London: travelcard or oyster?

[cholsey-choose]

Hi all,

Sorry if this is a frequent question but I've not seen it before. I live near Cholsey and go into London reasonably often on the weekend. With a network railcard, an off-peak day return to London is £15.05 and an all zones day travelcard is £17.95. I always buy the travelcard even if I don't have any particular plans to use the Tube because, I thought, I'd only have to make one or two Tube or bus journeys on contactless to wipe out the savings of not getting it.

But I just learnt that you can load a network railcard onto an oyster card. If I do this, will the off-peak fare capping kick in and limit my oyster spending to £2.90? That seems too good to be true!

Cheers

 

[clagmonster]

Network Railcards can not be loaded onto an Oyster card. Only Young Persons, Senior, Forces and Disabled railcards are eligible for Oyster discounts.

 

[CyrusWuff]

It's not permitted to put a Network Railcard discount onto an Oyster card due to the £13 minimum fare that applies on Mondays to Fridays.

Whilst there is nothing physically preventing the discount from being set (as most railcards, except the Disabled Persons one, use the same discount type), it could potentially result in criminal charges being brought if caught.

 

[cholsey-choose]

Damn that's unfortunate, I did read that it could but it seems that was mistaken. So we're stuck with paper tickets?

 

[cholsey-choose]

Whilst there is nothing physically preventing the discount from being set (as most railcards, except the Disabled Persons one, use the same discount type), it could potentially result in criminal charges being brought if caught.

No doubt. It wouldn't really be physical but IT based anyway, right? It's not like they are punch cards

 

[Joe Paxton]

Just to reference the 'official word' on this from the Network Railcard website:

Your Network Railcard WON'T apply to:
[...]
Oyster pay as you go
[...]

A Railcard discount on an Oyster card is only available for 16-25, Senior, HM Forces and Disabled Persons Railcards.

 

[MikeWh]

... and annual gold cards (which get the same Oyster discount code as the other not disabled ones).

 

[Paul Kelly]

Even if you could add the railcard to your Oyster, and even if you only travelled within Zones 1-2, the cap would still be £4.35 (source: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/railcard-fares.pdf). Whereas with the Travelcard from Cholsey you can have unlimited travel within Zones 1-6 for only £2.90 extra (the railcard-discounted Oyster cap for Zones 1-6 would be £7.90!). Out-boundary Off-Peak Travelcards really are great value since the huge increases in Off-Peak caps (and in-boundary Travelcard prices) brought in by Boris Johnson in January 2015.

 

[cholsey-choose]

Even if you could add the railcard to your Oyster, and even if you only travelled within Zones 1-2, the cap would still be £4.35 (source: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/railcard-fares.pdf). Whereas with the Travelcard from Cholsey you can have unlimited travel within Zones 1-6 for only £2.90 extra (the railcard-discounted Oyster cap for Zones 1-6 would be £7.90!). Out-boundary Off-Peak Travelcards really are great value since the huge increases in Off-Peak caps (and in-boundary Travelcard prices) brought in by Boris Johnson in January 2015.

That's interesting, thanks. Are there any cases you know of where it's cheaper to buy a ticket from outside London, even when starting within London?

 

[Hadders]

That's interesting, thanks. Are there any cases you know of where it's cheaper to buy a ticket from outside London, even when starting within London?

Yes, if using Groupsave. For example an Off Peak Zones 1-6 Travelcard is £12.30 or £36.90 if three people are travelling. An Epsom - London Zones 1-6 (route Southern only) for 3 people is £24.30.

Groupsave is not available on travelcards starting within the Zones.

 

[cholsey-choose]

Yes, if using Groupsave. For example an Off Peak Zones 1-6 Travelcard is £12.30 or £36.90 if three people are travelling. An Epsom - London Zones 1-6 (route Southern only) for 3 people is £24.30.

Groupsave is not available on travelcards starting within the Zones.

Nice! If on the weekend, it's cheaper to buy a zone 1-6 day travelcard with a network railcard isn't it?

 

[Hadders]

Nice! If on the weekend, it's cheaper to buy a zone 1-6 day travelcard with a network railcard isn't it?

Yes, I'd usually use the Network Railcard rather than Groupsave.