Peterborough to London (piccadily circus)

[orpine]

Hi,
So, I'm trying to figure out Peterborough to London (Kings Cross of course), and then transferring to Tube for Piccadilly circus. No Oyster cards, travelling offpeak both ways.

The problem is the fares:
- A regular Offpeak return (on the slow train) is £26.50 to KX - no problem. But then it says "with travelcard - £34". When did they go up to £7.50?

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Alternately I can just ask the NR website for the journey "peterborough to piccadily circus":
- A return now costs £38!!! So it's £11.50 for an 8 minute tube journey! That's more than a "Day Anytime" travel card (£9 - which very cheekily is only 10p more than a "day offpeak" card).

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A pair of advances - £24.75 to KX. Or £30.75 for picaddilly. A £3 increase each way!

What am I doing wrong? Surely these fares shouldn't be rising this much just for a tube transfer? Have I missed a round of price rising these last few months?
Suggestions welcome.

 

[Paul Kelly]

Well there is an anomaly that an inclusive return to a Zone 1 station is more expensive than a Travelcard offering unlimited travel in all zones. But apart from that, the general idea is that passengers are being priced onto using Oyster cards - is there any reason why you can't get one?

 

[philjo]

What day & time will you be travelling?

 

[Hadders]

If the only travel you're doing once in London is an Underground journey to Piccadilly Circus and back then the cheapest way will be:

PBO-KGX off-peak day return route FCC only £26.50
Kings Cross - Piccadilly Circus £2.20 each way Oyster PAYG £4.40 (note that a paper underground ticket is £4.70 each way!)
Total £30.90

Alternatively an out-boundary travelcard from Peterborough route FCC only is £34.00 This gives one return journey from Peterborough to London and unlimited travel on trains, tubes and buses in zones 1-6.

If you want to travel on East Coast between Peterborough and Kings Cross then the any permitted fares are £32.00 to Kings Cross only and £37.50 for an out-boundary travelcard.

Also, be aware of the evening peak restrictions on the return portion of off-peak day returns. If you're travelling on a Saturday or Sunday then FCC do super off-peak day returns that are around 20% cheaper than the normal off-peak day return fare.

 

[orpine]

Well, Oyster's out because these tickets are a present for someone; I'll be posting them. Getting Oyster is just extra hassle!

Outgoing journey - post 10am. Returning post 20:00. Well outside of the peak constraints.

Travel-cards were only £5 last October (last I needed one). Have they really gone up 50% in the last 8 months? But then it's only 5.50 for the East Coast one Hadders listed. I'm confused.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Now I'm even more confused. I'm trying to buy the tickets (pair of advances) via the EastCoast website. However while I can get Peterborough-London KX with the advances, I can't seem to see any option for the travel card. It's not under the "additional options" like it usually would be.

I've tried several other options to London, but none of them are showing a travelcard as an option.

Anyone know why not? I'd like to buy the tickets before they can snapped up, but the EC website is making it hard.
Thanks!

 

[Hadders]

I think you're getting confused over the difference between in-boundary travelcard and an out-boundary one.

An off-peak one-day travelcard for zones 1-6 is currently £8.90 (I think it was £8.50 last year - it certainly hasn't gone up by 50%). It is possible to 'add' a travelcard to a day return from many stations outside the zones, the additional cost of doing this varies but it'll usually be a little cheaper than buying a travelcard once you get to London.

You originally said you wanted an off-peak day return on FCC, now you are talking about advance tickets on East Coast. You can't add a travelcard to an Advance ticket but you can purchase an off-peak travelcard for £8.90.

To be honest I think the most straightforward was of doing this is to buy an off-peak one day travelcard from Peterborough. You have two options - £34.00 for travel on FCC only between Peterborough and Kings Cross or £37.50 to travel on any operator between PBO and KGX. Once in London you can make unlimited journeys on zones 1-6.

To purchase this ticket on the East Coast website use 0035 as the destination which will bring up London Zones 1-6. I know you mentioned the ticket is a present but it is worth noting that it is the same price whether you buy from a station or on-line, and it is the same price if purchased on the day of travel. If travelling on East Coast you might want to reserve seats (FCC do not do seat reservations but their trains start at Peterborough so getting a seat should not be a problem).

Also note that this ticket is issued on one coupon which covers the outward and return journey plus any travel while in London.

 

[bb21]

It was possible to purchase a standalone Zones 1-2 Off-Peak Day Travelcard last year but this is no longer possible, with the only Off-Peak version Zones 1-6, so the increase was around £2, but certainly not 50%. As above, you seem confused about inboundary (standalone) and outboundary Travelcards, which are priced differently. (Railcard discounted Zones 1-6 Off-Peak Day Travelcards were £5.90 last year, and still is this year. Maybe that is what you were thinking of?)

If only a return journey is required on London Underground to get to/from Piccadilly Circus, a ticket to Zone U1* Londn (code 0785) can be purchased instead of London Terminals. This costs a £3 premium each way (so £6 return) on top of the London Terminals fare, so is more expensive than the add-on for an inclusive outboundary Travelcard and therefore not recommended.

I agree with Hadders that the outboundary FCC Only Travelcard at £37.50 is likely to be your best bet.

 

[orpine]

Thanks for the information. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that it is actually far more complicated than I thought.

The reason for the advances was because I discovered I could upgrade the return leg for just £10 to first class. Cost without the tube travel was about £33 for this. As compared to some ungodly amount if I wanted a regular first class return.

I still don't understand about the differences of travelcard.
However I've tried setting 0785 as the destination on the EC website but now it's being confusing.
The Journey portion says "Journey 1: Peterborough to Zone U1* Londn" and
"Peterborough to Zone U1* Londn" however the "outward journey" and "return journey" both only list Kings Cross and show no changes or anything. Is this ticket actually going to be valid for the underground? Each portion is marked up £3 or so, but there's absolutely no indication that it includes underground travel. I guess this is a failing of the EC website.

 

[bb21]

It is an add-on fare so there is no itinerary for the Underground. The booking engines will just show an itinerary to the relevant NR terminal. A Zone U1 ticket allows you to make one journey on the Underground within Zone 1 for every £3 supplement. The booking engine does not know where you will be using this ticket to on the Underground, so it is not possible to show an itinerary.

An outboundary Travelcard is like an inclusive package if you like. It basically prices a return journey to London and a Day Travelcard in one, so the "add-on" for the Travelcard can vary quite greatly between different tickets. This is not available from all origins.

An inboundary Travelcard is a standalone product for travel solely within the zones. Within Zones 1-6, the off-peak version only has one variety, whereas the peak versions also come in Zones 1-2 and Zones 1-4 versions.

A U-zone fare basically offers an add-on for a single journey on the Underground on top of the NR fare. It cannot be purchased alone.

 

[orpine]

Thanks.
I ended up getting tickets in person, took a while for the staffer to figure out how to do it (and they're at a station that has a direct line to London). They show the destination as "U1* LonDN".
Final cost: £16.50 outward, £25.45 return (1st) - both EC advances.

 

[Hadders]

That's correct.

Each ticket is valid for one underground journey in zone 1.

Remember also that as you've booked Advance tickets they are 'booked train only' so if the train is missed a new ticket will need to be purchased (subject to the usual exceptions).