On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:19:08 GMT, JB wrote:

On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:36:04 -0800 (PST), Mizter T
wrote:

However, can I just say that I am a little less certain than I
originally was on the question of whether this would be valid. I can
say with certainty that combining Travelcards *within* the London
zones is legit - i.e. a zones 1-3 Travelcard plus a zones 4-6
Travelcard. It was on this basis that I presumed that a Travelcard
from an out-boundary station (i.e. a station outside of London, such
as Cambridge) would be OK.

In your scenario I'm just a bit wary of some requirement that perhaps
the train needs to stop somewhere within zones 4-6 for the Travelcard
element to "kick-in" (as it were), so allowing you to combine more
than one Travelcard. One could argue that part of the reason for the
higher price is the non-stop express journey into Kings Cross.

I'm still tempted to think it is a valid combination, but I'd get rock-
solid confirmation of this first. I can certainly see grippers getting
fussed about it. If it is a valid combination, FCC wouldn't be keen on
the knowledge spreading, given that they'd lose money. Though indeed
if it is valid, why isn't everyone else doing it?

Perhaps some ticketing gurus might help us work out the definitive
answer to this?

I have emailed FCC to ask, although my last experience asking their
customer service team a question resulted in getting three different
answers and only getting a sensible answer when I forwarded their
nonsense to FCC's managing director.

Well FCC's 'normal' customer service team delivered to expectation,
but an email to the MD that was passed on to a more senior member of
staff did deliver the results eventually.

FCC accepted straight away that two season tickets could be used and
as they were both zonal tickets that the train did not need to stop
at any intermediate station.

However they initially claimed that I would need a R3456 and a zone
1-3 travelcard, as a R456 and zone 1-3 would not cover the journey
over the boundary between zone 4 and zone 3.

I pointed out that a R456 would cover the journey up to the boundary
of zone 4 and 3, and that the zone 1-3 would cover the journey onwards
from the boundary of 4 and 3, and thus there was no 'gap'. I also
pointed out that extension tickets or excess fares on a zonal ticket
are calculated from the edge of the boundary, not the last station
within the zone.

They considered these points and then changed their minds to agree
with me. They have confirmed it in a letter advising that a National
Rail R456 season ticket and a TfL season zone 1-3 travelcard on Oyster
is valid on non-stop services.

I await the first ticket check with interest...