Return fare but no single. Common?

[najaB]

I know there are lots of examples of no return fare being available where single fares exist, but how common is the reverse? I just came across this: http://www.brfares.com/#!fares?orig=HXX&dest=GTW which seems a very expensive way to get between airports.

 

[globetrotter]

BAA have a monopoly and charge accordingly.

What I do is take a 490 bus to Feltham, then purchase there an off-peak one month return. It's one of those journeys that gets better as you go out of London. The 490 from T4/5 is the worst part (or a 285 from T1/2/3), but after talking nicely to the driver you can board the 490 with your suitcase using the central door. Oystercard keeps the bus fare down to a manageable level. Feltham and Clapham Junction both have lifts where needed. The trains to Clapham Junction are often very crowded and can crawl along. But from Clapham Junction there are fast trains to Gatwick stopping only at East Croydon. No need for Heathrow Express (or Heathrow Connect) or to brave Paddington and the Circle Line or to use the Underground and to deal with the crowds and all the steps at Victoria.

 

[najaB]

I did it by tube to West Brompton, Overground to Clapham Junction... And then RRB to East Croydon and Southern-branded GTR train to Gatwick.

Shall be interesting to see if I get charged £8.70, £10.30 or some other fare.

Back to the original topic, are there many examples of returns with no corresponding single?

 

[Clip]

BAA have a monopoly and charge accordingly.

.

The fares are set by Southern

 

[paddington]

I too am curious why there is no single fare.

I suppose there are very limited circumstances when it would actually make sense to use this ticket. Mainly, when you need to connect between a destination only served from LGW and one only served from LHR. If you do this on separate airline tickets, then you should really allow at least 6 hours to transfer between airports. On a connected ticket, BA allows 3 hours and will rebook you if there are delays on the M25 (as confirmed by National Express).

Otherwise, just pay a bit more to fly from the same airport; it's rarely going to be more than the price of this rail ticket. National Express is £25 each way usually, but of course you can get it down to £4.50 each way with the X26 bus and Southern from East Croydon.


I'm always amused when my friends who live in west/central London, who aren't exactly poor, choose to fly Ryanair from Stansted because "it's so cheap", and also amused by my Irish friends who subject themselves to an LGW-LHR transfer because DUB-LGW//LHR-XXX is 50 euros cheaper than DUB-LHR-XXX...

 

[Kite159]

I'm curious why there is a day return available. The anytime return makes sense for those split ticketing with flights (i.e. Newcastle - Gatwick, Heathrow - America) but the day return seems odd.

 

[talldave]

I'm curious why there is a day return available. The anytime return makes sense for those split ticketing with flights (i.e. Newcastle - Gatwick, Heathrow - America) but the day return seems odd.

Plane spotters??

 

[Kite159]

Plane spotters??

One expensive way to go plane spotting.

 

[najaB]

The anytime return makes sense for those split ticketing with flights (i.e. Newcastle - Gatwick, Heathrow - America) but the day return seems odd.

It does seem odd indeed.

 

[najaB]

Can I take the lack of examples to mean that it isn't common to have a return fare for a route but no single?