Thameslink Advance Single - what might happen if I take the next train?

[Connacht]

Flight arrives in Luton at 10am.

I bought a Thameslink Advance Single from LTN to Farringdon for £8.80, saving £3.50 on the contactless fare.

I chose the 10:46am departure from LTN. The restriction is AP Thameslink only. I understand Advance means that specific train only.

There are six TL tph from LTN.

Let's say the flight is a bit late, and we don't make the 10:46am, the next TL train is at 10:50.

(1) The ticket will open the gates in LTN after 10:46am, I assume? Will it?

(2) What is the chance of us being checked on the next train by a conductor/guard?

(3) The ticket will open the gates in Farringdon, even 10-20 mins after planned arrival time?

Thanks.

 

[z444z]

(2) What is the chance of us being checked on the next train by a conductor/guard?

I can’t help with questions 1 and 3, but the answer to 2 is that the chances are very low because Thameslink services do not have conductors or guards, but if you encounter revenue protection, you can expect to receive a penalty fare or be reported for prosecution.

 

[Haywain]

(1) The ticket will open the gates in LTN after 10:46am, I assume? Will it?

It will not. The gates do not open for any Advance tickets. The time of your train will be checked manually.

(2) What is the chance of us being checked on the next train by a conductor/guard?

Close to zero, but not out of the question. However, you are unlikely to have been allowed past the barriers once your booked train has departed so this isn't particularly relevant.

(3) The ticket will open the gates in Farringdon, even 10-20 mins after planned arrival time?

Not sure.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I bought a Thameslink Advance Single from LTN to Farringdon for £8.80, saving £3.50 on the contactless fare.

'LTN' = Luton Airport Parkway, presumably? Don't think I'd have been risking a PF for such a modest saving when coming off a flight, which may or may not be on time. By the way, how are you getting from airport arrivals to the station and have you factored in sufficient time to do so? Has to be over a mile or so on foot.

 

[Connacht]

'LTN' = Luton Airport Parkway, presumably? Don't think I'd have been risking a PF for such a modest saving when coming off a flight, which may or may not be on time. By the way, how are you getting from airport arrivals to the station and have you factored in sufficient time to do so? Has to be over a mile or so on foot.

DART

 

[Connacht]

'LTN' = Luton Airport Parkway, presumably? Don't think I'd have been risking a PF for such a modest saving when coming off a flight, which may or may not be on time. By the way, how are you getting from airport arrivals to the station and have you factored in sufficient time to do so? Has to be over a mile or so on foot.

Yes, I had planned to pay £12.30 contactless from LTN to STP/ZFD, until I looked online last night. The flight is Friday morning.

I rang my companion, and told him the Advance fares: EMR £7.80 to STP, but just two tph, at 10:59am, and also TL to Farringdon for a pound more £8.80, with six tph.

"It's an extra pint", he replied, referring to the price of Carlsberg in Spoons in Cricklewood.

He said to go for the TL fare, as that brings us to Farringdon.

We'll hope for the best.

 

[blimmo]

I would point out that travelling with an advance ticket on the wrong train is committing a criminal offence. That is, according to the law it is more like shoplifting than not paying for parking. The chance of actually ending up prosecuted for it is very low (on Thameslink at least) but you should be aware that it is a possibility.

 

[Connacht]

I would point out that travelling with an advance ticket on the wrong train is committing a criminal offence.

Jaysus, ye are very strict compared to Ireland. I will tell my companion.


Even though the fare on the following trains is the same.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Jaysus, ye are very strict compared to Ireland. I will tell my companion.

That's the same Ireland where you can be prosecuted for the heinous crime of splitting tickets, then?

 

[agk2126]

If we want to increase the % of passengers who get to and from commercial airports by rail, it's incredibly silly not to allow passengers to buy the cheapest train tickets. Yet that's the effect. Advance tickets and unreliable flights are a bad fit, and this definitely blunts the policy goal of shifting airport access onto rail.

Why isn't Manchester's Airport Advance scheme universal practice at all airport stations?

Seems like an easy exception to the inflexibility of Advance Singles. If a passenger (a) holds a ticket originating at an airport station, perhaps including Luton Airport Parkway, and (b) can produce a boarding pass for an inbound flight and (c) can display evidence that flight was delayed, then they can travel on a subsequent train with the earlier Advance ticket.

Of course, this is a bit of a slippery slope into other situations. What other external delays would justify flexibility on Advance tickets? The airport example seems clear, though, because of the massive amounts of money spent on airport rail links and the stated policy priority of more airport access by rail.

 

[redreni]

If your flight is on time, it's all grand. If your flight is late, your ticket has no value and, as @Haywain points out, you'd probably be refused entry at the barrier at Luton Airport Parkway and would have to tap in and pay the Contactless fare.

So you've effectively paid an £8.80 stake for a potential return of a £3.50 fare saving as long as your flight is more or less on time. That may not be a crazy bet, depending what the punctuality stats are like for the flight you're taking.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jan 2026 ==

If we want to increase the % of passengers who get to and from commercial airports by rail, it's incredibly silly not to allow passengers to buy the cheapest train tickets. Yet that's the effect. Advance tickets and unreliable flights are a bad fit, and this definitely blunts the policy goal of shifting airport access onto rail.

Why isn't Manchester's Airport Advance scheme universal practice at all airport stations?

Seems like an easy exception to the inflexibility of Advance Singles. If a passenger (a) holds a ticket originating at an airport station, perhaps including Luton Airport Parkway, and (b) can produce a boarding pass for an inbound flight and (c) can display evidence that flight was delayed, then they can travel on a subsequent train with the earlier Advance ticket.

