Boundary Zone 3 Ticket to Gatwick Airport

[LondonJohn]

Firstly Happy New Year to all forum members.

Would like to call upon the experts on this site if at all possible so hope someone can help. I have a paper annual Wimbledon - London Z1-3 travelcard and will be travelling to Gatwick Airport on 24 January 2012.

My flight is around 4pm so I will be travelling around 1pm.

I have a couple of questions that I wonder if you can help me with.

What would be the fare Boundary Zone 3 to Gatwick Airport with a Gold Card for travel on this journey ?

Would the ticket be valid from London Bridge or Victoria ?

If I choose to go from Victoria not wanting to open the can of worms but would it be valid on the Express trains or would I have to use Southern's regular train service.

My final question would be I know you can't buy boundary tickets online but can you buy it from a named station to Gatwick Airport if so which one.

The only reason that I ask is that when previously buying a ticket from Gatwick to BZ3, I was sold a ticket from Gatwick to a named station (can't remember which one it was). Don't mind paying a few p more if I can book the ticket online.

Thanks in advance guys.

 

[John @ home]

I have a paper annual Wimbledon - London Z1-3 travelcard and will be travelling to Gatwick Airport on 24 January 2012 ... around 1pm.

If I were travelling Wimbledon - Gatwick Airport, I would use the Z1-3 Travelcard Wimbledon - East Croydon on the tram. Then a Single with a Gold Card East Croydon to Gatwick Airport is £3.30.

What would be the fare Boundary Zone 3 to Gatwick Airport with a Gold Card

£6.85.

Would the ticket be valid from London Bridge or Victoria?

Yes.

If I choose to go from Victoria ... would it be valid on the Express.

No. A £6.85 Boundary Zone 3 to Gatwick Airport ticket is routed "NOT GATWICK EXP". You would need the £10.65 Gold Card Boundary Zone 3 to Gatwick Airport route "+ ANY PERMITTED".

My final question would be I know you can't buy boundary tickets online but can you buy it from a named station to Gatwick Airport if so which one.

In these circumstances, buying a ticket with the origin as a named station introduces a number of difficulties and I don't recommend it.

Firstly, the advantage of the Boundary Zone ticket is that the train doesn't need to stop at the station where you change from one ticket to the other. This isn't so for a combination of a Travelcard and a ticket from a named station, although reports here suggest that limitation is seldom enforced. Ignore this paragraph - it applies to Day Travelcards, not your Annual Travelcard.

Secondly, if you buy a ticket from a named station, this can be used only on a train which passes through that station. This would require you to choose between Norbury, Gipsy Hill or Sydenham, losing a lot of flexibility.

 

[LondonJohn]

If I were travelling Wimbledon - Gatwick Airport, I would use the Z1-3 Travelcard Wimbledon - East Croydon on the tram. Then a Single with a Gold Card East Croydon to Gatwick Airport is £3.30.
£6.85.
Yes.
No. A £6.85 Boundary Zone 3 to Gatwick Airport ticket is routed "NOT GATWICK EXP". You would need the £10.65 Gold Card Boundary Zone 3 to Gatwick Airport route "+ ANY PERMITTED".
In these circumstances, buying a ticket with the origin as a named station introduces a number of validity problems and I don't recommend it.

Firstly, the advantage of the Boundary Zone ticket is that the train doesn't need to stop at the station where you change from one ticket to the other. This isn't so for a combination of a Travelcard and a ticket from a named station, although reports here suggest that limitation is seldom enforced.

Secondly, if you buy a ticket from a named station, this can be used only on a train which passes through that station. This would require you to choose between Norbury, Gipsy Hill or Sydenham, losing a lot of flexibility.

Thanks for such a prompt and thorough answer. My ticket is issued from Wimbledon so that I get the SWT Gold Service tickets I don't actually live there but it might be worth considering as I have time on my hands.

Interesting what you say about named stations as it was an a ticket clerk at Gatwick sold me a ticket to a named station as opposed to BZ3.

I do hope that BZ tickets can be purchased online soon as that would make life easier for lots of people.

