Travelcards vs Oyster PAYG (Caution Slight Rant)

[Caped Crusader]

Right here we go, first thread started by me and a personal bugbear of mine.

Sometimes Oyster card is not the cheapest way of travelling in London, controversial I know but, just hear me out. I'm probably preaching to the converted as many of you here are pretty savvy regarding ticketing, but for those of you that aren't:

If you are travelling from outside of the London Zones and wish to travel on from a London Terminal using buses, underground or trains then, depending on time of travel, it will probably be cheaper to buy a Day Travelcard than to use your Pay As You Go Oyster card. The difference between a London Terminals ticket and a Day Travelcard is sometimes nothing, sometimes less and sometimes a pound or so.
So please, when we ask you if you need onward travel in London don't just say "I've Got an Oyster Card" as you may be paying more than you need for your travel.

Ticket Office staff are not paid any kind of commission, we are not here to 'ching you up', some of us are only interested in providing you with the cheapest and best ticket for you to do your journey, we are not trying to catch you out, we may ask questions to try to save you money and to ensure we sell you a valid ticket for your journey.
We leave the nasty stuff to the RPIs!

Thank you for listening and have a pleasant journey.

 

[43167]

I have an Oyster Card which is useful if I am crossing London, eg Kings Cross to Victoria, but I am going to London on the purpose of riding round trains, then I will get a travelcard.

Last time I used it, I got to London from Brighton and changed at London Bridge to do the FCC across to KX. However I found the readers on the platform all dead. So had to do a quick tap at Farrington.

 

[Caped Crusader]

Maybe I didn't make myself clear, but believe it or not sometimes the difference between a single to London and a London Travelcard will actually be cheaper than a single to London and minimum fare on Oyster PAYG.
You may only be doing one journey on the tube, but it is still cheaper sometimes to buy a travelcard from outside London Zones than to use Oyster PAYG.

Ask us and if we ask you, please don't think we are trying to up-sell. We may be trying to save you money

 

[swt_passenger]

Or if on a route where your TOC's pricing manager was having an off day when setting the fares - definitely stick with PAYG or buy your travelcard on arrival.

EG Weymouth - Waterloo
Offpeak Day £58.90 - Offpeak T/C £72.90 - Difference £13.40
Super Offpeak Day £54.20 Super Offpeak T/C £57.60 - Difference £3.40

 

[RJ]

Maybe I didn't make myself clear, but believe it or not sometimes the difference between a single to London and a London Travelcard will actually be cheaper than a single to London and minimum fare on Oyster PAYG.
You may only be doing one journey on the tube, but it is still cheaper sometimes to buy a travelcard from outside London Zones than to use Oyster PAYG.

Ask us and if we ask you, please don't think we are trying to up-sell. We may be trying to save you money

In these parts, an ODT is roughly £5 - £6 more expensive than a CDR and similar for an ADT/SDR. Some people only want one return on the Underground. From £3.80 on Oyster, it can work out cheaper to do it that way. The only thing I avoid selling is those Train Tube SDR things - because the ADT is usually the same price or sometimes cheaper. Inboundary there is a principle that the TT SDR is capped at the ADT rate, don't think it applies outboundary however. Some people from outboundary stations ask for a return to Bank/Canary Wharf, what they really mean is that they want a Travelcard.

 

[ess]

i can save over £3 a day if i'm prepared to split at the oyster boundary and go find the validators, touch in and run back again to get back on the train. it's *just about* possible but often means having to wait for the next train. if only they'd put the oyster validators on the platform

 

[barrykas]

Or if on a route where your TOC's pricing manager was having an off day when setting the fares - definitely stick with PAYG or buy your travelcard on arrival.

Or in some cases, get a paper ticket to Zone U1 or U12 because it's cheaper than the one to London Terminals.

Princes Risborough - London Terminals Anytime Day Single: £12.80
Princes Risborough - Zone U1 Anytime Day Single: £12.30

Or how about:

Beaconsfield - Zone U1 Anytime Day Return: £25.50
Beaconsfield - St Albans Anytime Day Return: £21.00 (routed via London)

Cheers,

Barry

 

[causton]

Or in some cases, get a paper ticket to Zone U1 or U12 because it's cheaper than the one to London Terminals.

Princes Risborough - London Terminals Anytime Day Single: £12.80
Princes Risborough - Zone U1 Anytime Day Single: £12.30

Or how about:

Beaconsfield - Zone U1 Anytime Day Return: £25.50
Beaconsfield - St Albans Anytime Day Return: £21.00 (routed via London)

Cheers,

Barry

The reason for the second one is the fares to St Albans are set by First Capital Connect, who seem to have set the pricing for most stations in that area around the same (nearly all with a £13 CDR as well)!