Gatwick to London (does not involve Gatwick Express!)

[Deerfold]

Just checking something out.

Next Monday evening I'll be travelling from Gatwick to London - I'm intending to get out at London Bridge

Am I right in thinking my best ticket is a £10 Anytime Day Single to St Pancras, breaking my journey at London Bridge?

I won't need a return as I'm flying out from Stansted.

 

[andrewkeith5]

Just checking something out.

Next Monday evening I'll be travelling from Gatwick to London - I'm intending to get out at London Bridge

Am I right in thinking my best ticket is a £10 Anytime Day Single to St Pancras, breaking my journey at London Bridge?

I won't need a return as I'm flying out from Stansted.

No, a Southern-Only Day Single is £8.90 from Gatwick to London Bridge so long as you are OK with the slightly less frequent/sometimes slower trains

http://brfares.com/#faredetail?orig...&flow=2&multi=2&fare=18&rte=777&ldn=0&tkt=SDS

I would buy from the Southern website in advance in order to avoid having to mess around with the Gatwick Express ticket machines...Also available on The Key smartcard if you have one.

 

[Deerfold]

No, a Southern-Only Day Single is £8.90 from Gatwick to London Bridge so long as you are OK with the slightly less frequent/sometimes slower trains

http://brfares.com/#faredetail?orig...&flow=2&multi=2&fare=18&rte=777&ldn=0&tkt=SDS

I would buy from the Southern website in advance in order to avoid having to mess around with the Gatwick Express ticket machines...Also available on The Key smartcard if you have one.

Thanks for that one. I may stick with the £10 though as the last one of those is 2226 (with a change) - it's possible I may be later than that (last time I did this flight it was on time but the time before it was 3 hours late...)

 

[andrewkeith5]

Thanks for that one. I may stick with the £10 though as the last one of those is 2226 (with a change) - it's possible I may be later than that (last time I did this flight it was on time but the time before it was 3 hours late...)

In that case I'd say £1.10 is a small price for the flexibility!

 

[island]

There is a better option if you're willing to come out at East Croydon and get the next train. Gatwick Airport to Croydon Stations FCC ONLY £4.50 SDS plus PAYG Oyster from East Croydon to London Bridge £2.90 off-peak. (It's £4.70 peak so if you'd be touching in at East Croydon between 1600 and 1900 the Southern Only through ticket would be cheaper.)

There are no platform validators at East Croydon so you would need to go up to the gateline.

 

[Deerfold]

There is a better option if you're willing to come out at East Croydon and get the next train. Gatwick Airport to Croydon Stations FCC ONLY £4.50 SDS plus PAYG Oyster from East Croydon to London Bridge £2.90 off-peak. (It's £4.70 peak so if you'd be touching in at East Croydon between 1600 and 1900 the Southern Only through ticket would be cheaper.)

That's not a bad saving. I'll look up my PAYG Oyster...

There are no platform validators at East Croydon so you would need to go up to the gateline.

That could be the killer - I'm going to be late evening so looks like that might add an extra 30 minutes on ono some services.

Might come in useful next time though - cheers.

 

[CyrusWuff]

There's a £10 Single (routed FCC only) from Gatwick to London Bridge as well, so no "stopping short" needed.

 

[Deerfold]

There's a £10 Single (routed FCC only) from Gatwick to London Bridge as well, so no "stopping short" needed.

Yes - not sure how I missed that one...

Although the St Pancras one would also allow me to get the 2202 Southern service as that's routed Not Und - unless I've missed something.

 

[island]

Drop the can opener and back away from the metallic annelid container...

 

[sarahj]

TBH. Buy the FCC only one and travel on the more frequent FCC only trains between Gatwick and London Bridge. Will be faster as well.

Think: Gatwick,East Croydon,London Bridge

or
Gatwick, Horley,Salfords,Earlswood,Redhill, Merstham,Couldson South,Purley,East Croydon,Norwood Junction,New Cross Gate, London Bridge.

I know which train I'd be on.

 

[Deerfold]

TBH. Buy the FCC only one and travel on the more frequent FCC only trains between Gatwick and London Bridge. Will be faster as well.

Think: Gatwick,East Croydon,London Bridge

or
Gatwick, Horley,Salfords,Earlswood,Redhill, Merstham,Couldson South,Purley,East Croydon,Norwood Junction,New Cross Gate, London Bridge.

I know which train I'd be on.

Well if the next train is the 2202 Southern (which it might be) then, although slower, it gets to London Bridge before the next FCC service - that one's only 3 minutes slower than the FCC service so I may get the St Pancras one unless I know I've already missed the 2202.

