London Gatwick - London Undergound Zones 1-6 Ticket

[Butts]

Is this ticket valid on the Underground for the whole day of issue once you get into London ?

Reason I am asking is flying into LGW from GLA and out of LHR later in the day.

Curious to know if it will get me back to Heathrow.

Thanks.

 

[30907]

Assuming you mean the Offpeak Travelcard, it's yes (and NR/bus) and yes except on Heathrow Express.

 

[Watershed]

A single from Gatwick to Underground Zones 1-6 would only be valid for one journey, although it's timewise it's valid to use at any point until 04:29 of the following morning. You could stop off in central London on the way at a National Rail station such as London Bridge or Victoria (if you break your journey whilst using the Underground on a single, you can't recommence it). Of course you could only use the Piccadilly line to Heathrow, which is the slowest option in most circumstances.

If you wanted to make multiple journeys whilst in London you'd potentially be better off buying a Travelcard. Alternatively, you can just use contactless or Oyster for all of your travel and the daily cap will apply.

 

[redreni]

Is this ticket valid on the Underground for the whole day of issue once you get into London ?

Reason I am asking is flying into LGW from GLA and out of LHR later in the day.

Curious to know if it will get me back to Heathrow.

Thanks.

It's valid all day, but only for one continuous journey to a LU or DLR station of your choice in zone 1-6 (including either Heathrow station). I don't think you're supposed to break your journey once you've started to travel on the underground (although there are certain places where there is an out-of-station interchange meaning you'd get away with it in practice).

Perfectly fine to come into Blackfriars on Thameslink, say, break your journey there and continue later on LU, though.

 

[Butts]

Assuming you mean the Offpeak Travelcard, it's yes (and NR/bus) and yes except on Heathrow Express.

So can you buy an Off Peak Travelcard at LGW from the ticket office or machine that will get me into Victoria, have a few hours travel in London then back to Heathrow ?

 

[Watershed]

So can you buy an Off Peak Travelcard at LGW from the ticket office or machine that will get me into Victoria, have a few hours travel in London then back to Heathrow ?

You can, but there is usually a huge queue so you would probably save time if you used contactless or Oyster.

 

[Butts]

You can, but there is usually a huge queue so you would probably save time if you used contactless or Oyster.

As I've got a Senior Railcard would it be cheaper to buy a physical ticket rather than use a debit card for contactless travel.

 

[Haywain]

As I've got a Senior Railcard would it be cheaper to buy a physical ticket rather than use a debit card for contactless travel.

You can probably buy one online and collect it from your local station in Scotland ahead of travelling.

 

[Butts]

You can probably buy one online and collect it from your local station in Scotland ahead of travelling.

Will that be cheaper than tapping in and out with a debit card ?

 

[JonathanH]

As I've got a Senior Railcard would it be cheaper to buy a physical ticket rather than use a debit card for contactless travel.

Cheaper to buy a physical ticket with your railcard. There are plenty of ticket machines at Gatwick.

 

[Butts]

Cheaper to buy a physical ticket with your railcard. There are plenty of ticket machines at Gatwick.

Can you use any train except the Gatwick Express with this to get into London - ie Southern or Thameslink ?

 

[Haywain]

Will that be cheaper than tapping in and out with a debit card ?

Most likely, yes, but without knowing exactly how much travelling you are doing I can't say with absolute certainty. Your all day cap with contactless will certainly be higher.

Can you use any train except the Gatwick Express with this to get into London - ie Southern or Thameslink ?

If you buy the one routed 'Not Gatwick Express' yes. There's also an argument that you can do the same with the one routed 'Thameslink only' but I'll not go into that rabbit hole here.

 

[KT550]

Whilst there are plenty of ticket machines at Gatwick, expect a 10/15 minute wait at busy times.

You can buy online and collect at your local station ahead of time if you are certain of travelling.

There are three types (off-peak price before railcard discounts)
Thameslink only - £18.30
Not Gatwick Express (i.e. Southern & Thameslink) - £20.50
Any permitted (includes Gatwick Express) - £40.60

If travelling on a weekend/public holiday, the Thameslink only is cheaper still - £15.20

 

[Haywain]

Important to note, if you are travelling on a weekday, that the Off Peak Day travelcards are not valid on trains due to arrive in London Terminals stations before 09:45 - earlier than this you would need an Anytime Day ticket and would not be able to discount that with a railcard.