Of course, this is a bit of a slippery slope into other situations. What other external delays would justify flexibility on Advance tickets? The airport example seems clear, though, because of the massive amounts of money spent on airport rail links and the stated policy priority of more airport access by rail.

I concur 100%

 

[Bletchleyite]

I concur 100%

I don't. Responded here:

Advance tickets and airports - how should it work?

If we want to increase the % of passengers who get to and from commercial airports by rail, it's incredibly silly not to allow passengers to buy the cheapest train tickets. Yet that's the effect. Advance tickets and unreliable flights are a bad fit, and this definitely blunts the policy goal...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Egg Centric]

Jaysus, ye are very strict compared to Ireland. I will tell my companion.

Yup, you may find the Disputes and Prosecutions subforum here illuminating. While it's not a high risk, it's not a fanciful one either.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

DART

Is it extra to use the Luton DART? More than the rail fare "saving"?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Is it extra to use the Luton DART? More than the rail fare "saving"?

It's roughly a fiver each way.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

It's roughly a fiver each way.

Thanks. So the OP could have walked from the airport to Luton Airport Parkway station, got a semi-flexible walk-up off peak rail ticket, and still saved some money on what they're now doing?!

 

[Crithylum]

Thanks. So the OP could have walked from the airport to Luton Airport Parkway station, got a semi-flexible walk-up off peak rail ticket, and still saved some money on what they're now doing?!

Yes. When I had to go to Luton the EMR advance single from St Pancras was less money than the Dart would’ve been (I didn’t mind the 25 minute walk as the weather was good).

 

[Haywain]

So the OP could have walked from the airport to Luton Airport Parkway station, got a semi-flexible walk-up off peak rail ticket, and still saved some money on what they're now doing?!

Yes, but as far as the walk is concerned it's not the most pleasant - it's along busy roads, not through a grassy and quiet park - and I wouldn't want to do it if I had hold luggage to cart around as well.

 

[MrJeeves]

it's along busy roads, not through a grassy and quiet park - and I wouldn't want to do it if I had hold luggage to cart around as well.

Nor in the weather we've had recently either!

 

[Hadders]

My view is that the industry should not be offering Advance fares between stations where contactless PAYG is available.

 

[MrJeeves]

My view is that the industry should not be offering Advance fares between stations where contactless PAYG is available.

Agreed.

It makes no sense for a turn-up-and-go railway which offers PAYG to also have booked-train-only tickets.

 

[sheff1]

My view is that the industry should not be offering Advance fares between stations where contactless PAYG is available.

So a fares increase for those who can be certain of the train they will catch. Doubly so for Railcard holders.

I think we have had more than enough sneaky backdoor increases already.

 

[Hadders]

Agreed.

It makes no sense for a turn-up-and-go railway which offers PAYG to also have booked-train-only tickets.

Platforms at places like Farringdon and St Pancras Low Level are already crowded. The last thing we need is people waiting longer than needed for their booked train.

I'd wager a bet that the majority of shortter distance Advance tickets on Thameslink trains get used on the wrong train - especially on journeys from London in the afternoon/evening (after a day out).

So a fares increase for those who can be certain of the train they will catch. Doubly so for Railcard holders.

I think we have had more than enough sneaky backdoor increases already.

Advance tickets between St Pancras and Luton Airport Parkway on Thameslink were only introduced in March 2025. My view is their introduction just complicates matters at a time when people are wanting simplification.

Now, as regular readers will know, simplification often results in good value fares being withdrawn resulting in fares increases. This isn't the case here. Advance fares should never have been introduced less than a year ago given the small saving, the turn up and go service and the high risk of passengers travelling on the train (deliberately or inadvertently) aided and abeted by Luton Airport Parkway serving an airport.

 

[tumbledown]

So a fares increase for those who can be certain of the train they will catch.

Who are being subsidised by those who can't (who are not inferior passengers).

 

[sheff1]

Advance tickets between St Pancras and Luton Airport Parkway on Thameslink were only introduced in March 2025.

St Pancras - Luton Airport Parkway is far from the only station pair with both PAYG & Advance tickets. Some such pairings have had Advance tickets for years.

 

[Hadders]

St Pancras - Luton Airport Parkway is far from the only station pair with both PAYG & Advance tickets. Some such pairings have had Advance tickets for years.

I am still of the view that Advance tickets should not exist where PAYG on contactless is in place.

You may disagree with my view (and that's fine), but I am not going to change my opinion.

 

[redreni]

I'm not comfortable with Advances and PAYG co-existing either. I feel, though, that the over-expansion of PAYG to the point where the area is vast and you can make quite lengthy and expensive regional trips - for which a price really should be offered and formally accepted by the passenger before travel - is at least as much of an issue as the over-use of Advances for piddly little journeys.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'm not comfortable with Advances and PAYG co-existing either. I feel, though, that the over-expansion of PAYG to the point where the area is vast and you can make quite lengthy and expensive regional trips - for which a price really should be offered and formally accepted by the passenger before travel - is at least as much of an issue as the over-use of Advances for piddly little journeys.

Replied here: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...how-should-it-work.297363/page-2#post-7633419

 

[Connacht]

Delays in Knock airport, so I was worried.

But we made it, we are on the train now.

As stated earlier, the Advance tickets did not open the gates at LTN. There were no staff at the gate line, six minutes before departure.

We asked a DART employee, and he opened the gates. He wasn't interested in scanning the tickets.

 

[Haywain]

There were no staff at the gate line, six minutes before departure.

We asked a DART employee,

The gatelines on the DART side are staffed by DART.