Gatwick with a travelcard

[island]

I have an annual z1-3 travelcard and want to travel from London Terminals (I'm reasonably ambivalent as to which one) to Gatwick Airport. I'm going to rule out the Gatwick Express at this point because there's no Gold Card discount on it. An anytime return from Boundary Zone 3 (0042) to Gatwick is £18.90, although in reality I would be getting two anytime singles at £6.25 routed NOT GATWICK EXP (as I will returning on a different day and there are no returns besides day returns coming up for me).

However, is there anything wrong with getting a ticket from Sydenham (if travelling from London Bridge or City Thameslink) or Norbury (if travelling from Victoria) to Gatwick? These are only £5/£6.10 and I understand that the train doesn't have to call at the station where I change from one ticket to another because one ticket is a season ticket and the other isn't.

Am I missing anything here?

 

[John @ home]

I have an annual z1-3 travelcard

Is your annual z1-3 Travelcard on paper or on Oyster?

 

[IainH]

Almost - you need to get a "Boundary Zone 3" to Gatwick, which you can only get at the ticket office. You could use this on the Gatwick Express, but as you say you would not get your gold card discount, but of course you wont get this before 10am anyway so it may be worthwhile to go this way.

 

[MikeWh]

I have an annual z1-3 travelcard and want to travel from London Terminals (I'm reasonably ambivalent as to which one) to Gatwick Airport. I'm going to rule out the Gatwick Express at this point because there's no Gold Card discount on it. An anytime return from Boundary Zone 3 (0042) to Gatwick is £18.90, although in reality I would be getting two anytime singles at £6.25 routed NOT GATWICK EXP (as I will returning on a different day and there are no returns besides day returns coming up for me).

However, is there anything wrong with getting a ticket from Sydenham (if travelling from London Bridge or City Thameslink) or Norbury (if travelling from Victoria) to Gatwick? These are only £5/£6.10 and I understand that the train doesn't have to call at the station where I change from one ticket to another because one ticket is a season ticket and the other isn't.

Am I missing anything here?

Sorry I somehow missed this thread earlier. There is just one potential problem with using specific stations. You cannot be 100% certain that the train will go through either of the two stations mentioned. The safest option is Sydenham on a train departing from London Bridge. If the advertised journey time between London Bridge and East Croydon is 15-18 minutes then it will go that way. If coming from City Thameslink then you need to make sure that it calls at London Bridge and that the journey time is advertised as before. If it doesn't call at London Bridge then it won't go through Sydenham. The grayest area is from Victoria. The 4-track mainline runs through Norbury and is most likely to be used, but the diversion via Crystal Palace is possible without adding too much to the journey, depending on how many slow trains are in the area.

When travelling northbound you will have the benefit of being able to change at East Croydon should the guard suggest that there is a problem with your ticket. The other issue northbound is that the specific tickets restrict you just to the trains going that way, though I'm sure you realise that. There are a few fast trains between East Croydon and London which do not come from Gatwick, so you are obviously free to take the 'wrong' train and change.

Finally, if your travelcard is loaded onto an Oystercard, remember that it is their responsibility to be able to check you have a season loaded; if they can't (because they haven't got a reader) then they have to assume you do. The gold card record card would probably help though.

 

[jon0844]

Surely you can combine a zonal ticket with anything, so getting a ticket to a station within the last zone (if you can't get to a ticket office to get the boundary extension) is fine.

In fact, given the need to get single tickets, I had to get a ticket to a named station coming back from Gatwick to London as they can't issue a ticket to BZ6. It's silly too, as it means paying more to come from Gatwick to London than the other way around - and there's nothing you can do about it!

 

[MikeWh]

Surely you can combine a zonal ticket with anything, so getting a ticket to a station within the last zone (if you can't get to a ticket office to get the boundary extension) is fine.

In fact, given the need to get single tickets, I had to get a ticket to a named station coming back from Gatwick to London as they can't issue a ticket to BZ6. It's silly too, as it means paying more to come from Gatwick to London than the other way around - and there's nothing you can do about it!

BZ6 might be cheaper as there is only one route then, but by BZ3 the routes have split so the direct fares are cheaper. And as I said, you can combine a zonal ticket with a point-to-point ticket as long as the train goes through the end of the point-to-point ticket that lies within the zones. If you have a Gatwick to Sydenham ticket and use a FCC train that runs from East Croydon to Blackfriars via Tulse Hill then it is not valid.

 

[paul1609]

Assuming that you are returning within a month and are happy to use a station on the Thameslink route I'd recommend a London St Pancras to Gatwick Airport Anytime Return Route "Not allowed on the Underground" at £11.20 with Gold Card discount.

 

[island]

Thanks all for the replies.

Is your annual z1-3 Travelcard on paper or on Oyster?

Oyster, for what it matters, but I will be carrying the Gold Record card anyway in order to get the gold discount.

Almost - you need to get a "Boundary Zone 3" to Gatwick, which you can only get at the ticket office. You could use this on the Gatwick Express, but as you say you would not get your gold card discount, but of course you wont get this before 10am anyway so it may be worthwhile to go this way.

The reason I was looking to do it differently is because the fares from named stations are cheaper.

Sorry I somehow missed this thread earlier. There is just one potential problem with using specific stations. You cannot be 100% certain that the train will go through either of the two stations mentioned. The safest option is Sydenham on a train departing from London Bridge. If the advertised journey time between London Bridge and East Croydon is 15-18 minutes then it will go that way. If coming from City Thameslink then you need to make sure that it calls at London Bridge and that the journey time is advertised as before. If it doesn't call at London Bridge then it won't go through Sydenham. The grayest area is from Victoria. The 4-track mainline runs through Norbury and is most likely to be used, but the diversion via Crystal Palace is possible without adding too much to the journey, depending on how many slow trains are in the area.

Thanks, London Bridge is probably more convenient for me anyway as I work near St. Paul's.

Assuming that you are returning within a month and are happy to use a station on the Thameslink route I'd recommend a London St Pancras to Gatwick Airport Anytime Return Route "Not allowed on the Underground" at £11.20 with Gold Card discount.

Well if I was getting the ticket all the way through I'd just get London Bridge to Gatwick route Southern Only for £5.20 single, or possibly try and hack an advance fare. In fact I might do that anyway rather than faffing around with tickets from somewhere that the train may or may not call at.