Gravesend to Oxford weekend return?

[PavlosA]

Hi all

Hope someone can help. Looking for thoughts on following journeys:

Depart from Gravesend Friday 1st March morning
Return from Oxford Sunday 3rd March afternoon
2 adults with Network Railcard

Flexible with times. I think after 10.30 on Friday is best due to Railcard restrictions?

Anyway I've found advances from Paddington to Oxford and return at £10 for both of us (£13 on way there for something faster) but trying to work out best way from Gravesend to Paddington. Any ideas?

Much obliged.
Pav

 

[island]

1000 is the earliest you can use a Network Railcard. Southeastern doesn't do Advances. Were you wanting to use a high-speed service?

 

[Prairie_5542]

Network Railcards have a minimum fare of £13.00 Monday to Friday!

 

[PavlosA]

OK change of plan now - starting journey from Barnehurst (and returning there), so no option of High Speed. Now it just depends on whether the split is better than the whole.

Barnehurst to Oxford off-peak open return for 2 = £47.50.
Barnehurst to Paddington - cheapest way by PAYG Oyster according to Cheapest Fare Finder? £9.80 each way for both of us? Can't understand it. How much is a daily travelcard?

Edit: So off-peak travelcard is £8.90 each, but Oyster is 4.90? How come?

 

[island]

Because Oyster is for a single journey whereas a Travelcard is good for unlimited journeys that day?

 

[soil]

Barnehurst - Banbury is valid via Oxford, and the super-off-peak return is £21.10 with railcard. Stopping/starting short at Oxford is permitted.

 

[PavlosA]

Hi island. Yes, that's what I thought, but looking at single barnehurst to london terminals off-peak at £6, it suggests cheapest Oyster fare is £3.50... how so?

Soil - thanks, should have waited. Got Paddington to Oxford return for £11.50 per person. So suppose it's down to the Barnehurst-Paddington cost. Any idea?

 

[soil]

Barnehurst - Paddington is £4.90 using Oyster.

Not much to say about that really.

 

[PavlosA]

Barnehurst - Paddington is £4.90 using Oyster.

Not much to say about that really.

OK. Ta. So have those kinds of journeys always been cheaper on Oyster?

 

[soil]

OK. Ta. So have those kinds of journeys always been cheaper on Oyster?

London - London journeys are intended to always be cheaper on Oyster.

In this case since you need the tube as well, there's really no way that a rail ticket can be cheaper, since the through fare is £4.90 and a single tube fare is £2, so that would leave only £2.90 for the single rail fare, which doesn't take you far.

Of course in theory you could go to Shepherd's Bush on the overground and take a bus or something like that, but it's not worth the effort to save 50p or something.

 

[island]

Hi island. Yes, that's what I thought, but looking at single barnehurst to london terminals off-peak at £6, it suggests cheapest Oyster fare is £3.50... how so?

Barnehurst to London Terminals covers you to Charing Cross, Victoria, Cannon Street, Waterloo East, Vauxhall, City Thameslink, Blackfriars, Elephant & Castle, or London Bridge, or in other words the terminals you can reach by rail alone on permitted routes. If you go to Paddington, you'll have used London Underground as well, and this carries a higher charge.

I do not know of any cheaper fare than £4.90 available to you for Barnehurst to Paddington, short of using a series of buses.

 

[PavlosA]

No, that's all perfect. Thanks both. These fares are all PAYG I take it?

So in theory, I could reduce journey prices from Gravesend to London by getting a paper ticket to Barnehurst, then using Oyster from there to London Terminals (obviously with extra hassle)?

Edit: Sorry - one more thing. Where do I find the Oyster prices? I can see, for example, an off-peak Zone 1-6 journey is £3 (on tfl pricing page), but where is the extra £1.90?

 

[soil]

No, that's all perfect. Thanks both. These fares are all PAYG I take it?

So in theory, I could reduce journey prices from Gravesend to London by getting a paper ticket to Barnehurst, then using Oyster from there to London Terminals (obviously with extra hassle)?

This may be the cheapest ticket to London from Gravesend:

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/timesandfares/GRV/EBD/060213/0852/dep?via=Farringdon

I would expect to be hassled if using it however.

In terms of splitting at Barnehurst, you are unlikely to make much saving as the peak rail Oyster prices are higher.

For a travelcard Gravesend- Boundary Zone 6 CDR plus a Z1-6 off-peak travelcard is cheaper than a Gravesend Cheap Day Travelcard however

Edit: Sorry - one more thing. Where do I find the Oyster prices? I can see, for example, an off-peak Zone 1-6 journey is £3 (on tfl pricing page), but where is the extra £1.90?

Oyster fares are on TFL's site:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14414.aspx#adultthrough

 

[PavlosA]

Thanks again

And wow that is cheap! Not sure I could ever give that a try! Is that just because of the separate line options?

Why is a ticket like Barnehurst to Banbury available as super off peak?

 

[island]

So in theory, I could reduce journey prices from Gravesend to London by getting a paper ticket to Barnehurst, then using Oyster from there to London Terminals (obviously with extra hassle)?

Please can you make up your mind whether you are wanting a ticket from Barnehurst or Gravesend? The answers will not be the same. An off-peak return from Strood to London Terminals might be more useful for example (and can be used to start at Gravesend).

If you're really watching the pounds, then a Weekender from Gravesend to Lewisham costs £8, then getting the DLR to Bank/Tower Gateway and the Circle line to London Paddington would be £2.10 each way, total of £12.20. That would however take ages.

Why is a ticket like Barnehurst to Banbury available as super off peak?

The longer a journey, the more fare options tend to be available.

You keep referring to the £3 fare, this is for use on TfL services only. You would need to choose "National Rail" and scroll half-way down to get the fares for a mixed journey.