Paper travelcard with Network Railcard discount

[Stargull]

Hi

More London advice needed!

I want to buy a day travelcard for Sunday, which I think means I can apply a Network Railcard discount.

Does this have to be purchased from a National Rail station (and does Old Street count?). If so, could I do it in advance or only on Sunday?

Thanks all.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 Jan 2026 ==

(I suspect there is a way to do this online, but I've failed to make Avanti or the forum site comply)

 

[Swedenorer]

Try Southern I can get it to offer a Network Card Day Travelcard for £11 from Old Street against a £9.65 return. Look at the box on the right hand side of the results screen and there is always a Buy Travelcard option if it is available.

Trouble is you can't collect TOD at Old Street and e-tickets won't work. Suggest going through the process and before paying scroll through the list of places you can print at and see if any suit - you seem to be able to at Finsbury Park for example.

It is about time TfL were told the facts of life.

 

[Hadders]

The forum's site will sell a travelcard but you need to select a station that is not a London Terminal. For example, Finsbury Park to London Travelcard Zones 1-6 will work.

There is not need to collect the ticket from Finsbury Park, you can collect it from any National Rail ticket machine that supports ToD. Note that as Old Street is operated by London Underground you won't be able to collect it there.

I think in theory you can purchase a discounted Travelcard from a London Underground self service ticket machine but I'm not really familiar with them these days. Perhaps someone else knows for sure.

 

[drueberflug]

(I suspect there is a way to do this online, but I've failed to make Avanti or the forum site comply)

Just look for a Paddington to Old Street Open Return, this worked for both Avanti and the forum site.

but you need to select a station that is not a London Terminal.

You may want to look above, both Old Street and London Paddington are technically London Terminals.

 

[Hadders]

You may want to look above, both Old Street and London Paddington are technically London Terminals.

I searched for Old Street to London Travelcard Zones 1-6. That doesn't work.

A search for a journey from one London station to another will return a Travelcard as an option. I often used Stevenage to Twickenham to force a travelcard when I'm buying one.

 

[yorkie]

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 Jan 2026 ==

(I suspect there is a way to do this online, but I've failed to make Avanti or the forum site comply)

Our ticketing website will happily sell Travelcards.

Can you provide a search link?

 

[323235]

I think in theory you can purchase a discounted Travelcard from a London Underground self service ticket machine but I'm not really familiar with them these days. Perhaps someone else knows for sure.

You can indeed, I’ve bought tickets with my disabled railcard at Euston Square tube station in the last few months.

 

[Joe Paxton]

You can indeed, I’ve bought tickets with my disabled railcard at Euston Square tube station in the last few months.

Yes, you can simply buy a Network Railcard discounted Day Travelcard from an LU ticket machine at the weekends / on bank holidays.

These are photos taken about a year ago at an LU ticket machine...


This is a Network Railcard discounted Day Travelcard for zones 1-6:



And a Network Railcard discounted Day Travelcard for zones 1-9:

 

[winks]

I noticed this the other day at LU ticket machines, so the paper ticket is cheaper than Oyster /Contactless - On weekends ?

 

[Sonic1234]

I noticed this the other day at LU ticket machines, so the paper ticket is cheaper than Oyster /Contactless - On weekends ?

Can be, depending on how much you are travelling. Oyster isn't always the cheapest.

 

[Starmill]

I noticed this the other day at LU ticket machines, so the paper ticket is cheaper than Oyster /Contactless - On weekends ?

Yes with a Network Railcard this is common. Generally not with a National Railcard or Gold Card however.

 

[Joe Paxton]

I noticed this the other day at LU ticket machines, so the paper ticket is cheaper than Oyster /Contactless - On weekends ?

Can be, depending on how much you are travelling. Oyster isn't always the cheapest.

As @Sonic1234 says, if you're going to hit a daily cap then it can be - though not if you're just going to hit the zones 1&2 daily cap of £8.90.

 

[Stargull]

Just to say thank you to everyone who helped...and that

Our ticketing website will happily sell Travelcards.

