Using london buses with Luton - London gold card

[zeddie]

Dear all,

Im hoping for some advice. As far as i understand, I should be eligible to use all zones london buses using my yearly season ticket from Luton to London Thameslink. I have attached a copy of the ticket.

However today when I wanted to take the bus from St pancras to Baker St, the bus driver said this ticket isnt acceptable, even with my photocard. He said no ones ever used such a ticket to use London buses and its not valid for travel. I had to pay the single fare. Was he correct?

If he is right, is there a yearly ticket i can purchase that DOES cover me for all london buses? I though a Luton to London zones 2-6 would do this, and isnt my ticket essentially a zones 2-6 ticket?

(pls see attachment)

Thanks all

 

[Deerfold]

No, this is not a Travelcard so has no validity on London buses except when Thameslink is closed and the 17, 45 and 63 wil accept it.

A Luton - London Zones 2-6 Travelcard would not get you as far as central London (you'd need Z1-6 to do that) but would be valid on the buses.

 

[maniacmartin]

You are only covered for London buses is your ticket covers some Travelcard zones. ie Luton - London Zones 1-6. Your ticket has no zones mentioned on it, so it would not be valid on buses.

A travelcard from Luton is about £900 more per annum than your current ticket, and would be valid on all Underground, DLR, National Rail and buses in the zones. You can see the current prices by search for Luton to London St Pancras here

 

[Deerfold]

Alternatively an annual Bus Pass is £784 but has substantially fewer benefits than getting the £900 Z1-6 add-on.

 

[bb21]

As others have said, it is not valid on the buses. The ticket allows you to travel on National Rail only as far as Elephant & Castle, and on interavailable routes on London Underground.

 

[zeddie]

Thank you knowledgeable people! I guess im still trying to find the cheapest way to get to work in baker st from Luton. I might just go to st pancras using my current ticket then just take the bus to baker st. It cost me £1.40 on my payg oyster and took 20 mins. Its cheaper than the tube.

 

[Deerfold]

Thank you knowledgeable people! I guess im still trying to find the cheapest way to get to work in baker st from Luton. I might just go to st pancras using my current ticket then just take the bus to baker st. It cost me £1.40 on my payg oyster and took 20 mins. Its cheaper than the tube.

One cheaper but slower way would be to get a season ticket only as far as West Hampstead (£3224 a year) and take the 139 (from outside the station) or 189 (with a bit of a walk) bus from there.

Another slower but more direct way is the 757 coach - http://babus.org.uk/timetables/757_until_June_2013.pdf

Unfortunately the frequency on this is about to reduce substantially - http://babus.org.uk/timetables/757_...ntre_BricketWood_CentralLondon_01July2013.pdf

An annual season the 757 is only £2650 with no validity on other services.

 

[zeddie]

One cheaper but slower way would be to get a season ticket only as far as West Hampstead (£3224 a year) and take the 139 or 189 bus from there.

but that ticket would not cover me for the buses right?

 

[bb21]

but that ticket would not cover me for the buses right?

No, it would not.

A Travelcard to Zones 2-6 (therefore including rail travel up to Zone 2, including stations such as West Hampstead and Kentish Town) would be £4116 at today's price. This will give you unlimited travel throughout London on buses.

 

[Deerfold]

but that ticket would not cover me for the buses right?

No, but the cost of the bus would be the same as from St Pancras with a reduced fare on the train.

 

[zeddie]

This seems like the best option for now.. until i decide to move out of luton and closer to london. But then the cost of housing and living go up! What a dilemma. Cheers guys.

 

[bicbasher]

Your current Gold Card can be added to an Oyster Card. However it'd only give you discounted PAYG fares after 0930 on weekdays and all day weekends/bank holidays. In this case £1.40 single between the two stations mentioned. So if you're travelling in the evening peak, it works out the same as the bus.

 

[Be3G]

The gold card Oyster discount doesn't apply during the evening peak either (except for journeys to zone 1 from outside it) so the tube fare would still be £2.10. The off-peak cap would still apply however, but that isn't useful here.

 

[MikeWh]

How close to Baker Street is your work? If it is a little north, would getting a tube to St John's Wood work without still needing a bus? Either way I'm thinking of a Luton to West Hampstead season (£3224/year) plus the Jubilee line to either St John's Wood (£1.60 peak single) or Baker Street (£2.80 peak single) using PAYG Oyster. Should be quicker than going to St Pancras and taking the bus, even allowing for having to take a slower train that stops at West Hampstead.

 

[zeddie]

Hi MikeWh

Thanks for that suggestion. Unfortunately i think st johns wood would be a bit too far of a walk to get to baker st. Its No 1 baker st so the end furthest away from baker st station.

If i did the luton to west hampstead season at £3224 per year then id have to add the cost of the oyster fare from there to baker st return so £5.60 per day, £28 per week. Over the whole year it would be around £4.5k.

I think the best option for now is to get the luton - zones 2-6 season for £4,116 and take the bus to baker st from west hampstead. (albeit a slow option)

 

[MikeWh]

Hi MikeWh

Thanks for that suggestion. Unfortunately i think st johns wood would be a bit too far of a walk to get to baker st. Its No 1 baker st so the end furthest away from baker st station.

If i did the luton to west hampstead season at £3224 per year then id have to add the cost of the oyster fare from there to baker st return so £5.60 per day, £28 per week. Over the whole year it would be around £4.5k.

I think the best option for now is to get the luton - zones 2-6 season for £4,116 and take the bus to baker st from west hampstead. (albeit a slow option)

No problem. I've had a further thought though. If you can ensure to always get the slow trains from Luton to West Hampstead then you could get a Luton to Hendon season (£2640/year) and a zone 1-3 travelcard season (£1424/year) for a total of £4064. You don't have to get off the train at Hendon (which is in both zones 3 and 4 hence why it works) and you can get the Jubilee line all the way to either Baker Street or Bond Street (which might be slightly closer to the south end of Baker Street). The only restriction is that you must get trains which call at Hendon.