London-Warwick - Gold card

[deltic]

I'm travelling with 2 children tomorrow from London to Warwick. I have a zone 1-2 annual travelcard and hence a gold card.

Is the cheapest option to buy day return London-Banbury with the Gold Card and then a Banbury-Warwick day return?

 

[LexyBoy]

London - Warwick Super Off Peak Return, £25.00
--
London - Banbury Day Return with GC - £18.85
Banbury - Warwick Day Return - £7.50
Total £26.35

So no, it's cheaper to buy direct. (I've not looked at BZ2-Banbury tickets though).

Sorry, for some reason I assumed you were travelling at the weekend - advice might be different depending on times you wish to travel (if super off peak not valid then).

 

[Greenback]

Are those prices including the two children? (I assume the children are also returning!)

 

[island]

Those appear to be adult prices.

1 adult + 2 children super off-peak return from London Terminals to Warwick route BANBURY is £50 even, valid outbound after 1030 but not between 1600 and 2000, and to return on any train arriving after 1300. The off-peak return at £66 for your party is essentially valid all day.

If you split at Banbury you benefit from CHNGC tickets being capped at £1, so the London Terminals to Banbury is £20.50 CDR (valid any train from Marylebone), plus another £15 CDR from Banbury to Warwick for all three people (valid after 0930). Total £36.50. You also can leave earlier.

Edit: In fact you can save another £2.20 by buying the adult ticket from boundary zone 2 to Banbury, which is £16.30 day return, plus £2 for the kids.

Obviously you need to be on a train that calls at Banbury to do this.

 

[LexyBoy]

Are those prices including the two children? (I assume the children are also returning!)

Sorry, didn't notice the children! As island has said, splitting at Banbury is the best option. I think that all Chiltern trains stop there, so it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[tony_mac]

Edit: In fact you can save another £2.20 by buying the adult ticket from boundary zone 2 to Banbury, which is £16.30 day return, plus £2 for the kids.

I think you might have a problem buying just the children's tickets with a different departure point.

There is a minor saving by buying Banbury to Stratford with London Midland's online sale.

 

[island]

You can't buy the child tickets from a different origin online, but I don't think it'll be a problem from a booking office.

 

[deltic]

Thanks for the advice all _ never having split tickets before I am intrigued what reaction I will get at the booking office

 

[tony_mac]

I've never had a problem, but I know some people do.

You could always order online with Southern to pick up from the machine. If you change your mind then don't pick the tickets up you should get a full refund under their rainy day guarantee.

I have been able to pick up tickets within 10 minutes of booking them, but they do suggest 2 hours, I think.

 

[bb21]

I have never experienced any problem buying split tickets at the station, as long as you are clear about what tickets you need.

If you want to avoid funny looks, etc, (which unfortunately does happen from time to time) then you can always book the Banbury - Stratford on Avon ticket online at londonmidland.com. You have to buy the ticket to Banbury at the station as online retailers don't sell tickets from Boundary Zones. Like tony_mac said, you can generally pick the tickets up from a machine a few minutes after buying online and they can be picked up from any machine that offers Ticket On Departure facilities.

 

[deltic]

Split tickets worked fine - and booking office staff sold a 3 adult group save ticket for Banbury to Warwick which saved another 15p!