London Using Railcard, or Not.

[30mog]

Having reached a certain age recently I now have a Railcard. Amongst other things using it for a trip to London from Sheffield next weekend. For various journeys over the weekend I have planned I’ve come to some conclusions on cheapest ways with or without claiming Railcard discount. Are there, or do you know, any tips as regards using a Railcard, or indeed not, to your advantage around London?

I have concluded:
1) If the start and finish stations are both National Rail and the journey can be completed using only NR services buy a ticket with railcard discount, even if both stations are in TFL Zones.
2) For journeys between stations within TFL zones compare the results of a NR journey planner and TFL‘s if unsure. As I’ve found one case of TFL’s contactless off peak adult single providing a journey by a slightly slower route cheaper than a single with a Railcard.

Finally on the subject of NR stations in London area, are those on Overground and Elizabeth Line classed as NR stations?

 

[JBuchananGB]

For pootling around London you could consider an Oyster Card. You can apply your National Railcard to an Oyster Card and you will get discounted fares. There is an up front cost, and the application of the RailCard to the Oyster Card has to be done by a TfL person at an underground station.

National Railcard discounts

National Railcard discounts on Tube, DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth line and National Rail services

tfl.gov.uk

 

[MikeWh]

For pootling around London you could consider an Oyster Card. You can apply your National Railcard to an Oyster Card and you will get discounted fares. There is an up front cost, and the application of the RailCard to the Oyster Card has to be done by a TfL person at an underground station.

National Railcard discounts

National Railcard discounts on Tube, DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth line and National Rail services

tfl.gov.uk

I'll second this. Within zones 1-9 there are no paper off-peak fares apart from a day travelcard. Oyster has off-peak fares and will cap at a cheaper rate than a day travelcard, especially if not going as far as zone 6. Only note of caution is not to use it for continuous roaming or for lengthy spells in a station. If you arrive at St Pancras just go down to the Underground station with your railcard and ask one of the staff members what to do.

 

[ChrisC]

I'll second this. Within zones 1-9 there are no paper off-peak fares apart from a day travelcard. Oyster has off-peak fares and will cap at a cheaper rate than a day travelcard, especially if not going as far as zone 6. Only note of caution is not to use it for continuous roaming or for lengthy spells in a station. If you arrive at St Pancras just go down to the Underground station with your railcard and ask one of the staff members what to do.

The TfL Travel Centre on the right, just after you enter the Underground Station at St Pancras is a good place to get a railcard loaded onto an Oyster. I’ve had my last two Senior Railcards added there very quickly with no problems. The staff there have been very friendly and helpful.

 

[30mog]

For pootling around London you could consider an Oyster Card. You can apply your National Railcard to an Oyster Card and you will get discounted fares. There is an up front cost, and the application of the RailCard to the Oyster Card has to be done by a TfL person at an underground station.

National Railcard discounts

National Railcard discounts on Tube, DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth line and National Rail services

tfl.gov.uk

Didn’t know this but I’ll bear it in mind. In detail, over two days I’ll go St.Panc to Lewisham for £2.95, New Cross to Leatherhead for £3.25 & Leatherhead to St.Panc. for £4.75 if I stick to plans. May be avoiding use of underground.

To clarify. Are you saying I can use my Railcard for discounts on LU, DLR etc. if I add it to an Oyster Card or just NR services?

Local to me. The tram to Sheffield is £3.40 single or £5.70 for a day ticket - no discount for being over 60 but will be free when I’m 67 (hopefully). Yet I can get discounts on local train journeys here. I think you can see the wider issue?

 

[Watershed]

Didn’t know this but I’ll bear it in mind. In detail, over two days I’ll go St.Panc to Lewisham for £2.95, New Cross to Leatherhead for £3.25 & Leatherhead to St.Panc. for £4.75 if I stick to plans. May be avoiding use of underground.

To clarify. Are you saying I can use my Railcard for discounts on LU, DLR etc. if I add it to an Oyster Card or just NR services?

The discount is applied to off-peak rail fares (both TfL and NR) as well as to off-peak daily caps (which discounted rail journeys plus undiscounted bus and tram journeys all count towards). Evening peak singles, which attract no Railcard discount, also count towards the off-peak daily cap (which is Railcard discounted).

 

[wildcard]

The only wrinkle to consider is during the evening peak , a Senior Railcard will discount your paper NR + Overground tickets, provided you stick to the NR network. No Senior discount if using an Oyster in the evening peak apart from the odd exception - for example , 'against the commuter flow' on the Watford Junction to Euston line. But don't buy a paper ticket for the Underground - ever !

 

[TUC]

It is by no means a given, even with a railcard discount, that buying a ticket which goes beyond a London Terminals station is cheaper than just using contactless/Oyster for the final leg.

 

[JBuchananGB]

@MikeWh is not just a Senior Fares Adviser. He is the fount of all knowledge about travel with oyster. He is the owner and author https://oysterfares.com/ I am flattered that he seconded my proposal, and would exhort the OP to take that advice!

 

[Deerfold]

Didn’t know this but I’ll bear it in mind. In detail, over two days I’ll go St.Panc to Lewisham for £2.95, New Cross to Leatherhead for £3.25 & Leatherhead to St.Panc. for £4.75 if I stick to plans. May be avoiding use of underground.

With a Senior Railcard on Oyster it's £2.10 St Pancras to Lewisham.

There's a one-off fee of £10.50 for a new Oystercard, that's gone up a lot since I got my last one, but if you've already got one you can use that.

Once a Railcard is added to an Oystercard it's no longer transferable.

 

[Belperpete]

Most people who regularly travel within London use contactless or Oyster, as they hide just how complex the underlying fare system can be. However, if the OP is only likely to make one trip to London, and by the sounds of it not make many journeys during it, he may not recoup the up front cost of the Oystercard.

For example, options for travelling to and from ST Pancras include a ticket to St Pancras via the tube, to London zone 1, or to London Thameslink. Whereas a ticket between Leatherhead and London terminals isn't valid to St Pancras. Oyster and contactless mean you don't have to worry about choosing the correct one, although you may not always get the best price.

Depending on what tickets the OP buys to travel down from Sheffield, it may be worth considering buying a through Sheffield to Leatherhead ticket, which may be little more expensive than a ticket to St Pancras. Even if you only use it to travel back from Leatherhead, it may still save money. Particularly as such tickets are not subject to the usual peak hour constraints that tickets for journeys wholly within the NSE area are.

 

[bb21]

Didn’t know this but I’ll bear it in mind. In detail, over two days I’ll go St.Panc to Lewisham for £2.95, New Cross to Leatherhead for £3.25 & Leatherhead to St.Panc. for £4.75 if I stick to plans. May be avoiding use of underground.

To clarify. Are you saying I can use my Railcard for discounts on LU, DLR etc. if I add it to an Oyster Card or just NR services?

Local to me. The tram to Sheffield is £3.40 single or £5.70 for a day ticket - no discount for being over 60 but will be free when I’m 67 (hopefully). Yet I can get discounts on local train journeys here. I think you can see the wider issue?

If that is all you are doing and you have no other immediate plan to travel around London any time soon then it may not be worth the fee for an Oyster card as they are not valid to/from Leatherhead, so you will need to purchase paper tickets for those two legs anyway to benefit from the Railcard discount (note the £3.25 is from New Cross Gate and not New Cross, avoiding London Terminals).