Stevenage - London & Oyster

[johntea]

Staying in Stevenage 7 nights Friday - Friday

Will be visiting London several times during the stay, is it cheaper to buy a Stevenage day travelcard or a Stevenage to London return then use my Oyster (or does it depend on how much I travel around London?)

 

[LexyBoy]

What time are you travelling? Do you hold any Railcards? How many travellers?

The Travelcard fares from Stevenage are not very good value. The difference between Day Return and Day Travelcard products, for one person without any Railcards, is:
Anytime: £9.00
Off Peak: £7.20
Super Off Peak: £5.50

If you hold or aquire a Network or other Railcard, the outboundary Travelcards become more attractive. Without Railcards, PAYG is probably a better option unless you expect to spend more than the above amounts. (Stevenage-BZ6 + Z1-6 Travelcard is also cheaper, but more hassle to buy).

 

[philjo]

How may times will you be travelling from Stevenage on weekdays and what times will you travel in & return ? (i.e. will it be in the peak or not Evening peak restrictions also apply on departures from Kings cross during the week)

At weekends the FCC super off peak travelcards are available from Stevenage so these are probably the cheapest as they have a 20% discount (plus any railcard discount) so don't cost much more than the return just to Kings cross if you can also add railcard discount.
though if you are making multiple journeys in the peak hours on weekdays a 7 day season may workout better

 

[johntea]

Sorry typed the previous message in a rush on my phone before I forgot

I'll never be travelling at peak time, presumably Saturday - Monday being the bank holiday I can get the Super Off Peak and I do have a 16-25 Railcard.

Just me travelling and I won't be wanting to get back from London during the evening peak either.

 

[philjo]

Yes, the super off-peak tickets can be used on Bank Holiday Monday. Previous experience has shown that some TVMs at GN stations don't offer them on bank holidays so you may need to get it form the ticket office.

With railcard the super off-peak travelcard is £10.55
The discounted super off-peak return to London terminals is £6.95

so if you are doing more than a couple of journeys on the underground/bus in London the travelcard will be better.

 

[Hadders]

The TVM's at Stevenage do offer the super off-peak travelcards iirc but the booking office is open for reasonably long hours anyway so you shouldn't have a problem buying one.

At £10.55 with railcard the outboundary travelcard is good value on weekends/bank holidays and saves faffing around with multiple tickets/oyster (not that Oyster is a faff!)

 

[philjo]

The TVM's at Stevenage do offer the super off-peak travelcards iirc but the booking office is open for reasonably long hours anyway so you shouldn't have a problem buying one.

The problem I had was specifically on bank holiday mondays as some of the machines didn't list the super off peak tickets on those days - though they were showing on Saturdays/Sundays.
I was using the older TVMs at Welwyn Garden City & potters Bar. I think the newer machines do have them listed

 

[Hadders]

The problem I had was specifically on bank holiday mondays as some of the machines didn't list the super off peak tickets on those days - though they were showing on Saturdays/Sundays.
I was using the older TVMs at Welwyn Garden City & potters Bar. I think the newer machines do have them listed

Ah, I can see how that could be a problem. The ticket office at Stevenage (there are actually two of them, the main one run by FCC and a small East Coast one) is open from 0630 until past 2000 so you won't have a problem buying it.

Just be aware that there can sometimes be large queues at the FCC ticket windows, particularly at weekends.

In my experience the EC ticket office is generally excellent although it doesn't open as late as the FCC office, and is closed on Sundays.