPI, and the chances of seeing one of those is miniscule.

But the point still stands that the ticket shouldn't be issued for such an itinerary.

 

[Starmill]

I don't think most customers would see any problem with it. It's a completely logical thing to do.