Yorkie is correct here. However, I think i can replicate what I was seeing.

If I search for today (or for Friday) for a journey Old Street to Paddington, all is well. If I try and do that for next Sunday, I get 'No results were found for your current search.'. I wonder if I can't search in advance for this journey?

 

[yorkie]

If I search for today (or for Friday) for a journey Old Street to Paddington, all is well. If I try and do that for next Sunday, I get 'No results were found for your current search.'. I wonder if I can't search in advance for this journey?

Just search for anything else in the area; a Travelcard could be issued against any valid itinerary, it really doesn't matter how you book it.

There are no NR trains from Old Street next Sunday, but you can use the Northern Line instead.

 

[Joe Paxton]

Just search for anything else in the area; a Travelcard could be issued against any valid itinerary, it really doesn't matter how you book it.

There are no NR trains from Old Street next Sunday, but you can use the Northern Line instead.

I have wondered whether an online ticket booking engine [*] could simply offer sales of London Travelcards - and perhaps other similar products (e.g. 'PTE' area passes) - without the need to generate an itinerary whatsoever... or would that not pass muster for accreditation?


* An aside but I still turn to using the term "booking engines", but at the same time it does feel somehow rather antiquated! Is "online ticket retailer" a more accessible term I wonder?
(Though the term "online" is itself arguably somewhat incongruous in an age when many people are connected, at least partially, via wireless means or one sort of the other!)

 

[Sonic1234]

though not if you're just going to hit the zones 1&2 daily cap of £8.90.

The main times where you're better off with paper is if you have a Network Railcard and going to hit a cap over £10.70 at the weekend, if you're making a National Rail journey within the Zones and have a railcard that can't be added to Oyster, if you are travelling in the evening peak with a railcard or you want to visit several places along a route where break of journey on a paper ticket is better value than several Oyster fares.

Other cases might be if you are connecting to a service using Advance and want proof of having taken a connection if you are delayed (so it is considered as one journey), if it is awkward to tap out and in if you are switching at some point between Oyster and paper or if you are coming into the London Zones on a long distance service and are sufficiently delayed so you can claim delay repay including the local journey. Only time I bought a rip-off mixed mode (LU and NR) paper ticket was because GWR were paying!

 

[redreni]

As an aside, as well as being widely available as paper tickets, Inboundary Day Travelcards can be issued to TOC Smartcards at ticket offices (any ticket office should do this but your mileage may vary) or Smartcard-enabled TVMs (ditto), or online if the retail website/app of whichever TOC's Smartcard it is will offer it for Smartcard fulfilment (which not all do).

I have a GWR Smartcard for the sole purpose of being able to buy a Network Railcard-discounted Inboundary Z1-6 Day Travelcard on the day of travel, load it to my Smartcard from the comfort of my home, walk to the bus stop and take the bus to the train station using the Travelcard. I find this a useful alternative to having to buy the ticket ahead of time.

 

[Stargull]

There are no NR trains from Old Street next Sunday, but you can use the Northern Line instead.

Thanks - how extremely stupid of me not to think of that.

 

[winks]

As an aside, as well as being widely available as paper tickets, Inboundary Day Travelcards can be issued to TOC Smartcards at ticket offices (any ticket office should do this but your mileage may vary) or Smartcard-enabled TVMs (ditto), or online if the retail website/app of whichever TOC's Smartcard it is will offer it for Smartcard fulfilment (which not all do).

I have a GWR Smartcard for the sole purpose of being able to buy a Network Railcard-discounted Inboundary Z1-6 Day Travelcard on the day of travel, load it to my Smartcard from the comfort of my home, walk to the bus stop and take the bus to the train station using the Travelcard. I find this a useful alternative to having to buy the ticket ahead of time.

I do this to.

But sadly the Evening Out / Sunday Out Day Travelcards with SWR can’t be loaded so you pay over £5 for the privilege of using smartcard. So I revert to Paper for weekend travel.