 

[Raul198]

If you book a ticket from Brighton to London Bridge it only costs 5£, not sure if it is legal to enter the train at Gatwick with a ticket like this one ?

 

[island]

If you book a ticket from Brighton to London Bridge it only costs 5£, not sure if it is legal to enter the train at Gatwick with a ticket like this one ?

It isn't. That's an Advance ticket, which is only valid between the stations printed on it.

 

[johnnycache]

The 2202 Gatwick Airport London Bridge is a one off Southern fast train (2134 from Brighton)

 

[richardderby]

i notice that Southern have recently pulled there £5 advance tickets between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport. These now start at a minimum of £10. The £5 tickets can be bought between London Bridge and Gatwick, but with a change of trains at East Croydon, as the stoppers from London Bridge do not offer reservations. Can they do this with all the advertising for the £5 advances and related publicity?

 

[island]

i notice that Southern have recently pulled there £5 advance tickets between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport. These now start at a minimum of £10. The £5 tickets can be bought between London Bridge and Gatwick, but with a change of trains at East Croydon, as the stoppers from London Bridge do not offer reservations. Can they do this with all the advertising for the £5 advances and related publicity?

Depends on what precisely the ads said and whether they have indeed been "pulled" or in fact were just unavailable on a couple of days that you checked.

 

[richardderby]

Depends on what precisely the ads said and whether they have indeed been "pulled" or in fact were just unavailable on a couple of days that you checked.

nope they have definately been pulled (perhaps because of the monopoly at Victoria?) whatever date you request, it offers advance fares at £10 and up)

 

[sheff1]

Sort of related to this query ... on my inbound Easyjet flight (on Friday evening) they were selling 'singles to London' @ £19.90.

I cannot find anything at this price on BRFares - any idea what the validity of this ticket is ?

 

[dzug2]

Sort of related to this query ... on my inbound Easyjet flight (on Friday evening) they were selling 'singles to London' @ £19.90.

I cannot find anything at this price on BRFares - any idea what the validity of this ticket is ?

Anytime single - including Gatwick Express - if FGW site is to be believed

 

[CyrusWuff]

Sort of related to this query ... on my inbound Easyjet flight (on Friday evening) they were selling 'singles to London' @ £19.90.

I cannot find anything at this price on BRFares - any idea what the validity of this ticket is ?

Looks like a bog standard Gatwick Express Single to me. Try this page.

 

[island]

It's worse than a bog standard GX single; it doesn't operate the ticket barriers!

 

[sheff1]

Looks like a bog standard Gatwick Express Single to me. Try this page.

Thanks for that. Didn't think to look for Victoria as the destination

 

[dzug2]

It's worse than a bog standard GX single; it doesn't operate the ticket barriers!

Given that the date is (I assume as it's given out on the plane) not coded on the ticket that's not surprising.

 

[sarahj]

Easyjet sells Gatwick express tickets on board. Ryan air sells FCC only tickets. The currency exchange folks in the airport sell Gatwick express tickets, even at 2am when there are no gatwick expresses running, just FCC and southern trains. The airline tickets are just till receipts, the currency exchange tickets are like vouchers from a book.

 

[34D]

Just checking something out.

Next Monday evening I'll be travelling from Gatwick to London - I'm intending to get out at London Bridge

Am I right in thinking my best ticket is a £10 Anytime Day Single to St Pancras, breaking my journey at London Bridge?

I won't need a return as I'm flying out from Stansted.

Assuming you're spending <5 days in London, and possibly that you may well fly back into Stansted within 30 days, is there any value in a Gatwick-Elsenham SOR £43.10 for you, making your maltese cross journey on day 1 from London Bridge to wherever your hotel is, and resuming by day 5 at Liverpool St?

 

[Deerfold]

Assuming you're spending <5 days in London, and possibly that you may well fly back into Stansted within 30 days, is there any value in a Gatwick-Elsenham SOR £43.10 for you, making your maltese cross journey on day 1 from London Bridge to wherever your hotel is, and resuming by day 5 at Liverpool St?

Thanks, but no.

I flew out from Stansted on Friday morning last week and have no plans to return there in the near future.

I baulked at the cost of Stansted Express (and would have been relying on the 1st train being on time as I was on an early flight - it only gets in 100 minutes before my flight departure time) so paid £8 to National Express to get there.

I generally don't pay for transport within London anyway (I can't use all lines for free but I can use enough for my purposes).


I came back last night. Got the London Bridge FCC only ticket. Getting a ticket wasn't a pleasant experience. There was an individual queue for each ticket machine so if you got behind someone slow...the woman in front of me took 3 attempts to buy her ticket. Boy, was I glad I'd researched before buying as there's little to no indication from the machines as to what the options mean and the queue at the ticket office was long enough that I'd have been on a train half an hour later.

