Oyster at Heathrow Terminal 5

[Brucey]

Are Heathrow Express able to top up Oyster cards at Heathrow T5? I'm assuming their TVMs can't do this though?

Also, does anyone know what the queues are typically like at 18:30 on a Wednesday evening?

I'd rather top-up online in advance but my hotel doesn't have wi-fi.

 

[dzug2]

Going by:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/hwv/details.html

I'd think no. But the underground station looks to be adjacent so it would be possible there and very little out of your way

I'm assuming you know that Oyster cannot be used ON the Heathrow Express?

 

[Brucey]

Going by:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/hwv/details.html

I'd think no. But the underground station looks to be adjacent so it would be possible there and very little out of your way

I'm assuming you know that Oyster cannot be used ON the Heathrow Express?

There is no underground ticket office at T5, hence my question. I will be travelling in the Piccadilly Line.

 

[greatkingrat]

There are LU ticket machines that can top up Oyster cards as well as the Heathrow Express ones.

 

[Brucey]

There are LU ticket machines that can top up Oyster cards as well as the Heathrow Express ones.

That's useful to know. Thanks.

 

[dzug2]

There is no underground ticket office at T5, hence my question. I will be travelling in the Piccadilly Line.

presumably then the ticket office must be a joint one run by Heathrow Express

it's difficult to believe that there are no underground ticketing facilities at T5 - though indeed that's what the online information on both the TfL and Heathrow Express sites would imply

Edit - actually the link I quoted has a map which shows a picture of the ticket office 'Train and Underground tickets'

 

[hi2u_uk]

isnt boris planning on closing all london under ground ticket offices are replacing them with tesco and asda click and collect points :roll:

 

[Mojo]

presumably then the ticket office must be a joint one run by Heathrow Express

it's difficult to believe that there are no underground ticketing facilities at T5 - though indeed that's what the online information on both the TfL and Heathrow Express sites would imply

Edit - actually the link I quoted has a map which shows a picture of the ticket office 'Train and Underground tickets'

On the Underground station there is a single ticket window that is operated by HEx which offers most (but not all) facilities that are available at Underground ticket offices. This is in addition to the counter in the terminal which you refer to. In the airport there are some Heathrow Express passenger operated machines which are styled like Underground machines, but again offer a limited range of products compared to "the real thing."

 

[Merseysider]

isnt boris planning on closing all london under ground ticket offices and replacing them with tesco and asda click and collect points :roll:

He won't be replacing the ticket offices with electronic click and collect points - he has instead stated that an army of cybernetic Terminator look-alike robots will be employed to keep things running smoothly.

 

[Taunton]

Not commonly known is that the Piccadilly Line Underground station at Terminal 5 is actually operated by Heathrow Express personnel, unlike the case at Heathrow 123 Underground. This gives rise to a range of clashes of information.

For example I once arrived at T5 to be told that service on this last section from T123 were suspended. The staff were telling people to take the Heathrow Express to Paddington instead. Oyster etc tickets of course not valid (they weren't saying this until I asked loudly). Oh yes, fare £26 each, time 3 of us, equals £78 just to get to Paddington.

I asked over the heads of the crowd why not HEx to T123 (that's free) and then transfer to the Underground there. In fact I asked 4 times. Just met with sullen stares.

 

[Brucey]

Turns out that there are a variety of TVMs in the arrivals area at T5. All LUL-style machines, but some selling HX/HC tickets and others selling LUL tickets. Both types have HX branding.

After topping up my Oyster card on one of the LUL machines, the credit card receipt I got was on HX paper. My bank statement even says "HEATHROW RAIL LINK, HEATHROW GBR" rather than the usual "LUL POM" or whatever.

Sadly I was in no mood to take photographs, have just had my baggage mishandled by British Airways.

 

[island]

The HEX ticket desk in terminal 5 arrivals sells new Oyster cards and pay as you go top ups. It may also sell season tickets but I don't know about that.

 

[jon0844]

Can you buy tickets to destinations beyond London yet? Not tried for ages (buy in advance) but before I had to get a ticket to King's Cross then a new ticket from there.

 

[island]

Not at T5.

The LUL ticket offices at T123 and T4 can sell a limited selection of tickets to National Rail destinations. Also when I last passed through the central bus station it looked as though there was a single standard National Rail sales point there, presumably to facilitate passengers seeking integrated through tickets such as Reading RailAir. I cannot say for certain whether it sells a full range of tickets.

