On Jul 10, 12:21*pm, Paul Terry wrote:

In message , Neil Williams
writes

On Sat, 10 Jul 2010 11:01:32 +0100, Paul Terry
wrote:

You need to ask for a "Boundary Zone 6 to Brighton" return.
Are you *sure*? *I thought you could only use BZ tickets with
Travelcards, either day or period, because with PAYG Oyster you must
get off and touch out, and you can't do that at BZ6 itself because
it's not an actual place!

You're right - the journey would have to be split at Coulsdon South (or,
more practically, at East Croydon) in order to touch out (and back in on
the return). I'd forgotten about that annoyance now that I have a
Freedom Pass, with which I habitually get BZ6 tickets for places such as
Gatwick and Lewes.

But, as the OP says, the current Southern £5 offer is going to be better
value than using Oyster.

Ahh, the joys of the Freedom Pass! (And no, I haven't got one - but I
know those who do love theirs!) I do wonder whether this is perhaps
the golden era of the Freedom Pass...

On Jul 10, 1:11*pm, Mizter T wrote:

On Jul 10, 11:19*am, "Ian F." wrote:
[snip]
Thanks for that. I'm a reasonably savvy traveller, but I totally forgot
that, of course, one would have to touch out at the last station on the
Oyster and in again at, say, East Croydon.

I'm going from Balham (where I live) to Brighton for a couple of hours-worth
of meeting and then back home. Southern's £5/£8.50 return options are
clearly the best option, rather than involving Oyster at all.

[snip stuff re Southern Advance, DaySave and Downlander]

Oh, and there's one other thing I'd completely forgotten - there's a
special promotion running at the moment that gives Oyster card holders
cheap off-peak fares to many places in the south east - the idea is to
encourage Londoners to get out of the city by rail. The return fare
from London to Brighton is just £5. You need to supply some
information inc. your Oyster card number and then print-off a voucher
before going to an NR ticket office and presenting voucher plus Oyster
card in order to buy your cheap ticket (which will be in the form of a
conventional rail ticket - so no touching-in or out with the Oyster
card is needed).

Note that despite what is implied on the first page, the T&Cs shown on
the voucher will make clear that you are free to join the train at an
intermediate station i.e. a station other than the relevant London
terminal (so joining at Balham is ok, as would be alighting at Balham
on the return).

So, there is a way of doing it that involves Oyster after all!

Full details of the promotion, which runs until 25 July, can be found
he
http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/oyster

"Mizter T" wrote in message
...

Ahh, the joys of the Freedom Pass!

I was due to get mine in September, but now it's going to be March 2011.
*******s!

Ian

"Mizter T" wrote in message
...


Oh, and there's one other thing I'd completely forgotten

Wow, what a fantastic response, despite the journey being back to front! ;-)
All comments noted.

Your knowledge - and that of the others - humbles me to the extent that I
may well go by car now, in the knowledge that whichever ticket I buy there
is always going to be a cheaper one!

Thanks so much,

Ian