Paul Weaver wrote:
AstraVanMan wrote:
Some relatives of mine are needing to travel from Heathrow to Gatwick -
obviously there's the coach option (that presumably goes around the M25) or
the tube/train option via Victoria.

We've basically worked out that it looks like train is likely to be the
cheapest option (they have a Family Railcard and will be travelling
off-peak), and the fare (2 adults, 1 child) looks to be just over £20 for
the Victoria-Gatwick leg, plus tube fares.

Anyway, my question is - could they get a through ticket that includes
travelcards, just as they could do if they were starting outside London and
heading in? (i.e. their journey in reverse)

Probably wouldn't be any cheaper, certainly if you all have oyster
cards.

If you do take the tube, Piccadilly to Barons Court, District to
Victoria would be the best move (cross platform at Barons Court).
However it will cost £5-10 for the tube trip.

On the return journey (assuming it's off-peak) a one day travel card is
available FROM Gatwick to zones 1-6. Cost £10-£11 depending on which
TOC is used to London.

However, outward no such beast. A possible solution (assuming travel is
late enough in the day to be on the return leg) is to buy the Gatwick
travel card in advance. Otherwise a zone 1-6 travelcard and a boundary
zone 6 to Gatwick extension, or the Feltham bus - Clapham Junction
option.

wrote:
Anyway, my question is - could they get a through ticket that includes
travelcards, just as they could do if they were starting outside London
and
heading in? (i.e. their journey in reverse)

Probably wouldn't be any cheaper, certainly if you all have oyster
cards.

If you do take the tube, Piccadilly to Barons Court, District to
Victoria would be the best move (cross platform at Barons Court).
However it will cost £5-10 for the tube trip.

On the return journey (assuming it's off-peak) a one day travel card is
available FROM Gatwick to zones 1-6. Cost £10-£11 depending on which
TOC is used to London.

Good idea - just checked and it's £16.60 for the three of them, restricted
to FCC services, or £25.40 going via Victoria. What's Blackfriars like for
getting from the tube up to the mainline station - any escalators etc? It's
not a return journey btw, they're just heading to Gatwick from Heathrow.

Also, will it present a problem if they were to get return travelcards
starting from Gatwick and the first time they'd put it through a barrier was
at Heathrow? I'm guessing probably not, as they could well have showed them
to a regular ticket inspector on the barriers at Blackfriars/London Bridge
and only used them on buses, hence not going through any machines anyway.
Any comments on this?

However, outward no such beast. A possible solution (assuming travel is
late enough in the day to be on the return leg) is to buy the Gatwick
travel card in advance. Otherwise a zone 1-6 travelcard and a boundary
zone 6 to Gatwick extension, or the Feltham bus - Clapham Junction
option.

Well, the £16.60 option from Gatwick looks the cheapest option, though it
restricts them to First Capital Connect services, which take around 45
minutes from Blackfriars, plus the extra time on the tube, though the price
is good and they're in no major rush. Providing Blackfriars has some
escalators up to the mainline station.

--
"For want of the price of tea and a slice, the old man died."

"AstraVanMan" wrote in message
...
wrote:

Good idea - just checked and it's £16.60 for the three of them, restricted
to FCC services, or £25.40 going via Victoria. What's Blackfriars like
for
getting from the tube up to the mainline station - any escalators etc?
It's
not a return journey btw, they're just heading to Gatwick from Heathrow.

There is an escalator (I think it's only one, so hope it's working) from
ground level to the FCC platforms, but I think from the Underground to
ground level is stairs.

D A Stocks



Inviato da X-Privat.Org - Registrazione gratuita http://www.x-privat.org/join.php

On 26 Jun 2006 15:58:00 +0200, David A Stocks wrote:

Good idea - just checked and it's £16.60 for the three of them, restricted
to FCC services, or £25.40 going via Victoria.

Is that the Gatwick Express fare? Isn't there a cheaper one that
allows travel via Victoria but only on Southern?

What's Blackfriars like for getting from the tube up to the mainline
station - any escalators etc? It's not a return journey btw, they're
just heading to Gatwick from Heathrow.

There is an escalator (I think it's only one, so hope it's working) from
ground level to the FCC platforms, but I think from the Underground to
ground level is stairs.

Perhaps I'm being a bit silly, but if you change at Blackfriars for an
eastbound Circle Line train (same platform as District) and take it
all the way round to Farringdon, it's cross-platform to FCC there.

AstraVanMan wrote:

Good idea - just checked and it's £16.60 for the three of them, restricted
to FCC services, or £25.40 going via Victoria. What's Blackfriars like for
getting from the tube up to the mainline station - any escalators etc? It's
not a return journey btw, they're just heading to Gatwick from Heathrow.

Blackfriars isn't too bad, but it is stairs, and there are a fair few.

Unfortunatly I can't think of a step-free train route. An option you
might consider, time permitting, is piccadilly direct to kings cross,
then walk to kingscross thameslink, then thameslink^H^H^H^H^H^H^H FCC
to Gatwick from there. On the whole you'll be better with District to
Blackfriars though.

Also, will it present a problem if they were to get return travelcards
starting from Gatwick and the first time they'd put it through a barrier was
at Heathrow? I'm guessing probably not, as they could well have showed them
to a regular ticket inspector on the barriers at Blackfriars/London Bridge
and only used them on buses, hence not going through any machines anyway.
Any comments on this?

However, outward no such beast. A possible solution (assuming travel is
late enough in the day to be on the return leg) is to buy the Gatwick
travel card in advance. Otherwise a zone 1-6 travelcard and a boundary
zone 6 to Gatwick extension, or the Feltham bus - Clapham Junction
option.

Well, the £16.60 option from Gatwick looks the cheapest option, though it
restricts them to First Capital Connect services, which take around 45
minutes from Blackfriars, plus the extra time on the tube, though the price
is good and they're in no major rush. Providing Blackfriars has some
escalators up to the mainline station.

--
"For want of the price of tea and a slice, the old man died."