 

[jon0844]

There should be 'proper' machines to sell a full range of tickets, as well as collect tickets booked online.

Perhaps a lot of tourists don't land and immediately want to head out of London, and don't want a ticket with a Gold Card discount etc, but surely you have some that do - as well as people who use Heathrow but don't live in London, and now have to buy different tickets than they want, possibly at a higher cost.

 

[button_boxer]

There should be 'proper' machines to sell a full range of tickets, as well as collect tickets booked online.

Perhaps a lot of tourists don't land and immediately want to head out of London, and don't want a ticket with a Gold Card discount etc, but surely you have some that do - as well as people who use Heathrow but don't live in London, and now have to buy different tickets than they want, possibly at a higher cost.

Unfortunately, as has been noted above, Heathrow Airport doesn't have a "railway station" in the normal sense of the word. There is a privately owned transport service that happens to run on standard gauge railway track but it's not part of the national rail network and can make its own rules about what tickets to sell or not sell based on purely commercial decisions - is the commission they would receive for selling the tickets worth the cost and hassle of installing the necessary kit, providing suitable training to enough staff, etc.

What might be worth their while could be to install (or offer space for FGW to install) collection-only ToD machines so people flying in could collect pre-paid tickets to destinations beyond London. There's precedent for this, e.g. EMT has a ToD collection machine in the Sheffield University students' union building, but there's still the issue of keeping the machines stocked and dealing with faults.

 

[455driver]

The problem then would be people buying the normal tickets but travelling of HX into London.

 

[jon0844]

Oh I don't know HEX would see that as a problem. Kerching!

As it is, they do warn about having the right ticket on account of the Heathrow Connect service and it would be possible to highlight tickets for onward travel that includes HEX.

I'd have thought that earning some extra commission on ticket sales would be appealing.

 

[island]

Heathrow Airport Limited has no incentive to offer any facilities like that as they would tend to cause revenue abstraction from the money-printer that is the HEX.

 

[jon0844]

If I get a ticket to Hatfield including HEX then I'm still going to use HEX. If I was going to take the tube, I'd take the tube.

Not sure where the loss is.

 

[455driver]

If I get a ticket to Hatfield including HEX then I'm still going to use HEX. If I was going to take the tube, I'd take the tube.

Not sure where the loss is.

People buying a ticket from Heathrow to <somewhere> and then jumping on the tHeathrow Express which their ticket is not valid on, there is the loss.

 

[island]

If I get a ticket to Hatfield including HEX then I'm still going to use HEX. If I was going to take the tube, I'd take the tube.

Not sure where the loss is.

Does HEX get the same amount of revenue from a ticket for Heathrow Rail to wherever as from Heathrow to Paddington?

People buying a ticket from Heathrow to <somewhere> and then jumping on the tHeathrow Express which their ticket is not valid on, there is the loss.

That won't be it, as there are full inspections on all HEX services and the passenger would be required to buy a new ticket.

 

[455driver]

That won't be it, as there are full inspections on all HEX services and the passenger would be required to buy a new ticket.

If the inspection is on the train then there would be a lot of unhappy passengers when they are told their ordinary tickets which they have just bought are not valid on tHeathrow Express.

 

[jon0844]

Why would all the tickets sold not include Heathrow Express? Machines could sell these, or Any Permitted tickets, and you can get discounts with some railcards.

Just present the HEX tickets first on the screens, which I think is already what most TVMs do.

You already have three choices - Tube, HEX or Heathrow Connect. Selling tickets to somewhere beyond Paddington or a London (zoned) destination surely can't cause that many problems.

 

[paulravuslante]

I used to work in the T5 ticket office and as far as I remember, the LUL ticket machines and the LUL section of the TOM (the machines on the desks the staff use) can supply tickets to a limited number of stations (seemed to be mostly those in the ex-NSE area). I guess it depends on the staff member whether they knew it was there - the ticket training wasn't very good!

If people asked for HEx and were going to a destination in the above mentioned area, I would explain I could issue two tickets which would cover the journey and tell them the combined price. Most people seemed happy to buy both so I don't think the prices were much different to buying one through ticket. And there was no commission incentive for me to do that in those days, I was just trying to be helpful

Note that it was only possible to do this at T5 because of the Hex / LUL agreement. The same TOMs at T123 & T4 look the same but the LUL section is locked out.