Cheapest ticket options - Barking to Lewes

[nik]

Hi all,

I am travelling off peak later this week, from Barking (in Essex) to Lewes (in Sussex). While Southern advertises Advance tickets, I could not find any, so I would appreciate advice and options on routes that will reduce the cost. I do not have a Gold Card/Annual travelcard so I cannot benefit from a third off. Checked brfares and cheapest I could find was about £31.70.

Ideas I have are:

BKG to LWS
Travelcard pay as you go to for Barking to central London and then tickets from Victoria or London Bridge
Tickets from boundary zones (and combining it with a PAYG oyster fare to travel into/out of London)

Would appreciate some help please!

Thank you.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 4 May 2021 ==

Forgot to mention - day is Friday 7 May. Also forgot to ask - do we need to book tickets in advance now or is travelling on trains still like before - just hopping on? Or is it crowd controlled etc?

 

[JonathanH]

Barking to Norwood Junction via West Ham / Canada Water is £1.70 each way off-peak on Oyster / Contactless.

Waddon to Gatwick Airport is £6.90 off-peak day return (and can be used to start short from Norwood Junction)

Gatwick Airport to Lewes is £14.20 off-peak day return

Total £24.50

Alternatively, if possible to book ahead (ie today), Southern Daysave can be used

Barking to Clapham Junction on Oyster / Contactless is £1.70 each way off-peak if touching on the pink reader at Canada Water or Whitechapel.

Then Southern Daysave is £21, valid on all Southern trains for the day subject to peak restrictions.

Total £24.40

 

[Watershed]

Probably best to use Oyster/contactless PAYG from Barking to London Victoria - that's £2.90 Off-Peak (touching in before 06:30 or after 09:29) or £4.00 Peak. Then an Advance ticket from Victoria to Lewes and back - these are still available for this Friday.

Advances are available on most "Off-Peak" services throughout the day - on the way to Lewes, it's £12.00 on the 09:24, £8.50 on most departures from 09:54 to 15:54 as well as the 20:24, and £5.00 on most departures from 20:54 till 22:45.

On the way back from Lewes, it's £12.00 on the 08:14 to 09:23 departures, £8.50 on trains from 09:57 till 13:27 and 16:27 till 19:57, then £5.00 on the 13:57 till 15:57 and 20:27 till 22:45 (except the 20:57).

So if you travelled Off-Peak from Barking to Victoria and back, and got an £8.50 Advance there and a £5.00 Advance back - e.g. departing Barking at 09:40, dep Victoria at 10:54, arr Lewes at 11:56; dep Lewes at 20:27, dep Fenchurch St at 22:41, arr Barking 22:55 - you would pay a total of £19.30.

Obviously the option outlined above by @JonathanH is a lot more flexible, albeit a little more expensive.

 

[nik]

Thanks. Which is the closest London station that the Daysave can be used from? If I decided to travel into London off peak straight into Victoria, would the Daysave allow me to board a Southern train from there (and back to London in the evening)?

If I buy the Daysave online, can I pick up the paper ticket on Friday at Victoria? I couldn't see anything that says that on Buy DaySave Train Ticket | DaySave Train Ticket | Southern Railway

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 4 May 2021 ==

Probably best to use Oyster/contactless PAYG from Barking to London Victoria - that's £2.90 Off-Peak (touching in before 0630 or after 0929) or £4.00 Peak. Then an Advance ticket from Victoria to Lewes - these are still available for this Friday.

Advances are available on most "Off-Peak" services throughout the day - £12.00 on the 09:24, £8.50 on most departures from 09:54 to 15:54 as well as the 20:24, and £5.00 on most departures from 20:54 till 22:45.

Thank you - where did you see those prices because when I inserted Friday 7 May, I could not see them?

 

[paul1609]

For Southern Advances from London to Lewes specifically search for "London Victoria" rather than London Terminals etc. Theres loads of availability this week.

 

[JonathanH]

Which is the closest London station that the Daysave can be used from? If I decided to travel into London off peak straight into Victoria, would the Daysave allow me to board a Southern train from there (and back to London in the evening)?

I gave Clapham Junction in my example because the Oyster cost avoiding Zone 1 is cheaper but Daysave can be used (on Southern trains only) from London Bridge (change at East Croydon) and London Victoria as well.

 

[Watershed]

If I buy the Daysave online, can I pick up the paper ticket on Friday at Victoria? I couldn't see anything that says that on Buy DaySave Train Ticket | DaySave Train Ticket | Southern Railway

You are told you can collect DaySave tickets from any Southern ticket machine (e.g. at Victoria). But you can actually pick the tickets up at any ticket machine with the 'Ticket on Departure' pick up facility.

Thank you - where did you see those prices because when I inserted Friday 7 May, I could not see them?

I find the "MixingDeck" brand of ticketing software makes it easy to compare the cost of Advances across the day - you can find it on the GWR website here for example. If you enter London Victoria to Lewes and then scroll down past the "start" or "end" of the list, you should be able to see 24 hours' worth of trains and the prices for each, e.g.:

 

[MikeWh]

Tickets from boundary zones (and combining it with a PAYG oyster fare to travel into/out of London)

Quick point to say that this doesn't work. A capped Oyster card is not the same as holding a travelcard so a boundary zone ticket is not valid.