 

[sheff1]

You can, but there is usually a huge queue so you would probably save time if you used contactless or Oyster.

Collected a ticket at Gatwick early on Monday afternoon and there was no quene at the TVMs at all. Mind you, there was zero queue at Border Control as well so maybe just an unusually quiet day at the airport generally - I had actually reached the railway station concourse before the time the plane was scheduled to land.

 

[talldave]

You can, but there is usually a huge queue so you would probably save time if you used contactless or Oyster.

Would that cost more than a paper Travelcard though, in view of ending the day at Heathrow?

 

[redreni]

Would that cost more than a paper Travelcard though, in view of ending the day at Heathrow?

For contactless, yes because you wouldn't get a railcard discount.

For oyster, yes for the same reason, unless you already happen to have an oyster card with your railcard discount applied to it.

If not for the railcard, oyster or contactless would be a bit cheaper because of daily capping.

As Haywain mentioned above, depending on your travel plans you might be able to pay less than the undiscounted daily cap on oyster or contactless, and possibly a bit less than the cost of a discounted day travelcard, but in my view that is unlikely because of the pirate fares that will probably apply for your journey to heathrow, especially if you use the Elizabeth Line. There are workarounds for these involving tapping out and back in again in west London to break your journey to Heathrow, but assuming you're arriving in Gatwick after the morning peak, I would just buy the discounted day travelcard and not worry about it if I were you. As long as you don't use the Heathrow Express you can do as you like then.

 

[Butts]

According to The Southern Website the price of an off peak Travelcard for the day I want to travel from Gatwick to Victoria is £13.50 with a Railcard (Excludes Gatwick Express).

Yet a single just to Victoria is £12.80 - this seems insane.

The cheapest one valid on the Gatwick Express is £26.50 - yet this is not much faster than the normal Trains ?

Considering National Express is around £20 from LGW to LHR and I have plenty of layover it's a no brainer.

Is the Southern One valid on Thameslink as well as it just says not Gatwick Express ?

 

[talldave]

For contactless, yes because you wouldn't get a railcard discount.

For oyster, yes for the same reason, unless you already happen to have an oyster card with your railcard discount applied to it.

If not for the railcard, oyster or contactless would be a bit cheaper because of daily capping.

As Haywain mentioned above, depending on your travel plans you might be able to pay less than the undiscounted daily cap on oyster or contactless, and possibly a bit less than the cost of a discounted day travelcard, but in my view that is unlikely because of the pirate fares that will probably apply for your journey to heathrow, especially if you use the Elizabeth Line. There are workarounds for these involving tapping out and back in again in west London to break your journey to Heathrow, but assuming you're arriving in Gatwick after the morning peak, I would just buy the discounted day travelcard and not worry about it if I were you. As long as you don't use the Heathrow Express you can do as you like then.

Yes, it was the Elizabeth Line premium I was thinking the OP could avoid by going "paper".

 

[Haywain]

Is the Southern One valid on Thameslink as well as it just says not Gatwick Express ?

Yes, it is.

 

[Butts]

That's me sorted then, thanks for all the contributions by everyone.

 

[JonathanH]

If not for the railcard, oyster or contactless would be a bit cheaper because of daily capping.

Daily capping from Gatwick is very much not less than the travelcard price, unless you are travelling to a station in Zones 7-9.

 

[Butts]

In the end I got an Off Peak Travelcard 1-6 at Gatwick Airport - £15 down to £10 with my Railcard (Thameslink variety)

I got a Thameslink Train to London Bridge then went all over the Network using this veritable bargain.

The only problem I had was exiting at T5 London Heathrow where it came up "seek assistance" - why would that be as LHR is in Zone 6

 

[ainsworth74]

Have you considered getting an Oyster Card and then having your Senior Railcard added to it? Could be worthwhile for trips where a Travelcard isn't worthwhile.

The only problem I had was exiting at T5 London Heathrow where it came up "seek assistance" - why would that be as LHR is in Zone 6

Could be any number of reasons. Ticket had become demagnetized so the barrier couldn't read it, they decided they wanted to do a manual check on paper tickets, a manual check on railcard discounted tickets, etc etc.

 

[yorkie]

Can you use any train except the Gatwick Express with this to get into London - ie Southern or Thameslink ?

It's valid on any train operated by Govia Thameslink.