 

[RJ]

Hi LondonJohn,

If I was in your position, I would buy a Crystal Palace to Gatwick Airport ticket. With a Gold Card, an Anytime Day Single is £5.70. For some reason, all of the walkup fares in the opposite direction are different, but the Anytime Day Single from Gatwick Airport to Crystal Palace will be £5.75 if you're travelling after 10am, or £8.70 if not.

The ticket is valid by either of these two routes;

Crystal Palace --> Tulse Hill --> Streatham Common --> East Croydon --> Gatwick Airport.

Crystal Palace --> Sydenham --> East Croydon --> Gatwick Airport.

In conjunction with your Zone 1-3 Travelcard, the entire journey from London will be covered so you are free to take any fast train which does not stop at Sydenham or Streatham Common, including the Gatwick Express.

I do have to warn you that using tickets routed Not Via London on trains out of London, despite being legitimate, is asking for trouble. Take my word for it. This kind of combination is very much "me" style, which isn't necessarily a good thing if you encounter a ticket inspector who doesn't have their wits about them.

 

[LondonJohn]

Thanks both of you for your replies, I think I will get a BZ3-Gatwick ticket for the same of a just a token amount. I did look at the Crystal Palace option online but it didnt have those prices available and having a plane to catch don't want the hassle of any delays on arrival.

I now need to take a second flight from Gatwick with a take off time of 6am on a Friday morning (1 March). Can I buy a cheap day single with my Gold Card discount dated 28 Feburary for the ticket to be valid until 4.30am the following day hence valid to get the train to Gatwick around 3am/3.30am ?

 

[Stats]

Interesting what you say about named stations as it was an a ticket clerk at Gatwick sold me a ticket to a named station as opposed to BZ3.

That is because BZ tickets cannot be sold for journeys in to London. They have to be sold to the first named station within the zones covered by your season ticket.

 

[RJ]

Thanks both of you for your replies, I think I will get a BZ3-Gatwick ticket for the same of a just a token amount. I did look at the Crystal Palace option online but it didnt have those prices available and having a plane to catch don't want the hassle of any delays on arrival.

I've tried National Rail Enquires and the Southern website, the prices I quoted are showing for me. £5.70 is showing as the cheapest fare towards Gatwick, £5.75 is showing as the cheapest fare towards Crystal Palace.

That is because BZ tickets cannot be sold for journeys in to London. They have to be sold to the first named station within the zones covered by your season ticket.

Yes, they can. What you have stated for is the case for some areas, like the majority of c2c network, but it has no relevance to the area being discussed in this thread.

 

[island]

Thanks both of you for your replies, I think I will get a BZ3-Gatwick ticket for the same of a just a token amount. I did look at the Crystal Palace option online but it didnt have those prices available and having a plane to catch don't want the hassle of any delays on arrival.

I now need to take a second flight from Gatwick with a take off time of 6am on a Friday morning (1 March). Can I buy a cheap day single with my Gold Card discount dated 28 Feburary for the ticket to be valid until 4.30am the following day hence valid to get the train to Gatwick around 3am/3.30am ?

That seems fine, except that there is no CDS for that journey. Have you looked at splitting at East Croydon? My usual for this journey — and I also hold a 1-3 annual — is Sydenham London to Croydon Stations SDS £2.20 plus Croydon Stations to Gatwick Airport SDS £3.25. Beats the through ticket from Boundary Zone 3 by £1.40 or the through ticket from Sydenham London by 35p. I always go from London Bridge.

You can go cheaper again by using Oyster PAYG as far as East Croydon, but you will have to get off and get the next train there as there are no Oyster readers on the platforms.

That is because BZ tickets cannot be sold for journeys in to London. They have to be sold to the first named station within the zones covered by your season ticket.

That is quite wrong, and has been since September 2011, although the myth is still being peddled frequently, in particular by London Midland.

 

[Stats]

That is quite wrong, and has been since September 2011, although the myth is still being peddled frequently, in particular by London Midland.

Well, it was true when I held a TfL Season Ticket. I didn't know the rule had been changed. They hardly shout these kind of changes from the rooftops. That's the problem with the rail industry too complicated fare rules which are not in any way transparent.

 

[island]

With that much I cannot argue!