Ticket office said fare not valid

[Caped Crusader]

I can't check the BZ6 prices, but they may well be more expensive because of the extra distance on the other route via Swanley. However, an off-peak return from Orpington to Sevenoaks is coming up as £4.50 which will work with an £8 travelcard and save you a quid. Not sure when you're going down or whether evening peak trains still sometimes run fast to Chelsfiled but that will also work as Chelsfield is in Z6 so you just start the point to point ticket late. The ony thing you can't get is a first stop Sevenoaks.

Sevenoaks to Boundary Zone 6 Off Day Peak Return - £4.70
Sevenoaks to Boundary Zone 6 Anytime Day Return - £9.40

 

[MikeWh]

Thanks Caped Crusader. So if there's a chance you'll get a non-stop LBG-SEV on the way there then the extra 20p might be worth it, otherwise go for the ORP-SEV off-peak return.

 

[londonbridge]

Thanks for the help.

 

[Bill Badger]

It's hard to try and force someone to sell you a ticket they believe doesn't exist, and if you keep on at them then they'll probably get angry and insist they know their job - and have you down as a serious troublemaker.

It's impossible to do anything at the time you have to spend time and effort rectifying it later.

A couple of weeks ago I was at Twickenham and asked for a off peak day return to Tooting via Wimbeldon. The clerk insisted on selling me a Travelcard, even though I was pretty certain that the point to point was cheaper. She refused to look it up, so in the end I bought the Travelcard, sent it off to SWT with an appropriate letter and a short while ago an apology and travel vouchers arrived in the post.

... but passengers shouldn't have to go to all that trouble and you wonder how many others she has sold similarly incorrect tickets to

 

[MikeWh]

It's impossible to do anything at the time you have to spend time and effort rectifying it later.

A couple of weeks ago I was at Twickenham and asked for a off peak day return to Tooting via Wimbeldon. The clerk insisted on selling me a Travelcard, even though I was pretty certain that the point to point was cheaper. She refused to look it up, so in the end I bought the Travelcard, sent it off to SWT with an appropriate letter and a short while ago an apology and travel vouchers arrived in the post.

... but passengers shouldn't have to go to all that trouble and you wonder how many others she has sold similarly incorrect tickets to

You were right, but, there is no off-peak day return anymore within the Oyster area. The Anytime return is £5.90 which is cheaper than an £8 travelcard, but if you used Oyster PAYG then it would have been £4.

 

[jon0844]

From my info you would be also paying too much according to my sources:

Anytime Singles
Gatwick to Boundary Zone 6 - £7.30.
Gatwick To East Croydon (Zone 5 which every London-bound train goes through and all non express should top at) - £5.30

I did take a photo and post on a forum (here or elsewhere) a few years back when it happened. The extension from Z6 to Gatwick was cheaper GOING to Gatwick than the ticket I got back from Gatwick to Coulsdon South (I think). My Z1-6 was a season, so the train didn't need to stop there.

I got a Gold Card discount on both, and I'm sure it was about £1 more coming back. Presumably a Gatwick to BZ6 should have been the same as in reverse, or else it's very confusing!

I could happily pay the extra and claim later, but at Hatfield when I am going to Heathrow airport the delay with the arguing that a ticket doesn't exist means that;

a) I could miss the train I planned to get (last time, I got the ticket in advance to prevent this being an issue)

b) If they won't sell me the ticket at all (as it supposedly doesn't exist), I must go to Paddington on my existing season and queue up there (they know how to do it) and because of the time the train arrives at King's Cross and the time to get to Paddington, queuing later likely means me missing one train and having to wait 30 minutes for the next one... so that member of staff means having to go 30 minutes earlier, or be in a rush at the airport!

In either case, complaining later doesn't really do much and there are lots of members of staff there, including agency staff, so I'm not sure how effective any briefing from FCC would be.

The last time when I did get the woman to sell me a ticket, she said it stated 'NOT LONDON' and I couldn't use it as I was going in to London and taking the train from there. I don't think she understood when I pointed out that the Not London was only on the bit from Hayes & Harlington to Heathrow, which wasn't going via London. Maybe both of us misunderstood it, but the grippers happily accept them on the train.

 

[island]

From my info you would be also paying too much according to my sources:

Anytime Singles
Gatwick to Boundary Zone 6 - £7.30.
Gatwick To East Croydon (Zone 5 which every London-bound train goes through and all non express should top at) - £5.30

Does the Gatwick to East Croydon allow travel by Gatwick Express?

 

[Mike395]

Nope - Gatwick Express (even the through services) are non stop from Victoria to Gatwick

 

[jon0844]

But if you have a TC season then surely you can?

 

[island]

But if you have a TC season then surely you can?

And that's why I asked

 

[londonbridge]

Re my gig in Sevenoaks last night,i ended up going with the Z1-6 travelcard and a return between Orpington and Sevenoaks,of course my ticket was not checked on any of the trains I used and the barriers at Sevenoaks were open both when I arrived at 7.20 and left after the gig. Had I been so inclined I could have saved myself the extra £4.50.
In the event the gig ended just before 10.30 and I was back at Sevenoaks station at 10.40,enabling me to connect at Orpington with a train to Beckenham Junction,from where I got the tramlink back to Croydon. Of course,when I got on the train at Sevenoaks we sat there for several minutes before the guard announced there was a problem with the train! I then noticed a train pull in on the opposite platform which was going non-stop to London Bridge so I got off the first train and jumped on the latter,before jumping off again and back on the original one after realising that if I got ticket checked after Orpington and showed the travelcard,the guard would probably have realised that I'd travelled in from outside the travelcard area since I couldn't have boarded anywhere other than Sevenoaks. In the end the train was only delayed by about five minutes whilst the problem,whatever it was,was fixed.

 

[Caped Crusader]

Does the Gatwick to East Croydon allow travel by Gatwick Express?

If you have a weekly, monthly or greater than monthly Zone 1-6 Travelcard (either paper or oyster) then the ECR-GTW/GTW-ECR £5.30 SDS fare will allow you to travel on the Gatwick Express.

Gold card discount is not applicable on this fare if taking the Gatwick Express.

The combination with a daily Z1-6 is NOT valid.