However if you use any trains operated by this company under their "Southern" or "Gatwick Express" brands, you could erroneously be charged for a new ticket or a Penalty Fare; if this happens you should appeal this, and contact us for assistance.

Such charges are rare, and when they occur, appeals so far have always been successful, in every case that we've been made aware of.

Govia Thameslink are in hot water over this and the matter is due to go to court later this year:

Collective competition claim against Govia Thameslink Railway

This press release hit the newswires yesterday: COLLECTIVE COMPETITION CLAIM AGAINST GOVIA THAMESLINK RAILWAY FOR OVERCHARGING RAIL PASSENGERS ON BRIGHTON MAINLINE SINCE OCTOBER 2015 London 6 July 2021 – An application to commence an opt-out collective action (“Claim”) was launched in the...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Butts]

Have you considered getting an Oyster Card and then having your Senior Railcard added to it? Could be worthwhile for trips where a Travelcard isn't worthwhile.


Could be any number of reasons. Ticket had become demagnetized so the barrier couldn't read it, they decided they wanted to do a manual check on paper tickets, a manual check on railcard discounted tickets, etc etc.

Had not thought of an Oyster Card - are they free ?

Regarding the Travelcard, I thought it may have been because The Piccadilly Line had Bus Substitution from Hammersmith to LHR on the day.

I used The Elizabeth Line from Moorgate and saw somewhere special fares apply to LHR and was not sure if my Travelcard was valid ?

It's valid on any train operated by Govia Thameslink.

However if you use any trains operated by this company under their "Southern" or "Gatwick Express" brands, you could erroneously be charged for a new ticket or a Penalty Fare; if this happens you should appeal this, and contact us for assistance.

Such charges are rare, and when they occur, appeals so far have always been successful, in every case that we've been made aware of.

Govia Thameslink are in hot water over this and the matter is due to go to court later this year:

Collective competition claim against Govia Thameslink Railway

This press release hit the newswires yesterday: COLLECTIVE COMPETITION CLAIM AGAINST GOVIA THAMESLINK RAILWAY FOR OVERCHARGING RAIL PASSENGERS ON BRIGHTON MAINLINE SINCE OCTOBER 2015 London 6 July 2021 – An application to commence an opt-out collective action (“Claim”) was launched in the...

www.railforums.co.uk

Ta for the information.

 

[ainsworth74]

Had not thought of an Oyster Card - are they free ?

Sadly not anymore a £7 fee is charged, it used to be £5 and refundable when you returned the card! But if you're using contactless a fair bit then it would probably pay itself back before too long.

Buying tickets and Oyster

Buy tickets and Oyster cards online and from many places across London.

tfl.gov.uk

 

[redreni]

Had not thought of an Oyster Card - are they free ?

Regarding the Travelcard, I thought it may have been because The Piccadilly Line had Bus Substitution from Hammersmith to LHR on the day.

I used The Elizabeth Line from Moorgate and saw somewhere special fares apply to LHR and was not sure if my Travelcard was valid ?


Ta for the information.

Travelcards are valid on the Elizabeth Line to Heathrow in any case.

Funnily enough I had to go to Heathrow T5 for a flight on Friday, returning on Sunday. I bought Southeastern's Weekender Return to Underground Z1-6 (which is only valid on the tube) and went to T5 using the Piccadilly Line on Friday and my ticket opened the barrier as expected.

It came as a surprise to me that T5 Underground station was closed when I arrived on Sunday afternoon. There were staff on hand to direct everybody onto the Elizabeth Line - I asked them if there was ticket acceptance in place (since I held an Underground ticket that is not normally valid on the Elizabeth Line) but they didn't seem to understand the question (presumably assuming everybody would tap in). Unsurprisingly my ticket didn't work the barrier at T5 EL but the chap just waved me through without looking at my ticket.

While waiting at the platform for my EL train to depart I went on the TfL website to check ticket acceptance but it was silent on the issue. I half considered getting off at T2&3 and taking the replacement bus but decided to stay on the EL as advised on TfL's website. There were no revenue checks so I still don't know if ticket acceptance was officially in place or not. Oh well!

I assume if people tapped in and used the EL then they would have been charged the EL pirate fare despite following the official Piccadilly Line diversion?

 

[fandroid]

Travelcards are the secret way of avoiding the premium fares to Heathrow on the Elizabeth Line, and as a fellow Senior Railcard holder I find them to be a very useful alternative to Contactless, especially when I can load them onto a Smartcard.