Above the FCC-only ticket at £10 was the Southern-Only to London Bridge at £8.90 with no indication as to how awkward and slow this option is.

I *just* got the 2217 and encountered no staff (there were some on the barriers at Gatwick but my ticket worked them fine).

 

[sheff1]

I came back last night. Got the London Bridge FCC only ticket. Getting a ticket wasn't a pleasant experience. There was an individual queue for each ticket machine so if you got behind someone slow...

Yes, the queuing arrangements are very poor. Fortunately I chose a queue which had no hold ups. A 'helper' at the machine did ask where I was going, but when I said Sheffield he moved on - I assume he had never heard of it

 

[WCML TRAVELLER]

I caught the 2217 last night from Gatwick to London Blackfriars. I prebooked the ticket via the FCC website and it was a £10 Anytime Day Single. The only restriction was "NOT UNDERGROUND" when I got to the barrier I asked a member of staff if i could use the G/Express the first person wasnt sure and she referred it to a collleague he said no - "if your ticket is inspected then you will have to pay a penalty fare" I stated there wasnt a GE restriction ticket. He then mentioned the destination I said I would make my own way to Blackfriars. If I read the member of staff correctly he was saying you will get through the barriers at Victoria but a manual check wont work.
In the event i got the 2217 FCC - but was the ticket valid as no TOC was mentioned on the ticker either way.
Also as a point of interest I have another ticket back to Gatwick in a few days

 

[yorkie]

I don't think we have universal agreement over whether or not a Gatwick Airport to Blackfriars ticket is valid via Victoria or not.

We all know it's not intended to be valid into Victoria.

I agree that the ticket is not restricted to FCC, but the expectation is that you would travel via London Bridge, and therefore be likely to use FCC, but of course there are no operator restrictions on this ticket (other than not being valid on LU!).

So it's a routeing question, not an operator question.

Here's some posts from the last time this cropped up:

The NRE journey planner that we must now supposedly consult doesn't allow one to specify NOT UNDERGROUND, so it can't be used to check this route.

Since the previous threads were made, the Routeing Guide has been changed. The only map between Brighton Group and London Group is now map LB which no longer has many of the lines it used to have.

The only way of now going via Clapham Junction that I can see is possibly under the 3 mile rule, but I haven't checked what routes this would allow.

Of course, if your season was issued when the previous Routeing Guide was current, it could be argued that that version governs your permitted routes....

There are a number of BTN seasons at £88.30/wk:

London Bridge FCC Only
London Terminals FCC Only
Farringdon Not Underground
St Pancras Not Underground
Blackfriars Any Permitted
City Thameslink Any Permitted

All of these are routeing points, members of the London RP group, with the exception of Farringdon, which is an associated station.

The mapped route for BTN - London is map LB, which includes Brighton - Victoria, Brighton - Waterloo and Brighton - St Pancras (via London Bridge, Blackfriars, and Farringdon).

Since Farringdon is not a routeing point, you should be able to choose any mapped route to a member of the London routeing group (except St Pancras, since you would pass through the destination on your ticket), and make your way from there to Farringdon by any means other than underground.

So I conclude that London - Farringdon Not Underground is valid to Victoria and Waterloo (and also to Clapham Junction) as a mapped route to London.

Note that map LB erroneously marks Farringdon as a London Routeing Point member - it isn't, and for this reason you shouldn't be restricted to travelling there via London Bridge.

To St Pancras, Blackfriars, and City Thameslink, Victoria, Clapham Junction and Waterloo are not mapped. The tickets may still be valid to these stations under the shortest route rule, but I'm not going to check, as the Farringdon ticket is valid as a mapped route.

Note: this is theory, practice may be different!

I do not think many gateline staff are trained on how to determine permitted routes.

 

[sarahj]

TBH, all I'm looking for these days is the FCC only marker, esp on seasons. If I find one on my train the pass has to buy a new ticket as they know what they are doing. You find a few on the Southern trains that run from London Bridge. Why? Because they start from London Bridge, so the passenger has time to find a seat, rather than battle through the others on an FCC coming through the core. The passenger with a FCC only season on a southern, knows what they are doing is not allowed, they have saved money by buying a cheaper ticket with restrictions, so have to live by them.
Its all a bit different to the non Uk tourists who have bought a FCC only ticket on the plane, or from the machines at Gatwick where the FCC only option comes up first when you ask for a ticket to East croydon, and then pile onto a train at Gatwick as its going to East Croydon. Trying to explain to a group of euro teens that their ticket is not valid :-?


Anyway, in a couple of years, will it matter anyway when we are one big 'happy' family.