Southampton - london Waterloo, monthly travelcard with london underground zones 1-6

[Stephen K]

Hi all,

I am now commuting from Southampton Central to London Waterloo 5 days a week.

The ticket cost is crippling me.

Any advice, tricks or tips on how to reduce the cost using cashback sites, bank accounts, etc?

Many thanks in advance.

Stephen

 

[signed]

If you can force yourself to only take trains that pass through Three Bridges, you can have a season ticket between Southampton Central and Waterloo itself (no Travelcard) for £147.40 per week (£566.10/month)

 

[MrJeeves]

What times do you need to be in London by?

Is it possible you'd be open to leaving earlier in the morning and potentialling using Southern via Horsham and Three Bridges instead? These fare offer a significant discount versus the fast SWR services.

The main issue is that you'd leave Southampton on the first possible service at 0637, but still only get into London Waterloo at 0932 with a change at Clapham Junction (or Victoria at 0915, direct).

 

[Stephen K]

travelling on the slower route via the coast is likely much cheaper but a

What times do you need to be in London by?

Is it possible you'd be open to leaving earlier in the morning and potentialling using Southern via Horsham and Three Bridges instead? These fare offer a significant discount versus the fast SWR services.

The main issue is that you'd leave Southampton on the first possible service at 0637, but still only get into London Waterloo at 0932 with a change at Clapham Junction (or Victoria at 0915, direct).

Outbound I take the 7.00 Southampton - Waterloo which let's me reach work at 9am.
Return 16.45 Waterloo to southampton.

If I use the slower train via 3 bridges I wouldn't have any time at home

 

[signed]

Do you need a Travelcard?

A Any Permitted Season ticket to Waterloo is £686.30 / month

 

[Stephen K]

Does anyone use a bank account that gives cashback on rail travel? Or a particular app for cashback? Or a combination of the two?

Do you need a Travelcard?

Unfortunately yes as I use the underground to get to work

 

[signed]

Unfortunately yes as I use the underground to get to work

What zones do you travel in? Maybe Oyster Pay As You Go could work cheaper for you

 

[Stephen K]

What zones do you travel in? Maybe Oyster Pay As You Go could work cheaper for you

Zone 1-2

 

[Alfonso]

I think you'll find some discussion of cashback, discounts etc in the "offers" section...10% uber, 5 or 10% LNER are common at the moment, but very few work on season tickets.

 

[signed]

Zone 1-2

A zone 1-2 fare is £3.40, if you do it 10x in a week that adds roughly £120-130 per month

Tacking that to the £686 cost of the any permitted season, you are saving a lot from the Travelcard 1-6 season and it's cheapest than tacking a 1-2 travelcard separately (which is £164)

 

[winks]

It’s beyond me why anyone commutes that far into London. I take it your wage is a lot higher due to London living and yet the cost is crippling you?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

It’s beyond me why anyone commutes that far into London. I take it your wage is a lot higher due to London living and yet the cost is crippling you?

A ballpark 80 minute journey time (each way) is maybe not quite as lengthy as might be imagined. But the £7148 annual season ticket price (just for Southampton Central ->London Terminals) certainly isn't cheap.

 

[Haywain]

But the £7148 annual season ticket price (just for Southampton Central ->London Terminals) certainly isn't cheap.

It's probably a lot cheaper than living in London.

 

[JonathanH]

But the £7148 annual season ticket price (just for Southampton Central ->London Terminals) certainly isn't cheap.

Not at all, but on the basis of, maybe, 220 trips to London a year, each one 'only' costs £32.50, against an anytime day return of £106.10, which is why there is no practical way of doing the journey cheaper than having an annual season ticket.

 

[winks]

Is there a possibility of working from home 3 days a week ?

 

[JonathanH]

Is there a possibility of working from home 3 days a week ?

Even if there was, it doesn't really save any money relative to going in five days a week because of the discount inherent in the season ticket price relative to daily tickets.

 

[winks]

I was thinking more of flexi seasons , but if it were me I wouldn’t do the commute.

 

[Stephen K]

It’s beyond me why anyone commutes that far into London. I take it your wage is a lot higher due to London living and yet the cost is

My wage is 30k, so rail travel is a significant chuck of my salary.

Is there a possibility of working from home 3 days a week ?

Nah, I work in a mortuary so can't work from home!

 

[Wallsendmag]

It’s beyond me why anyone commutes that far into London. I take it your wage is a lot higher due to London living and yet the cost is crippling you?

Try commuting from Newcastle to Waterloo

 

[Joe Paxton]

Try commuting from Newcastle to Waterloo

Not sure the Toon to Derby would be any easier...

