Season ticket purchasing

[VauxhallandI]

Need to buy a Cheshunt to Hammersmith season ticket.

What is he best value option? Usual route is to Tottenhale or Seven Sisters and on to the tube.

Second question, can I buy the ticket from Theobalds Grove even though it is not starting from there.

 

[bb21]

Cheshunt is now in Zone 8 and Theobalds Grove is in Zone 7.

A weekly Travelcard for Zones 1-7 is £60.40 and a Zones 1-8 version is £71.20. The routing on these tickets should be clear that the ticket is valid up to their respective zones, so a Travelcard from Theobalds Grove is not valid in theory at Cheshunt.

Nevertheless as far as I am aware Travelcards with the above origins are not yet correctly routed, and still printed "Any Permitted". There is an argument that can be used to say that an Any Permitted Travelcard from Theobalds Grove is valid via Cheshunt, however I wouldn't want to be the one who has to argue the case.

Avoiding Zone 1 prices are £39.40 and £53.60 respectively for Zones 2-7 and Zones 2-9 (no discount for Zones 2-8 over Zones 2-9). These Travelcards are still valid on buses inside Zone 1 however.

Monthly Travelcards are 3.84 times the price of weeklies. See our Fares Guide for more details.

 

[VauxhallandI]

Sorry I didn't explain myself very clearly.

Can I ask the chap in the Theobalds ticket office to issue a season ticket from Cheshunt? Saves a longer walk and a bigger queue.

Is the new zone travel card the cheapest option?

 

[maniacmartin]

Yes, stations can sell tickets from other stations.

 

[VauxhallandI]

Yes, stations can sell tickets from other stations.

Well there is another possible bit of retraining required. My girlfriend has been told she has to buy a ticket from the station she is travelling from. I thought it was incorrect.

I will get the exact examples later.

 

[MikeWh]

Sorry I didn't explain myself very clearly.

Can I ask the chap in the Theobalds ticket office to issue a season ticket from Cheshunt? Saves a longer walk and a bigger queue.

Is the new zone travel card the cheapest option?

For the journey you are making, combining National Rail and Underground, yes, the travelcard will be the cheapest option. If you want speed then you will need the zones 1-8 travelcard so you can travel through zone 1. If you have a bit more time and can change at Tottenham Hale, Highbury & Islington, then either Shepherd's Bush and White City or West Brompton and Earls Court, you can avoid zone 1 and the hefty premium that zone adds to the travelcard cost.

Finally, if you want to save all queueing then you can order the travelcard online to be picked up on your Oyster card on touch in at your nominated station. This can be anywhere within the zones covered, but you have to nominate a specific station.

 

[island]

I didn't know you could only pick up an online ordered Travelcard at a station where it's valid. Is that new?

 

[andrewkeith5]

I didn't know you could only pick up an online ordered Travelcard at a station where it's valid. Is that new?

Only if you're putting it onto your Oyster card.

With Oyster, the details are held on the card, not in a central system, so the gatelines at your nominated station need to be programmed before you arrive and, as they only communicate to the central server every 24 hours, it isn't possible to deactivate the programming at more than one station once you've picked up the ticket - hence you have to nominate a particular station.

Hope I explained that right! It's the same reason why you have to nominate a station for topups and turning on/off auto topup.

 

[maniacmartin]

It's news to me, but may have been around a long time and I've just never noticed.

I would have assumed that one could nominate a collection station outside of the zones of the travelcard being collected.

 

[MikeWh]

It's been around for a while. When you order a travelcard you enter the zones, start date and duration on one screen; then get asked for a delivery station once you've confirmed the purchase (but before paying). The drop-down list is only populated with the stations in the zones covered by the travelcard.

 

[island]

Only if you're putting it onto your Oyster card.

With Oyster, the details are held on the card, not in a central system, so the gatelines at your nominated station need to be programmed before you arrive and, as they only communicate to the central server every 24 hours, it isn't possible to deactivate the programming at more than one station once you've picked up the ticket - hence you have to nominate a particular station.

Hope I explained that right! It's the same reason why you have to nominate a station for topups and turning on/off auto topup.

I knew you had to nominate a station and why; my question was about the additional requirement for a Travelcard that it be picked up somewhere where it's valid (as opposed to prepay credit which can be sent anywhere), which MikeWh has confirmed.

It's been around for a while. When you order a travelcard you enter the zones, start date and duration on one screen; then get asked for a delivery station once you've confirmed the purchase (but before paying). The drop-down list is only populated with the stations in the zones covered by the travelcard.

 

[andrewkeith5]

I knew you had to nominate a station and why; my question was about the additional requirement for a Travelcard that it be picked up somewhere where it's valid (as opposed to prepay credit which can be sent anywhere), which MikeWh has confirmed.

I would imagine this is because the system wouldn't differentiate between adding the travelcard on entry or exit. Therefore, as you may not have PAYG activated on the Oyster, you will be 'picking up' the travelcard whilst entering the station, so hence the ticket must be valid.

PAYG credit can be used anywhere, so it doesn't matter where you pick it up as you can enter any station with it.