London Luton and Stansted ticket

Hi all, me and a friend are travelling out of the country and are flying out of Luton and arriving back into Stanstead and I was wondering what the cheapest mix of tickets would be. Would need to be semi-flexible tickets however any split ideas would be welcome. We will only need tickets to Luton Airport Parkway as we will just walk to the airport from there. The first one will be tonight departing St Pancras at between 23:00-00:30 heading to London Luton Parkway and the return will be on Saturday around 19:00 from Stanstead Airport to any London terminal though we will need to connect to Paddington again once we arrive. There are two passengers, one holding a Priv card and another holding a 16-17 railcard. Thanks for any assistance

Because these routes are in the Oval area they are single fare priced (ish)*, so singles with Railcard/Priv and then contactless for the Tube (there don't appear to be any fares from Stansted to U1) are not going to be particularly poor value. I'll leave it to others as to whether there are any clever savings, but Oval does make these things simpler.

(Luton isn't quite single fare priced, there seems to be a three quid premium for a paper single, presumably because it's pre the later Oval expansion? However I don't think that kills the idea as it's not much of a premium)

* There doesn't even seem to *be* anything other than an off peak day return from Stansted to London Terminals, which is unusual for non-LNER priced flows. Most of Oval does have Anytime Day Returns albeit priced the same as two singles.

Off-peak day single London Terminals to Luton. Finish short at Luton Airport Parkway?

On the return, an off-peak day single to Acton Main Line might be a good shout - change at Stratford or Liverpool Street for the Elizabeth Line to Paddington and finish short? Also consider splitting wherever your intended train calls (e.g. Bishops Stortford).

redreni said:

Off-peak day single London Terminals to Luton. Finish short at Luton Airport Parkway?

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Is the correct answer.

redreni said:

Off-peak day single London Terminals to Luton. Finish short at Luton Airport Parkway

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This looks like the best option for tonight. Is there any restrictions that would block us from leaving at Luton Airport Parkway or any issues that may arise? If not we will use this ticket for today.

Quincy said:

Is there any restrictions that would block us from leaving at Luton Airport Parkway or any issues that may arise?

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No. It may not operate the barriers at Parkway but they see plenty of them and won't see it as a problem. And make sure you get the London Terminals ticket, not the London Thameslink ticket which is a tad more expensive.

Yes, last time I checked I saved 5p by getting the ticket from London Terminals not London Thameslink. But hey, it's a small victory over the absurd fares system. Unfortunately the London Terminals fare isn't available when southbound, for no obvious reason.

redreni said:

Also consider splitting wherever your intended train calls (e.g. Bishops Stortford).

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Worth highlighting this - there are substantial savings to be made by splitting because of the fare increases GA sneaked through when they extended Project Oval to Stansted.

Unfortunately the calling pattern of 3 of the 4 trains each hour is different (at off-peak times - at peak times it's different again). So you have to buy your ticket on the day once you know which service you are taking, unless you want to be tied to one/two of the 4tph.

It's utterly bonkers to be honest; a textbook example in how not to do these kinds of changes.

ClivePage said:

Yes, last time I checked I saved 5p by getting the ticket from London Terminals not London Thameslink.

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The difference is 60p, or 40p with a railcard discount.