 

[Watershed]

My wage is 30k, so rail travel is a significant chuck of my salary.


Nah, I work in a mortuary so can't work from home!

Unfortunately I think it is fair to say that this isn't a sensible commute to be doing for a job where your wage is 30k. Is there any way you can get a job closer to Southampton? I don't think there is any realistic way you can reduce the commuting cost to a palatable amount.

 

[swt_passenger]

I was thinking more of flexi seasons , but if it were me I wouldn’t do the commute.

I don’t think there’s any real scope for a flexi season, when the normal 7 day season on this flow costs so much less than 2 anytime returns. The typical season discounts on shorter routes, and nearer London, are completely different to this and that’s what makes a flexi an option.

 

[miklcct]

I don’t think there’s any real scope for a flexi season, when the normal 7 day season on this flow costs so much less than 2 anytime returns. The typical season discounts on shorter routes, and nearer London, are completely different to this and that’s what makes a flexi an option.

Why aren't all season tickets priced as a fixed multiple of the day ticket, like those within zones 1-9 which are always 5 times the cap?

The reason of setting the price this way by TfL within zones 1-9 is to make sure that part time commuters not be penalised, but why doesn't the same reasoning apply to outboundary Travelcards?

 

[Wallsendmag]

Not sure the Toon to Derby would be any easier...

I've been a couple of times recently, it's definately not

 

[wibble]

Why aren't all season tickets priced as a fixed multiple of the day ticket, like those within zones 1-9 which are always 5 times the cap?

The reason of setting the price this way by TfL within zones 1-9 is to make sure that part time commuters not be penalised, but why doesn't the same reasoning apply to outboundary Travelcards?

The daily caps are set at 1/5th the 7 Day Travelcard season rather than the other way around. The same does not apply to outboundary Travelcards as TOCs are responsible for pricing them and not TfL.

The same pricing could apply to outboundary Travelcards but that would result in the Anytime Day Travelcard from Southampton changing from £113.80 to £41.40. That would also mean reductions (or removal) the Off Peak Day Travelcard (£69.40), Anytime Day Return (£106.10), and either reduction or removal of the Off Peak Return (£57.90) and Super Off Peak Return (£46.20). In reality, the season is too cheap as it's more heavily discounted against Anytime fares when compared to shorter distance journeys.

 

[JonathanH]

The daily caps are set at 1/5th the 7 Day Travelcard season rather than the other way around. The same does not apply to outboundary Travelcards as TOCs are responsible for pricing them and not TfL.

Another point here is that the season ticket is priced at a level that is already favourable to a part time worker, recognising that they might not travel five days a week. Clearly someone actually travelling five (or seven) days a week gets the biggest discount over daily tickets.

 

[swt_passenger]

Why aren't all season tickets priced as a fixed multiple of the day ticket, like those within zones 1-9 which are always 5 times the cap?

The reason of setting the price this way by TfL within zones 1-9 is to make sure that part time commuters not be penalised, but why doesn't the same reasoning apply to outboundary Travelcards?

As far as I know they never have been a fixed multiple. For many years in the southeast weekly and other seasons were regulated fares, but what became anytimes were not. it’s the anytime and Offpeak fares around here that need to reduce, but I doubt that will ever happen.

 

[JonathanH]

As far as I know they never have been a fixed multiple.

London wasn't a fixed multiple either. The price of the daily peak cap / travelcard was reduced by increasing off-peak caps / travelcards.

That would be somewhat difficult to manage for outboundary cases given the range of multipliers which apply and the taper as journeys lengthen.

 

[Joe Paxton]

Why aren't all season tickets priced as a fixed multiple of the day ticket, like those within zones 1-9 which are always 5 times the cap?

The reason of setting the price this way by TfL within zones 1-9 is to make sure that part time commuters not be penalised, but why doesn't the same reasoning apply to outboundary Travelcards?

Others have explained that you've got the rationale behind the London pricing the wrong way round.

However if one was to apply your logic, then the Southampton to London weekly season would jump from £178.70 to £530.50 (5 x £106.10 Anytime Day Return fare) - a 197% increase, and the Southampton to zones 1-6 Travelcard would jump from £206.80 to £569 (5 x £133.80 Anytime Travelcard fare) - a 175% increase.

 

[JonathanH]

However if one was to apply your logic, then the Southampton to London weekly season would jump from £178.70 to £530.50 (5 x £106.10 Anytime Day Return fare) - a 197% increase, and the Southampton to zones 1-6 Travelcard would jump from £206.80 to £569 (5 x £133.80 Anytime Travelcard fare) - a 175% increase.

Surely they would meet in the middles somewhere, but, however it was done, five day a week travellers would be penalised.