London Travelcard question

[_toommm_]

I'm starting a new commute from Streatham Hill (SRH) to Kingston (KNG) via Clapham Junction (CLJ). SRH to KNG is zone 3 to 6, but I would change at CLJ zone 2. If I were to buy a travelcard, would a z3 to z6 suffice (if it exists), or would I need a z2 to z6 please?

For context, I'd be commuting 4.5 times a week, and have a 26-30 railcard if PAYG would be cheaper. I've researched but couldn't find anything concrete on tje above, and I'm worried of falling foul of the rules having only lived in London for 6 months. Thank you

 

[Benjwri]

You need to cover all the zones you travel through on the travelcard, so you would need a Zone 2 to 6 travelcard.

Unfortunately a railcard will not help for peak fares commuting this much. How much do you travel outside of this commute? A season ticket between Streatham Hill and Kingston is £15 a week cheaper than a Zone 2-6 travelcard, so if you would be paying less than this for the rest of your journeys in zone 2-6 every week on average it will make more send to get the point to point season ticket.

Also worth considering if you can easily get to Tulse Hill or Streatham, an alternate route taking Thameslink to Wimbledon and then SWR to Kingston would be valid on a Zones 3-6 Travelcard.

 

[Haywain]

If I were to buy a travelcard, would a z3 to z6 suffice (if it exists), or would I need a z2 to z6 please?

A zone 3 to 6 Travelcard would be sufficient if held on Oyster alongside a Pay As You Go balance. Without a PAYG balance you would need zone 2 to be included in the Travelcard.

 

[Watershed]

A zone 3 to 6 Travelcard would be sufficient if held on Oyster alongside a Pay As You Go balance. Without a PAYG balance you would need zone 2 to be included in the Travelcard.

There is nothing stopping you from using a Zones 3-6 Travelcard on Oyster as you describe. However, since the 'deemed route' from Streatham Hill to Kingston involves passing through Zone 2, you would be charged an extension PAYG fare every time you make that journey. You can see the deemed route for this (and any other PAYG journey) on @MikeWh 's Oyster Fares finder here.

The extension fare would likely be charged at the cost of a Zone 2 NR-scale single, i.e. £3 at peak times. Given the extra £6 per day cost and 4.5 days of commuting per week, it would be far cheaper just to buy the Travelcard as Zones 2-6 in the first place, as it costs only £11.40 extra per week.

@_toommm_ there are a number of tricks you can use if you buy a season ticket (whether point to point National Rail-only, or a Travelcard) to minimise the effective cost. The main one is to buy 'custom period' season tickets for 1 month and a couple of days, such as to cover 5 weeks of commuting at a time. This way you avoid paying for a weekend each time you buy your season ticket.

I'm not sure if you can load 'custom period' season tickets onto Oyster though, would be interested if anyone knows the answer to that.

 

[MikeWh]

I'm not sure if you can load 'custom period' season tickets onto Oyster though, would be interested if anyone knows the answer to that.

You can load custom period travelcards onto Oyster, yes. Choose "Odd period travelcard" from the dropdown once you've said you want to buy a travelcard.

 

[_toommm_]

Thank you all - lots to consider. I'll give my first month a go with just PAYG credit as there are occasional I finish at 19:00/19:30 which I hope will drive the cost down.

 

[Gareth1990]

If you really wanted to save money you could get to Kingston on one bus, the 57 for 1.75 each way